Top NBA Betting Picks for Friday, May 14
I’ll be honest — tonight’s betting slate is ugly, as meaningless basketball abounds. As a result, you should keep a close eye on injury reports and keep your unit size small. You don’t want to burn through your bankroll right before the playoffs, after all.
Here are the top NBA betting plays for Friday, May 14, provided by BettingPros experts Raju Byfield and Isaiah Sirois (Main game odds courtesy BettingPros Consensus; lock and prop odds sites may vary):
Check out our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for the top bets of the day >>
Betting Lock of the Day
Sirois: Wizards -8.5 (-110 at FD Sportsbook)
Here’s a tip — don’t bet on meaningless basketball. The Wizards are still fighting to lock themselves into the NBA’s play-in tournament, and they’ll want to right the ship after back-to-back losses against the Hawks. They’ll play a tanking Cavaliers squad without multiple playmakers. Although the Cavs just took down the banged-up Celtics on Wednesday, before that win, they hadn’t kept a game to within nine points since their April 28th matchup with the Magic. These teams have met twice this season, and Washington won both games by at least nine points. They should do so again with their season on the line.
Top Game Prop of the Day
Sirois: Clippers Over 118.5 (-115 at FD Sportsbook)
Late-season basketball can get weird, and that’s created a fun trend for totals bettors: in their last ten games, Houston’s opponents are averaging 127.8 points per game! That’s well above this total. Now, the smart bettor may ask, “Well, were they just facing fast-paced, efficient offenses?†No. That streak includes two of the NBA’s slowest offenses (Denver — 129 points and New York — 122). The Clippers may rank as the NBA’s second-slowest team, but they’re ahead of the Knicks, and they rank second-best in offensive efficiency. It’s worth noting that the Clippers may rest Paul George or Kawhi Leonard tonight, so I recommend that you wait for the final injury report before taking the over.
Top Player Prop of the Day
Sirois: Jarrett Allen Over 10.5 Rebounds (+100 at FD Sportsbook)
I don’t understand this line at all, so it’s my plus-money prop lock of the day. Allen hasn’t seen his minutes scaled back despite the Cavaliers not playing meaningful basketball, and he has averaged exactly 10 rebounds per game since his return to the lineup in mid-Apri. He has played the Wizards twice since then, and he beat this total in both games, recording 12 rebounds in the first matchup and 11 in the second. Washington surrenders the fourth-most rebounds per game to centers (16.1), and Clint Capela just totaled 33 rebounds against them across their last two games.
Check out our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for the top bets of the day >>
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