{"id":27099,"date":"2026-03-14T22:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/?p=27099"},"modified":"2026-03-14T22:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:13:11","slug":"us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/","title":{"rendered":"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n \n
\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
\n
Miami<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Orlando<\/div>\n
Sunday, 1:10pm<\/div>\n
Miami -3.5 ($1.90)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

This Florida showdown promises to have plenty of zing to it, with the two teams on near-identical records, with Miami occupying the #6 seed and Orlando in the #5 seed heading into Sunday\u2019s clash. Miami are in fine form, having won seven consecutive games after a 112-105 triumph over Milwaukee on Friday. Pelle Larsson shot the lights out for a career-high 28 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead the way for the hosts, while Kasparas Jaku\u010dionis excelled with 18 points, seven boards, one steal and one block. Bam Adebayo followed up his historic 83-point game with 21 points on just 6\/20 FGs, along with eight rebounds, while Davion Mitchell and Kel\u2019el Ware provided some strong defence in a good night for the starting unit.<\/p>\n

Orlando are on a six-game win streak of their own, getting past Washington 136-131 in overtime. Bilal Coulibaly sent the game to overtime with a pull-up three, but Orlando always looked in control in the extra five minutes to keep their streak alive. There were a number of offensive standouts, with Jalen Suggs leading the scoring with 28 points, eight assists and two steals. Tristan da Silva was closely behind with 26 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks and Desmond Bane was the other player to record more than 20 points, with 22 points, six assists and three steals. Wendell Carter Jr had 19 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks and Paolo Banchero shot just 4\/13 from the floor for 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n

Norman Powell looks set to make his return, being upgraded to questionable on the injury report, and that\u2019s a big boost for the hosts. They have been the second-best team in the league since the beginning of February and I expect them to be far too good in this contest. Miami are 21-13 ATS at home this season and I expect them to win well.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Bet Now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
\n
Los Angeles Lakers<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Denver<\/div>\n
Sunday, 1:40pm<\/div>\n
Denver -2.5 ($1.90)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

The Lakers have won seven of their last eight games to sit in the top four of the Western Conference. Their 142-130 win over Chicago on Friday saw LeBron James return from injury, providing a solid offensive performance in what was the team\u2019s third-best offensive night of the season, with a 140.6 offensive rating, but it was Luka Don\u010di\u0107 who was the star. The Slovenian scored 51 points, shooting 9\/14 from deep, and added 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals to dominate the visitors and Austin Reaves had plenty of fun against the poor Chicago defence, with 30 points and seven assists. Deandre Ayton joined in with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Rui Hachimura hit his shots for 15 points.<\/p>\n

Denver grinded their way past San Antonio for a big road win on Friday, prevailing 136-131. The game lost some of its shine, as Victor Wembanyama was ruled out prior to tip-off, but that didn\u2019t stop San Antonio running out to a big lead in the first half, leading 33-53 midway through the second quarter. However, the visitors made their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, eventually taking a 121-119 lead with 4:30 left to play. They then went on to lead for the rest of the game, hitting their free throws down the stretch, helping Jamal Murray get to 39 points and seven assists in another elite offensive night. Nikola Joki\u0107 was the other standout, with 31 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and two blocks, while Spencer Jones played his role to perfection with 19 points, two assists, two steals and two blocks.<\/p>\n

We are set for a fascinating showdown between two playoff teams in the West, but I have to side with the visitors here. They will have the best player on the floor, in Joki\u0107, and Murray has risen to be in excellent form, which makes Denver a true title contender. I still have my concerns about LA\u2019s defence, especially down low, and Joki\u0107 is going to take full advantage.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Bet Now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
\n
LA Clippers<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Sacramento<\/div>\n
Sunday, 3:40pm<\/div>\n
Over 229.5 ($1.90)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

The Clippers are 7-1 in their last eight games following a 119-108 win over Chicago on Saturday. It was all LA in this contest, leading for almost the entire game, but it wasn\u2019t until the fourth quarter where they really pulled away, with a 21-6 run making for a 99-85 lead which effectively sealed the win. Bennedict Mathurin continued his hot run since arriving in LA, with 26 points, while Kawhi Leonard led the charge with 28 points on an unusually inefficient night. That saw the Clippers put together an average offensive performance, but it was their defence that won them this game, holding Chicago to a lowly 108.0 offensive rating by affording the visitors just 13 free throw attempts and just a 50.5% eFG%.<\/p>\n

Sacramento remain firmly at the bottom of the Western Conference with a 16-51 record. After winning two games on the bounce, they were back to losing ways on Thursday with a 109-117 defeat to Charlotte. It all came undone in the second half, as their 62-59 halftime lead quickly faded into a 75-84 deficit, and there was no coming back from there. It was a return to poor defensive form for Sacramento, with a 123.2 defensive rating, and that saw them slip away as the game went on despite an elite scoring night from DeMar DeRozan. The veteran forward shot 17\/22 from the floor for 39 points, six assists and two steals, but he received little help elsewhere. Nique Clifford had 18 points, eight assists and two steals, Precious Achiuwa had 14 points and eight rebounds but it was a poor defensive performance from the big man.<\/p>\n

We may well see Darius Garland return on night two of this back-to-back for LA and that would be a big plus for their offence, but LA are going to have a field day on that end regardless. With the third-worst defence in the league, Sacramento are going to be no chance of slowing down the hosts\u2019 offence and with some tired legs for LA, Sacramento will also have some of their own offensive success. The over has hit in seven of LA\u2019s last 10 games and in the two games between these teams played this season.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Bet Now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Florida showdown promises to have plenty of zing to it, with the two teams on near-identical records, with Miami occupying the #6 seed and Orlando in the #5 seed heading into Sunday\u2019s clash. Miami are in fine form, having won seven consecutive games after a 112-105 triumph over Milwaukee on Friday. Pelle Larsson shot the lights out for a career-high 28 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead the way for the hosts, while Kasparas Jaku\u010dionis excelled with 18 points, seven boards, one steal and one block. Bam Adebayo followed up his historic 83-point game with 21 points…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,232],"tags":[576,234],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-27099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-basketball-tips","tag-basketball-tips","tag-nba-tips"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"14\/03\/2026","event_country":"New Zealand"},"yoast_head":"\nUS Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March - TAB NZ Punters Lounge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March - TAB NZ Punters Lounge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TAB NZ Punters Lounge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-14T09:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-14T09:13:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TAB Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TAB Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/\",\"name\":\"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March - TAB NZ Punters Lounge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-14T09:00:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-14T09:13:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f2cd524f48fb8761f248e3dd68b3b0\"},\"description\":\"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"NBA betting odds and tips\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/\",\"name\":\"TAB NZ Punters Lounge\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f2cd524f48fb8761f248e3dd68b3b0\",\"name\":\"TAB Staff\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/author\/matttwort\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March - TAB NZ Punters Lounge","description":"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March - TAB NZ Punters Lounge","og_description":"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/","og_site_name":"TAB NZ Punters Lounge","article_published_time":"2026-03-14T09:00:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-14T09:13:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"TAB Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TAB Staff","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/","name":"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March - TAB NZ Punters Lounge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-14T09:00:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-14T09:13:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f2cd524f48fb8761f248e3dd68b3b0"},"description":"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-NZ","@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/US_Basketball_1.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"NBA betting odds and tips"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/03\/us-basketball-tips-preview-sunday-15-march\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Sunday 15 March"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/","name":"TAB NZ Punters Lounge","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-NZ"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f2cd524f48fb8761f248e3dd68b3b0","name":"TAB Staff","url":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/author\/matttwort\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27099"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=27099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}