NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions: Wednesday (4/9)
Tonight’s game between the Lakers and Mavericks has been circled on the calendar ever since Luka Doncic was traded for Anthony Davis before the NBA trade deadline.
I’ll dive deeper into that game and one other and provide two NBA best bets for tonight’s slate. Check it out below.
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Wednesday’s Best NBA Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks will welcome the Los Angeles Lakers to American Airlines Arena for the first time since Luka Doncic was traded. Doncic will get a nice reception. But after that reception, the Mavericks will mean business.
Ultimately, the Lakers are already coming off a loss against the Thunder yesterday. The Lakers hung around the Thunder until Doncic was ejected for talking smack to a fan. After Doncic left, the Lakers lost themselves and ended up losing by 16 points. Doncic is going to hear it from fans in Dallas tonight. He’s got to keep his cool, even if the refs were a bit soft yesterday.
The Lakers have scored 116.4 points per 100 possessions. The offense should be able to limit turnovers against the Mavericks. However, the big key is if the Lakers can take advantage of Dallas’ inability to rebound on the defensive glass. The Mavericks have allowed 29.5% of offensive rebounds, but the Lakers have only allowed 25.8% of offensive rebounds.
On the other hand, Dallas isn’t much better on the offensive glass. However, turnovers should also be down for the Mavericks. Dallas has nailed a 55.2% effective field goal percentage and has earned a top-five free-throw rate, just like the Lakers.
These two teams match up very well on paper. This should be a tight game. Therefore, the Mavericks +3.5 at home is calling my name.
Pick: Mavericks +3.5 (-110)
Denver Nuggets vs. Sacramento Kings
The Denver Nuggets fired Michael Malone, an NBA champion head coach, just a week before the NBA Playoffs. While the Nuggets certainly underachieved this year, this firing came out of nowhere. It was suggested Malone was too easy on Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and didn’t play younger guys, for example, instead of Russell Westbrook.
The Nuggets will make David Adelman the interim head coach. He’s been with the team as an assistant since 2017. Depending on how the Nuggets play, he could earn the actual position by the end of the year.
While change this late in the season stinks, it sounds like most Nuggets players are happy with this decision. This could help them play better down the stretch. After all, the Nuggets rank second in the NBA in effective field goal percentage and will play a Kings defense ranked 27th. The Nuggets should be able to keep turnovers down and hit a bunch of quality looks throughout this game. You can also expect the Nuggets to get to the foul line at a high rate, especially since the Kings rank 22nd in defensive free-throw rate.
On the other hand, the Nuggets haven’t been nearly as good defensively. They won’t force many turnovers in this game. However, Denver is much better at limiting teams from getting to the foul line. In addition, the Kings are not even close to as good of an offense, shooting an effective field goal percentage of 54.8%.
Therefore, let’s back the Nuggets at -3.5 on the road.
Pick: Nuggets -3.5 (-110)