The NBA regular season is back in full swing with a loaded slate of games on New Year's Eve, with a total of nine matchups on the docket scheduled for today, featuring an excellent trio of nationally televised contests on NBA TV, as Warriors vs. Hornets takes center stage at 1:00 p.m. ET, followed by Suns vs. Cavaliers at 3:30 p.m. ET, and then Knicks vs. Spurs at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Our staff of basketball betting experts dug into the latest odds and identified NBA picks for five of today's matchups.
Continue below for our NBA picks, odds, props, and predictions for Wednesday, December 31.
NBA Picks, Odds, Props, Predictions: Wednesday, December 31
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 3:30 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 7 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NBA Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Suns vs. Cavaliers
The Suns are on a slightly fictitious 4-game winning streak — with two of those wins coming against the Pelicans and one coming against the Wizards.
I’m not sure the Suns are all that good, but this Phoenix team certainly knows how to cover the spread — boasting a record of 22-10 against the closing line, which leads the entire league in that department.
Cleveland is coming home after a 3-game road trip. The Cavaliers are now 4-6 in their last 10 games.
Both teams are intriguing fade-options right now, for different reasons – but I’ll take the one that’s giving me +195 on the moneyline.
Pick: Suns Moneyline (+195)
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Nuggets vs. Raptors
By Joe Dellera
No Jokic, No Gordon, No Braun, No Cam — and we’re going under? Yes.
Murray and Jokic have the top two combos in the NBA for assists and points to each other in the NBA. Murray to Jokic has resulted in 94 dimes, and Jokic to Murray is 71.
I think Murray essentially needs to change his entire game to deal with Jokic's injury, and the normal fallbacks of Gordon, Braun, and Cam are all out. So, it’s Murray that needs to elevate the bench unit, and I don’t buy it.
Defenses can gear up to defend him, and then you’re relying on the bench unit to convert on assists.
Without Jokic, he was just 1/9 on this number last season and averaged just 27.8 Points + Assists.
This spot against the Raptors is tough too, as they play at one of the slowest paces in the league, and have the ninth-best adjusted defensive rating.
Pick: Jamal Murray Under 36.5 Points + Assists (-130)
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Knicks vs. Spurs
By Bet Labs
This system targets NBA regular season situations where home favorites with strong rebounding form bounce back to cover the spread.
When teams control the boards across multiple games, it reflects sustained energy, interior presence, and second-chance scoring potential, all of which translate more effectively at home.
These teams tend to have stable home against-the-spread results and perform particularly well in early and midseason months when effort metrics like rebounding carry extra weight before fatigue or playoff pacing set in.
By focusing on home favorites that are not elite but consistently solid, this strategy captures undervalued stability where rebounding dominance, crowd momentum, and statistical reliability align to produce profitable covers.
Pick: Spurs -2 (-110)
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Pelicans vs. Bulls
Chicago will be without Coby White and Josh Giddey tonight. White and Giddey are easily the highest-usage players for the Bulls.
With both players off the floor, Huerter has seen a solid 3.5% usage rate increase. He poured in 20+ points in the two games without White and Giddey this season.
New Orleans is allowing the 2nd-most made 3-pointers per game, which bodes well for a sharpshooter like Huerter. But he's also shown a more diverse offensive game this season.
Huerter is taking 54.3% of his shots from beyond the arc, his lowest mark since 2021-22. He's scoring a career-low 42.6% of his points from 3-pointers.
In one of the games without both White and Giddey, Huerter went 0-for-4 from 3-point range and still scored 20 points.
We're probably going to need him to hit a 3-pointer or two to get there, but it's nice to know there are other paths to production if the long-ball isn't falling.
Pick: Kevin Huerter Over 15.5 Points (-110)
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Trail Blazers vs. Thunder
By Bet Labs
This system identifies value on the Under in division games where the total drops despite the public leaning Over (40% or less of bets).
The reverse movement of the line suggests sharp action is backing the Under.
Division familiarity often leads to tighter, lower-scoring games, further enhancing the edge.
Pick: Under 232.5 (-110)
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