The 2024-25 NBA season is in full swing. Make sure you check out the fantastic work of Jonathan Von Tobel, who will be writing NBA deep-dive features for us this year. And try to 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 Thursday, December 26th. Also, make sure you check out the picks page (linked right below) before games tip off. I occasionally add picks throughout the day.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on December 26th
NBA Best Bets Today – December 26th
Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers – 7:00 pm ET
The Pacers have won five straight games and have a net rating of +12.9 in that span. Sure, that’s a very small sample size and there’s an entire quarter of a season of mediocre play from Indiana. However, the Pacers are simply looking more like the team they were last season, so it’s entirely fair to get excited about the results. Indiana’s offense is back to looking somewhat machine-like. Tyrese Haliburton is once again looking like a legitimate All-Star as the lead guard, and everybody else is playing their roles to perfection.
With the Pacers playing some good basketball right now, I’m just struggling to understand why the Thunder are expected to go into Indiana and win by seven or more. The Pacers are a very good team and have a strong home-court advantage. Also, under Rick Carlisle, this Indiana squad has enjoyed its rest. The Pacers are 32-21 straight-up and 36-17 against the spread when playing four or less games in a 10-day span. The Pacers are also 5-3 SU and 7-1 ATS when facing defenses that allow a shooting percentage of 43.0% or lower under Carlisle. His offense works against elite defenses.
I’m simply rolling with a red-hot team that has a lot to play for as it tries to dig out of the hole it dug early in the year. So, I’m going with Indiana to cover, but I’m also sprinkling the moneyline.
Bet: Pacers +6 (-108 – 1.5 units) & Pacers ML (+195 – 0.5 units)
NBA Player Props Today – December 26th
Miami Heat at Orlando Magic – 7:00 pm ET
The Heat will be without Jimmy Butler for tonight’s game, and they could be without him for a lot longer. The All-Star seemingly wants out of Miami, and reports indicate that the team would be happy to accommodate him. What that means is more opportunities to go around, and we should see bigger usage rates out of Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. And it’s Adebayo that I’m personally backing to step up tonight. Without Butler on the court, Adebayo is averaging 20.6 points per game. And while this Magic team is great defensively, Adebayo just scored 23 points against Orlando on December 21st. And Adebayo left some food on the table in that one, going 0 for 4 from 3 and 7 for 11 from the free throw line.
Bet: Adebayo Over 17.5 Points (-122)
Parlays/Teasers/Late Added Plays/In-Season Futures
Hornets -4.5 vs. Wizards (-108)
Pelicans +8 vs. Rockets (-108)
Pistons +5.5 (-110 – 2 units) vs. Kings
Pistons ML (+185 – 0.5 units) vs. Kings
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2024-25 NBA Record: 134-120 (+14.46 units)
