The NBA regular season rolls on with a jam packed slate this Saturday, with a total of 12 matchups on the docket scheduled for today. So, our staff of basketball experts dug into the latest odds and identified all the best betting value on the board for tonight’s contests.
Our betting experts have looked over the odds and made 4 NBA picks for today’s matchups. Continue below for our NBA best bets and predictions for Saturday, December 21.
NBA Best Bets Today, Predictions, Picks: Saturday, December 21
By Alex Hinton
Austin Reaves has scored 17 points each of his last three games. That includes on Thursday night when he scored 25 points against the Kings.
Reaves has now scored 17 points in three games against the Kings with 28 points and his 25-point performance on Thursday in two of them.
The Kings are a great matchup for Reaves on multiple fronts. They are 28th in 3-pointers allowed per game and 3-point percentage defense. Reaves is making 2.7 3s per game while shooting 36% from deep this season.
Additionally, the Kings are allowing 23.8 points per game to shooting guards, the fourth-most in the league.
Reaves is averaging 17.3 points per game this season, so an average game will clear this line. However, the Lakers may need more than that tonight.
LeBron James is questionable for tonight’s game. I do expect James to play, as he is often questionable at this stage of his career, but if he does not, Reaves will be the Lakers’ second option behind Anthony Davis.
If that is the case, this line will be closer to 19.5 points. Currently, you can get Reaves for 20 points at +170 and 25 points at +500 on FanDuel.
Pick: Austin Reaves Over 16.5 Points (-120)
By Bill Marzano
The Grizzlies are 19-9 on the season and playing their best basketball of the season right now having won 11 of their last 13 overall posting a 10-3 ATS mark during this streak.
The Hawks have dropped two straight mostly due to horrible defense and right now the way the Grizzlies are putting up points, this could be an ugly matchup even if Ja Morant doesn’t play.
The Grizzlies lead the NBA in scoring and set a franchise record with 27 3-pointers in its 144-93 win over Golden State on Thursday.
As for the Hawks, they allow 119.3 points per game, fourth-worst in the league but rank dead last in the NBA in allowing opponents to make 15.9 per game at a 38.2 percent success rate from beyond the arc.
The Grizzlies should have a big edge on the boards in this game and on defense. The Grizzlies rank second in the NBA with a 19-9 ATS record, trailing only the Cavaliers 19-8 ATS mark.
Pick: Grizzlies Moneyline (-120)
By Joe Dellera
The Suns take on the Pistons today and they will be without Devin Booker. In his absence, I’m turning to Kevin Durant.
Durant has been lethal this season and is scoring 26.4 points per game with a 59.3 eFG%, as he remains as efficient as ever.
Although he has yet to play without Book this season, when Booker sat last season, KD averaged 32.1 points per game.
This season, when KD plays alongside Booker, he scores 32.7 points per 100 possessions. Without Booker? It jumps to an eye popping 44.5 points per 100.
This matchup against the Pistons is exploitable. Their defense is below average and they get roasted in the midrange. Without Booker, I expect KD to score.
Pick: Kevin Durant Over 29.5 Points (-105)
By Bill Marzano
The Knicks should have no problems with a horrible Pelicans team that has dropped 20 of their last 22 games since starting the season 3-3.
The Pelicans are decimated by injuries and have lost 16 games by 10+ points or more this season.
The Knicks blasted the Pelicans in their only meeting of the season 118-85 as the Pelicans continue to struggle to find any consistent offense.
The Pelicans are allowing just under 118 points per game, while the Knicks are allowing 110. However, the Pelicans problem is the fact they are putting up an NBA-worst 105 points per game, with the Sixers close behind.
This Knicks offense is getting better and healthier. They are putting up 117 points per contest, and I don’t think they are going to get much resistance in the Big Easy tonight. Look for them to blow out the Pelicans for a second straight time.
Pick: Knicks -8 (-110)
