Top 5 NBA Bets and Player Props for Saturday 1/18/25

On January 19, 2025By Littum

The 82-game NBA regular season offers us a wide variety of betting options, including point spreads, money lines and totals. The league has 1,230 games in the regular season, which can make sifting through the odds an overwhelming task.

However, various advanced statistics can help narrow down the choices. number Four’s NBA power rankings and daily NBA projections paired with advanced statistics from the NBA can help give the inside track to quality bets.

While using some of the mentioned tools like NBA odds from FanDuel Sportsbook look like the best bets today?

Please note that lines may change during the day after this article is published. All injury news comes from The NBA’s official injury report.

Today’s best NBA bets and player props

Phoenix Suns at Detroit Pistons

Pistons Moneyline (+108)
Jalen Duren over 20.5 points and rebounds (-113)

It’s a little strange to get the hotter team with more momentum at home as the underdog, but we’ll take it.

The Detroit Pistons proved at Madison Square Garden on Monday that they can hang with anyone if only one other option presents itself as Malik Beasley (22 points) did. There could certainly be another unsung hero today Phoenix Suns‘ 22nd ranked defensive rating (115.2 DRTG).

For the season, Detroit (-1.1 NRTG) and Phoenix (-1.3 NRTG) are neighbors in net rating. Over the last 10 games, the Motors (+3.3) have pulled ahead of the Suns (+0.0). Home track on an afternoon on Detroit Lions taking the field three minutes away should offset any perceived adjustment needed at the conference.

Nick Richards makes his Suns debut today, but mistakes can already be made in coverage for a Suns team with poor paint fundamentals (11th most points allowed per game).

That’s one of the reasons why I still gravitate toward the opposite center, Jalen Durenon the prop market.

First, Duren has posted 9.6 points and 16.7 rebounds per game. 36 minutes against Richards with Charlotte Hornets this season. It doesn’t seem to be a particularly daunting fight for him.

Secondary, the Suns’ paint woes come at a time when the young center’s playing time is flourishing. He has seen at least 27 minutes on the floor in three of his last four games with the exception of one game where he fouled out.

FanDuel Research’s daily NBA projections expect 11.7 points and 10.8 rebounds from him in 28.0 minutes during Saturday’s tilt.

Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers

Pacers under 117.5 points (-110)

Surprisingly through some poor defense and high tempo matchups Indiana Pacers have topped 117 points just once in their last six games. Today’s matchup is not a plus either.

The injured party Philadelphia 76ers just has the 12th worst DRTG while playing at the association’s 3rd slowest pace. That’s a huge drop in pace from Indiana’s seventh-ranked starting pace.

Plus, the Sixers will likely have to fire up further as Paul George (groin) and Joel Embiid (knees) don’t play – although George is doubtful. They have only given 114.0 points per match when the two have missed together.

DRatings expect only 114.1 points from Indiana in Saturday’s game. I think public bettors will rush to bet their team total instead of the game while Philly’s stars sit, but this game is headed for a wonder.

This line is rising right now, so you can wait if you’re not scared of the move.

Washington Wizards at Golden State Warriors

Over 229.0 points (-110)
Draymond Green over 21.5 points, rebounds and assists (-115)

It is a game of revenge in many facets today as Jordan Poole and that Washington Wizards visit Golden State Warriors.

Regardless of where this one plays out, the run is probably the safest bet — as it has been in 53.9% of Washington’s games. There’s not much confidence we can instill in the Wiz’s league-worst 118.8 DRTG while playing at the NBA’s fourth-fastest pace.

Golden State is no slug, playing at the 14th-fastest pace, upgrading to the 12th home court. They are a team that I will generally continue to buy on offense because their underperformance comes back to a 55.5 true shooting percentage (TS%). That’s 24th in the NBA despite a collection of shooters like Stephen Curry and Buddy Hield we know how to be good.

The Dubs tend to settle in the bottom feeders, scoring 119.3 points per game. game this season against the bottom six teams in net rating — including 124 points against those Wizards on Nov. 4. Behind a motivated Poole, Washington can keep pace enough to send this game over its total.

A return Draymond Green will also help with the cases. He has missed three games this week with an illness but is feeling better.

Green had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists when these teams met back in November, which isn’t much of a surprise to the stat guys. Overall, he is averaging 10.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. 36 minutes this season.

He has been extremely sensitive to pace this season, posting five of his top eight FanDuel point totals (a fantasy point composite stat) against top-10 pace teams. Wiz qualified — and was one of them.

Obviously, there is some uncertainty about his fit remaining, but he has only been out of action for nine days and trained on Friday.

I think this alignment has gone a bit far, and so do FanDuel Research’s projections. They project 10.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 29.9 minutes tonight. Even cutting back on his playing time, this line shows value.

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The above writer is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports bets on FanDuel. The advice given by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports bets.