Best Sports Betting Picks Today: College Basketball, NBA Predictions for November 27, 2024

Before the holiday serves up an NFL tripleheader, there’s plenty of sports Wednesday to dig into kicking off five consecutive days of a multiple-event smorgasbord for fans of the investing type.

We’ve surveyed the sports landscape to find our favorite calls anchored in intrigue on a hefty night of hoops. 

Indiana Pacers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 7 p.m.

Until a parade of weaklings began with Washington on Sunday, followed by New Orleans, the Pacers had lost five of six. Suddenly Tyrese Haliburton is Tyrese Haliburton again. He made a season-high nine 3-pointers on Monday and put up the kind of line that made him a member of Team USA last summer: 34 points, 13 assists. 

The Pacers are a different breed at home. Now 6-2 on the season in Indy, they’re flexing a major manpower advantage over the Blazers. Because of injuries, Portland could be as thin as two reserves and seven healthy players on Wednesday night. Often teams that sound like they need a break play like it, too. 

Portland would sorely miss Jerami Grant, who leads the team in scoring at 16.1 per game and drives the team’s defensive identity, with rookie Donovan Clingan and 7-footer Deandre Ayton iffy to play again. 

Indiana Pacers -10, OVER 231.5 (+140 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

Auburn vs. Memphis, 5 p.m.

What a run these Tigers are on in Hawaii.

Memphis awakened the masses by dropping two-time defending national champion UConn in the Maui Invitational, an overtime win that certainly will push the Tigers into the Top 25. Where they wind up in the latest poll Monday might depend on how they wrap up business on the islands Wednesday in the championship game of the tournament against Auburn. 

No. 4-ranked Auburn (6-0) expected a stiff test from guard-oriented North Carolina, but the Tar Heels had no answer for lefty big man Johni Broome (23 points) and Bruce Pearl’s team is among the national team leaders with 18 assists per game, a sign of crisp ball movement and willingness to spread the wealth among scorers. 

Memphis has one of those, too. PJ Haggerty ranks 19th in the nation at a 21.3 points-per-game average. He put up 16 and 9 in the 71-63 semifinal win over Michigan State. Memphis also shoots the 3 at a serious clip, averaging nine made 3s per game. 

But the difference on a multi-day tournament event stage is often depth and quality of talent beyond the core lineup. Advantage Auburn. Their pressure and downhill offensive style sets them apart from Memphis in a game that gets away from the Tigers from Tennessee after halftime.

Auburn -8 (-110), DraftKings Sportsboook

Detroit Pistons vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m.

Cade Cunningham is likely to miss his third consecutive game. That means the maestro of the Pistons’ offense at Memphis becomes Jaden Ivey. In games without Cunningham, the Pistons are playing Ivey and asking him to be the primary scorer and distributor at a usage rate of nearly 35 percent, an increase of nearly 40 percent from his usual role. 

The former Purdue All-American has starred in a featured role the past two games with 19 points, seven boards, and two assists in 28 minutes Saturday at Orlando and made the game-winning hoop to cap a 25-point, eight-assist outing to help Detroit edge the Raptors on Monday.

Jaden Ivey over 31.5 points + assists + rebounds (-110) FanDuel Sportsbook