{"id":273596,"date":"2025-11-09T16:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T16:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/273596\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T16:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T16:49:12","slug":"fantasy-basketball-picks-and-betting-tips-for-sundays-nba-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/273596\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy basketball picks and betting tips for Sunday’s NBA games"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jim McCormickNov 9, 2025, 11:30 AM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Jim McCormick is a contributing writer for fantasy football and men’s basketball at ESPN.<\/p>\n

ESPN’s fantasy basketball daily cheat sheet is your pregame destination before you set your lineups for that night’s games. Here you’ll read our best advice for the night, including a selection of players you can stream as well as game-by-game Injury reports.<\/p>\n

Jump ahead
Top streamers<\/a> | Best bets<\/a> | Odds & Injury report<\/a><\/p>\n

What you need to know for Sunday’s games<\/p>\n

A seven-game Sunday slate tips off this afternoon in Wisconsin, where the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> host the surging Houston Rockets<\/a> in a telling matchup.<\/p>\n

Both teams boast top-eight offensive ratings, although only Houston carries a top-10 defense into this contest. The total for this game is the third-highest of the day, suggesting strong offensive production.<\/p>\n

Offensive optimism is the theme for Sunday’s schedule, as every game has a total north of 227 points, with the nightcap between the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> and the Sacramento Kings<\/a> featuring the highest number of the day (235.5).<\/p>\n

So many games with encouraging offensive metrics make for strong streaming and player prop markets. In weekly leagues, Sundays become uniquely important as the final window to leverage any open roster spots into productive plug-and-play options.<\/p>\n

With an eye on identifying rewarding streaming candidates and savvy betting angles, let’s take a look at Sunday’s matchups.<\/p>\n

Sunday’s fantasy stream team<\/p>\n

Trendon Watford<\/a>, PF, Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> (rostered in 11.5% of ESPN leagues): Fresh off an epic triple-double showing on Saturday night, Watford could again be a pivotal performer for a Philly team likely to be without Joel Embiid<\/a> on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Detroit Pistons<\/a> don’t have many point-of-attack wings to throw at Watford; meanwhile, the 76ers’ backcourt often causes defenses to collapse. Watford is in a good spot to follow up on Saturday’s career showing.<\/p>\n

Aaron Nesmith<\/a>, SF, Indiana Pacers<\/a> (22.2% rostered): The Pacers are leaning heavily on their forwards for offense. Indiana just doesn’t have many capable perimeter scorers, given a wave of injuries to their backcourt and wing depth charts. Nesmith, a playoff hero from last summer, is turning it up again. Fresh off a 25-point performance on Saturday and facing a Golden State Warriors<\/a> team that could struggle to contain him on close-outs, Nesmith is in an inviting spot to deliver.<\/p>\n

Anthony Black<\/a>, PG\/SG, Orlando Magic<\/a> (6.7%): You won’t net many big scoring lines from Black, but solid passing results combined with elite steal and block production make for an underrated pure point guard package. Orlando needs creation from somewhere, which vaults Black into bigger minutes. It helps that he just delivered a strong game against the Boston Celtics<\/a> ahead of today’s rematch.<\/p>\n

Wendell Carter Jr<\/a>., C, Magic (16.5%): The matchup for Carter against Boston is inviting. Carter just posted 18 points against the Celtics on Friday and could again eat inside facing an inexperienced and smaller frontcourt. The Celtics simply don’t have the bodies or positioning to deny Carter inside.<\/p>\n

McCormick’s favorite bets for Sunday<\/p>\n

Pascal Siakam<\/a> to go OVER 32.5 points + rebounds (-115)<\/a><\/p>\n

While Golden State does a commendable job of deterring shots in the restricted area and from rewarding catch-and-shoot spots, particularly in the corners, the team struggles overall to contain production in the paint and in the midrange. These are areas of the floor where Siakam is comfortable scoring, especially on second-chance looks against a Warriors team that is 18th in rebounding percentage.<\/p>\n

Julius Randle<\/a> to go OVER 29.5 points + rebounds (-110)<\/a><\/p>\n

This was clearly more attractive at 28.5, but even this line allows for more than three combined points and rebounds of cushion from Randle’s season averages. The Kings do not present a stiff challenge for opposing power forwards to produce on the glass, especially with Domantas Sabonis<\/a> not at full strength.<\/p>\n

Wendell Carter Jr. OVER 10.5 points (-130)<\/a><\/p>\n

Pacing Orlando with nearly 16 rebounding chances per game on the season, Carter should see a bevy of chances to collect the ball in a game against a smaller Boston lineup. With the Celtics knowingly going smaller this season, opponents are countering with size. Carter just cleared this scoring line easily on Friday without being a featured part of the Orlando offense.<\/p>\n

Projections and Injury Reports<\/p>\n

Basketball Power Index<\/a> by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds by ESPN BET<\/a><\/p>\n

Players in italics are available in a majority of ESPN Leagues<\/p>\n

Houston Rockets<\/a> at Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>
3:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Rockets -3.5 (-115) | Bucks 3.5 (-105)
Money line: Rockets -170 | Bucks +145
Total: 232.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Rockets by 4.5, straight up 63%, 233.4 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Rockets: Fred VanVleet<\/a>, (OUT – Knee); Jalen Green<\/a>, (GTD – Hamstring)
Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, (GTD – Knee); Taurean Prince<\/a>, (OUT – Neck); Kevin Porter Jr.<\/a>, (OUT – Knee); Damian Lillard<\/a>, (OFS – Achilles)<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Nets<\/a> at New York Knicks<\/a>
6 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Nets 15.5 (-110) | Knicks -15.5 (-110)
Money line: Nets +800 | Knicks -1600
Total: 227.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Knicks by 18.1, straight up 93%, 226.4 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Nets: Cam Thomas<\/a>, (OUT – Hamstring); De’Anthony Melton<\/a>, (OUT – Knee)
Knicks: None reported<\/p>\n

Boston Celtics<\/a> at Orlando Magic<\/a>
6 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Celtics 4.5 (-115) | Magic -4.5 (-105)
Money line: Celtics +140 | Magic -165
Total: 227.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Magic by 3.5, straight up 60%, 220.9 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>, (GTD – Illness); Jayson Tatum<\/a>, (OUT – Achilles); Drew Peterson<\/a>, (OUT – Calf); Al Horford<\/a>, (GTD – Foot); Luke Kornet<\/a>, (GTD – Ankle)
Magic: Moritz Wagner<\/a>, (OUT – Knee)<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> at Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>
6 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Thunder -10.5 (-115) | Grizzlies 10.5 (-105)
Money line: Thunder -550 | Grizzlies +380
Total: 231.5 (-115 O, -105 U)
BPI Projection: Thunder by 10, straight up 76%, 234.6 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Thunder: Nikola Topic<\/a>, (OUT – Groin); Luguentz Dort<\/a>, (GTD – Shoulder); Aaron Wiggins<\/a>, (OUT – Thigh); Jalen Williams<\/a>, (OUT – Wrist); Kenrich Williams<\/a>, (OUT – Knee)
Grizzlies: Luke Kennard<\/a>, (GTD – Illness); Scotty Pippen Jr.<\/a>, (OUT – Toe); Santi Aldama<\/a>, (GTD – Shoulder); Zach Edey<\/a>, (OUT – Ankle); Brandon Clarke<\/a>, (OUT – Knee)<\/p>\n

Detroit Pistons<\/a> at Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>
7:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Pistons -4.5 (-105) | 76ers 4.5 (-115)
Money line: Pistons -165 | 76ers +140
Total: 232.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: 76ers by 2.2, straight up 57%, 235.2 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Pistons: Isaiah Stewart<\/a>, (GTD – Ankle); Tobias Harris<\/a>, (OUT – Ankle); Jaden Ivey<\/a>, (OUT – Knee); Marcus Sasser<\/a>, (OUT – Hip)
76ers: Jared McCain<\/a>, (GTD – Knee); Paul George<\/a>, (OUT – Knee)<\/p>\n

Indiana Pacers<\/a> at Golden State Warriors<\/a>
8:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Pacers 12.5 (-110) | Warriors -12.5 (-110)
Money line: Pacers +475 | Warriors -750
Total: 228.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Warriors by 8.9, straight up 74%, 231.7 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Pacers: Obi Toppin<\/a>, (OUT – Foot); Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>, (OFS – Achilles); T.J. McConnell<\/a>, (OUT – Hamstring); Bennedict Mathurin<\/a>, (OUT – Toe); Johnny Furphy<\/a>, (OUT – Ankle); Quenton Jackson<\/a>, (OUT – Hamstring)
Warriors: Stephen Curry<\/a>, (GTD – Illness)<\/p>\n

Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> at Sacramento Kings<\/a>
9 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Line: Timberwolves -5.5 (-105) | Kings 5.5 (-120)
Money line: Timberwolves -215 | Kings +180
Total: 235.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Timberwolves by 4.4, straight up 63%, 232.7 total points.<\/p>\n

Injury Report:
Timberwolves: Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a>, (GTD – Back); Terrence Shannon Jr.<\/a>, (GTD – Foot)
Kings: Domantas Sabonis<\/a>, (GTD – Ribs); Keegan Murray<\/a>, (OUT – Thumb)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim McCormickNov 9, 2025, 11:30 AM ET CloseJim McCormick is a contributing writer for fantasy football and men’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-273596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}