With plenty of action scheduled, let’s get to our favorite NBA bets to make Sunday.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Toronto Raptors Preview
Best Bet: Under 219 Points
This is a bet on a few merging factors. For starters, neither the Raptors nor Thunder have strong offenses. The Raptors are an average unit but the Thunder grade out as the third-worst offense in the league.
Oklahoma City is averaging just over 105 points per game, 28th in the NBA.
What makes the under a good pick here is studying offensive preferences compared to defensive strengths.
The Raptors prefer to shoot the three. In fact, they’re third in the league in threes made per game. However, for all of Oklahoma City’s faults – they defend the perimeter well. The Thunder are seventh in the NBA in the opponent’s three-point percentage.
They are well-suited to force the Raptors inside, where they struggle. Given that the Thunder offense is so poor, they naturally have no advantages on that end.
On the season, Toronto is 32-25 against over/unders. Oklahoma City is 28-28.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. LA Clippers Preview
Timberwolves vs. Clippers Picks
Best Bet: Clippers -10 + Clippers Team Total Over 121 Points
The Clippers have a juicy matchup Sunday against the Timberwolves; target this game. There’s an egregious difference between the quality of these clubs. The Clippers are 39-19 and one of the best teams in the West. The Timberwolves are 15-42 and one of the worst teams in the league.
The Clippers are one of just four teams to be inside the top-ten on both sides of the ball. The Timberwolves are the inverse, ranked in the bottom ten for both offense and defense.
The biggest disparity is for the Clippers offense. LA comes in ranked second in the NBA in total offense. Minnesota’s defense is ranked 28th.
The Clippers should score with ease. In particular, the points should come from the perimeter. LA ranks fifth in the NBA in three-point scoring, while Minnesota is the third-most generous defense to the three.
Paul George is shooting nearly 44% from deep this season and is set up to have a big game on Sunday.
Take the Clippers confidently to cover the spread and hit their projected points total. Take George’s over for points as well.
Sacramento Kings vs. Dallas Mavericks Preview
Best Bets: Target Mavericks Player Props
The final bet we’ll recommend Sunday is a bit broad – it’s the Dallas Mavericks player props. Luka Doncic is the obvious target, but consider diversifying your bets with Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway as well.
This Sacramento defense is abysmal – worst in the NBA. It makes every game they play a good opportunity for player props.
In comes Dallas and their top-12 offense with star guard Doncic. In particular, they should be able to, like the Clippers above, shoot threes with ease.
They’re a top-ten unit from deep while the Kings are 29th defending the three.
Doncic shoots over eight threes a game, followed by Hardaway’s 7.3 and Porzingis’ 6.3. All should have big games, and they are a good bet for Sunday
