NBA Best Bets Today | Expert Picks for Friday, March 15

A Clippers team with one of the best records in the NBA is catching a substantial underdog price tonight but with good reason. Los Angeles snapped a two-game slide with a win in Chicago last night, in a favorable set-up catching the Bulls a day after Chicago had an overtime win.

The Clippers shot 60 percent last night but still struggled to pull away in the game. Russell Westbrook is out while James Harden seems unlikely to play after sitting out last night as the Clippers won't have the group that led a great midseason run back to contention.

New Orleans trails Los Angeles by three games in the standings but owns a stronger scoring differential than the Clippers for the season and the gap between these teams defensively in recent weeks has been massive with New Orleans #1 in the NBA in defensive efficiency in the past 10 games while the Clippers are in the league's bottom seven.

The Clippers are just 8-14 S/U vs. top 10 teams this season and this is an important bounce-back game for the Pelicans after an ugly home loss on Wednesday. That game came after a long road trip and came after two off days for an understandable letdown set-up.

New Orleans has won two of three in this series and can clinch the season series with a home win tonight as this number is justified even if it is a big difference from the January meeting in New Orleans.

Just a month into the season, the Jazz made a commitment to go with a youth movement. They haven't been very good because of that during the past 3 1/2 months. From once being at .500 the Jazz are now 28-37. Utah has lost 11 of its last 13 games.

The Hawks are a playoff contender. They opened their West Coast trip with an upset loss to the lowly Trail Blazers. Atlanta can't afford to lose a second consecutive game to a bad team. The Hawks meet the Lakers, Clippers and Suns in their next three games. They are not going to be favored in any of those games.

The Hawks rolled past the Jazz, 124-97, when they hosted them on Feb. 27. Trae Young missed that game, too.

This game holds special meaning for the Hawks because it's their coach, Quin Snyder, first game back in Salt Lake City. Snyder coached the Jazz for eight seasons.