The 2019-20 NBA season continues this Saturday, the 9th of November with a tasty 12 game slate! We have been on fire in our last few NBA previews, going 5-1 through the Tuesday and Thursday slates.
We’ll look to continue our hot run of form as we preview some of the key games in Saturday’s slate and give our betting tips below.
NBA Betting Tips Saturday 9th November
Toronto Raptors at New Orleans Pelicans (12pm AEDT)
The Raptors and Pelicans will meet for the second and final time in just the third week of the NBA season on Saturday. The Pelicans have been competitive in a bunch of games but ultimately sit last in the Western Conference with a 1-6 record through their opening seven games. Their defence has been a bit of a concern, allowing more points per game at 124.3 than any other team in the NBA.
The Raptors have kicked off their title defence in solid fashion, winning five of their first seven games of the season. They are coming off a solid win at home against the Kings on Thursday, where they put up 124 points as Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam combined for 47.
The Raptors have scored at least 100 points in all seven of their games so far this season and as we mentioned, the Pelicans have the leakiest defence in the league. When these two teams met on opening night, they totalled 252 points. We think this one goes over again.
Total points OVER 234.0
$1.91
Golden State Warriors at Minnesota Timberwolves (12pm AEDT)
The Warriors have been absolutely mauled by injuries to start the season. With Kevin Durant leaving in the off-season and Klay Thompson out for the majority of the year with a knee injury, life for the Warriors got even harder with Steph Curry, D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green all went down with early season injuries.
Russell could return for the Saturday clash with the Timberwolves, but the Warriors will have to make do with a starting line-up that resembles one you would see in the G-League. The Timberwolves have their star centre, Karl-Anthony Towns, back in action after serving a two game suspension and second banana Andrew Wiggins is in solid scoring form at the moment.
Strange to see the Warriors as 12 point underdogs but we think even that is not enough here. It’s likely that Golden State won’t take any chances with the health of Russell for this back to back road trip against the Wolves and Thunder. Wolves should roll here.
Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers (2.30pm AEDT)
The game of the day sees the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Miami Heat from 2.30pm. The Heat will be on the second night of a tough Western Conference back to back here after getting a win over the Suns on Friday. They could get Dion Waiters and Justice Winslow back from injury for the clash, who were both listed as GTD for the game against the Suns.
The Lakers currently sit atop the Western Conference standings, having started the season with a 6-1 record and will get arguably their toughest test since opening night against eh Clippers onwhen they face the Heat. Anthony Davis and LeBron James have probably only just performed to par level, but the Lakers have benefitted from an easy schedule so far.
Tough game to call here. We like the look of the Heat but it’s hard to back them on the second night of a road back to back. We think the spread of 8.5 points in favour of the Lakers is a bit absurd though. The Heat are 6-1-1 against the spread this year and have lost just one game by double digits.
