NBA Daily Best Bets for Tuesday, March 3
Summary
The Detroit Pistons, leading the East, face the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are missing key players Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. The Pistons are favored, having recently beaten the Cavaliers in overtime and boasting a strong road record.
In other matchups, the New York Knicks are heavily favored against the Toronto Raptors, having dominated the series recently. The San Antonio Spurs, on an 11-game win streak, are expected to cover a large spread against a Philadelphia 76ers team missing Joel Embiid. Finally, the Phoenix Suns vs. Sacramento Kings game is predicted to go under the total points line.
Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers 7:00 p.m. EST
| Spread | ML | Total | |
| Pistons | -2 (-110) | -118 | O228 (-110) |
| Cavs | +2 (-110) | -102 | U228 (-110) |
Detroit Pistons (45-14)
The Pistons have opened up a 5-game lead in the East, have won 3 straight, are 8-2 in the last ten, and are only two games back of OKC for the best record in basketball. The Pistons beat the Cavs last week in OT and remain a top 4 defense, allowing just 109.4 PPG while scoring 117.3 PPG. Cade Cunningham leads the way, scoring 25.5 PPG and 9.8 assists, and scored 25 vs Cleveland last week.
Cleveland Cavaliers (38-24)
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ injury report and betting outlook become especially important heading into this matchup. The Cavaliers have gone 7-3 in the last ten but are without Donovan Mitchell (groin), who’ll miss his fourth game in a row. Cleveland remains one of the highest scoring teams, 3rd overall, scoring 119.2 PPG. Â
The teams met last week, where Jarrett Allen had 25 points and nine rebounds as the Pistons won 122-119 in OT. James Harden (thumb) sat that out, too. The Cavs are 23-8 at home, the top three home records in the NBA.
Recent Betting Trends
The Pistons are 31-28 ATS and 16-12 on the road this season.
The Cavs are 26-36 ATS, second worst in the NBA.
Detroit 26-32-1 on the OVER this season.
Cleveland is 32-30 on the UNDER this year.
Prediction
One of the best home teams is taking on one of the top road teams (Pistons 21-7). But the big difference is that the Cavs will be without Mitchell and likely Harden. They were 6-point underdogs last week in Detroit, but only lost by three. However, Detroit continues to roll and wants that top overall seed. BEST BET:  Pistons ML (-118)
New York Knicks vs Toronto Raptors 7:30 p.m. EST
| Spread | ML | Total | |
| Knicks | -2.5 (-110) | -135 | O224.5 (-110) |
| Raptors | +2.5 (-110) | +115 | U224.5 (-110) |
New York Knicks (39-22)
The Knicks head to Toronto looking to continue their dominance as they’ve won all three meetings this year and 11 straight overall. New York is coming off an impressive 114-89 home win vs the Spurs, where Mikal Bridges had 25 points and five steals, and Jalen Brunson added 24 points and seven assists. That win ended San Antonio’s 11-game win streak.Â
Toronto Raptors (35-25)
The Raptors lost two straight before a 134-125 road win vs the hapless Wizards. Immanuel Quickley had 27 points and 11 assists while Brandon Ingram added 24 points. Inconsistency has haunted the Raptors of late, trailing after the first quarter and the half before pulling out the win. Toronto isn’t great at home either, with a record of just 16-15.
Recent Betting Trends
Toronto is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games.
New York is 12-6 ATS in its last 18 games.
Toronto is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games at home.
The Knicks are 6-0 ATS in the last 6 games against Toronto.
Prediction
The Knicks have been in full control in this series, winning the last two games in Toronto. What’s interesting is that over the last three victories, New York has won by an average of 22 points. This spread seems to be too low when you consider recent history.  BEST BET: Knicks -2.5
San Antonio Spurs vs Philadelphia 76ers 8:00 p.m. EST
| Spread | ML | Total | |
| Spurs | -8 (-110) | -330 | O232 (-110) |
| 76ers | +8 (-110) | +267 | U232 (-110) |
San Antonio Spurs (43-17)
Despite a recent loss, the Spurs are the hottest team in the NBA after winning 11 straight games. San Antonio is one of just five teams to win 20 or more road games this season.
Victor Wembanyama leads the team in scoring (23.7) and blocks (2.9) while Stephon Castle (16.5) and De’Arron Fox (18.8) are contributing alongside. The Spurs are well balanced, sixth in scoring (118) and 7th in scoring defense (111.8).
Philadelphia 76ers (35-27)
Joel Embiid is expected to miss Tuesday’s game with a strained right oblique. A tough loss as he averaged 29 points a game in February, tops in the Eastern Conference.  That means center Andre Drummond and others will have to find a way to slow down Wemby.  Good luck. Tyrese Maxey leads the way with 29.1 PPG, 4th in the NBA, but he’ll need support from the bench to stay close in this one.Â
Recent Betting Trends
San Antonio is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games.
Philadelphia is 8-1 SU in its last 9 home games vs San Antonio.
The Spurs are 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games against Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Philadelphia’s last 5 games.
Prediction
On paper, this spread looks too big for a road team, but the Spurs are taking on a 76ers side that has struggled against top-tier teams. They lost by 16 to the Celtics and recently suffered blowout losses to New York and Minnesota. This could be ugly. BEST BET:  Spurs -8
Phoenix Suns vs Sacramento Kings 11:00 p.m. EST
| Spread | ML | Total | |
| Suns | -10.5 (-110) | -470 | O225 (-110) |
| Kings | +10.5 (-110) | +364 | U225 (-110) |
The Suns are 36-24 on the UNDER this season and have gone UNDER in three straight and four of the past five. They have shown to play tight defense in the fourth, and when it matters the most. As for the Kings, they allow the 3rd most points in the NBA (121.2) but score just 110.3 PPG, 2nd worst overall. Sacramento may surrender a lot of points, but it may not score enough to keep starters for both sides in the game.  BEST BET:  UNDER 225
