Best NBA Betting Picks and Parlay Today - Wednesday, January 18, 2023

The Wednesday, January 18 slate is absolutely loaded, so we're going to help you narrow things down with our three NBA best bets of the evening. The biggest games of the night will feature the Dallas Mavericks hosting the Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves facing the Denver Nuggets in an ESPN doubleheader. We have picks for both of those games, but we're also intrigued by a meeting between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Keep reading to get our favorite picks of the night, which are made with a combination of our expert's in-depth analysis, our predictive analytics model and then Dimers' world-class artificial intelligence. Also, you'll want to make sure you back our NBA player props parlay, which actually won last night. We've been doing well with those parlays all season long. 

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

Atlanta Hawks vs. Dallas Mavericks, 7:30PM ET

The Hawks have won each of their last three games, while also being 5-2 in their last seven. They definitely look like they're starting to figure things out, but asking them to go on the road and keep things this close against the Mavericks is rough. 

Over the last two seasons, Dallas is 17-7 against the spread when playing as a home favorite of 6 or fewer points. The Mavericks are also 34-19 ATS off a road loss over the last three seasons, so they should be able to bounce back from their 17-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers here. And having one of the best home crowds in basketball will help them do it. 

Dallas is just a much better offensive team than Atlanta right now, and the Hawks aren't good enough defensively to make up the difference. Luka Doncic should turn in a huge performance in this one, which will ultimately make it impossible for the road team to get settled in. This is also a game in which Christian Wood could make a mark on both ends of the floor. He has been improving more and more as the season has progressed. 

Our predictive analytics model is also on the Mavericks, giving the home team a 52% probability of covering. 

DID YOU KNOW? Dallas big man Christian Wood has recorded more than 1.5 blocks in nine of his last 13 appearances. There's more like this in our NBA Trends section.

BET: Mavericks -2.5 (-110) with DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️.

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

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Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 8:00PM ET

The Thunder are the talk of the NBA at the moment, as they're now knocking on the postseason door. This was supposed to be a team that was a few years away, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as a legitimate superstar and his supporting cast has been doing its part. However, the Pacers aren't all that different than the Thunder, with Indiana being in eighth in the Eastern Conference after having been viewed as a contender for the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. And we expect the Pacers to get up for this game, even without Tyrese Haliburton. 

Indiana center Myles Turner just has the ability to impact this game greatly with his ability to block shots. The Thunder will struggle if the big man is there to clog up their driving lanes — nobody in the league attacks the rim more than them — and the Pacers have enough guard depth to deal with the absence of Haliburton on the other end of the floor. 

Rick Carlisle's team also happens to be 19-9 ATS in games with totals of 230 or higher this season. They're comfortable playing high-scoring games. Our DimersBOT is also on this pick, with the model projecting only a four-point win for the Thunder. 

SAY WHAT? Oklahoma City's Lu Dort has scored fewer than 15.5 points in 16 of his last 25 appearances. You can find more stats like this in our NBA Trends section.

BET: Pacers +4.5 (-110) with DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️.

🏀 Pacers vs. Thunder Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Pacers vs. Thunder

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Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets, 10:00PM ET

The Nuggets are second in the league in offensive rating, but they've been playing at an even higher level on that end of the floor over the last few weeks. With that in mind, Denver should hang a huge number on a Minnesota team that isn't anything special defensively. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves should also be able to get theirs offensively, with the Nuggets being just 17th in the NBA in defensive rating. 

It definitely stinks not having Karl-Anthony Towns out there for the Timberwolves in a game in which you're backing the Over, as he's an elite scorer and a miserable defender. But this game still has the potential to turn into a serious shootout, as there will be plenty of talent out there for both teams. 

These teams also combined to score 235 points when they met on January 2, but the Nuggets scored just 111 in that road game. They'll do a bit more to help Over bettors with this game being at Ball Arena. 

BET: Over 236.5 (-110) with DraftKings ➡️ here ⬅️.

🏀 Timberwolves vs. Nuggets Predictions
📈 Betting preview: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets

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

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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! 

🔥 Mavericks -2.5
🔥 Pacers +4.5
🔥 Wolves-Nuggets Over 236.5

*All odds and lines correct at time of publishing