NBA Picks

Following last night’s win at Orlando the win streak for OKC has now reached 9 games in a row, they’ll look to push it to double-digits with another win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. SGA exploded with 40 points last night, at one point the Thunder led by as many as 18 in the win, they’ll be brimming with confidence ahead of tonight’s game. Against the Nets they’ve won 7 of 8 meetings overall and 7 of 8 played in Brooklyn, while also covering in 6 of those last 8 overall. The oddsmakers are convinced in a blowout win here, the spread has been set at a massive 19.5 points which is the highest I’ve seen all season for any team.

The Nets have the rest advantage here and as bad as they’ve been their last 2 of 3 losses were by single digits. It has been a rough season without question, I feel like casual NBA fans couldn’t even name the 5 starters for the Nets right now. Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann and Day’Ron Sharpe are all out injured, Brooklyn has shot over 50% from the field only twice in their last 10 games. They do have a pair of wins during this stretch, one of them came against the Detroit Pistons when they were 13.5 point underdogs, however the Pistons did rest Cade Cunningham in that game.

On paper there’s a massive gap in quality between the two teams, but games aren’t decided on paper in the NBA. I am not a fan of the massive spread here at all, especially for a team playing on a 2nd night of a back-to-back. OKC has covered in 1 of 9 games coming into this one, while in games with no rest they’re just 4-7 SU in 11 played. I think the Nets will play with a bit of pride here and make this one somewhat competitive for the home fans to enjoy, I’ll back the home team plus the points.

Thunder vs Nets prediction: Nets +19.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Let’s not stand on ceremony. The Clippers are still battling for positioning in the Western Conference play-in race, which means every game carries significance. That urgency typically translates into a focused approach, particularly against teams near the bottom of the standings. The Pelicans, meanwhile, are trending in the opposite direction. With their postseason hopes effectively gone, their remaining games have more to do with development and draft positioning than results. That shift in priorities can lead to inconsistent performances, especially against opponents with something tangible at stake. Which is why the Pels shouldn’t be favored here.

New Orleans has offensive weapons and is readily capable of pushing pace or playing with physicality. We get it. And on nights when their offense is flowing, the Pelicans can look like a team that can play with anyone. The issue is reliability. From one game to the next, it’s difficult to know exactly what version of New Orleans will appear. The Clippers provide far more stability. Los Angeles is readily comfortable slowing the tempo and forcing games into half-court possessions. That ability to control pace and defend consistently often becomes decisive against teams that prefer more open games like New Orleans. The Clippers can also score from the perimeter too, if necessary. If Los Angeles dictates tempo and forces meaningful possessions throughout the game like it should here, the Clippers win. This isn’t one to overthink.

Clippers vs Pelicans prediction: Clippers ML (+105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Nobody can stop the Atlanta Hawks. The longest current active win streak belongs to them at 10 wins in a row, they just beat the Orlando Magic in an impressive way thanks to 41 points from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a triple double from Jalen Johnson. That duo has found incredible chemistry between them during this win streak, the Hawks are making the most out of this easier schedule and at the moment the 7th seed is only a half game away after they overtook the Philadelphia 76ers for 8th in the East. They are once again massive favorites on the road in Dallas on Wednesday, despite winning there only once in 7 visits.

The Mavs came back down to Earth following their shocking win over the Cavaliers last weekend, as they lost 129-111 to the Pelicans in their last game. They return home following that mini 2-game trip, to the American Airlines Center where they’ve lost 9 games in a row. There’s very little pressure on them to get a result here, in fact it would be better if they kept losing so their positioning in the NBA draft lottery improves. Despite all the losses piling up, they’ve been able to stay somewhat competitive in home games, covering in 17 of 34 outings, for Wednesday’s game they will have a healthy Cooper Flagg available. His Rookie of the year case has taken a big hit, I think we can count on a big effort from him individually here.

During this win streak the Hawks rank 4th in offense and 1st in defensive in terms of efficiency. The popular saying goes ‘all streaks have to come to an end’ and while that is true in this case as well, I do not feel like that’ll happen on Wednesday. Until someone takes them down, I’ll just continue backing the Hawks.

Hawks vs Mavericks prediction: Hawks -8.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets will complete a 2-game swing in Houston when they meet again on Wednesday night. They just faced each other at the same venue on Monday, with Los Angeles cruising 100-92. However, there are reasons to think that the outcome will be much different in the rematch. My Lakers vs Rockets pick is for the home team to win and cover. First of all, it’s hard to beat the same team twice in a row in the regular season when motivation is not at a high point. It’s obviously a different story in the playoffs — but right now, whoever loses the first one is surely the more inspired team for the second one. More importantly, Houston center Alperen Sengun sat out the last 2 games with a back issue but will return for Wednesday’s showdown. Getting Sengun’s 20.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg and 6.1 apg back on the court will naturally be a massive boost for the Rockets.

It’s worth noting that the Rockets fell by only 8 points earlier this week even though Sengun was out and they played as poorly as humanly possible. They lost the rebounding battle by 12, committed 22 turnovers (11 more than L.A.) and shot 5-for-26 from 3-point range. Houston isn’t going to get manhandled on the glass like that with Sengun back in action and Kevin Durant won’t have to force the issue by trying to do it all himself on the offensive end of the floor (he was responsible for 7 of his team’s turnovers). Although this is a trend that can’t be fully explained, it is worth noting that the Rockets have alternated wins and losses all the way back to February 26 — a span of 10 games. In other words, Houston is once again due to bounce back and emerge victorious.

Lakers vs Rockets prediction: Houston -2.5 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.