NBA Best Bets Today | Expert Picks for Thursday, March 21

March Madness is here, but the NBA regular season also continues on Thursday night with a seven-game slate. Our basketball betting experts are ready with four NBA best bets for today, including a pick for Hawks vs. Suns on NBA TV.

Find our NBA betting analysts' predictions for Thursday below.

NBA Best Bets Today

By Jim Turvey

The timing might be less than ideal, but the Rockets have quietly turned things around after basically being eliminated from the postseason. Houston has won six in a row and eight of its last nine, with the third-best Net Rating (+9.3) in basketball since the beginning of March.

In the last two weeks, per Cleaning the Glass, the Rockets have a +10.4 Spread Differential, which is easily the best in the Association, as the market has been slow to adjust to their strong play.

Chicago has also been playing well of late but not nearly to the level of Houston. For the season as a whole, the Rockets are +0.9 by Adjusted Net Rating, compared to -2.3 for the Bulls.

Add in the fact that the Rockets have been excellent at home all season (23-11 overall and 23-10-1 ATS), and even though they are without Alperen Sengun (who has been out for each of the last four games as well), I like the Rockets to -6 today.

Pick: Rockets -3.5

By Asa

The Rockets are on a six-game winning streak and have won eight of their last 10 games with the two losses to the Suns and the Clippers. Houston has been solid all season long at home with a 23-11 SU / 23-10-1 ATS record as itss home wins are by an average of 6.1 points per game.

On the road this season, the Bulls are 16-18 SU while losing by 3.0 points per game. The Bulls are beat up right now with several players potentially out for this game including Alex Caruso and Coby White.

Offensively, these two teams have very similar statistics, but the Rockets hold a significant advantage defensively. Chicago is 19th in Offensive Efficiency, while the Rockets are 20th. Houston has the sixth-best FG% defense in the NBA and the third-best 3-point % defense.

The Rockets allow just 1.128 points per possession, which is the seventh-best number in the NBA. The Bulls by comparison allow 1.161 PPP, which ranks 17th. The play here is on the Rockets.

Pick: Rockets -3.5

By Chip Chirimbes

The Knicks will aim to complete a perfect four-game road trip when they visit the Nuggets on Thursday in a meeting of surging contenders. The last time the Knicks played a full game with something resembling their optimal rotation, they handed the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets a 38-point loss.

The Knicks have been off since Monday, when they extended their winning streak to four games with a 119-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. This winning streak has been especially timely for the Knicks (41-27), who are a half game ahead of the Orlando Magic (41-28) in the race for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Nuggets (48-21), with their win on Tuesday, improved to 12-2 in their last 14 games while breaking a tie for second place in the Western Conference with the Timberwolves (47-22). Like the Knicks, the Nuggets are healthy and motivated as have taken their game to the next gear since the All-Star break as they push for the top seed in the West. Expect the Nuggets to pick up another dominant victory behind Nikola Jokic tonight.

Pick: Nuggets -9.5

By Joe Dellera

The Hawks take on the Suns tonight, and I expect Bogdan Bogdanovic to make an impact in this matchup.

Bogdanovic is an excellent scoring threat but also can contribute as a secondary facilitator and will be leaned upon even more without Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and Saddiq Bey.

In 15 games this season without Jalen Johnson, Bogdanovic is averaging 27.7 PRA and has exceeded his 24.5 PRA line in 11/15 games. In his last game against the Blazers, he missed with 23 PRA, but that was directly related to an abysmal 3/15 shooting night.

Here, he gets a relatively soft Suns defense that he recorded 32 PRA against earlier this season with 23 points, four rebounds and five assists while playing alongside Johnson and Young.

The Suns have the 19th-ranked defense since the All-Star Break, and I expect them to provide plenty of opportunities for Bogdanovic to contribute despite the nearly double-digit spread.

Pick: Bogdan Bogdanovic Over 24.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists