We had another great day with our NBA betting tips on Thursday, saluting on 5/6 of our plays to take us to 19/28 on the season. We’ve now turned our attention to the huge 10-game slate on Saturday where there looks to be plenty of value to attack. Check out our best spread bets and player props for some of the key games below and good luck to everyone following!
NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, 9th of January
Phoenix Suns at Detroit Pistons
Little Caesars Arena, 11am AEDT
Phoenix Suns have delivered on their promise early in the season with six wins from eight games and have a terrific chance to make it 7/9 here. They have shooters all over the floor and that was evident against the Raptors last start when they went 21/40 (52.5%) from deep.
Detroit Pistons were always going to struggle this season as they’re clearly at the start of a big rebuild. Jerami Grant has been the shining light in a breakout year, averaging 24 points a night for the 1-7 Pistons.
The Suns go back on the road with their terrific record and look to take advantage of an inferior side in the Pistons who have lost three on the spin. With the way the Suns are playing and the second unit firing, we expect them to be far too good over the 48 minutes.
We’ve looked at a couple of player props from this game and really like Grant O19.5 points, but have eventually landed on DeAndre Ayton O10.5 Rebounds. He’s a tremendous glass cleaner for the Suns and is coming off 16 boards last game. We have him notching up at least 11 here.
Prop: Ayton O10.5 Rebounds ($1.85)
Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics
TD Garden, 11:30am AEDT
Washington Wizards were hoping their trade for Russell Westbrook would tip them over the edge and make them a playoff team, and while he’s played well thus far, the Wizards certainly look anything but a playoff team. They come into this at 2-6 and desperately need to find some form.
Boston Celtics got off to a slow start by their standards, splitting their first six games at 3/3, however, they’ve managed to win their last three game on the road and look to be getting better after every game. Now at 6-3 the Celtics have a decent platform to launch into the season.
The Celtics are clearly the better team I this matchup and while they are the favourites, we see them as value at a small 5.5 line. As long as they bring their normal intensity and effort, then they should dispatch the Wizards without too much trouble.
Jaylen Brown has been a huge improver for the Celtics this season and is clearly their second option on offense. He comes in averaging over 26 points a night and should be good to cover his line providing the game isn’t a total blowout in the first three quarters.
Prop: Brown O23.5 Points ($1.86)
Boston Celtics -5.5
$1.90
Orlando Magic at Houston Rockets
Toyota Center, 12pm AEDT
Orlando Magic are off to a hot start to the season again with wins in six of eight games to date. They did cop a cruel blow last start however, with former #1 pick Markelle Fultz going down with an ACL, which just adds to the horror run the man has had.
Houston Rockets have had a tricky start to the season with injuries and covid complications, but look like they’ll be able to field a full squad in this one. Our MIP pick in Christian Wood is enjoying a breakout season, while James Harden is doing James Harden things despite looking a touch out of shape.
The Magic are certainly in winning form but they’ll rue the loss of Markell Fultz first up against the Rockets. At full strength and coming off a couple of narrow defeats, we expect the Rockets to fire and deliver a comfortable win on their home deck.
We mentioned how devastating the Fultz injury is, but it should bring Cole Anthony into the starting line-up, which will obviously increase his playing time and output. Anthony is averaging 3.4 assists in limited minutes, but we expect that to sky rocket while being the primary playmaker.
Prop: Anthony O5.5 Assists ($1.93)
Houston Rockets -5.5
$1.90
