BIG3 Basketball Betting: Best Bets for Week 9
BIG3 Basketball returns for its eighth season with plenty of new notable names and a few twists to the traditional format that could make it the league's best season yet.
For the first time in BIG3 history, teams are now tied into specific cities. Plenty of last year's notable names return, while new incoming stars like Dwight Howard, Montrezl Harrell and Will Barton enhance an already impressive talent pool that also includes former NBA luminaries such as Michael Beasley, Joe Johnson, Greg Monroe and Paul Millsap, among others.
This season, RotoWire will once again have quick-hit betting picks for all four clashes each week using DraftKings and FanDuel Sportsbook odds, continuing with Saturday's four-game slate at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
2025 BIG3 Betting Record: 16-12
Houston Rig Hands vs. Miami 305 Best Bets (Saturday, August 9, 4:00 p.m. ET)
As we head into this final week of the regular season, there are technically still six teams in the BIG3 alive for four playoff spots. However, the Rig Hands are one of the two definitely out of the running, with Houston 1-6 and sporting a BIG3-worst -50-point differential and having allowed a league-high 349 points.
Houston is coming off its best performance of the season on its Toyota Center home floor, coming up just short to the Power by a 51-47 score. However, I fully expect a letdown here in what is a meaningless game for Calvin Murphy's squad, and especially against a 305 team that's out to solidify its postseason standing and looking to atone for a 50-41 loss to the Triplets in Week 8.
Miami's surprising nine-point defeat came despite the fact Michael Beasley was available, but I see Michael Thompson's crew, which has scored the second-most points (337), getting back on track here and ensuring they head into playoff weekend with some momentum by recording a win that at minimum carries the eight-point margin of victory they managed against Houston in Week 7.
BIG3 Picks for Rig Hands vs. 305
- 305 -7.5 (-110 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
Boston Ball Hogs at L.A. Riot (Saturday, August 9, 5:00 p.m. ET)
In Week 8, the Ball Hogs and Riot both continued to profile as perhaps the two most difficult teams in the BIG3 to figure out. Boston thumped the Amps by a 52-40 score, one week after taking a 51-43 loss at the hands of the Triplets. Meanwhile, Los Angeles was manhandled by then 1-5 Trilogy, 50-42, a game in which Jordan Crawford and Mike Taylor combined for only 10 points.
The Ball Hogs' big day was fueled once again by Jonathon Simmons, who's clearly been the team MVP. He tallied 22 points and saw DeShawn Stephens and Dominque Johnson combine to match that total, giving Gary Payton's squad a little less of a top-heavy feel than usual. Overreliance of Simmons has sometimes been the Ball Hogs' undoing, and a replication of their Week 8 performance will therefore likely be key to a victory.
With two unpredictable teams at play, I won't try taking a stab at the moneyline or spread, instead opting to go with the Over as the Ball Hogs try to lock in a playoff spot and the Riot looks to check off the first of two boxes (and the only one they have control over) to maintain an outside chance a playoff spot.
BIG3 Picks for Ball Hogs at Riot
- Over 95.5 points (-112 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
Dallas Power vs. DMV Trilogy (Saturday, August 9, 6:00 p.m. ET)
This sets up as an interesting game for the Power, which already has locked in a playoff spot at 5-2 after a 51-47 win over the Rig Hands in Week 8. Dallas recorded the close win despite both Greg Monroe and Paul Millsap being unavailable, as Glen Rice Jr. (20 points) DaJuan Summers (15 points) led the offensive charge.
Just who'll be on the floor for Dallas this week remains to be seen, as Nancy Lieberman could choose to give some key players rest. Meanwhile, Trilogy will have the offseason to ponder what could have been, but as they showed in their aforementioned eight-point thumping of the Riot iN Week 8, this is a team that's better than its 2-5 record indicates.
Trilogy has shown it will play for pride, and this is a very large spread. Therefore, I'm taking the points happily in a game where I could see an outright upset being pulled.
BIG3 Picks for Power vs. Trilogy
Trilogy +7.5 (-110 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
Detroit Amps vs. Chicago Triplets Best Bets (Saturday, August 9, 7:00 p.m. ET)
The final game of the day sees another team currently on the outside looking in with regards to the playoffs (the Amps) and one that already has a postseason spot locked in the Triplets. Chicago has ridden the leadership and energy of Montrezl Harrell to a co-league-best record, with the latest feather in the Triplets' cap that 50-41 win over 305.
Harrell's 28-point nine-rebound performance was the latest installment of what has been a highly successful BIG3 debut season for the one-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Nasir Core (12 points, five rebounds, two assists) was a strong complementary contributor once again, and given Harrell's typical competitiveness, it's unlikely Chicago takes its foot off the gas.
The Amps are 4-3 and will enter the day still in line for a chance at the playoffs. Detroit has been playing the last several weeks without Joe Johnson due to a thigh injury, and despite Jeremy Pargo's and Cam Smith's best efforts, it's difficult for the Amps to generate the same offensive consistency without Iso Joe available.
This should be a hard-fought game, and given we can't be sure of whether Detroit will still be alive for contention going into the final contest of the day, I'm going to go with a Chicago victory outright.
BIG3 Picks for Amps vs. Triplets
- Triplets moneyline (-144 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
BIG3 Week 9 Best Bets Recap
- 305 -7.5 (-110 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Ball Hogs-Riot Over 95.5 points (-112 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Trilogy +7.5 (-110 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Triplets moneyline (-144 on FanDuel Sportsbook)