Top NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions: Thursday (11/30)
We’re headed for another Thursday night in the National Basketball Association and we have nine games on the slate. There are a lot of games to choose from to get us into the black. We’ll try and build that bankroll heading into the holidays. Let’s get started!
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Thursday’s Best NBA Bets
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All wagers are for 1 unit
Portland Trail Blazers at Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers have picked up consecutive wins, including an impressive 128-105 win against the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. Cleveland covered a 4.5-point number in that game to halt an 0-3 ATS skid.
Cleveland heads into this one as a rare double-digit favorite. In fact, this is just the second time all season that the Cavs have been favored by 10 or more points. The first occasion was Nov. 15 in Portland, a 109-95 win and cover.
Portland scored a win at Indiana on Monday night, posting a 114-110 outright victory as an 11.5-point underdog. The Trail Blazers also covered as a 12.5-point underdog in Milwaukee in a 108-102 loss on Sunday. However, Portland can’t be trusted against the Cavaliers, who handled them in the Rose City. The Blazers are just 2-9 straight up in the past 12 games, and 3-5 ATS in the past eight games overall. Roll with the Cavs.
Bets: Cavaliers -11.5 (-110)
Indiana Pacers at Miami Heat
Here is a big warning right off the bat: The Heat’s Jimmy Butler is nursing an ankle injury and he is listed as questionable. Check back 90 minutes before the game to get his official status before finalizing any bets.
The Pacers play the first of two games in South Beach against the Heat. Indiana is looking to wash a bad taste out of its mouth after falling to the Blazers at home, 114-110, as an 11.5-point favorite. Indiana alternated losses and wins in the past eight games, while also doing the same against the spread. However, that’s circumstantial, and nothing to base a wager upon.
The Heat have dropped three in a row, and they still put up 124 points without Jimmy Buckets against the Bucks last time out. Bam Adebayo was giant with 31 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in 42 minutes. I’d go likely on the home side, even if Butler cannot play, but go a little more aggressively if he is green-lighted to play.
Milwaukee Bucks at Chicago Bulls
The Bucks picked up a 131-124 win on the road against the Heat last time out, and Milwaukee has covered in six of the past eight games overall. However, it played against Chicago and won 118-109 against the Bulls on Nov. 13 at Fiserv Forum but just missed the cover at most shops with a closing line of 9.5 points.
The Bulls have dropped five in a row, is also 0-5 ATS during the skid and has also failed to cover seven of the past eight games overall. Chicago has struggled to score, too, with 109 or fewer points in each of the past nine games including that setback in the first meeting with Milwaukee.
The Bucks, on the other hand, rank third in The Association with 120.9 points per game. They’ve also hit 49.2% from the field and 37.4% from behind the 3-point line. The Bucks aren’t great defensively, but that won’t be a problem against the toothless Bulls. Look for Milwaukee to add to the misery of Chicago.
Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder
The Lakers bounced back from a 44-point embarrassing loss in Philadelphia by taking out their frustrations on the Detroit Pistons in Motown by a 133-107 score on Wednesday. The Lakers have alternated covers in 16 consecutive games, which is quite an amazing streak.
The Thunder have dropped two in a row, falling at home to the 76ers by a 127-123 score on Sunday, and OKC lost 106-103 in Minnesota on Tuesday as a 2.5-point underdog. It’s the first time OKC has failed to cover two straight games, and it was 12-3 ATS in the first 15 games this season. The Thunder also haven’t lost three or more games in a row this season.
I’d like the Lakers a lot more here if they hadn’t played the night before, even though it was a game of relative ease against the lowly Pistons. In the second-end of a back-to-back, Los Angeles is 1-2 SU and 0-3 ATS this season. As such, back the Thunder.
Bet: Thunder -6.5 (-108)
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Thursday:
- Top 4 Picks for NFL Thursday Night Football
- NFL Thursday Night Football Same Game Parlay
- NBA First Basket Scorer Odds, Picks & Predictions
- Top NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions
- Top NHL Odds, Picks, & Predictions
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Cameron Lynch is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Cameron, check out his archive and follow him @captron26.