Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday's NBA Best Teaser

With only three NBA games on Tuesday, do yourself a favor and avoid a parlay and/or an SGP, and go with this teaser. The standard teaser is four points; however, FanDuel's line of five points still gets you to even odds with the Lakers (+9.5) vs. Cavaliers and the Pistons vs. the Heat (-4). That's super, super rare, and you need to take advantage right away. 

Yes, Miami got smoked by Memphis on Monday, but don't expect the Heat to struggle against the second-worst team in the league in the Detroit Pistons. Miami is a nine-point favorite, but with the tease, you need them to only win by five for a win, and four for a wash, which is a steal. 

The Pistons are just 2-11 on the road, and 1-14 against the Eastern Conference so far this season, which makes this leg hitting so much more likely. Plus, 18 of Detroit's 19 losses have been by four or more points, so, chances are if the Pistons lose, it's going to be by at least five.

Meanwhile the Miami Heat are far from good this season — 11-13 to be exact — but Jimmy Butler is back after being out for three weeks due to right knee soreness. Butler is still getting his legs underneath him, but since he's been back, he's played at least 33 minutes, shot over 50% from the field, and scored at least 18 points. Miami is no where near as good as they were last year, but still, beating a bad Pistons team by four shouldn't be too hard for the Heat. 

As for the final leg of our teaser, take the Lakers (+9.5) against the Cavaliers. Anthony Davis might be having the best stretch right now of any player in the NBA -- 34.2 PPG & 15.4 RPG in his last 10 games -- and more importantly, the Lakers have won five of their last six and eight of their last 10. Plus, Davis is coming off his best game of the season on Sunday against the Wizards -- 55 points and 14 rebounds -- and you can make a legit argument that LA should be favored in Tuesday's game against Cleveland. 

Los Angeles still has a long way to go before establishing themselves as a contender, but they sure don't look like a team that opened the season 0-5 and 2-14 through its first 14 games. The Lakers are starting to get healthy, and LeBron James and AD might be playing their best basketball since uniting in LA 2019. And remember, you don't need LA to win, you just need them to lose by nine or less. And that's certainly do able, even against a Cavs team that is 10-1 at home and leading the league in points allowed. 

The Teaser: Los Angeles Lakers (+4.5) to (+9.5) AND Miami Heat (-9) to (-4) (+100 odds via FanDuel)

Bet $100 to win $100

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