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NBA Betting Picks for Wednesday 11/22/23: Will the Heat or Cavaliers Stay Red-Hot?

Riley Thomas
Riley Thomas•_riley8

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NBA Betting Picks for Wednesday 11/22/23: Will the Heat or Cavaliers Stay Red-Hot?

The 82-game NBA regular season offers us a wide variety of betting options, including point spreads, moneylines, and totals. The Association features 1,230 regular season games, which can make sifting through the odds an overwhelming task.

However, various advanced statistics can help narrow the choices. numberFire's NBA power rankings and daily projections paired with advanced stats from the NBA can help give the inside track to winning big.

While utilizing some of the mentioned tools, which NBA odds from FanDuel Sportsbook look like the best bets today?

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

NBA Best Bets

Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns

Over 231.5 (-110)

With no NBA games taking place on Thanksgiving, tonight features a loaded slate with 14 matchups. ESPN's doubleheader ends with the Golden State Warriors against the Phoenix Suns, which is headlined by Kevin Durant taking on his former team.

Since Devin Booker returned from injury on November 15th, the Suns have been a buzzsaw on offense, averaging 131.0 points per game (PPG) over the last four games. Booker is averaging 27.3 PPG while shooting from 46.2% field goal percentage (FG%). Durant has continued to light it up with 34.8 PPG and a blistering 62.4 FG% over his previous four games.

Phoenix now has the seventh-best offensive rating while averaging 117.3 PPG (seventh). The Warriors have the 15th-best defensive rating, but they are still without Draymond Green. Booker will likely match up with Klay Thompson, who has a 118.3 defensive rating, and Durant could face Jonathan Kuminga (114.1 defensive rating). The Suns' stars could keep rolling, leading to plenty of points.

Additionally, Phoenix has allowed 121.8 PPG over the last four games. The Utah Jazz found success over two games with 132.5 PPG while shooting 41.0 threes per contest -- a much higher mark than the Suns' season average of 33.1 three-point attempts allowed per game. This could be the blueprint for Golden State.

Of course, the Warriors are known for the three, totaling 39.9 attempts per game (fifth). Stephen Curry is averaging 28.5 PPG while shooting 50.0% from beyond the arc in his previous two games since returning from injury.

With Phoenix's star players drawing favorable matchups and Golden State's ability to shoot the three, give me the over.

Miami Heat at Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavaliers Moneyline (+140)

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without Donovan Mitchell for two consecutive games (hamstring), and he's expected to be absent for tonight's game. Mitchell leads the team with 29.2 PPG and a 32.0% usage rate. Surely, this has left Cleveland dead in the water, right?

Not so fast. The Cavaliers have gotten red-hot, winning four consecutive games. The last two wins were over the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers -- not too shabby. Cleveland has another tough task tonight against the Miami Heat, who is 8-1 over their last nine games.

Who will cool off with a loss in Wednesday's collision? Despite the Cavs' injuries, which also includes Caris LeVert's questionable status (knee), they could still be a good moneyline pick (+140).

Darius Garland returned from injury on November 17 and has averaged 28.7 PPG while shooting 50.0% from the field and 40.0% from three in his last three appearances. LeVert did not play in the last game either. When Mitchell and LeVert are not on the court, Garland's usage rate spikes to 33.2%.

The one-time All-Star can expect another large workload. Miami's defense could be a favorable matchup, for their starting backcourt of Kyle Lowry (110.8 rating) and Duncan Robinson (113.5 rating) have defensive ratings of over 110.0.

Evan Mobley, who comes off back-to-back 18-point games, could also be poised for a big game against the undersized opponent. He should regularly face up with 6-foot-5 defenders, such as Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith. Cleveland's 6-foot-11 power forward could be a major scoring threat alongside Garland.

The Heat also play a similar style to Cleveland with the 8th-slowest pace (Cavs are the 13th-slowest). The Cavaliers also have the defense to slow Miami. The Heat have the 12th-worst effective field goal percentage (eFG%), and Cleveland has the 6th-best mark in opponent eFG%.

Ultimately, the Cavs' offense seems to match up well with Miami and could be in store for a nice scoring total. On the other side of the court, Cleveland has a quality defense that is capable of carrying the weight in a low-scoring affair. Considering the odds, I'm all in on the Cavaliers moneyline.


Looking for the latest NBA odds? Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook and check out all of the NBA betting options.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.

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