Harden to keep dishing dimes and a young Warrior to target
Wednesday features a seven-game NBA slate. As the trade deadline looms in just over 24 hours, it's challenging for certain players potentially on the move to focus on basketball.
However, there are still games to be played. Let's get to our four best bets for Wednesday's action.
Spurs @ Heat (-8, O/U 226.5)
The Spurs own the league's fourth-worst offense, while the Heat have the eighth-worst. On the other side of the ball, Miami has the seventh-best defensive rating over the last 15 games, while San Antonio is around league average.
The Heat play with the NBA's third-slowest pace. If Miami dictates the game's tempo as 8-point home favorites, it'll be a slow, defensive-oriented matchup.
The Heat also have the NBA's third-best under rate, with 58% of their contests going below the total. And Miami failed to reach 227 points in its last five games - three of which were wins.
These teams played just five days ago and combined for 212 points. The Heat win contests defensively, and Wednesday night shouldn't be any different.
Pick: Under 226.5
Wizards team total: Under 110.5 points
The Wizards are a complete mess, which isn't a surprise given they entered a rebuild last offseason. However, things are ugly on both ends of the court for Washington. The team doesn't have reliable primary options offensively, leading to long stretches without scoring.
The Wizards welcome the Cavaliers to Washington on Wednesday night. Cleveland is the NBA's hottest team and soared to second place in the East over the last month. More importantly, the Cavs have the league's second-best defensive rating.
Washington will fail to eclipse 111 points against an elite defense.
Odds: -115 (playable to -120)
Jonathan Kuminga: Over 20.5 points
As disappointing as the Warriors have been, Jonathan Kuminga's development has been one of the few positives. He's been a dependable scorer since earning starter minutes.
Kuminga has averaged 21.3 points per game since Jan. 1 and scored at least 21 points in six of the last seven contests. The Sixers don't have enough capable wing defenders to guard him and lack rim protection without Joel Embiid. Kuminga is a downhill driver and should easily get to his spots against Philadelphia.
When the Sixers and Warriors met just over a week ago, Kuminga poured in 26 points.
Odds: -120 (playable to -130)
James Harden: Over 8.5 assists
James Harden averaged 9.6 assists in December and January and has recorded at least 10 in two of the three games in February. He's also hit double-digit assists in six of the last nine contests.
Harden's role on the Clippers, who just took sole possession of the West's top seed, is more as a playmaker than a scorer. He brilliantly executes the pick-and-roll with bigs and finds primary scorers Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the right spots.
The previous two times the Clippers played the Pelicans this season, Harden dished out 13 and 10 assists, respectively.
Odds: -125 (playable to -130)
Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X @soshtry for more betting coverage.