NBA Picks

Bobby Portis stepped up with 34 points as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard both took the night off in Saturday’s Bucks 112-101 win over Washington. The dynamic duo is expected back in the lineup as Milwaukee tries to go up 2-1 in the regular season series vs the Bulls. The Bucks road form has been far from convincing this year at just 4-8 SU in 12 games played, that’s part of the reason why they are just 1.5 point favorites here. If we disregard the loss to Cleveland, their three-ball has been exceptional in the last 3 of 4 games with 20, 17 and 14 shots made. That’s a good weapon to have against a Bulls team that plays an up-tempo style. Milwaukee is 6-2 SU in the last 8 meetings.

At 4-10 SU in 14 games played, the Bulls haven’t been convincing either at the United Center this season. They just got destroyed by the Celtics 123-98, which ended a 3-game win streak. Zach LaVine and co. were no where to be found, shooting just 37% from the field and 34% from three. Chicago’s issues on the glass arose once again as the Celtics grabbed 16 more rebounds, including 17 total on the offensive end. Going up against a player like Giannis you’re bound to have issues on that front, only 2 teams in the entire NBA allow more rebounds per game than these Bulls.

Assuming both Dame and Giannis return here, this is a gimme for the Bucks. They beat Chicago 122-106 in their most recent meeting about a month ago, with Giannis scoring 41 on 17-for-24 shooting. Dame had 20 and 10 in that game, the Bulls just don’t have enough to compete here. Go with the road team.

Bucks vs Bulls Predictions: Bucks -1.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Pacers are on a roll following last night’s dominant win in Sacramento. It was their 4th win in a row and 5th in 6 games, they are finally looking like the team we all expected them to be prior to the season starting. They’ve hit 17, 16 and 16 threes over their last 3 games, which is encouraging as they go up against the three-point happy Warriors here. Indiana is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings, they’ve beaten the Warriors 4 times in the last 5 as well. On the road at Chase Center they’ve covered 5 times in a row, my only gripe with backing the Pacers here is the fact that they are playing on a 2nd night of a back-to-back.

Golden State just bounced back from a 3-game losing streak with a 113-103 win at Minnesota on Saturday. In the 2 games prior to that their defensive effort was horrendous as Memphis and Dallas each had 144 and 143 points against them. Stability is exactly what this team needs right now. Adding Dennis Schroder into the mix to take some of the load off Stephen Curry is a good idea, but we will need to see how it’ll work in the coming weeks. The Warriors are just 3-9 SU in their last 12 games, while at home they’ve recorded only 2 wins in 6. They will want to put on a show here for their fans as they get set to play the Lakers on Christmas Day.

For a team that’s currently on a 4-game win streak coupled with a +15.1 Net Rating, getting a 5.5-point spread is very generous in my opinion. Everything is clicking for Indiana right now and I say we continue to ride this wave of success. Go with the road squad and the extra points.

Pacers vs Warriors Predictions: Pacers +5.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Despite the NBA Cup semi-final loss to Oklahoma City, the Houston Rockets returned to their winning ways as they took down the Pelicans 133-113 on Thursday. They have another “easy” game on Sunday, at least on paper, as they head to Toronto for a date with the Raptors. Houston has been a reliable bet for a while now, covering the spread in 12 of their last 17 games and winning 13 of 18. They are one of the NBA’s healthiest teams right now, which has certainly impacted their 18-9 SU record. One thing that is always an issue with this team is their accuracy shooting the ball. In the win over the Pels they shot over 50% from the field for the first time in 10 games.

The Raptors don’t have much to play for this season, as they are currently only 14th in the Eastern Conference with a 7-21 SU record. They’re riding a 6-game losing streak at the moment, but playing at home should at least give them some hope of a result here. Of the 7 wins they have this year, 6 of them have come at the Scotiabank Arena. There’s good news on the injury front as RJ Barrett could make a return to the line-up after missing the Brooklyn game. He has scored 30+ pts in 2 of his last 3 and would certainly boost the Raptors offense here. So far in 15 games played at home, Toronto has covered the spread 11 times.

Despite the losing streak, Toronto has been able to stay in games. They’ve had the upper hand in head-to-head meetings winning 5 of the last 6 overall and 4 of 5 at home, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here and back them plus the spread.

Rockets vs Raptors Predictions: Raptors +8 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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The Indiana Pacers have taken a leap offensively of late, having scored at least 119 points in 4 of their last 5 games. Today they will be visiting the Sacramento Kings, who should be a great opponent for them to continue this run against. Over the last 10 games both sides make the top 10 in terms of pace. They have also both have had issues getting stops, ranking just 15th and 20th in terms of defensive rating during that stretch. With neither side facing any major injury concerns, both will have their full array of offensive weapons. The last 2 meetings between the teams both surpassed the 240-point mark and today’s game could follow suite.

The Pacers have struggled defending on the inside of late, ranking 21st over the last 10 games in opponent points in the paint. It is something Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox should be able to exploit, with both players thriving when they get a chance to attack the rim. Both teams have been efficient in scoring from beyond the arc lately too, ranking 10th and 12th in 3-point percentage. With the added possessions the pace looks set to create, it will lead to added buckets. Tyrese Haliburton has 3 straight games with double-digit assists. He looks set to lead the Pacers to another high scoring night. Back the over.

Indiana Pacers vs Sacramento Kings Predictions: Over 236.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

Once again people got burned betting on the Nuggets, as they fell on the road unexpectedly against the Blazers 126-124, despite being 8.5 point favorites. You just never know which team will show up alongside Nikola Jokic, he once again had a brilliant game with 34 points on just 18 shots taken. The rest of the team shot the ball well too, but they just couldn’t get a stop to save their lives. And now, they head to New Orleans for a date with a Pelicans team that already beat them 101-94 about a month ago.

Together with the Raptors in the East, New Orleans currently holds the longest losing streak in the NBA at 6 games in a row. They just tallied 93 points in a 11-point loss to the Knicks last night, with Trey Murphy III being the only reliable scoring option with 26 points. It’s hard to find many bright spots for this team right now, they’ve covered in just 3 of 9 games and have 1 win in 7 at home. They are also 1-8 SU in 9 vs West teams and have covered once in 9 vs Northwest Division opponents. Only the Wizards have a worse offensive rating, New Orleans is the only team in the league shooting under 50% in effective field goal percentage.

So will the Nuggets stop messing around and take this game seriously? We can’t say for certain. What we do know is that these two teams tallied just 195 points between them in the first meeting in mid-November. The under has cashed 12 times in 17 meetings, including 5 in a row at Smoothie King Center. Let’s try our luck with the under here.

Nuggets vs Pelicans Predictions: Under 233 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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