14.11.2022

NBA Best Bets November 14th

The NBA season rolls on with another week and a seven-game slate for tonight’s action. We’ll be focusing on two of those games in specific based on the betting value they provide.

Best Bet #1: Orlando Magic (-1.5)

After a slow start to the season, the Orlando Magic have now won two games in a row and will be hosting a Charlotte Hornets team on an eight-game losing streak. Orlando is currently favored by -1.5 and is who I’ll be taking for my first best bet of the night.

The 3-11 Hornets are struggling on both sides of the floor, entering tonight they are 28th in offensive rating and 18th in defensive rating. Up until their last game, Charlotte had been without star player Lamelo Ball but even in his return the Hornets let up 132 points and lost by 17. The resurgence of Dennis Smith Jr. had been the only good story out of Charlotte but the Hornets will be without both him and Gordon Hayward for tonight’s game.

Orlando has won two straight games against good opponents without star player Paolo Banchero and he might be available to return to the line-up for tonight’s game. Franz Wagner and Wendall Carter have come up big for the Magic all season but especially in the last two games. Defensively this team has taken a big step forward as well recently becoming the first team to hold Luka Doncic under 30 points this season.

The Magic have a lot of young pieces so a slow start was unsurprising but this team seems to be clicking a bit now. As for their opponent, there’s a saying that goes “you can’t get rich betting against Alabama football” well I’m here to tell say you can get rich (or at least make a profit) betting against the Charlotte Hornets like we are tonight.

Best Bet #2: Thunder @ Celtics Over 229.5

Two of the most profitable over teams face off tonight in Boston so it’s only right the second best bet of the night is over 229.5. The Celtics have won six straight games and during that winning streak, they have only scored below 117 points one time. Meanwhile, the Thunder enter tonight fresh off a win against the Knicks, a game in which they scored 145 points and allowed 135.

The Celtics have the best offensive rating in the entire league and right now Jayson Tatum has been scoring at an MVP-caliber level. Outside of Tatum, the entire team has also been scoring at an incredibly high level especially Jaylen Brown. Boston will face a Thunder team allowing an average of 115.5 points per game and be without Darius Bazley who is one of their better defenders.

Despite being in first place the Celtics are 22nd in the league in defensive rating which is good news for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey who have been on fire as of late. SGA is averaging 31.08 points a game this season and playing a Celtics team tonight without Malcolm Brogdon so there is potential for another big scoring game from him. The Celtics are the much better team but I’m expecting offensive fireworks tonight regardless.