We’re nearing the end of the 2024-25 NBA season. I’ll continue giving out NBA best bets and player props here as often as possible, and I’ll also occasionally write up features on big news that shakes up the league. So, make sure you check out my work throughout the season. With that out of the way, let’s get into some NBA best bets and NBA player props for Friday, March 28th. Also, make sure you check out the picks page (linked right below) before games tip off. I occasionally add picks throughout the day.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on March 28th
NBA Best Bets Today – March 28th
Los Angeles Clippers at Brooklyn Nets – 7:30 pm ET
The Clippers have been playing some incredible basketball lately, and there’s a good argument to be made that they’re the second-best team in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has rattled off nine wins in its last 11 games, and the team has also covered in nine of its last 11. It helps that Kawhi Leonard is healthy and looking like Kawhi Leonard again. James Harden also happens to be aging incredibly well for a guy that is consistently body-shamed. Despite all of that, it’s hard to go into Brooklyn and beat up on this Nets team. Brooklyn is 14-13-1 against the spread as a home underdog this season, and the team is also 16-12-1 ATS overall as an underdog of 10 or more points. On top of that, the Nets are 5-3-1 ATS when playing a team that beat them by 20 or more earlier in the season.
Jordi Fernandez has just proven to be one of the best coaches in the NBA, and he has done a great job of getting his team prepared when he has most of his rotation players at his disposal. Well, looking at the injury report for tonight, Brooklyn should only be without Cam Thomas. That’s obviously a big loss for the Nets, as he’s a threat to score 25 whenever he’s out there. But it’s more important that Brooklyn will have Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton out there, as well as some of the other pieces that play hard on both ends of the floor. As long as some of the two-way contributors are playing, it’s hard not to like this Nets team to avoid a double-digit loss.
We should also see some more fire than usual from Brooklyn, as the team has lost three consecutive games by 15 or more points. This team has too much pride to turn in another dud, even if everybody in the world believes the Nets are tanking.
Bet: Nets +12.5 (-115)
NBA Player Props Today – March 28th
Phoenix Suns at Minnesota Timberwolves – 8:00 pm ET
With the help of our VSiN NBA Prop Bet Analyzer, I had a lot of success pretty much auto-playing Jaden McDaniels to go Over his PRA totals for two or three weeks. Well, McDaniels has cooled off a little lately. Over the last three games, he’s averaging just 9.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Now, his PRA total has come down from 22.5 to 19.5, and I’m buying the dip. I know things have gotten really ugly for McDaniels here, but it won’t take much for him to snap back into it. Well, why can’t he do that against the Suns? This season, McDaniels is averaging 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game against Phoenix. That’s 21.0 points, rebounds and assists per game. I also don’t think we’re going to see McDaniels playing fewer than 30 minutes here, which is what has happened in three straight games. The Timberwolves swept the Suns in the postseason last year, with McDaniels’ size and athleticism defending the wing being something that really threw Phoenix off. And as long as McDaniels’ minutes are there, he’ll reach 20 combined points, rebounds and assists more often than not.
Bet: McDaniels Over 19.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-120)
Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets – 9:00 pm ET
Cody Williams is playing 22.7 minutes per game in March, and he comes into this game after having played at least 28 minutes in two of his last five contests. At this point, the Jazz aren’t doing the greatest job of hiding the fact that they’re tanking. That’s why they’re 17.5-point underdogs in Denver this evening. But with Williams already seeing big minutes, and Utah potentially on the verge of getting blown out, this feels like a good time to take a shot on somebody to thrive in extended garbage time. Why not go with Williams? The Jazz wing has had a very rough rookie season, showing that he’s further away than people thought heading into the draft. But Utah definitely wants to get him some significant reps moving forward, and this is the perfect game to do it. Williams has also had at least six points on six different occasions this month, so it’s not like we’re asking the world of him. However, at +320 odds, I also think it’s worth a sprinkle on Williams to have at least 10 points. I just don’t think it’s crazy to expect him to play 30 or more minutes in a lopsided affair. And the last time he played more than 30 minutes was back on March 5th, when he had 12 points against the Wizards.
Bet: Williams Over 5.5 Points (-120 – 1.5 units) & Williams Alt Points 10+ (+320 – 0.5 units)
Additional Plays
This is where I’ll include any late added plays, teasers/parlays or in-season futures. Come back before tip if you don’t want to miss anything. It’s always possible I’ll add something to my card.
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2024-25 NBA Record: 334-329-1 (+9.32 units)
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