NBA Expert Picks and Best Bets | January 23

The NBA schedule is a little light on Tuesday night with just five games on the docket. But the quality of the games is high with two different intra-city battles scheduled. Of course, for the sake of basketball betting, we looked past the narrative and tried to find the betting lines that oddsmakers may have gotten wrong. Here are our three favorite NBA bets on Tuesday. 

Pacers +3 | -108 at FanDuel

The Pacers haven't been themselves for a few weeks with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined. They also had a tough road trip, going just 2-4 while playing almost every game without their star point guard. That being said, Haliburton is a game-time decision on Tuesday, so he has a chance to play. Also, coming home should be good for the Pacers, who are 5-2 against the spread as home underdogs this season. There’s nothing wrong with trying to ride that trend for a team like Indiana.

On the other side, the Nuggets are three games into a five-game road trip. Denver is also just 2-4 against the spread in its last six games. That includes failing to cover the spread in a home win over Indiana last weekend in a game that Haliburton missed. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with Denver’s 30-14 overall record. However, the Nuggets have a losing record against the spread, including a 6-12 ATS record as a road favorite. Again, that’s another trend that points to the Pacers in this game.

Knicks -3.5 | -115 at BetMGM

It’ll be a battle of the boroughs with the Knicks taking the train to Brooklyn on Tuesday. Everything is going well for the Knicks these days, as they’ve won three in a row and four of their last five games. Since the trade with Toronto for OG Anunoby, New York is 9-2 overall and 8-3 against the spread. They are also 15-4 against the spread this season when facing a team with a losing record and 7-3 ATS as a road favorite. 

In other words, there are a lot of reasons to like the Knicks on Tuesday and not so many reasons to back Brooklyn. The Nets are 1-5 in their last six games and 1-4-1 ATS during that stretch. That includes two losses against the Trail Blazers. Going back even further, the Nets are 2-10 in their last 12 games with half of those losses coming by double figures and only two coming by fewer than five points. This game could follow a similar script with the Knicks winning easily.

Under 237.5 | -113 at BetRivers

Even though Oklahoma City is one of the best teams at hitting the over, doing so nearly 60% of the time, Portland is bound to drag them down in this game. OKC barely topped 100 points in a win over Minnesota on Saturday and has been held to 112 points or less in three of its last five games. The Thunder is supposed to be the team carrying this game over 237.5 points, and the recent trend doesn’t support that. 

To be fair, Portland’s defense could help to get the Thunder back on track. But the Blazers have also been held to 110 points or less in five of their last seven games, going 2-5 O/U during that stretch. Portland couldn’t even hit 85 points in two of those games. Even if the Thunder has a strong offensive showing, it might not be enough to make up for Portland’s offensive ineptness.