NBA Best Bets for March 8: Detroit Has The Antidote for Steph
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Rainman M.
- March 8, 2025
Top NBA Pick: Pistons +6.5 (-115) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
The sportsbooks have released their betting odds for today’s NBA action.
Six games, in particular, interest me as worth investing in. Let’s take a look at today’s pick, featuring a couple of parlays and a player prop!
Indiana Pacers vs. Atlanta Hawks
Saturday, March 8, 2025 – 07:30 PM ET at State Farm Arena
Key Trend
Indiana is an auto-play today because it faces the Hawks a second consecutive time after losing to them. In immediate rematches following a loss, the Pacers are 3-0 this year.
Their three wins in this spot are impressive: First, they beat the Heat by nine after losing to them by 13. Second, they won at Boston by nine after losing at Boston by 37.
Most recently, they defeated the Spurs by 38 after losing to them by 30.
Parlay Leg 1: Pacers ML (-150) at BetOnline
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Houston Rockets
Saturday, March 8, 2025 – 07:00 PM ET at Toyota Center
Houston’s Matchup Dominance
The Rockets have won all three of their games against the Pelicans by double digits. Their offense has dominated every time, scoring 133, 128, and most recently 109 in their three respective games against the Pelicans.
The Rockets scored only 109 in the one game because so few shots were attempted in that game. They converted 56.8 percent of their field goal attempts, which is dominant.
With the Pelicans unable to figure out how to stop the Rockets’ offense, the Rockets must be expected to win because they have the fourth-best defensive rating.
It is regularly very hard to score on the Rockets who will thus certainly win when they score a lot of points.
New Orleans won’t change this on the road, where the Pelicans in this entire year have only beaten Portland early in the season, pathetic Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, then-slumping Phoenix, and Utah.
The Pelicans have yet to win on the road against a team remotely of Houston’s caliber.
Parlay Leg 2: Rockets ML at -330 with BetOnline
The Parlay
- Pacers ML (-150)
- Rockets ML (-330)
NBA Pick: Two-Legged Parlay (+117) at BetOnline
Brooklyn Nets vs. Charlotte Hornets
Saturday, March 8, 2025 – 06:00 PM ET at Spectrum Center
Brooklyn’s Ball-Screen Defense
The Nets’ defense has gained the connectivity and chemistry that can come after defenders play a lot of games together. Their growth is most evident in their ball-screen defense, which is now the league’s best.
They regularly make life difficult for great point guards who rely extensively on ball screens, with one example being Detroit’s Cade Cunningham. Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball has made all of five field goals in 18 attempts against the Nets.
Overall, they allow by far the fewest points against the pick-and-roll for the ball-handler play-type — 10.9 points per game. Their defense thus matches up well against a Charlotte offense that relies on the second-highest frequency against this play type.
The Hornets already struggle regularly to reach 100 points, which is bad news for a team that regularly allows over 110 points even against bad offenses like Washington.
Brooklyn’s offense is also improving, scoring 113 against San Antonio and 119 against Golden State in its last two respective games.
The Nets will still win by at least ten points even if they were to regress slightly to 110 points.
Parlay Leg 1: Nets ML (-183) at BetOnline
Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat
Saturday, March 8, 2025 – 08:00 PM ET at Kaseya Center
Key Trend
Chicago has not learned how to win on any consistent basis.
The Bulls are 0-8 SU in their last eight games that directly followed a win. Four of those losses came by 15 or more points. Their last game was a win, so they will lose tonight.
When they beat Miami on February 4, they won by nine at home because they made 19 three-pointers. Without Zach LaVine on their team anymore, they are much less dangerous from deep, though.
Miami is playing very well right now. The Heat have won three of out of their last six, with the three losses being close affairs with strong teams: New York, Cleveland, and Minnesota.
Parlay Leg 2: Heat ML (-190) at BetOnline
The Parlay
- Nets ML (-183)
- Heat ML (-190)
NBA Pick: Two-Legged Parlay (+136) at BetOnline
Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Saturday, March 8, 2025 – 08:00 PM ET at Fiserv Forum
Orlando Can’t Stop Giannis
Giannis simply owns the Magic. In three games against them this year, he scored 26, 41, and 37 points, respectively.
When he scored 26 points, the Magic offense (which is playing well right now) couldn’t make a shot. Giannis’ Bucks cruised in a blowout win in which Giannis attempted only 15 shots.
He made 11 of those 15 shots, though, demonstrating a level of efficiency that signifies his continued dominance over Orlando.
One can look to last year for further support: in his two games against the Magic last season, Giannis scored 37 and 35 points, respectively.
If his point total “over” feels too chalky at -145 for you, then just reduce your wager amount a bit or follow me in betting on him to score 30+ points at -105.
NBA Pick: Giannis Over 30 Points (-105) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
Detroit Pistons vs. Golden State Warriors
Saturday, March 8, 2025 – 08:30 PM ET at Chase Center
Golden State’s Fade Spot
The Warriors are favored as heavily as they are in this game because they are the home team. But playing at home is actually a disadvantage for them tonight because it is following a long road trip.
This road trip is unique: they played five games on the East Coast — in Orlando, Philadelphia, Charlotte, New York, and Brooklyn.
They only got one day of rest for their bodies to recuperate.
Underrated Detroit
This spread, regardless of Golden State’s fade spot, also stuck out to me immediately because the Pistons are getting a lot of points despite how good they are proving to be.
Detroit has won 10 of its last 12 games, with an impressive nine-point win over the Clippers and a 20-point win over Boston.
The Pistons only lost to the Nuggets who made 17 threes and to the Clippers in a rematch where James Harden went off for 50 points.
Golden State relies extensively on Steph Curry, who is coming off a 40-point outing in which he amassed seven threes. He is in a down spot himself especially given the number of threes he made in his last game and the change in venue.
Ausar Thompson, for Detroit, is also one of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders — he is graded as highly as possible especially guarding the perimeter in isolation. He helped limit Curry to a 23.8-percent field goal percentage on January 9. Golden State has lost its last six games when Curry converts less than 40% of his field goals.
NBA Pick: Pistons +6.5 (-115) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
