NBA weekend betting preview: Fade Magic after deadline deals
There's nothing quite like betting the NBA after one of the busiest trade deadlines in recent memory. Eighteen of the 22 teams in action Friday made at least one deal at the deadline, which makes for plenty of value opportunities if you know where to look.
Here are a few of my favorite plays this weekend:
Trail Blazers (-9, 217.5) @ Magic
March 26, 8 p.m. ET
No matchup has been affected more by Thursday's trade deadline than this one, which features one team that improved its roster and another that sold the farm.
The Magic were already one of the three-worst clubs by net rating (minus-6.6) entering this matchup, and that was before shipping out arguably their three best players - Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier - in a flurry of Thursday deals. With Terrence Ross nursing a knee injury, Orlando could be without a 10-point-per-game scorer on the court.
The opposite is true for the Trail Blazers, who added Norman Powell to a group already led by elite scorers Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Powell might not suit up in this one, though injured big Jusuf Nurkic is expected to make his return Friday, which is the cherry on top of an already lopsided matchup.
Pick: Trail Blazers -9
Rockets @ Timberwolves (-4, 229.5)
March 26, 8 p.m.
As if you didn't have enough fuel to fade the Rockets, they're even worse now than they were a day ago - and they were already the worst team in the league over the past two months.
Houston has dropped 19 of its last 22 games against the spread after Wednesday's 25-point loss to a Hornets team without emerging star LaMelo Ball. That was before the Rockets dealt Victor Oladipo - their second-leading scorer behind Christian Wood - to the Heat for a historically bad return.
The Timberwolves haven't been great ATS this season, but they're laying a handful of points against a dreadful opponent that has to adapt on the fly without its best perimeter scorer. Give me Minnesota all day.
Pick: Timberwolves -4
76ers @ Clippers (N/A)
March 27, 10 p.m.
Two of the best defenses in the league meet Saturday in a game that should have under bettors on high alert.
The 76ers were already an elite defensive team before Joel Embiid's injury, posting the league's third-best defensive rating (108.1) through March 12. Surprisingly, in his absence, they've been even better - holding teams to a paltry 99.2 points per 100 possessions with a 6-1 ATS record and 6-1 mark to the under.
The Clippers are 4-2 to the under in their last six games and held three of those opponents to fewer than 100 points, including the Spurs (85 points) in Los Angeles' win at San Antonio on Thursday. This game likely won't dip that low but expect a low-scoring affair nonetheless.
Pick: Under (210 or less)
Hawks @ Nuggets (N/A)
March 28, 9 p.m.
How good will the Nuggets be with Aaron Gordon in the lineup? Without him, they've lost three of their last four games ATS following Wednesday's 24-point blowout loss to the Raptors, whose small-ball lineup had its way with Denver's defense.
Gordon helps immensely in that department, and he'll be put to work right away against the floor-spacing Hawks, winners of eight of their last 10 games. They had the benefit of a soft schedule for many of those wins, though, and I suspect they'll face a tough task in what will likely be Gordon's first game with his new team.
Pick: Nuggets (-4.5 or better)
(Odds source: theScore Bet)
C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.