Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week (November 20, 2023)

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – November 20th, 2023

By Hank Blaine • November 20, 2023

A reminder that there is no NBA action on Thursday this week because of the American Thanksgiving holiday on that day, and it’s also the final full week of In-Season Tournament group play action with games on Tuesday and Friday. Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week (November 20th, 2023)

A 6-game win streak has the Celtics back in the top spot in this week's NBA App Power Rankings!

See @johnschuhmann's full list on the NBA App!

: https://t.co/AyJnDONxWg pic.twitter.com/wn43Q4WPFE
— NBA (@NBA) November 20, 2023

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Philadelphia 76ers

When: Tuesday, November 21st, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
TV: TNT
Radio: WTAM 1100 AM (Cavaliers) // The Fanatic 97.5 FM (76ers)
Stream: NBA League Pass
NBA Odds: Cavaliers (+7) // 76ers (-7)

In-Season Tournament game and shown on TNT. The big question will be regarding Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell as he has missed the past two games with a right hamstring strain. Mitchell, a four-time All-Star in his second season with Cleveland, ranks eighth in the league in scoring at 29.2 points per game and is tied for fifth in steals at 2.0. The 27-year-old has been bothered by his right hamstring since the first week of the regular season, sitting out three total games because of it. Caris LeVert usually starts when Mitchell is out but also missed Sunday’s 121-109 home upset win over Denver. He’s day -to-day as well.

Mitchell has scored 20+ PTS in all 10 of his games this season and in 21-straight games going back to the 2022-23 season, marking the second-longest active streak of games with 20+ PTS (Stephen Curry currently has 22-straight games of 20+ PTS). Mitchell has recorded a steal in each of his 10 games played this season and ranks T-5th in the NBA (2nd in the East) in steals per game (2.00 SPG). He also ranks T-2nd in the NBA in deflections per game (3.5).

LeVert has scored at least 10 points in 10 of his 11 games this season and ranks 2nd in the NBA in scoring off the bench (16.7 PPG when coming off the bench). LeVert also ranks 10th in the NBA among reserves in assists per game (3.4 APG when coming off the bench).

Evan Mobley had his fourth straight double-double and eighth of the season in the win with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with two blocks. Mobley ranks T-7th in the NBA this season in double-doubles. It was Mobley’s 8th multi-block game of the season and he ranks T-6th in the NBA in games with 2+ BLK. He also ranks 7th in the NBA in contested shots per game (12.2), 9th in blocks per game (1.77 BPG) and 9th in the NBA in rebounds per game (10.4 RPG).

Cleveland is playing Philadelphia for its first of four matchups this season. The Cavs have won three-straight games since Nov. 15 and are 4-1 in their last five games. This matchup with the 76ers is the Cavaliers 3rd In-Season Tournament game (1-1). Cleveland is 3rd in the East Group A standings.

Philly is second in East Group A standings at 2-1. It comes off a 121-99 win in Brooklyn on Sunday in a non-tournament game. Joel Embiid amassed 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Embiid led all players in Sunday’s game in scoring and rebounds en route to a double-double showing that came up one assist short of a triple-double in just 31 minutes of play. Embiid has tallied at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in five games this season, posting at least 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in two straight outings. Tyrese Maxey had 25 points and 10 assists. Maxey has handed out 10 or more rebounds in four games this season, tallying at least 25 points in eight of his 13 outings.

Philadelphia now has 11 wins by at least 20 points since the start of last season, which ranks second overall in the NBA. Philly is 3-0 this season when holding an opponent under 100 points. The Sixers won two of three in this series last year and we think that continues.

NBA Betting Pick: 76ers

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics

When: Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
TV: ESPN
Radio: WTMJ 620 AM (Bucks) // 98.5 The Sports Hub (Celtics)
Live Stream: NBATV
NHL Betting Odds: TBA

ESPN national TV game and first meeting between the Eastern Conference favorites. It would frankly be an upset if they don’t meet in the conference finals. Of course, the Bucks this offseason sent All-Star Jrue Holiday and draft picks to Portland to get All-Star Damian Lillard. Then Boston turned around and got Holiday – to help deal with Lillard – in a trade from the Blazers.

Holiday already has four double-digit rebound efforts in 12 games with the Celtics, twice as many as he had (2) in 193 games with the Buck last year. Holiday’s fourth point-rebound double-doubles mark a single-season career-high over his 15-year career, and he is averaging a career-best 7.5 boards per game.

The Celtics haven’t missed a clutch free throw all season and are 22-for-22 from the stripe in the last 5 minutes with a 5-point differential or less. Boston’s clutch-time efficiency has been special on both ends of the court: shooting 51.3 FG% (20-39), 40.9 3P% (9-22), and 100.0 FT% (22-22); while holding opponents to 38.3 FG% (18-47), 26.3 3P% (5-19), and 50.0 FT% (7-14). The Celtics are the only team to register two streaks of at least 5 consecutive wins already this year.

Boston reserve Sam Hauser currently leads the Celtics in 3-point shooting with a 47.5 percent clip, which ranks 12th in the NBA. Among the 12 other NBA players shooting over 47.0 percent from three-point range, Hauser has made the third most total threes.

Milwaukee has been a bit up and down in the early going but has gotten going of late on the offensive end. Over his past five games, Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 36.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shoo ting 67.6% from the field. Over his past five games, Lillard is averaging 30.3 points and 10.0 assists.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these teams. Boston won two of three last season including the most recent meeting on March 30 in Beantown, 140-99. Jayson Tatum scored 40 points, and Jaylen Brown added 30 as the Celtics shot 22 of 43 from 3-point range. Antetokounmpo shot just 11 of 27, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range for the Bucks. After the first 8½ minutes of the game featured nine lead changes and five ties, the Celtics seized control by going on a 29-9 over the last seven-plus minutes. Boston capped that spurt by scoring 13 straight points.

NBA Betting Pick: Celtics

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