With just over three weeks remaining in the regular season, the playoff seedings are well and truly beginning to take shape. With the bottom 3 teams also basically locked in, there shouldn’t be much tanking, giving us an even playing field when trying to handicap things.
On today’s eight-game slate, we look at three of the biggest matches of the day, and run the ruler over teams to find value. Keep reading to find our best NBA bets for the slate below.
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2022-23 NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, March 18th 2023
Golden State Warriors at Atlanta Hawks
State Farm Arena, 10:30am AEDT
The Warriors come into this contest on the back of 9-straight road losses. They currently have the 4th worst road record in the league (7-27), and I’m backing against them again here.
The Hawks have been up and down all year, highlighted by the fact they haven’t won, or lost, 3 or more games in a row since mid-January. It’s tough to make a bet on such a fluctuating team, but I really like the Hawks to get the job done against the Warriors.
I highly doubt this number lasts once Steph Curry is (potentially) ruled out, but with a big game on Sunday against the Grizzlies, I’m confident we won’t see Curry in this game. Added to this, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala have also been ruled out. I’ve got this close to a pick em with those players involved, without I would have the Hawks as two score favourites. Get on.
Atlanta Hawks (-1.5)
$1.91 (3.5 Units)
Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, 10:30am AEDT
I like the Cavs to get the job done here against a Wizards team that is struggling to hold on to a spot in the play-in tournament. Currently in 10th place in the east, the Wizards are right in the mix for the final place in the play-in, but they have Indiana and Chicago breathing down their neck. Given they have a home date with the Kings tomorrow night, the Wizards could well let this game go late if the Cavs do what they do best, and throttle their opponents at home.
The Cavs currently have a tremendous 28-8 home record, and get a nice 3-day break after this matchup, before heading to Brooklyn for a 2-game stand at the Nets. Cleveland is in a relatively comfortable position in 4th, 4 games behind the 76ers and 2.5 ahead of the Knicks, but they won’t want to risk losing that 4th seed, and they should take care of business at home against the Wizards.
Cleveland Cavs (-6)
$1.91 (1.5 Units)
Boston Celtics at Portland Trail Blazers
Moda Center, 1:00pm AEDT
The Celtics have hit a mini slump heading towards the playoffs, going 5-5 in their past 10 games. But now, they really need to start focusing, as the 76ers are just a game behind them for the 2nd seed. It’s looking increasingly likely that the Celtics and 76ers will make up the 2nd and 3rd seeds, with the huge advantage going to the 2 seed if they were to meet in the Conference Semi-Finals, home court advantage. The Celtics need to get back to winning ways, or risk losing that home court in the 2nd round.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers are teetering on the edge of calling it this season, sitting 2.5 games back from 10th placed OKC Thunder. With two other teams in between the Blazers and Thunder, it’s going to take a lot of results to go their way for the Blazers to make the play-in.
There are some big names that are doubtful for this matchup for both teams, with Dame Lillard and Jerami Grant doubtful for the Blazers, whilst the Celtics have Jayson Tatum listed as doubtful. Given this, a small stake for this one, but I believe the Celtics have that little bit more motivation here to get the job done. Celtics to cover.
Boston Celtics (-4)
$1.90 (1 Unit)
