NBA Picks & Parlay of the Weekend | December 16

Even with a busy Saturday in the sports world, don’t forget about the NBA this weekend. There are some fascinating matchups between two quality teams on Saturday’s NBA schedule. We took a close look at the schedule and the odds at some of the top NBA betting sites and found a three-pick parlay for Saturday that we think will hit.

Heat -4.5 | -110 at FanDuel

The Bulls won in Miami 124-116 on Thursday night, but at 10-16 on the season, Chicago isn’t the type of team that can repeat that type of performance. In fact, the Bulls beat Miami earlier this season, only to lose to them by 18 points two nights later. This is the same situation, so look for the Bulls to falter once again. Keep in mind that Zach LaVine is still out, so back-to-back wins against Miami without being at full strength is a little farfetched.

The Heat also played back-to-back games with the Hornets earlier this week and played much better in the second game. In fairness, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo are both missing from Miami’s lineup, which is part of the reason why this is such a manageable spread. But the Heat still has Jimmy Butler while Kyle Lowry has proven he can step up when needed. Ultimately, Miami has the depth to avenge Thursday’s loss and cover the spread.

Nets +3.5 | -110 at FanDuel

There is almost no reason to confidently back the Warriors in this game. They’ve lost three in a row and four of their last five games. Granted, they’ve played a tough schedule during that stretch, but that’s not enough of an excuse for Golden State. Another Draymond Green suspension just takes away another player and adds a distraction for the Warriors. The kicker is that Golden State is just 1-8 against the spread as a home favorite this season. That should be enough to get on board with the Nets.

Despite having a modest 13-11 record at this point in the season, Brooklyn is 17-6-1 against the spread, which is second in the NBA with only Orlando being fractionally better against the spread. The Nets also scored a big win over Phoenix on Wednesday despite being 1-2 on their current West Coast road trip. They’ve had a day to rest after Thursday’s disappointing loss in Denver and have one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the NBA, even with reserves Dennis Smith and Lonnie Walker hurt. With the Warriors in shambles, the Nets are more than capable of taking advantage.

Over 237.5 | -110 at FanDuel

Both of these teams are well over .500 on the season, so look for this game to be played at an extremely high level with a lot of back-and-forth action. More to the point, both sides have elite offensive players, which should signal a high-scoring game. While Denver has been more prone to the under this season, Oklahoma City is hitting the over more than 60% of the time.

With Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets are always capable of scoring a high volume, as he's averaging more than 27 points and nearly 10 assists per game. In fact, Denver has scored more than 120 points in two of its last three games. The Thunder can top that, scoring at least 120 points in five of its last six games. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 31 points per game, Oklahoma City will try to push the tempo and force Denver into a high-scoring game that should go beyond 237.5 total points.