The NBA has a slate of 10 games on Wednesday, April 9, starting at 7:00 p.m. ET and ending at 10:30 p.m. ET. The NBA regular season has less than a week left. Before we know it, it’ll be Play-In time on Tuesday, April 15.
Below, you’ll find my NBA best bets tonight, including the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
These are all Western Conference teams. The Warriors are the No. 6 seed, the Thunder are far and away the No. 1 seed, and the Mavericks are in Play-In range as the No. 10 seed with a 38-41 record.
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NBA Best Bets Today:
- Warriors -16 (-108) at DraftKings Sportsbook
- Lakers ML (-162) at DraftKings Sportsbook
- Thunder -9.5 (-115) at DraftKings Sportsbook
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Warriors -16
Leading off my best bets for the NBA tonight, I’m going with the Warriors -16. I took them yesterday, they covered, and now I’m taking them against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Warriors injury report lists Gary Payton II and Quinten Post as day-to-day, while Jeremy Sochan of the Spurs is day-to-day with a back injury.
Over their last 10 games, the Spurs are 2-8, while the Warriors are 7-3. The Spurs remain the No. 13 seed, while the Warriors are the No. 6. They have the same record as the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, who are the No. 5 and No. 4 seeds in the Western Conference, respectively.
Both teams have a record under .500 in their current situations—the Spurs as a road underdog and the Warriors as a home favorite.
I just can’t support the Spurs right now. They did cover against the Clippers on the road yesterday, but they also shot 52.9% from the floor, which was more than 9% higher than their 3-game average before yesterday. They also shot a lot better from 3-point range.
Their defense allowed the Clippers to shoot 51.6% from the floor and 46.7% from the 3-point range.
Those shooting numbers against a team like the Warriors, with Steph Curry and Jeremy Butler, simply don’t bode well.
The Warriors were in a similar situation yesterday against the Phoenix Suns and beat them by nearly 40.
Also, the Warriors are 7-6 against the spread with no rest, while the Spurs are 6-9.
We also must consider that the Spurs allowed those numbers against a Clippers team without Kawhi Leonard, as he was out for rest.
I expect a blowout.
Lakers ML
The Lakers are coming off a brutal 136-120 loss on the road to the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were without Rui Hachimura and Bronny James. They’re also without Maxi Kleber, who is dealing with a foot injury.
Now, they’re taking on the Mavericks, and we’ll see Luka Doncic play against his previous team once again.
The Mavericks are dealing with a number of injuries. Kyrie Irving and Olivier-Maxence Prosper are out for the season, Anthony Davis is probable with a groin injury, and Jaden Hardy and Dante Exum have been ruled out.
The Lakers are just 5-5 over their last 10, but they’ve won four of their last six.
They’re coming off no rest, but the Lakers have been fairly good against the spread in these situations, going 8-5 this season against the number.
As for the Mavericks, they’re 5-5 against the spread when they have 2-3 days of rest.
Also, over their last three games, the Mavericks have allowed 122.3 points (sixth) per game, and teams are shooting 49.6% (sixth) from the floor and 41.2% from 3-point range (sixth).
Don’t get me wrong, the Lakers aren’t a world-beater defense, hence why I’m sticking with the moneyline, but I think they’ll get it done against the Mavericks on the road.
If you wanted to take the number at -3.5, I’d be OK with it, especially if you think Davis will sit for Dallas.
Thunder -9.5
The Thunder are a team that feels like an easy against-the-spread pick every night out. This season, they’re 50-26-4 against the spread. That’s a 65.8% cover rate, 5.5% better than the next best team, Toronto, at 47-31-1 (60.3%).
Now, they’re taking on a Suns team on the road that just lost by nearly 40 to the Warriors.
The Suns allowed the Warriors to shoot 48.4% from the floor. They did limit them to just 15 of 40 from 3-point range (37.5%), but they made 28 of 34 free throws.
They still allow teams to shoot 38.3% from 3-point range over their last three games.
It’s unclear if Durant will play. He didn’t yesterday, and he’s still day-to-day with an ankle injury.
The Suns are 9-16-1 as a home favorite, and their defense will have to contain a Thunder offense that’s averaging 39.4% from 3-point range over their last three games.
The Thunder just beat the brakes off the Lakers, putting up 136 points.
This could be a trap, but 10 points seems more than doable against this Suns squad.
The Thunder have a lengthy injury report with Ousmane Dieng, Alex Ducas, Nikola Topic, Ajay Mitchell, and Jaylin Williams out, but still, take them -9.5.
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