Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – March 12 Edition

With the 2017-18 regular season steamrolling to a fast and furious finish and teams in both conferences looking to improve their playoff positioning as much as possible, it’s time for another round of NBA betting picks of the week. On tap this week, the Boston Celtics host the Washington Wizards in a matchup of two Eastern Conference championship hopefuls that have both been playing some modest hoops over the last two weeks. The defending champion and constant NBA odds favorite Golden State Warriors host a Los Angeles Lakers team that suddenly has the look of a future powerhouse and last but not least, the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers will hit the road to take on the incendiary Portland Trail Blazers. Now, let’s find out where the value lies in all three matchups.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – March 12th Edition

The Jazz are making moves 😳 pic.twitter.com/DS5VQP31R6

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) 12 de marzo de 2018

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

• 1-Toronto Raptors
• 2-Boston Celtics
• 3-Indiana Pacers
• 4-Cleveland Cavaliers
• 5-Washington Wizards
• 6-Philadelphia 76ers
• 7-Miami Heat
• 8-Milwaukee Bucks

Western Conference Playoff Picture

• 1-Houston Rockets
• 2-Golden State Warriors
• 3-Portland Trail Blazers
• 4-New Orleans Pelicans
• 5-Minnesota Timberwolves
• 6-Oklahoma City Thunder
• 7-San Antonio Spurs
• 8-Los Angeles Clippers

Top Matches of the Week

Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics

• When: Wed. Mar 14, 2018 8:00 PM ET
• Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA

The Celtics have gone 6-4 over their last 10 but hit the new week coming off a rushing 99-97 home loss against Indiana on Sunday night. Boston was up by 10 at halftime before point guard Kyrie Irving shut it down with a sore left knee to join starters, Al Horford and Jaylen Brown as being out of the lineup. “My knee’s been feeling pretty achy the last week,” Irving said after scoring seven points in 16 first-half minutes. “I think right now (resting) that would probably be the best thing instead of kind of hoping it gets better over two-three days, which it usually does.” Washington has gone 5-5 over their last 10 but also hit the new week coming off a defeat. The Wizards got all kinds of smacked around by Miami in their 129-102 road loss on Saturday night. Veteran shooting guard Jodie Meeks scored a team-high 23 points for Washington, but scoring leader Bradley Beal was held to 14 points in the loss. “It’s definitely embarrassing,” Meeks said. “There are no excuses for being tired.” Washington was within two points with 3:51 left in the second quarter, but Miami blew them away from that point, outscoring the Wizards 71-35 over the next 16 minutes. Neither one of these teams is playing very well at the moment, but Boston is playing at home where they’ve gone 23-12 and Washington is an uninspiring 19-15 on the road this season. Boston gets the home win, but it’ll be close with some of their starters out. NBA Betting Pick: Boston Celtics 108 – Washington Wizards 103

Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors

• When: Wed. Mar 14, 2018 7:30 PM
• Where: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Live Stream: NBA League Pass

The first thing you need to know about this matchup is that both, the Lakers and Warriors, have gone an identical 7-3 over their last 10 games respectively. However, L.A. enters the new week coming off an eye-opening 127-113 beatdown of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night. While the Warriors hit the new week looking to rebound from a 109-103 road loss against Minnesota on Sunday. The Lakers got a career-high 36 points, to go along with 14 rebounds and seven assists from blossoming forward Julius Randle while veteran point guard Isiah Thomas added 20 points, nine assists and five rebounds against the team he was most recently traded from. “Since Luke took over, they’ve improved every single season, I think,” said LeBron James, who had a fine game with 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.” The Warriors got 39 points and 12 rebounds from Kevin Durant, but they couldn’t stop T-Wolves all-star center Karl Anthony Towns when it mattered most. Towns finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds. “I’m very confident in where we’re heading,” said coach Steve Kerr, whose team fell two losses behind Western Conference leader Houston. “But we’re in the middle of a tough stretch.” The Dubs have won three times against the Lakers this season and I’m going to say they win again, but it certainly won’t be easy. The Lakers are playing well and improving quickly. Still, though, the Warriors are at home and will have some desperation to get the win in this one and keep their hopes alive of catching Houston for the top spot in the Western Conference playoffs. NBA Betting Pick: Golden State Warriors 113 – L.A. Lakers 110

Cleveland Cavaliers at Portland Trail Blazers

• When: Thu. Mar 15, 2018 7:00 PM
• Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR
• Live Stream: NBA League Pass

LeBron James and the Cavaliers are just 4-6 over their last 10 games and as you just read, they got smacked around by the Lakers on Sunday despite getting a phenomenal 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists from LeBron James. The injury-riddled Cavs got 16 points from Larry Nance Jr. and 14 points from veteran point guard Jose Calderon but dressed just 11 players. The Portland Trail Blazers are on fire, having won nine straight games, including an impressive 125-108 win over Golden State on Friday night. CJ McCollum scored 30 points and Damian Lillard added 28 in the emphatic win and now the Blazers suddenly look like they could beat anyone. “I think we’ve done a great job of being sharp in practices and when we go in the film room, we’ve been taking our game seriously — not that we haven’t all season, but I think lately it’s just a different level of focus. It’s more intense,” Lillard said. For this matchup, I don’t think there’s any chance that Cleveland reverses its recent uninspiring play to beat a Blazers team that will be extremely focused to beat LeBron James and company. Portland is 22-11 at home this season while Cleveland is just 16-17 on the road. Portland wins and wins by double digits. NBA Betting Pick: Portland Trail Blazers 118 – Cleveland Cavaliers 105