Every night of the 2025-26 NBA season gives us a fresh set of games and numbers to pick apart. This daily column digs into the best sides and totals on the board, using in-depth basketball analysis, betting trends, and our VSiN NBA betting splits to spot value. We’ll also be tackling these slates relentlessly on our live VSiN programming, which is why basketball fans should really consider a VSiN Pro subscription. Below you’ll find some NBA picks and predictions for December 11.
MORE: Check out the VSiN Pro Picks page for more bets from our talented hosts and analysts!
NBA Best Bets Today – Thursday, December 11
Clippers +9.5 (-110) vs. Rockets
Clippers at Rockets – 8:00 pm ET
Since Ty Lue became the head coach of the Clippers, the team is 16-8 against the spread when playing with at least three days of rest. That makes sense considering this is an older team, and LA has actually had four full days of rest since its last game. That should mean plenty of time to get the bodies right, but it also means that Lue has had a few days to try and address some of this year’s problems. I think all of that will amount to a more competitive Clippers squad tonight. And Steve Makinen’s numbers seem to agree, as the VSiN matchup pages have an estimated line of Rockets -7.7 here. That means we’re getting quite a bit of value with the road team — and that estimated spread was much shorter when I recorded today’s episode of Hardwood Handicappers with Jonathan Von Tobel.
I also think this matchup is pretty good for the Clippers. Part of the reason the Rockets are so dominant is that they have a league-best offensive rebound rate of 40.8%. However, Los Angeles is right outside the top-10 in defensive rebound rate (69.2%). I feel Ivica Zubac is up to the challenge of keeping some of the Houston bigs off the glass, which will limit the overall effectiveness of the Rockets offense.
The Clippers also happen to have some world-class shot-makers in James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. That should matter if this ends up being a bit of a grind-it-out game that is won in the halfcourt.
Additional Best Bets (Parlays, Teasers, Futures)
PARLAY: Celtics ML vs. Bucks & Pelicans Alt +8.5 vs. Blazers (-118 – 1.5 units)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2025-26 NBA Record: 168-160 (+5.66 units)
Check out today’s episode of Hardwood Handicappers! I dove into all of this (and more) on the podcast!
