Wise n' Shine: What you need to know to bet better on Thursday, January 20

Phil Agius

Show Bio

I've been writing about the NFL and a host of other sports for the UK's top daily betting paper the Racing Post for more than 20 years. An incurable Browns fan (1-31 survivor), I also specialise in all kinds of motorsport betting including F1, MotoGP, IndyCar and NASCAR. For Phil Agius media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.

@philagius

About Last Night

8-5 day in the NBA
It was a busy day in the NBA but the Pickswise team produced an 8-5 record on sides, including picking the Nets to beat the Wizards, and the Bucks over the 31-16 Grizzlies. Wednesday’s upsets included the Rockets beating the Jazz as a double-digit underdog and the Pacers knocking off the Lakers.

NHL parlay cashes at +1148 odds!
There were only 3 games in the NHL on Wednesday, but the Pickswise cappers went 3-0 on the sides as the Coyotes, Rangers and Avalanche (puck line) won, cashing our parlay at +1148 odds!

College hoops 3-star pick wins
We had just a single 3-star college basketball pick on Wednesday, but under 149.5 in LSU vs Alabama was a comfortable winner. The day’s big shock saw Marquette beat No. 11 Villanova 57-54 as a double-digit underdog.

Today’s Slate

Title contenders on show in TNT NBA doubleheader
There are just 3 NBA games today but there are 2 top games on TNT, with the Suns visiting the Mavericks at 7:30 pm ET and Pacers vs Warriors at 10:00 pm ET. Read all of today’s NBA game previews.

Busy night in the NHL
We have a lively day of NHL action in prospect, with 9 games on the schedule. The Kings host the Avalanche at 9:30 pm ET on ESPN. Read our predictions for today’s NHL matchups.

College hoops action continues
Thursday’s NCAA basketball slate sees top teams including Purdue and Gonzaga in action. Check out our picks for today’s top college basketball games.

And much more…
Ricky Dimon’s Australian Open tennis tips have gone 5-1 over the last 2 days, so make sure you check out today’s tennis preview. We also have picks for this week’s PGA Tour golf tournament, the American Express, and soccer fans can also get our EFL Cup semi-final 2nd leg picks for Arsenal vs Liverpool.

Best Bet of the Day

USC Trojans -1.5 vs Colorado Buffaloes
7:30 pm ET, Pac-12 Network

We have a buy-low opportunity here with the USC Trojans, who began the season 13-0, but have lost 2 of their last 3 games. USC was never as good as its perfect record suggested, but the Trojans should be able to beat most teams in the conference pretty easily — including the Buffaloes. Colorado can be a tough place to play, but this team does not have as much talent as it has had in the past. USC is not as good as it was last year, now Evan Mobley is in the NBA, but with the Trojans’ defensive principles they can win in any environment and guard Boogie Ellis can take over at times on the offensive end. Take USC. Check out our full preview for USC vs Colorado.

Must-watch

Thursday means it’s Pickwise Playbook day on our YouTube channel youtube.com/c/Pickswise, and this week it’s another playoff special! Check out the show as Ross Tucker, Chris Rose, and Jared Smith pick out all the best bets for all this weekend’s divisional-round games.

You can also sharpen your betting game by watching our daily show Let’s Bet It, available at 10:00 am ET. Hosts Lauren Jbara and Alex Glaze will be joined by Gilles Gallant (@GDAWG5000), Sports Betting Analyst for FTN Bets, to go over some NFL props ahead of this weekend’s playoff games. Gilles’ specialty is picking TD scorers, so look out for his tips on how to pinpoint the value in that market.

The team will also have our daily NHL Ice Picks, college basketball predictions, highlighting Purdue vs Indiana, and give out their Plays of the Day. We hope you tailed Jared Smith’s Kick Picks for the EPL on yesterday’s show as he went 2-0 for a profit of 3.1 units!

Must-read

The NFL playoffs resume on Saturday and you can already check out our picks for all 4 games, and our experts’ verdict on who will win the big Bills vs Chiefs game in The Burning Question.

Looking at today’s action, don’t forget to check out our NBA mega parlay (+3150 odds!) and college basketball mega parlay. We also have same game parlays for Pelicans vs Knicks and Suns vs Mavericks.

There’s plenty more great betting content on our Analysis tab.

Stat of the Day

The Warriors have covered the spread in just 3 of their last 9 games.

Boost of the Day

Pacers to score 110+ points

Boosted to +260 with DraftKings Sportsbook

The Pacers vs Warriors game (10:00pm ET, TNT) is a real highlight of today’s sports action and DraftKings Sportsbook has boosted the odds of Indiana scoring 110 points or more in the game from +225 to +260.

Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news, and best bets. Check out our expert NFL picks, NCAAF picks, NHL picks, NBA picks, NCAAB picks, and Soccer picks for the latest game picks.