Best NBA Betting Picks and Parlay Today - Thursday, January 12, 2023

The NBA 's Thursday, January 12 slate features some awesome matchups, and we are picking out three of them for our best bets of the evening. Basketball fans should be pretty exciting about this night, as the TNT doubleheader features the Boston Celtics facing the Brooklyn Nets and the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Los Angeles Lakers. There's going to be a lot of stars on the floor for these, and we have picks on both of those games. We're also taking something in a meeting between the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. These picks are backed by our predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, as well as some in-depth analysis from our expert. We feel good about what we're presenting to you, and we also urge you to check out our NBA player props parlay for tonight. We hit two days ago at +781 odds and have been doing a nice job on these plays that offer massive payouts. 

RELATED: Check out our favorite NBA player props for tonight's slate

As always, we've simulated all of the night's NBA games 10,000 times each to determine where the value lies for sports bettors across the United States.

Best NBA Bets Today

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat, 7:30PM ET

The Heat still have some players missing, but they're going to have Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo out there. That should be enough for them to take care of business at home against a Bucks team that is coming off of a hard-earned win over the Atlanta Hawks last night.

Milwaukee could opt to rest some players after having just played a road game, and the team will already be without Khris Middleton. Against a Heat team that is up to eighth in the league in defensive rating, this Bucks squad is in trouble. 

Miami has also just been on a tear in recent weeks. The Heat are 10-5 in their last 15 games, so they are starting to find themselves after a slow start to the season. Now, we like them to make a statement in a home game against a tired Bucks team. Milwaukee is also just 25-40 against the spread when playing on the road in games with lines of +3 to -3 under head coach Mike Budenholzer. 

BET: Heat -3.5 (-110) with DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️.

🏀 Bucks vs. Heat Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Bucks vs. Heat

---

Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets, 7:30PM ET

Brooklyn has quietly been one of the best teams in the NBA this season, but nobody seems to want to talk about it. Now, the Nets have a chance to force people to do so in a meeting with an elite Celtics group. And while we do suggest taking the points in this game, we like Brooklyn to ultimately come away with an outright victory, too. 

The Nets lost by 11 the last time they hosted the Celtics, but they shot just 40.5% from the floor in that one. Since then, Brooklyn has shot at least 50.0% from the field in 11 of its last 15 games. With that in mind, that poor shooting performance from last time seems a little fluky. This Nets team is fifth in the league in offensive rating and should be able to find a different way to attack the Celtics here.

It obviously hurts that the Nets will be without Kevin Durant in this game, but Kyrie Irving is capable of putting the team on his back. And there are other guys in this lineup that are capable of rising to the occasion, with T.J. Warren being one that comes to mind. Don't be surprised if he gets hot in this game. 

It's also hard to stress just how good Nicolas Claxton has been for Brooklyn. He has emerged as one of the best defensive players in the entire league, and his rim protection should come up big when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown attack the basket. 

BET: Nets +3.5 (-110) with DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️.

🏀 Celtics vs. Nets Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Celtics vs. Nets

---

Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 10:00PM ET

The Lakers have been playing extremely well as of late, but the Mavericks should be able to roll into Los Angeles and get the job done here. While LeBron James has had some ridiculous games this season, it's pretty clear that Luka Doncic will be the best player on the floor in this contest. And he happens to have a better supporting cast right now, as the Lakers remain without Anthony Davis. 

Dallas has a bunch of guys that can consistently spot up from three and defend on the other end, while Los Angeles' role players tend to be a little less trustworthy. The Mavericks can also count on Christian Wood to play Robin to Luka's Batman, which is exactly what LeBron is missing right now. 

Also, since Jason Kidd became an NBA head coach, his teams are 20-5 ATS when coming off back-to-back losses of 10 or more points. He should have his team ready to turn in a bounce-back performance. 

BET: Mavericks -3 (-110) with DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️.

🏀 Mavericks vs. Lakers Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Mavericks vs. Lakers

Your game not here? Find out who we're betting on for every basketball game on Thursday via our NBA Bet Hub, where we deliver you NBA predictions and suggested bets, or check out the NBA Betting News section.

---

Best NBA Bets Today

There are numerous different ways you can wager on NBA games in 2022, such as the moneyline, spread, total, player and team props, and, of course, parlays. While we normally suggest taking our picks on their own, we recognize the need to service a parlay-loving audience! With that said, check out the fat payout you can get by throwing all of our best bets together tonight. Also, feel free to make your own parlays using our NBA best bets page! 

🔥 Heat -3.5
🔥 Nets +3.5
🔥 Mavs -3

*All odds and lines correct at time of publishing

RELATED: Predicted scores for every NBA game on Thursday