NBA Betting Picks for Tuesday, Feb. 25: Our Experts’ Best Bets for Thunder-Bulls, Pels-Lakers, More

NBA Betting Picks for Tuesday, Feb. 25: Our Experts’ Best Bets for Thunder-Bulls, Pels-Lakers, More article feature image
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Mitchell Leff/Getty Images. Pictured: LeBron James

There are seven games on Tuesday's NBA schedule, and our experts are betting on these specific matchups:

  • 7 p.m. ET: Charlotte Hornets at Indiana Pacers
  • 8 p.m. ET: Oklahoma City Thunder at Chicago Bulls
  • 10 p.m. ET: New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers

See the four bets they’re making below.


Odds as of Tuesday and via PointsBet. Get up to $275 in free bets at PointsBet today or see more offers and reviews for the best online sportsbooks.


Wob: Hornets at Pacers

  • Spread: Pacers -10.5
  • Over/Under: 208.5
  • Time: 7 p.m. ET

Update: Devonte' Graham is now uncertain to play. Make sure to monitor his injury status here prior to tip.

What am I missing here? A Pacers revenge game after getting a 50-point L hung on them in Toronto?

Jeremy Lamb is out for the year with that brutal knee injury, the Pacers are in a tailspin, Victor Oladipo is still not back in a groove yet, and, oh by the way … the Hornets are not that bad!

Their record suggests otherwise, but they should not be double-digit dogs to anybody in the Eastern Conference not named the Milwaukee Bucks. The audacity … the disrespect of Devonte’ Graham and Miles Bridges!

The Hornets are the slowest-paced team in the league and subsequently carry the NBA’s second-least efficient offense, while the Pacers hold the seventh-best defense, so on paper this does make sense. But I have two eyes and know the Hornets will keep this close at the very least.

The PICK: Hornets +10.5/11

John Ewing: Thunder at Bulls

  • Spread: Thunder -7.5
  • Over/Under: 219.5
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET

For bad teams late in the season, tanking is the best option. Knowing some franchises are incentivized to lose creates a betting opportunity for savvy gamblers.

Historically, it has been profitable to fade teams that aren’t giving it their all after the All-Star break (approximately Game 55 or later). The optimal situation is as home underdogs.

A $100 bettor following this system would have returned a profit of $8,651 since 2005.

The Bulls are a bad team. Chicago has lost eight of its past 10 games and are 18 games under .500. Oklahoma City opened as 6.5-point favorites, and a majority of tickets are on the Thunder. History suggests the public is right to fade the Bulls.

The PICK: Thunder -7.5

Brandon Anderson: Thunder at Bulls

  • Spread: Thunder -7.5
  • Over/Under: 219.5
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET

I jumped on this line right when it opened, but I’m happy to play it at 7 or 7.5 too if needed. It’s almost March, the going is getting tough, and that means the Thunder are making another strong playoff push while the Bulls are packing it in for a better draft pick yet again.

The Thunder have been one of the surprise teams of the season, in large part due to the unexpected availability of their best players, both due to good health and, well, not trading them away. They’ve been particularly awesome on the road, going a ridiculous 21-5 ATS this season. You read that right … 21 and 5! The Bulls are 2-8 straight-up in their last 10 and 2-7-1 ATS in that stretch.

With all of us at The Action Network in on OKC tonight, maybe there’s some danger of Zach LaVine scoring his 33rd meaningless point on his 29th meaningless shot in the game’s 48th meaningless minute for a backdoor cover… but I’ll take my chances.

The PICK: Thunder -7.5

Matt Moore: Pelicans at Lakers

  • Spread: Lakers -7.5
  • Over/Under: 239
  • Time: 10 p.m. ET
  • TV: TNT

The Lakers are 6-2 ATS this season vs. teams with an Offensive Rating above 108 and a Defensive Rating above 108. If you make it easy for their offense, they’re just going to carve you to pieces. I think Zion Williamson probably goes off in this matchup; Anthony Davis is going to get knocked back into the stands by a Zion shoulder.

But L.A.’s offense isn’t as pedestrian as a lot of the analysis suggests, and the Pelicans struggle with both defending the point of attack in pick-and-rolls and spot-up shots. The Lakers are third in points created off turnovers; the Pelicans are second-worst in giving them up per 100 possessions.

Speaking of, both teams are top-five in transition points allowed per 100 possessions. I think the over actually has value here.

THE PICK: Lakers -7.5, over 239

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