On Wednesday nights, typically the busiest night of the week, our NBA experts -- Andre Snellings and Doug Kezirian -- give their best bets for the slate of games.
Lines displayed are from Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of Wednesday morning. As always, shop around for the best price. Chicago Bulls vs. Washington Wizards (-10)
Total: 226 Kezirian: The final week of the NBA regular season can produce some strange games, and this is certainly one of them. Chicago has been hit hard with the injury bug, playing without its top four scorers for the past few games. Kris Dunn may return on Wednesday but he is officially listed as doubtful. The Bulls have had to call up guys from the G League and the results have been exactly what you would expect: They've trailed in all three games by at least 20 points.Robin Lopez has maintained professionalism and the less-heralded players have demonstrated effort but this roster is just over-matched and lacks any offensive flow. Washington has been eliminated from the playoffs but the roster at least has credible NBA talent.
Pick: Wizards -10
Snellings: The entire Bulls starting lineup is injured and out, leaving them starting multiple players that were outside of the NBA during part of this season. They have gone 0-5 with a negative 18.2 point scoring margin in their last five games, including an eight-point loss to the ultra-basement Knicks. The Wizards haven't been great to close the season, going 2-3 with a negative 3.8 scoring margin in their last five games, but they've been competitive even against playoff-level competition like the Nuggets, Jazz and heat during that stretch. Playing at home with Bradley Beal continuing his push to make an All NBA team, the Wizards should win this one convincingly.
Total: 212.5 Snellings: In their last seven road games, dating back to the start of March, the Knicks are 0-7 with a negative 15.3 point scoring margin. They long-since moved into deep rebuild mode, they are essentially guaranteed to have the worst record in the NBA and they're playing almost exclusively rookies and young players that play (marginally) better at home than on the road.
Meanwhile, in their last seven home games dating back to the end of February, the Magic are 7-0 with a plus 14.1 point scoring margin. They are fighting tooth-and-nail to get into the playoffs, are within 1.5 games of the sixth seed but are currently on the outside looking in.
Total: 229 Snellings: The Rockets and Clippers have been two of the hottest teams in the NBA to finish the season. Houston has gone 17-3 with a plus 9.3 scoring margin in their last 20 games, while the Clippers have gone 16-4 with a +5.3 scoring margin. The Rockets are on the second half of a back-to-back and the Clippers are playing at home, but Houston been playing better overall. Two of their losses during that stretch were to the Bucks and Warriors, the top seeds in both conferences, and they have been almost unbeatable against everyone else. With this line hovering around pick-em, I'm going with the team that I expect to win the game outright. Pick: Rockets -1.5 (line was Clippers -1.5 earlier, but I still like Houston)
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Best bets for Wednesday's NBA games 🏀
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