NBA Expert Picks: Pacers To Continue Hot Streak Over Bucks

Regular basketball bettors should have a clearer understanding of ongoing trends, who's hot and not, and where to get the most bang for their buck as 2023 soon draws to a close. 

For the first expert picks of 2024, here are four bets you should consider when putting money down on Wednesday, January 3, 2023.

Last week's results: december 27, 2023 (2-2)

NBA Expert Picks: Game Lines

All NBA odds come courtesy of our various sportsbooks.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers ML

Pick: Indiana Pacers ML +132

The Milwaukee Bucks possess the stronger overall record, but the Indiana Pacers are the hotter side with a recent history of wins over their opposition on Wednesday.

Along with the In-Season Tournament win, the Pacers have taken three of four meetings with the Bucks in 2023-24, including on New Year's Day on Milwaukee's home floor by nine points. 

It's difficult taking both games of a home and home, yet Indiana somewhat has the Bucks' number and that matters for something. The Pacers are also in the midst of a four-game winning streak SU while Milwaukee has split its last four games SU after stringing together seven consecutive victories. 

Detroit Pistons vs. Utah Jazz ATS

Pick: Utah Jazz ATS -9

Ending their historic losing streak before the end of the calendar year didn't solve anything for the Detroit Pistons, who followed up their third victory with a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Utah Jazz knocked off the Pistons by eight points on December 21 at Little Caesars Arena without the services of several key players, including leading scorer Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson, who just recently ended the longest triple-double drought in franchise history.

Utah is a perfect 6-0 ATS in its last six games, and winners of five of six SU. 

Bradley Beal Points vs. Los Angeles Clippers 

Pick: Bradley Beal OVER 20.5 Points

Get your Bradley Beal bets in while you can since it's a crapshoot as far as how much he'll play and how healthy he can be moving forward for the Phoenix Suns.

The three-time All-Star has scored at least 20 points in two of his three appearances since returning to the Suns' lineup following a five-game absence due to injury. Those performances coincide with Kevin Durant being sidelined with a nagging hamstring. 

Teammate Devin Booker will soak up a good chunk of attention from the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, which could create an opening for another 20-point night for Beal. They'll need every last bucket against the Los Angeles Clippers' ninth-ranked defense.

Immanuel Quickley points vs. memphis grizzlies

Pick: Immanuel Quickley To Score 20+ Points vs. Memphis Grizzlies

There have been eight instances this season while with the New York Knicks when Immanuel Quickley dropped 20 or more points in a game, starting in none of those outings and needing at least 30 minutes of action only once. 

Quickley's debut with the Toronto Raptors on Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers was marred by foul trouble, forcing him to sit for significant stretches. Even so, the 24-year-old guard still had 14 points on less than 40% shooting across roughly 29 minutes.

The Memphis Grizzlies are a respectable 13th in the Association in team defense, but they're playing on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday while the Raptors have a full day of rest. The backcourt of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane can be beat off the dribble, as Memphis' bread and butter defensively comes from its frontcourt and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the middle.

More Free NBA Picks and Prop Tools

After you’ve checked out our How To Bet NBA page, you should be ready for some of our more complex basketball betting analysis. We’ve got NBA power rankings, referee handicapping and even NBA computer picks if you’re trying to keep things nice and simple. 

NBA Picks and Prop fAQs

Let’s go through some frequently asked questions.

What is an NBA prop bet?

During the NBA season, you’ll see prop bets. In sports betting, props (short for proposition) are wagers on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain events or highlights that may not directly correlate to the outcome of the game. 

A prop usually centers around the total points, assists, rebounds, turnovers, etc. that a player might produce during a game. The books will set an OVER/UNDER total for each prop bet and bettors would wager whether a player’s production goes OVER or UNDER the set total. 

What is a spread bet?

Like with NFL betting, when two NBA teams aren’t evenly matched, the point spread gives NBA bettors an alternative to picking one team to win over the other. The dog is given an advantage before the game starts, and the favorite is put at a disadvantage. Odds would look something like this:

In this scenario, the Kings would need to either win the game outright or lose by 17 points or less. As for the Warriors, they would need to win the game by 18 or more.

When you make this type of bet, you are choosing a team to cover the spread. You’ll often see ATS in association with this kind of bet. This means “against the spread.”

Spreads for an NBA game will typically be more than five (5) points since basketball is such a high-scoring sport. There will be times when the spread won’t have the decimal (.5) and you would see a whole number.

What is combined score betting?

To make a totals bet, you would wager on whether the combined final score will go OVER or UNDER a set number of points. If the New Orleans Pelicans are facing off against the Houston Rockets, the odds would appear like so:

If you take the OVER, it means you need the total points to be more than 220 to win your bet. If you take the UNDER, you need the collective score to be 219 or less to win your wager. PUSHES can also happen in OVER/UNDER betting if the shared points hit the exact number set by the oddsmakers.