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The NBA gets rather busy on Wednesday night, with a fully loaded 11-game slate hitting the hardwood. The stars all come out for this one, as Russell Westbrook, James Harden and many more look to get wins in the middle of the week.
With such a heavy slate, there are bound to be some killer NBA betting opportunities. Per usual, one of the best areas to target are odd upset picks that could possibly be exploited. We took a look at tonight’s NBA schedule and came away with four potential underdog picks you may want to consider betting on:
Toronto Raptors (+4) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (-4)
OKC comes into the night as -4 favorites at home against the 4-2 Toronto Raptors, a place where they haven’t lost yet this year (4-0). This could be a tough spot for Russell Westbrook and co., however, as Toronto has them beat on the defensive end and may be able to match them offensively, as well.
It can’t help that Westbrook is what makes the Thunder’s offense go, and he’ll surely be followed all night be solid point guard stopper, Kyle Lowry. This game is going to hang heavily on who can dictate the pace, as well as the status of star center Jonas Valanciunas. If Jonas V sits, the Raptors could have some trouble defensively, especially at protecting the rim and getting rebounds.
Regardless, we expect a close, hard-fought game and will take Toronto to beat the spread.
Pick: Thunder 104, Raptors 101
Houston Rockets (8+) @ San Antonio Spurs (-8)
The battle for first in the Southwest Division starts tonight, as the Rockets hit up San Antonio for their first clash of the year with the Spurs. James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are both worthy MVP candidates, but it will be very interesting to see what prevails: the Spurs elite defense (allowing just over 97 points per game), or Houston’s high-flying offense (108 points per game).
It might not even be as simple as that, as Harden is running the point so well that no defense has really had much of an impact on him. San Antonio will want to glue Kawhi to Harden in this one, but even if they do, it might not keep the Rockets from making this a game. Houston coming in and handing San Antonio their second home loss of the young season feels like a reach, but they’ll make the Spurs run and at least hang around in this one.
Pick: Spurs 108, Rockets 104
Portland Trail Blazers (+10) @ Los Angeles Clippers (-10)
Portland and L.A. do not like each other and when two rivals clash, anything goes. That wasn’t quite the case when they met up earlier this year, when we got about three good quarters of action before the Clippers pulled away with a win. That was in Portland, too, while this showdown drops down in the Staples Center, where the Clips are 3-1 on the year.
Los Angeles has looked like a true title contender in the early going, thanks to a strong offense and the league’s best defense (allowing just 89 points per game!). Still, the first meeting was fairly hard fought and only decided by eight points. With Damian Lillard and co. naturally wanting a little revenge, we need to make some room for a great back and forth contest tonight.
Look for Portland to give the Clips a solid fight and beat the spread.
Pick: Clippers 107, Blazers 102
Philadelphia 76ers (+11.5) @ Indiana Pacers (-11.5)
This is our first true upset pick of the night. It’s understandably safer to just pick the Sixers to beat the spread here, but the Pacers have a lot of issues they need to iron out and this feels like a fantastic spot to target Philly’s first win of the young season.
The Sixers still don’t defend and they won’t have Joel Embiid (rest) in this one, but Indy has even worse defensively (yep, it’s possible), giving up an astonishing 113 points per contest. Paul George isn’t playing elite ball, Rodney Stuckey is hurt and newcomers Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young have struggled with their consistency in their new surroundings.
We can safely expect the Pacers to put up a fight at home against probably the worst team in the league, but their defense and chemistry is just so bad right now. They’ll figure it out eventually, but it may take a bad loss to the Sixers before they wake up.
Pick: Sixers 104, Pacers 101
