The NBA is back after the All-Star break and there’s plenty of juicy slates coming up. Here, we take a lot at a few of the key matchups on Saturday and provide you with our best spread and player prop bets. Good luck to everyone following!
NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, 13th of March
Philadelphia 76ers at Washington Wizards
Capital One Arena, 12pm AEDT
Philadelphia 76ers have enjoyed a fantastic season to date and come out of the All-Star break sitting on top of the standings in the East. They resumed with an easy win over the Bulls to make it seven wins from their past nine games.
Washington Wizards were no match for the Grizzlies in their first game post All-Star break, going down by 15 points. Bradley Beal had a rare off night in the loss, which was their third defeat from their past four outings.
These teams have already met twice this season and the 76ers were victorious in both by an average margin of 5.5 points. Funnily enough, the line for this clash has been set at 5.5, which we expect the Wizards to be able to cover this time around with Ben Simmons out and Joel Embiid a game time decision.
Washington Wizards +5.5
$1.90
Denver Nuggets at Memphis Grizzlies
FedExForum, 12pm AEDT
Denver Nuggets entered the All-Star break in sizzling form with wins in each of their last four games, three of which were by double figures. Nikola Jokic hasn’t put a foot wrong all season long and is in the MVP race and he’s finally getting some consistent help from his teammates.
Memphis Grizzlies did well to hold down the fort until Ja Morant returned from injury. Now that the Rookie of the Year from last season is back and firing, the Grizzlies are a threat to win on any given night. They come into this after winning three of their past four games.
These Western Conference clubs are yet to face each other this season, with their most recent meeting coming in January of 2020 when the Grizzlies were relatively easy winners. At home and on their home deck, we have them giving the Nuggets plenty of problems again on Saturday.
One player we have our eye on in this matchup is Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks. He’s been scoring the ball well of late two 20+ point nights in his last three games. Fouls hurt his minutes in his recent game, so as long as he can stay out of trouble he should be good for 15+ points.
Prop: Brooks O14.5 Points ($1.88)
Memphis Grizzlies +3.5
$1.90
Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz
Vivint Smart Home Arena, 2pm AEDT
Houston Rockets’ season continues to go from bad to worse as they now find themselves on an embarrassing 14-game losing streak. Injuries continue to plague them and it doesn’t look like changing anytime soon with Eric Gordon going down with a leg injury in their recent game against the Kings.
Utah Jazz have been able to make the most of their injury-free season to currently hold the best record in the league at 27-9. They have gone off the boil a touch in their recent games however, losing three of their past four, all of which were on the road.
The Jazz may not be in their absolute best form at the moment, but they should have no problem whatsoever dealing with this Rockets team. On their home deck and hungry to get back on the winners list, we expect this to be a bloodbath.
With a bloodbath in mind, taking the ‘unders’ on some of the Jazz players is a good way to approach this. We expect that the starters will be on ice in the fourth quarter, so it would take a big effort for the likes of Mitchell to score 27+ points in three quarters.
Prop: Mitchell U26.5 Points ($1.78)
