NBA Best Bets Today: 3 Road Teams to Back, a Miles Bridges Prop and More

Just like RJ Barrett for the New York Knicks, we’re back with some more NBA Best Bets on Wednesday night!

The New York teams came through for us in yesterday’s edition, and a 13-game slate on Wednesday has plenty of opportunities for us to cash in.

There are three road teams that I love tonight and I’m expecting another track meet in Charlotte between the Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers. 

Let’s get into the six picks for Dec. 8 and try to build on the momentum from Tuesday!

All odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

NBA Best Bets Record to Date

• NBA Best Bets Record: 45-51-1 (-9.433 units)

NBA Best Bets Today

• New York Knicks +5 vs. Indiana Pacers (-110)
• Milwaukee Bucks -6.5 vs. Miami Heat (-110)
• Chicago Bulls +3 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (-110)
• Golden State Warriors -14.5 vs. Portland Trail Blazers (-110)
• Philadelphia 76ers-Charlotte Hornets OVER 216 (-110)
• Miles Bridges OVER 19.5 Points (-115)

New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers: Knicks +5 (-110)

The New York Knicks snapped their three-game losing streak on Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs, and have another chance to get in the win column Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers. 

Indiana reportedly could move Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert and Myles Turner to start a rebuild, so can we trust the Pacers to show up in the rubber match of the season series between these two teams? 

I talked about this in yesterday’s NBA Best Bets column, but the Knicks are a far superior team on the road this season than at Madison Square Garden. New York is 7-4 against the spread on the road (sixth best in the NBA) and has gone 7-4 straight up in those games as well. 

Indiana is one of the NBA’s worst teams against the spread as a favorite, going 4-9-1 ATS in 14 games this season. 

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau switched his lineup last night, moving Mitchell Robinson to the bench, and the big man responded with a double-double in just 22 minutes of action. However, the bigger story for the Knicks is that R.J. Barrett (32 points, career-high seven 3-pointers on Tuesday) seems to have broken out of his month-long shooting slump. 

The Knicks are 6-2 this season when Barrett shoots 50.0 percent or better from the field in a game and 5-2 when he scores 19 or more points. Barrett historically has been great against Indiana, averaging 19.9 points per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from 3. 

Give me New York in this one with Barrett back on track. 

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat: Bucks -6.5 (-110)

The banged-up Miami Heat will host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday as the two teams face off for the second time in five days. 

The Heat will be without Bam Adebayo (thumb surgery), Jimmy Butler (tailbone injury) and Markieff Morris (neck injury) in tonight's contest. With the Heat razor thin in their rotation, who should we back in this game?

Miami started this season as one of the hottest teams in the NBA, but it has come back to earth, sitting at 14-11 on the year. The Heat are also 1-3 since Bam Adebayo injured his thumb, and he’s expected to miss the next four-to-six weeks with the injury. 

In those four games, Miami has lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers by 26, the Bucks by 22, beat the Indiana Pacers by nine, and lost to the Memphis Grizzlies by 15. 

Butler returned for the Grizzlies game, but he aggravated his tailbone injury and won’t play tonight, leavin Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro to carry the offensive load for the Heat. 

I haven't been sold on Miami’s depth all year, and now that the Heat are missing three rotation players I’m going to fade them in this game. Miami’s defensive rating has suffered without Adebayo (111.1 without him, 107.9 with him) and I think the Bucks take advantage of that tonight. 

Milwaukee has won nine of its last 10 games and is looking like one of, if not the best team in the Eastern Conference. 

Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Bulls +3 (-110)

DeMar DeRozan is out for Chicago as he is in the league’s health and safety protocols, but Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball stepped up in a big way to beat the Denver Nuggets earlier this week. 

Now, Chicago is a road dog against Cleveland who has dropped back-to-back tough games against the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks. 

While the Cavs are 18-5-2 against the spread this season (best in the NBA), they have been favored just three times all year, going 2-0-1 ATS in those games. Chicago, on the other hand, is just 5-4 against the spread as an underdog this season, but is still third in the NBA overall at covering the spread.

Cleveland has surprised a lot of people with a strong start, but I’m actually going to go the other way and back the Bulls after this line moved from +2.5 to +3.0. 

Chicago is sixth in the NBA in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating while Cleveland is 19th and fourth in those same metrics. The Bulls’ offense can win them this game, and while losing DeRozan hurts, this team has made due without him or Nikola Vucevic already this season. 

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Golden State Warriors: Warriors -14.5 (-110)

Nothing seems to be going right for the Portland Trail Blazers, as both Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are out of the lineup with injuries. 

Portland has struggled on the road this season, and now it has to face the NBA’s top team, the Golden State Warriors without it’s two best players.

Honestly, this game is pretty cut and dry for me now that Dame and C.J. are out, and I’m not going to overthink this one and expect a rag-tag Blazers team to compete with the Warriors at Chase Center. 

Portland is 1-10 against the spread on the road this season, losing by an average of 11.9 points and has already lost to Golden State 118-103 on the road with both Lillard and McCollum in the lineup. 

This game may get out of hand fast, and considering that the Warriors’ last six wins have all come by 15 or more, I don’t mind backing them at this number. 

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Charlotte Hornets: OVER 216 (-110)

The Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets face off for the second time in three days after the Sixers narrowly took Monday’s game in overtime. 

Charlotte is still without LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Mason Plumlee and Jalen McDaniels due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

Joel Embiid (43 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists) absolutely dominated the short-handed Hornets on Monday, and I’d expect more of the same on Wednesday night. 

Charlotte enters this game allowing the most points per game in the NBA (116.3) and they play at the league’s second fastest pace. This is going to be a track meet, as almost all Hornets games are, and both teams in the top eight in offensive rating, I think the over is the play. 

These teams combined for 238 points prior to overtime in their matchup on Monday, and even without Ball the Hornets have had no problem generating offense, scoring 124 or more points in three straight.

Miles Bridges OVER 19.5 Points (-115)

Miles Bridges has become the de-facto No. 1 option for the Charlotte Hornets on offense with LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier out, and he’s delivered with 22, 32 and 16 points in three games without them. 

While the Sixers held Bridges to just 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting (1-for-6 from 3) on Monday, the usage was still there. Bridges is averaging 20.2 points per game this season and he’s playing in an offense that plays at the second fastest pace in the NBA. 

I think he bounces back in a big way on Wednesday.