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John Brubaker's top NBA betting picks and best bets for today's NBA games on 12/2/23. His free picks against the spread, teasers, parlays, and NBA player props.
Happy December, RotoBallers! Another day, another dollar in the NBA and we have a solid ten-game slate worth of NBA action on Saturday night. We have some fun matchups tonight, though, with some surprising storylines to monitor.
We have ourselves a handful of teams coming into tonight's slate on a back-to-back; as the Magic, Pelicans, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Suns, and Nuggets suit up for the second consecutive evening.
In this article, I'll be providing my favorite picks against the spread, game totals, parlays, and teasers for the first full NBA slate of the season that tips off at 4:00 PM EST on Saturday, December 2.
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NBA Betting Picks: Totals
Cleveland Cavaliers (-8) @ Detroit Pistons (225 total)
I'll start things off in Detroit. Neither of these teams took to the hardwood last night, with both of these teams coming off of a loss on Thursday night. It was the proverbial "cherry on top" of the Pistons' brutal November, as they went through the entire month without winning a game.
While we won't be betting against them on the money line or spread tonight, we will be betting on them to finish this game under their team total. They average just 109.6 points per game this season and 108.6 points per game at home. They're also due for some offensive regression in this one, taking on a Cleveland defense that ranks eighth in defensive efficiency (109.1). Detroit projects to an offensive efficiency of 103.94, 2.36 under their season efficiency of 106.3, which ranks 27th in the association.
The Pick: DET Team Total Under 108.5 (-110, FanDuel)
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NBA Betting Picks: ML and Spreads
Indiana Pacers (+3.5) @ Miami Heat (241 total)
I'll head south to Vice City as the Pacers and Heat square off in a Saturday showdown in a rematch of Thursday night's showdown. Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers have been a high-paced, fun team to watch this season. While entertaining, this hasn't delivered too much as far as wins go, as they come into this game just one game over .500 (9-8).
It's seemingly been the textbook definition of an up-and-down season for Miami in 2023 so far. After starting 1-4, the Heat ripped off a seven-game heater to start November, then finished the month losing four of their last seven. They did beat Indiana on Thursday, though, with Jimmy Butler going for 36 points and 11 rebounds en route to a 142-132 victory.
Miami projects to positive regression on the offensive side of the ball tonight against Indiana's 30th-ranked 118 defensive efficiency. I think that'll be enough to get them the victory here. I'll back them on a relatively cheap money line.
The pick: Pelicans ML (-142, DraftKings Sportsbook)
Favorite ML Parlay: NO + MIA + OKC (+340, FD)
Favorite Teaser: POR +8.5 + HOU/LAL u227 (-110, FD)
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