Today's NBA Best Bets - Wednesday, December 8th
Oklahoma City Thunder (7-16) @ Toronto Raptors (11-13)
Wednesday, December 8th at 7:40 PM EST
Thunder +7.5 (-110)/+280 MLRaptors -7.5 (-110)/-350 ML
Pick 1: Raptors -7.5
The Raptors come into this game riding a two-game win streak, where they picked up two upset home wins against the Bucks and the Wizards. They’ll try to keep this win streak going tonight in their matchup against the Thunder, who have only won one of their last nine. The Thunder have the worst scoring offense in the entire league, and they should have a tough go at it tonight facing off against this Raptors’ defense that has allowed the ninth fewest points in the NBA. The Raptors’ Defense has been particularly shut down recently, allowing only 90 points in their last three games. Luckily for the Thunder, The Raptors’ offense hasn’t been the strongest this season either–scoring only 104.8 points per game, which is only six more points than the Thunder average.
Pick 2: Shai Gilgeous Alexander Over 21.5 Points (-115)
A silver lining for this Thunder team comes in the performance of star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is coming off of his second 30+ point game of the year, en route to a 21.6 PPG average. He’ll be matching up against Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, who has allowed an average of 31.7 points in the paint per game, and has accrued a defensive rating of 105.8, which plants him in the bottom half of the league.
Pick 3: Gary Trent Jr Over 2.5 Three-Pointers (-110)
The Thunder have one of the worst perimeter defenses in the league, allowing their opponents to shoot almost 40% from behind the arc. Gary Trent Jr has made over 2.5 threes in four of his last seven games and should be looking to exploit this shaky Thunder defense.
Brooklyn Nets (17-7) @ Houston Rockets (7-16)
Wednesday, December 8th at 8:10 PM EST
Nets -2.5 (-110)/-140 MLRockets +2.5 (-110)/+115 ML
Pick 1: Rockets ML (+115)
If you haven’t been following the NBA for the past two weeks, you might think this line is busted–but seeing as how the Rockets are amidst their hottest stretch of play of the season, the Nets will have to bring their A-game if they want to leave Houston with a dub. The Rockets come into this game riding a 6-game winning streak, winning five of those six at home. The Nets, who remain a playoff and NBA championship contender, are definitely their toughest opponent in that stretch, coming in winning seven of their last 10 and only losing twice on the road all season. With the Nets missing KD and LaMarcus Aldridge due to rest time, as well as Joe Harris due to injury, it’ll be up to James Harden to ruin this Rocket’s win-streak in his return to Houston.
Traditionally, the Rockets have one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the league–however, in their past six games they’ve scored an average of 117.5 points, which would rank them atop the entire league if they were able to produce like that every night. The Nets come into this game losing their last two, so I’ll be riding with the hot underdog in this one.
Pick 2: James Harden Over 29.5 Points (-110)
In the one game that KD sat out so far this year, Harden absolutely balled out, scoring 36 points on just 7-25 shooting–but he was able to make it to the line effortlessly all night which resulted in 19 points from free throws. Houston commits the 9th most fouls per game in the league, and seeing as how Harden will be the main source of offense for the Nets tonight, he may be going to the line a lot.
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