The start of the 2024-25 NBA season is officially here. Make sure you check out the fantastic work of Jonathan Von Tobel, who will be writing NBA features for us twice per week this year. Also, try and listen to A Numbers Game every morning, as Kelley Bydlon often dishes out his favorite NBA picks. But I’ll be giving out NBA best bets and player props here as often as possible, and I’ll also occasionally write up features on big news that shakes up the league. So, make sure you check out my work throughout the season. With that out of the way, let’s get into some NBA best bets and NBA player props for Wednesday, November 6th.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on November 6th
NBA Best Bets Today – November 6th
Detroit Pistons at Charlotte Hornets – 7:00 pm ET
The Pistons are starting to play some solid basketball. They have won two games in a row and three of their last four. They have also covered in five of their last six. However, the Hornets will be excited about the opportunity to play at home against a below-average team. Charlotte just had to play a back-to-back against Boston, and the team then had to fly to Minnesota for a meeting with the Timberwolves. Those were all very challenging games for the Hornets, but they should look a lot better here. While Charlotte lags behind Detroit when it comes to defensive rating, the team is much better offensively.
LaMelo Ball’s ability to take over games should be big here, and Brandon Miller has the talent to hang with Cade Cunningham on the wing. The Pistons also don’t have a guy that can dominate in the paint, which is somewhere teams can beat the Hornets with Mark Williams still recovering from an injury. But outside of the center spot, Charlotte is quite strong.
Also, J.B. Bickerstaff’s teams are just 36-69 when playing as road underdogs. They’re also just 64-81 when playing games with lines of +3 to -3. Meanwhile, Charlotte has only been favored once under head coach Charles Lee, and that was a game that the Hornets won against the Raptors last week.
Overall, I’m just not sure this Charlotte team is nearly as bad as its record. The strength of schedule has been tough lately. This is the type of matchup in which the Hornets should be able to show that they’re a little more than an Eastern Conference bottom feeder.
Bet: Hornets ML (-120 – 1.5 units)
NBA Player Props Today – November 6th
Philadelphia 76ers at Los Angeles Clippers – 10:00 pm ET
Terance Mann has seen inconsistent minutes this season. Last game, he played just 19 minutes and finished with five points and two rebounds in a win over the Spurs. If he plays a similar amount against the 76ers, he probably won’t go Over his combined points and rebounds total of 10.5. However, I’d be pretty surprised if Mann doesn’t play at least 25 minutes here. The team can use his perimeter defense on Tyrese Maxey, and I’m not sure Kris Dunn and Amir Coffey offer Los Angeles the same things Mann does in this specific matchup.
As long as Mann does see solid minutes, this total is extremely low. In 31 minutes against the Suns on Halloween, Mann had eight points and four rebounds. He also had 11 points and six rebounds against the Thunder on November 2. Realistically, if he isn’t in the doghouse, he’s going to go Over this number. And I just can’t imagine him being there for long, so I’m willing to take this at -130 odds. Mann just got a nice contact from the Clippers, and he’s a player that impacts winning. How long can Ty Lue keep him off the floor?
Bet: Mann Over 10.5 Points + Rebounds (-130)
Added Plays
PARLAY: Pacers ML vs. Magic & Suns ML vs. Heat (-101 – 1.5 units) – This is a pretty simple one for me. I know people don’t love parlays, but I’d be pretty surprised if the Pacers can’t find a way to beat the Magic. Indiana just has a little too much juice offensively, especially with Paolo Banchero out. The Pacers just need to stay at home on Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner, and they have the players to do it. Aaron Nesmith should be able to stick Suggs, and Siakam can handle Wagner. And the Suns really shouldn’t lose to the Heat. They’re more talented and now have the right coaching to survive in an X’s and O’s battle with Erik Spoelstra. Mike Budenholzer has been great for Phoenix so far. I just don’t like the Suns on the spread because they still play with their food a bit. They have had issues holding leads to start the season. That said, I’d rather parlay it and just hope they win on the moneyline.
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2024-25 NBA Record: 37-28 (+8.25 units)
