NBA Expert Picks and Best Bets |November 20

With the holiday almost upon us, this is a big week for the NBA. With an intriguing schedule on Monday, we picked three games that we feel confident in picking. This includes a rematch of Saturday’s compelling game between the Heat and the Bulls. Here are three picks we feel confident in making during Monday’s NBA action.

Bucks -9 | -110 at FanDuel

With four straight wins, all of which have come by at least nine points, it doesn’t make sense to bet against Milwaukee in this spot. It’s also worth mentioning that the Bucks have covered the spread in three of those four wins. After struggling to cover the spread early in the season, the Bucks have turned the corner and have started to win going away. The key has been Damian Lillard, who has started to settle in with his new team. The Bucks struggled when he missed some games but they've won seven in a row when Lillard has played.

On the other side, the Wizards have been beyond dreadful this season. On the heels of five straight losses, they might be the worst team in the NBA right now. Equally important, Washington has failed to even beat the spread in four of those five losses. With the Bucks having six players averaging double figures, Washington doesn’t have the scoring depth to keep up and looks destined to lose this game by double digits.

Bulls +1.5 | -110 at BetMGM

The Bulls scored a 102-97 win over the Heat on Saturday night, so we’re going to back them to do the same again on Monday. Granted, the Bulls are just 5-9 on the season, but three of those losses have come by two points or less. That means they’ve been competitive in most of their losses, doing so behind Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, two players who are averaging over 20 points per game.

Meanwhile, the Heat are 8-5 coming off last season’s run to the NBA Finals. On paper, they should be able to handle the Bulls, even on the road. However, the absence of Tyler Herro, who remains out with an ankle injury, finally caught up with them on Saturday. The Miami backcourt looks completely different without him, especially since Kyle Lowry doesn’t always provide much scoring. Without Herro, the Bulls have a chance to win two in a row against Miami.

Over 230.5 | -110 at DraftKings

These are two bad teams, especially when it comes to defense, which is why you want to ride the over in this game. Even though the Spurs have Victor Wembanyama blocking shots, San Antonio’s defense has been lacking. In 13 games, they’ve allowed at least 120 points 10 times, which explains why they’ve gone 11-2 O/U thus far.

As for the Clippers, they haven’t been quite as bad defensively. But with James Harden in the mix, they have an abundance of talent on the offensive end with Harden playing alongside Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George. The Clips should be able to go wild against San Antonio’s defense, so as long as the Spurs score close to their average of 111 points per game, this game should end with far more than 230 total points.