NBA Picks

The New Orleans Pelicans are coming into this game after a dominant win over the Washington Wizards, but their recent form suggests they will not be able to recreate this today on the road against the Orlando Magic. The visitors have picked up just 1 win over their last 10 games with just 1 of those losses being by a margin of fewer than 7 points. The Pelicans go into the game without Saddiq Bey and Herbert Jones, with the latter being a major miss defensively. The Magic will remain without key starters in Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner however they should see the return of Mo Wagner, which should improve their depth at center.

Over the last 10 games the Pelicans have been one of the worst teams in the league, ranking 28th in net offensive and defensive rating. Efficiency has been a major issue, with the team also ranking 29th in true shooting percentage over that stretch. They have relied heavily on scoring in the paint considering that they are just 25th in 3-point percentage during that time. The Magic should be well positioned to limit that part of their game. They have plenty of size down low with Wendell Carter Jr. and the likes of Jonothan Isaac and Goga Bitadze providing great rim protection off the bench. The return of Wagner should help matters further. Look for the hosts to contain the Pelicans and pick up a comfortable win here.

New Orleans Pelicans vs Orlando Magic prediction: Magic -6.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to Magic -8.

That streak of being the 2nd best defense in the NBA was short lived for the Brooklyn Nets who have now dropped 5 of 6 games, ranking 26th in defensive efficiency. Getting Cam Thomas back from injury hasn’t yielded the result many Nets fans were hoping, in fact there are question marks whether or not his comeback is one of the reasons for their recent struggles. Obviously, it would be easiest to blame just one played, but I’m more of the opinion that the Nets’ issues are more wide spread than just Cam Thomas playing or not. Sunday sees them take on the Memphis Grizzlies, another teams that’s currently struggling. It’s been a tough challenge facing the Grizz in recent years, Brooklyn has come out on top just 4 times in 13 meetings.

Similarly to Atlanta and their situation with Trae Young, the Memphis Grizzlies have finally announced they are listening to offers for their franchise point guard Ja Morant. When he plays the Grizz are just 6-12 SU, while with him out of the line-up they’re at 10-10 SU. It’s unclear if he will suit up on Sunday, just 2 days after Memphis let a 21-point lead slip away in a narrow 1-point loss against Oklahoma City. This team has won just once in 7 games, the 11th seeded Clippers have now closed the gap to just 1.5 games for the final play-in tournament position.

Both teams are really struggling at the moment, with an identical record over their last 5 games. Until Memphis resolves the Morant situation I’ll stay away from backing them. I’ll go with the Nets in this one, purely because of MPJ and his scoring ability.

Brooklyn Nets vs Memphis Grizzlies Predictions: Nets +7 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Ever since winning the NBA Cup Final the Knicks have been a different team. They’ve won just once in 6 games, while from a betting perspective they’ve covered just twice in 13 games causing a lot of frustration in the betting community.  Josh Hart’s absence from the line-up is proving to be a real issue, the Knicks would be wise to add a back-up at his position before the trade deadline arrives if possible. On Sunday the Nets are in Portland to take on the red-hot Trail Blazers, a team they’ve owned over the past couple of seasons with 5 wins in a row in head-to-head meetings. However, relying on that would be foolish ahead of this game, New York’s recent form tells us they could struggle yet again here.

What Deni Avdija and his Portland Trail Blazers are doing right now is nothing short of remarkable. They’ve won 5 games in a row, all against Western Conference opponents which has elevated them to 9th in the standings and just 1 win away from the .500 mark. With averages of 26.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7 assists per game, it’s quite possible we see Avdija in the all-star game this year. Just a couple of nights ago he dropped 41 points on the Houston Rockets, one of the elite defensive teams in the NBA. During the win streak only Boston has a better offensive rating than the Blazers, they’ve been particularly lethal from downtown averaging 16.4 makes per game (3rd highest).

Can we really trust the Knicks with a 8-10 SU and 5-13 ATS record on the road this season? Their 5-game road trip is off to a bad start after the loss to Phoenix, without Josh Hart they might have issues dealing with Avdija on the defensive end here. It sounds weird to say for a team that’s on a 5-game win streak, but I’ll take a gamble on the Trail Blazers in this one.

New York Knicks vs Portland Trail Blazers Predictions: Trail Blazers +4.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Just like many other bettors I was under the impression that the Miami Heat will have a relatively easy job last night against the Indiana Pacers, but they completely laid an egg and lost by 23 points to arguably the worst team in the league right now. Miami never led, they were down by as many as 29 points at one point, to be completely blunt about it they flat out embarrassed themselves. It was their 2nd loss in a row by double-digits, now they head to OKC for a date with the champs who are looking for their 19th win in 21 home games so far this season. Miami has just 1 win in 5 meetings against this team.

Backing OKC against the spread hasn’t yielded a profit in 4 consecutive games, once again they are double-digit favorites after just barely beating the Jazz and Grizzlies in their last 2 games. SGA is expected back in the line-up after skipping the Memphis game, it’s been a shaky couple of weeks for the best team in basketball. Things are improving after those two wins though, they’re playing a team whose style of play really suits them on Sunday, so I anticipate the Thunder will have an easier job scoring the basketball here.

Miami is just 7-12 SU on the road, playing a team that gets its best player back fresh after sitting out the last game. OKC has just 3 losses in 20 home games, they’re also 7-1 SU in 8 vs East coast opponents. Beating someone by 14 points is never easy, but can we really trust Miami after last night’s loss in Indiana? I hope the Thunder crush them here.

Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City Thunder Predictions: Thunder -14 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

All of the Atlanta Hawks issues have been resolved with the trade of Trae Young, right? It sure felt that way on Friday night as they dominated the Denver Nuggets on the road 110-87. For the 2nd game in a row their opponents have really struggled scoring the basketball, that’s been the main criticism of the team with Young in the line-up this season. Jalen Johnson now takes full control of the offense which should benefit his development greatly, better days area ahead for Atlanta. Speaking of better days, they haven’t had many of those in recent road games at Chase Center going just 1-11 SU in 12 visits.

The turbulence that the Golden State Warriors have been going through over the past couple of weeks has slowed down a bit, or so it seems. Draymond Green has cooled off a bit, that’s brought stability and instilled the younger players with some confidence on the defensive end. The last 4 opponents have scored 103, 113, 103 and 114 points against Golden State, solid numbers for the 8th best defense in the NBA in terms of efficiency. Playing at home here should be a major confidence boost, given that the Warriors are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games.

This game will be a good test for the Hawks and it will tell us if this whole Trae Young saga was just a that, or they really are a much better team without him. With their defense improving quite a bit without him and Golden State also playing well on that end, I’ll be focused on taking the under in this game. This bet has cashed in 5 of 6 Hawks game lately, make it 6 of 7 after Sunday.

Atlanta Hawks vs Golden State Warriors Predictions: Under 233.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.