We’ll look to continue our solid form in the NBA with plenty more winners from the big nine-game slate on this Saturday! Catch all of our best spread and player prop bets for free right here.
NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, 15th of January
Phoenix Suns at Indiana Pacers
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 11am AEDT
The Suns managed to outlast the in-form Raptors on the road in their most recent outing, defeating them by four points in what was the perfect bounce-back game after their poor loss to the Heat. The Suns have now won four of their last five games and have jumped back into top spot in the West with their 31-9 record, which is currently the best mark in the league.
The Pacers continued their really poor season with back-to-back losses against the Celtics earlier in the week, making it eight losses from their last nine games. They have had a really tough run with injuries and health and safety protocols in recent weeks, but their poor play was happening a long time before their recent run with bad luck.
The Pacers are expected to field a team on Saturday that is somewhat close to their best line-up, but even then, it’s a really tough ask to expect them to be competitive against the best team in the competition, who also happen to be the best road team. Simply put, we expect the Suns to get the job done on the road and cover the small spread.
Toronto Raptors at Detroit Pistons
Little Caesars Arena, 11am AEDT
The Raptors put in a really good account of themselves last time out against the league-leading Suns, but unfortunately ended up going down by four points on their home deck. That loss put an end to what was an impressive six-game win streak the Raptors had cooked up, which saw them catapulted into the top eight in the East with a very respectable 20-18 record.
The Pistons will be one of many teams looking forward to the All-Star break in a couple of weeks, simply because it will give them a break from all the beatings they’ve been copping, as well as giving their young guys a rest. The Pistons looked extremely lethargic in their most recent outing against the talented Bulls, which they ended up losing by a disgraceful 46 points on the road.
Despite losing their most recent game against the Suns, the Raptors are in fantastic form at the moment and are clearly the better team in this matchup. While having homecourt advantage should give the young Pistons a bit of extra juice on Saturday, we don’t expect it to be enough and are keen to back the Raptors into cover the spread with an easy win.
Toronto Raptors -7.5
$1.97
Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat
FTX Arena, 12pm AEDT
The Hawks flirted with the idea of finding some form when they won two of three games to start off 2022, but they’ve regressed since and have now lost three on the spin, all of which have been by at least 13 points. The Hawks have now lost seven of their last nine games and have slipped to six games below .500 at 17-13, placing them down in 12th spot in the competitive Eastern Conference.
The Heat have played without most of their big guns for a while now, but their fantastic depth has shone through to guide them to wins in each of their last three and eight of their last 10 games. Most impressively, the Heat defeated the league-leading Suns by 23 points on the road two games ago and were able to back it up with a 24-point road win against the Hawks.
The Heat enter this slate as one of the best form teams in the competition at the moment and will be full of confidence ahead of their rematch with the Hawks. While the Hawks are expected to get some of their key troops back on Saturday, it’s hard to see them reversing the result from Thursday’s game, alas, we’ll be on the Heat to get the job done again here.
Player Props
11am Celtics at 76ers – Joel Embiid 29+ Points $1.90 TAB
11am Celtics at 76ers – Jayson Tatum 25+ Points $1.85 Picklebet
11:30am Warriors at Bulls – Zach LaVine 26+ Points $1.91 Picklebet
2pm Mavericks at Grizzlies – Luka Doncic 19+ RA $1.89 Sportsbet
2pm Rockets at Kings – Christian Wood 19+ Points $1.95 Picklebet
2pm Rockets at Kings – De’Aaron Fox 23+ Points $1.93 Picklebet
