Sports Illustrated's Peter Dewey breaks down his favorite bets for the NBA action on Tuesday, March 31.
The NBA’s play-in tournament is exactly two weeks away, which means positioning is everything over the final sprint of the regular season. A seven-game slate on Tuesday night features several play-in teams like the Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers.
Let’s end March with a bang! Here’s a breakdown of all of my NBA Best Bets for Tuesday night.Phoenix Suns +2.5 vs. Orlando Magic The Suns are coming off a blowout win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, and they only had to play Devin Booker 26 minutes in that matchup. Now, they find themselves as small underdogs against an Orlando Magic team that has dropped seven of its last 10 games and remains without Franz Wagner and Anthony Black on Tuesday. The Suns are just 11-11 against the spread as road dogs this season, but the Magic have the third-worst against the spread record as a home favorite in the league this season, going 11-17 in 28 games. Orlando is also just 20-28 straight up against teams that are .500 or better in the 2025-26 campaign. Phoenix is getting a major boost on Tuesday, as Dillon Brooks is set to return to the lineup after missing the team’s last 18 games. The Suns are 10 games over .500 when Brooks is in the lineup this season. Over their last 10 games, the Magic are just 24th in the NBA in net rating , and they’re coming off a 52-point loss to Toronto on Sunday. I think the Suns are a little undervalued in this game, especially since they covered on the road on Monday, moving to 12-2 this season as a road favorite. I’ll gladly take the 2.5 points on Tuesday.Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley has been a beast on the glass this month, including a 10-rebound game in Jarrett Allen’s return to the lineup from a knee injury. Mobley has at least eight rebounds in 11 of his 14 games in the month of March, averaging 10.2 rebounds per game. So, I don’t mind him at this discounted number against a Lakers team that is 12th in the NBA in rebound percentage. L.A. does have a bunch of solid rebounders in LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Deandre Ayton, but Mobley is averaging a whopping 16.1 rebound chances per game this season. So, he only needs to convert half of those to hit this prop. In addition to that, Allen played less than 19 minutes in his return against Miami before sitting out last night’s win over Utah. So, Mobley should play a good chunk of minutes as the Cavs’ center, which likely improves his ceiling as a rebounder in this game.Los Angeles Clippers guard Darius Garland has been red hot from beyond the arc since moving into the starting lineup, and I’m going back to him in the prop market after he hit a play in Sunday’s edition of Peter’s Points. Garland has made three or more 3-pointers in 10 of his 11 games as a starter with the Clippers, and he’s averaging 4.0 made 3-pointers per game on 7.8 attempts in a Clippers uniform. Since being traded by the Cavs, Garland is shooting 51.0 percent from 3. Now, he takes on a Portland Trail Blazers team that is 18th in the NBA in opponent 3-point percentage this season, allowing just over 12 3s per game. Since Garland is taking 3s at such a high volume, I’ll continue to bet on him as long as this number stays at 2.5.I’m moving a couple lines in two of the marquee matchups on Tuesday night, as I like the Knicks and Lakers – especially when they’re getting a few more points.The Knicks have an insane come-from-behind win over the Rockets earlier this season, but they’ve struggled to cover on the road in the 2025-26 campaign. Luckily for Jalen Brunson and company, the Rockets have the second-worst against the spread record at home this season, going 13-22 in 35 games. Houston’s offense is just 16th in the league over its last 10 games while the Knicks have a top-five unit during that stretch and rank third in offensive rating and seventh in defensive rating in the 2025-26 season as a whole. I think this is a bit of a buy-low spot for the Knicks after back-to-back losses to Charlotte and OKC. Houston is just three games over .500 against teams that are .500 or better this season, and it’s 17th in the NBA in net rating over its last 15 games. The Knicks are sixth in net rating during that same stretch. Until Houston proves that it can cover at home, I think it’s a fade candidate in a toss-up game between two playoff teams.The Lakers have the third-best record against the spread as a home favorite this season , so I’m buying them in this game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams are playing a back-to-back on Tuesday, and the Cavs are just 4-8 against the spread in that spot and have the worst ATS record in the NBA this season. Meanwhile, the Lakers will get Doncic back in action for this game. The All-NBA guard should be pretty fresh since he has not played since Friday against the Brooklyn Nets. The Cavs should also get Jarrett Allen back in action after he sat out Monday’s win over Utah, but I like the Lakers in this spot at home. L.A. is 25-12 this season at home, and the Cavs have gone just 26-22 against teams that are .500 or better. The Lakers also have the eighth-best net rating in the league over their last 10 games, going 9-1 straight up during that stretch.$200 in bonus bets instantly.Peter is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated Betting. He has worked as a writer and editor for BetSided, NBC Sports, the Connecticut Sun and the Meriden Record-Journal covering the NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, and more. A New York City resident, he is a hoops fanatic with a soft spot for his New York Knicks.
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