3 Best NBA Bets and Player Props for Tuesday 12/23/25

The 82-game NBA regular season offers us a wide variety of betting options, including point spreads, moneylines, and totals. The Association features 1,230 regular season games, which can make sifting through the odds an overwhelming task.

However, various advanced statistics can help narrow the choices. Our NBA player prop projections paired with advanced stats from the NBA can help give the inside track to quality bets.

While utilizing some of the mentioned tools, which NBA odds from FanDuel Sportsbook look like the best bets today?

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All injury news comes from the NBA's official injury report.

NBA Betting Picks for Today

Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers

Pacers Moneyline (+104)

The Indiana Pacers have been respectable lately, and despite this being the second leg of a back to back for Indiana, I'm interested in the Pacers as a home 'dog versus a struggling Milwaukee Bucks team.

Over the last 15 games, Indiana ranks 19th in net rating (-1.6). Since getting Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin back, the Pacers are still losing a lot of games, but they're no longer the terrible squad they were earlier this campaign.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, is still really bad without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Over the past 15 games, the Bucks sit 27th in defensive rating (-7.1). They have the third-worst offensive rating in that span, which makes the Pacers a bad matchup for them as Indiana is 11th in defensive rating across the last 15 games.

With Indiana playing in Boston last night, there's a chance the Pacers sit one (or more) of their key pieces. If you want to back Indiana, you can play it safe and wait until this afternoon to ensure Pascal Siakam, Mathurin and Nembhard are all going to be active.

New Orleans Pelicans at Cleveland Cavaliers

Donovan Mitchell Over 3.5 Made Threes (+102)

Donovan Mitchell is one of the NBA's best three-point shooters, and this is a great matchup for him to get hot from three.

Mitchell is making 4.1 made threes per night this season, the second-most in the NBA (behind Stephen Curry). He's shooting 38.9% from three, which would be a career-best clip. Over his previous five games, he's had outings of seven, eight and six made triples.

The New Orleans Pelicans are the best possible matchup for him. New Orleans permits the NBA's highest three-point attempt rate (46.2%), and they're surrendering the third-most made threes per game to SGs (3.8).

I'm also intrigued by Mitchell to make five-plus treys at +230 odds.

Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns

Under 226.5 Points (-106)

There's no Luka Doncic today for the Los Angeles Lakers, and that pushes me to the under in LA's clash with the Phoenix Suns.

Luka being out hurts the Lakers' offense while also helping their defense. With Luka on the court, LA is scoring 121.8 points per 100 possessions -- a number that falls to 115.4 with Doncic off the floor. Defensively, the Lakers are giving up 116.8 points per 100 possessions with Luka off the floor, compared to 119.1 points per 100 possessions with Doncic on the court.

The pace should help us, too, as the Lakers and Suns are 20th and 22nd, respectively, in pace over the last 15 games.

These two teams will be very familiar with each other, too -- something that could help the defenses. This is the third time the Lakers and Suns have played this month.

All in all, with the game's best offensive player out in a matchup between two slower-paced teams, the under is the side I want to be on.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.