NBA Picks

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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