NBA Cup Preview: Live Odds and 3 Best Bets for Quarterfinals

It is underdog heaven for the NBA Cup Quarterfinal games. On the Eastern side of the bracket, take Coach Spo and Miami at full strength to give a red-hot Orlando team a run for their money. Out West, Phoenix and San Antonio have a lot to prove in this type of tournament setting and project to play some close games against top-tier Western Conference foes.

Heat +5.5 over Magic

Miami and Orlando are heating up, Miami winners in 7 of their last 10 games, and the Magic is playing extremely well without Banchero, winners in 8 of its last 10 games. The two Florida squads will battle each other for a trip to Vegas for the semifinals later this month.

With the Magic struggling against some fast-paced offensive units this season, I’m taking a full-strength Miami team to outscore Orlando. With Banchero potentially coming back for the quarterfinal matchup, this might throw off the offensive chemistry, especially with his poor shooting to start the year.

Since Tyler Herro’s return, Miami is 2-1 with a close loss to Detroit. I’ll take Spo to rally the troops in this inner-conference and inner-state matchup.

Suns +14.5 over Thunder

15 points is a large sum for a tournament-like game. The Thunder are a machine, starting the year 20-1, most of those wins coming without their second-best player in Jalen Williams. They have defeated Phoenix in each of their last five matchups, including a four-point win at home against the Suns later in November.

Jordan Ott’s team can handle pressure and cause pressure, and while OKC has more than enough confident ball handlers, the Suns match up well against any team in the association with their newfound deep big man rotation and a healthy backcourt. I’ll take Phoenix to at least make this a contest.

Spurs +4.5 over Lakers

With Wemby most likely back for this game, Dylan Harper healthy, and the Spurs defense clicking on all cylinders, this feels like a down-to-the-wire game that could head in either direction. In their only matchup this season, the Lakers won at home by just two points – Fox and Harper out for San Antonio and James and Reaves out for LA.

With the Spurs 6th in scoring defense and only getting better offensively with added time together, this could be the breakout that comes earlier than expected, and although NBA Cup play isn’t the most important thing to these franchises, San Antonio has a lot to prove in this type of setting should they be at full strength.