NBA Best Bets Today: Top Sports Betting Picks, Predictions March 25th | Deadspin.com

Best NBA Bets for Tonight’s Action

We’re officially taking a momentary break from college basketball and focusing on the NBA. Some of the league’s best teams and players will be in action tonight, and those teams will make our Best NBA Bets list for the day.

We’ll get things started with a 7:30 p.m. ET game: the Golden State Warriors vs. the Miami Heat (odds via FanDuel).

Golden State Warriors (-4.5) vs. Miami Heat (+166)

Golden State will try to get back on the right side of the scoreboard tonight after losing 124-115 to the Atlanta Hawks last night. Atlanta jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, and the Warriors never really recovered.

Jimmy Butler led the way with 25 points for a Warriors team that definitely missed its superstar, Steph Curry. Curry sat out due to an injury suffered last Thursday against Toronto. It’s unclear if he’ll play tonight; officially, he is listed as a game-time decision.

Miami finally ended its 10-game losing streak with a 122-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. Andrew Wiggins exploded for 42 points against the Hornets.

Our pick: Warriors -4.5

Talk about a tale of two teams. Since the trade that sent Butler to the Warriors, the Heat have taken a nosedive (5-17) while Golden State has gone 16-4. I’d feel more comfortable picking the Warriors with a healthy Curry in the lineup.

But as bad as Miami has been, the rest of the Warriors’ roster is talented enough to take care of the Heat.

Oklahoma City Thunder (-9.5) vs. Sacramento Kings (+315)

Oklahoma City remains on cruise control after earning its 59th win of the season Sunday, a 103-101 victory over the Clippers. It was the Thunder’s sixth straight win and their 13th in the last 14 games. A victory would give them 60 wins for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

Sacramento has been struggling, losing its last two and seven of its last 10. If the Kings don’t right the ship soon, they’ll be in danger of sliding out of the play-in tournament. Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, and Devin Carter are all listed as game-time decisions.

It would be tough for the Kings to defeat the Thunder with a healthy roster, but facing them without all three—or even one of them—only makes the challenge steeper.

Our pick: Oklahoma City -9.5

Even with a healthy roster, I wouldn’t expect the Kings to keep up with the Thunder. But if they’re down one, two, or possibly three major players, the Thunder may have this spread covered by halftime.

Cleveland Cavaliers (-6.5) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (+210)

With 10 games left and three back of the Mavericks for the final play-in spot, the Trail Blazers do not have room for error. However, beating a team like the Cavaliers just because they need to is easier said than done.

Then again, Cleveland needed overtime to beat Portland by four, 133-129, just a few weeks ago on March 2. But with Donovan Mitchell and Jaylon Tyson already ruled out, a window may be open for Portland to record an unexpected win.

Cleveland hasn’t been playing its best basketball recently. Sunday’s 120-91 win over the Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak; three of those four losses came on the road—at Sacramento, Phoenix, and the Clippers.

Our pick: Portland +9.5

Cleveland is the better team, even with Mitchell out of the lineup. The Cavs are fresh off a big win over the Jazz, and Portland lost to the Celtics in its last game, 129-116. But before that, the Blazers had won four straight.

I think the Trail Blazers can take advantage of Mitchell’s absence and keep this one closer than expected.