Don’t adjust the color on your TV. Yes, the NBA courts tonight are that funky.
It’s Friday, and it’s NBA In-Season Tournament night! Huh? What is that, you ask? Tonight features 11 NBA games with results all counting toward Group Play standings for the first ever NBA In-Season Tournament. Group Play games will continue next week and then 8 teams will advance to the Knock Out stage before moving on to the “Final 4″ in Las Vegas on December 7.
While the games have been enjoyable from a viewership standpoint (Weird courts! Players playing hard! Close games!), sports bettors have enjoyed some more betting options for the early part of the NBA regular season. This includes betting on tournament outcomes such as various Group winners as well as betting on who will win the tournament outright. Moreover, the tournament even has its own MVP which you can bet on!
Before we get jump into the spreads and latest odds, let’s first look at the best sports betting promos available for bettors to use when betting on tonight’s tournament games.
The Best Promos for NBA Betting This Weekend
The following sportsbook promotions are available for new users right now and can be used on tonight’s NBA games as well as football and basketball games throughout the weekend.
- ESPN BET: Bet Anything, Get $250 (click here, then MUST manually enter promo code AJC to get bonus)
- BetMGM: $1500 New Customer Offer (click here to register)
- DraftKings: Bet $5, Get $150 (click here to register)
Tonight’s NBA Schedule
Here are the in-season tournament games scheduled for tonight with spreads from ESPN BET:
| Game | Favorite (Spread) | Points Total |
|---|---|---|
| NY Knicks vs. Washington Wizards | Knicks (-7.5) | O/U 227.5 |
| Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets | Bucks (-7.5) | O/U 238.5 |
| Philadelphia 76ers vs. Atlanta Hawks | Hawks (1.5) | O/U 236.5 |
| Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors | Celtics (-7.5) | O/U 222.5 |
| Sacramento Kings vs. San Antonio Spurs | Kings (-8.5) | O/U 238.5 |
| Detroit Pistons vs. Cleveland Cavaliers | Cavs (-8.5) | O/U 220.5 |
| Orlando Magic vs. Chicago Bulls | Bulls (-1.5) | O/U 215.5 |
| Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans | Nuggets (-5.5) | O/U 224.5 |
| LA Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers | Lakers (-8.5) | O/U 223.5 |
| Phoenix Suns vs. Utah Jazz | Suns (-5.5) | O/U 237.5 |
| Houston Rockets vs. LA Clippers | Clippers (-7.5) | O/U 218.5 |
Interesting Prop Bets For Tonight’s Games
Prop bets are also a fun way to bet on tonight’s NBA in-season tournament games. NBA prop bets typically involve betting on whether or not an individual player hits or fails to hit a certain threshold for a statistical category. These can be points, rebounds, assists, steals, three-point shots made, and more.
What are interesting prop bets for tonight?
I’m a big fan of Houston’s Alperen Sengun who has been playing outstanding basketball. His point total is currently set at 17.5 for tonight’s game across most of the sportsbooks. Sengun has crossed this threshold in 6 of his last 10 games including his last 3.
Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis is coming off a monster game and has his point total set for tonight’s game at 18.5. Sabonis has scored at least 23 points in 3 of his last 4 games including the monster 29-point performance the other night against the Lakers.
Orlando’s Jalen Suggs is a defensive machine. His total for steals + blocks sits at 1.5 tonight, and this is a threshold that Suggs has crossed in 8 of his last 10 games.
On the downside, I’m looking at Anthony Davis who has his point total set for 24.5 points tonight. Davis has failed to score this many points in 4 of his last 5 games, with all 4 of these games less than 20 points. Portland doesn’t have a great defense, so it’s possible that Davis bucks his recent trend and goes over, but I personally like the under.
In-Season Tournament Winner Odds
One of the more interesting areas of NBA betting currently are the in-season tournament outright winner odds. Since this tournament is brand new to the league, the odds have really moved around quite a bit. Here’s a look at the top ten teams according to ESPN BET’s odds the morning of Friday, November 17, 2023. These odds will move after this evening’s games.
| Teams | Odds |
|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | +400 |
| Denver Nuggets | +500 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | +500 |
| LA Lakers | +700 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | +1000 |
| Indiana Pacers | +1400 |
| Miami Heat | +1500 |
| Golden State Warriors | +2000 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | +2000 |
| Phoenix Suns | +2000 |
Boston is healthy and playing great basketball. The path is indeed there. Denver Nuggets might still be the best team in the league, but the injury of Jamal Murray could potentially get in the way. The Minnesota Timberwolves have come on in this young season as one of the best teams. The T-Wolves have a great defense, size, and a star player that can really take over games. Oh, and they’re hungry. I like the T-Wolves at the +1000.
After tonight’s 11 tournament games, we’ll likely start to see this narrow a bit as the picture gets clearer as to what teams we can reasonably expect to move beyond the Group Play stage and advance to the Knock Out round.
Enjoy the games tonight!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not an online gambling operator or gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.
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