NBA Picks

The Mavs completely fumbled the ball last night losing to the Lakers at home, despite having a 15-point lead at one point in the game. I guess for a young team like theirs that shouldn’t come as a surprise, they’ll now look to bounce back less than 24 hours later in Milwaukee vs the Bucks. That loss against the Lakers ended a 4-game win streak for the Mavs who remain in the play-in tournament hunt in the West, currently occupying 12th place. The first meeting between the two sides was decided by just 2 points in Dallas back in November, with Giannis Antetokounmpo stealing the show with 30 points and 8 rebounds. It was the Mavs’ 7th consecutive loss in head-to-head meetings.

No Giannis this time around means that the task of extending that win streak will be a lot tougher for the Bucks here, who are just 3-11 SU without their superstar this season. The hopes of making it into the postseason took a big hit with him injuring his calf, this means at least a month without him in the line-up and that’s just something Milwaukee cannot survive in my opinion. They’ve now dropped 5 of 6 games, while at home they’ve failed to cover in 6 consecutive. Over the past 10 games they rank 24th both in offensive and defensive efficiency.

Dallas has actually faired well in back-to-backs this season, winning 5 of 8 games. Their defense is a lot more confidence inspiring than the Bucks one right now. The last 10 games have seen the Mavs allow just 109.8 points per 100 possessions, ranking 5th in efficiency. They’re the smarter pick here after going 4-1 SU in their last 5 games. Let’s roll with Dallas.

Mavericks vs Bucks prediction: Dallas +1.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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The San Antonio Spurs have won five straight games on their home court. They will be looking to make it six straight with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans Sunday night. Overall, the Spurs are 16-5 when playing at home, while the Pelicans are only 4-17 when playing on the road. The Spurs have already beaten the Pelicans three times this season. Despite the lopsided outcomes, each game between these two teams was very competitive. The final scores were 120-116(in overtime), 126-119, and 135-132. In two of those three games, Pelicans’ star Zion Williamson did not play. Williamson is expected to start tonight for New Orleans, and the Pelicans have shown they are a much better team this season when he is on the floor. New Orleans is 3-13 this season when playing without Williamson, and they are 8-23 when he plays. While both records are well below .500, the Pelicans’ win percentage is 7% higher when Williamson plays versus when he is out. Williamson has had help around him as well. In the Pelicans’ last win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 36 points, with 19 of those points coming in the 4th quarter. Trey Murphy III also added 32 points to guide the Pelicans to the comeback victory. We have seen that the Pelicans can be competitive when playing against the Spurs, and I expect they give another good effort tonight.

Pelicans +11.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Toronto Raptors have been successful on their current road trip, winning 3 of 4 games. They will be facing a tough challenge tonight as they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. They will be helped by the fact that the Thunder are dealing with several injuries with starters Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein out along with the likes of Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell. The Raptors have not escaped the injury bug either, with Jakob Poeltl out and Immanuel Quickley and Collin Murray-Boyles listed as questionable. If those who are questionable are cleared to play, the Raptors could have the depth advantage in this one.

Over the last 10 games the Raptors have been efficient in crashing the offensive glass, ranking in the top 10 of the league in second chance points per game. They will need to rely on this too, considering that during that stretch of games the hosts are 4th in defensive rating. Those boards should be available for them considering the Thunder are dead last in rebounding percentage over those 10 games. Scottie Barnes could be a difference maker here too. He is coming into this game after a 6-block performance. He is someone that could make life difficult for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander whenever he switches onto him. With the injuries to the Thunders roster, and the fact they have recent losses to the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat, take the points on the Raptors.

Toronto Raptors vs Oklahoma City Thunder prediction: Raptors +11.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to Raptors +10.5.

The Phoenix Suns will be looking for their seventh straight win on their home floor when they host the Miami Heat this Sunday night. In order to continue the winning streak, the Suns will need to find success without Devin Booker and potentially Jalen Green. In the last game against Atlanta, Booker twisted his ankle and had to exit the game. It has been announced that Booker will not play tonight against Miami, and that Green is listed as questionable with a hamstring injury. It will need to be a next man up mentality for Phoenix if they want to avenge a 127-121 loss to the Miami Heat back on January 13th. The Heat will also have some key players out for this matchup. Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware will both miss this game due to injury. Miami has been dealing with injuries all season, and it has resulted with inconsistent play. The Heat are only 10-15 in their last 25 games, and they haven’t won back-to-back games since January 1st. Even without Booker and Green, the Suns should still be favored in this game. Phoenix is a deep team, and Collin Gillespie and Grayson Allen will be prepared to step into the starting lineup tonight. I like the Suns to get a win tonight on their home floor to avenge their last loss against Miami.

Suns -4.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Nets redeemed themselves after that embarrassing 54 point loss to the Knicks earlier in the week by pushing the Boston Celtics to double OT in their last game. They still lost by 4 points, but you cannot argue with the effort in that game. Still, there are big issues right now that need to be addressed, mainly on the defensive end where they’ve allowed 120+ points in 4 consecutive games. They did the same in the first meeting of the season vs the Clippers when they lost 121-105 some two weeks ago. On the road the Nets are 0-6 SU in their last 6 outings, it doesn’t look like they’ll be ending that poor run against the Clippers who have beaten them in 5 of the last 6 meetings.

Once again Kawhi Leonard is day-do-day with a knee issue, but by now we are pretty much used to that being a daily thing for the Clippers. He put on a heroic display vs the Lakers with 24 points and stellar defense down the stretch as the Clippers won for the 12th time in 15 games which is the best record in the NBA over that stretch. Ivica Zubac also excelled with 18 points and 19 rebounds, on offense he grabbed 10 of them. The run that the Clippers are on has been truly remarkable, only once in their last 7 games vs East teams have they lost and at the Intuit Dome they are 9-1 ATS in 10 games played.

Anything other than a dominant Clippers win would be a surprise here. Even if Kawhi doesn’t play, there are plenty of options on offense for the Clippers to turn to here. I’ll be backing the most in-form team in the NBA to cover here.

Brooklyn Nets vs LA Clippers Predictions: Clippers -8.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.