NBA Best Bets For Wednesday, April 16: Back Dallas’ Outside Shooting
The NBA Play-In Tournament continues today with matchups between the ninth and tenth seeds in both conferences. The Heat travel to face the Bulls at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, while the Mavericks battle the Kings at 10 p.m. ET.
Keep reading for NBA best bets below, and bet with your favorite sportsbook apps.
Contents
NBA Best Bets For Wednesday, April 16
Check out three bets below for Wednesday’s NBA games.
Same-Game Parlay (+104 DraftKings): PJ Washington 2+ Made Threes & Max Christie 1+ Made Three
Sacramento’s center rotation is one of the weaker units across the league in terms of rim protection because Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas lack the necessary athleticism and instincts. The Kings recognize this flaw and do a quality job of deterring rim attempts as a team.
However, this strategy leads to a plethora of clean catch-and-shoot triples for opponents. Dallas should create these opportunities with ease tonight because their bigs apply a ton of pressure around the basket and are savvy passers in the short roll and post-ups.
PJ Washington and Max Christie both shot around 40% on catch-and-shoot triples for the Mavericks this season. They likely benefit the most from Dallas’ interior passing, especially since Klay Thompson will often be hounded by Keon Ellis.
Washington went 4-for-11 from deep in his sole contest against the Kings this season, while Christie went a combined 4-for-12 across two matchups after the trade deadline.
I would play this same-game parlay at one unit.
Klay Thompson (+1600 FanDuel) & PJ Washington (+2500 FanDuel) First Basket Exact Method 3-Point
The Mavericks are heavily favored to win the tipoff, so they likely secure the first possession of the game. Thompson and Washington dominated first basket usage for Dallas this season, and both have ideal matchups against the Kings as described above. They should be used as 3-point shooters early and often tonight, so their odds are a bit long to me.
I would play these at a quarter of a unit each. Taking their first basket lines without the exact method is also a sound approach, too.
Nikola Vucevic Over 20.5 Points+Assists (-122 FanDuel)
Bam Adebayo is excellent at defending slashers and big men who utilize athleticism, but Nikola Vucevic doesn’t rely on those qualities. He’s a finesse scorer who can expose Adebayo’s limited length through jump-hooks and 3-point shooting. And if Miami gives the assignment to Kel’el Ware, then Vucevic can use his weight advantage to power through the rookie.
Chicago also possess quality play-finishers who can shoot from deep or attack the basket. Their emphasis on movement should lead to great shot quality off of Vucevic’s passes, thus giving him a high assist to potential assist ratio.
Finally, the Bulls may hand more offensive responsibility to Vucevic on the block because Davion Mitchell’s elite perimeter defense will likely limit Chicago’s main ball handlers, such as Coby White.
