NBA Picks

Tonight, the Minnesota Timberwolves (9th in the West) visit the Dallas Mavericks (7th in the West) in what promises to be a gritty and tightly contested battle. Both teams share a similar play style and roster makeup, with comparable records, adding extra intrigue to their matchup. The Timberwolves will be short-handed, missing Donte DiVincenzo, a loss that comes at an inopportune time against a team that knows them well. The head-to-head record this year is tied at 1-1. Minnesota has struggled lately, going 2-3 over their last 5 games, averaging 114.8 ppg but allowing 110.6 ppg. Their defense remains a bright spot, ranked 7th in the league, and their slower pace (25th overall) often forces opponents to grind it out. Anthony Edwards leads the way with 26.3 ppg, while Julius Randle, Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert will need to step up in DiVincenzo’s absence. Still, the Timberwolves have yet to find consistency after trading Karl-Anthony Towns in the offseason.

For Dallas, Luka Doncic remains sidelined, and the team’s fatigue has been evident in their recent 1-4 stretch. Kyrie Irving has been outstanding, averaging 27.1 ppg over the last 7 games, but his solo efforts haven’t been enough to avoid recent struggles, including a loss to Charlotte. However, with home-court advantage and familiarity with their opponent, this could be a bounce-back spot for the Mavs. The books may have overreacted to Luka being ruled out this time around, and the fact that Dallas is a home underdog tonight against a team they know they can beat without Doncic is telling enough. Furthermore, short favorites of -1 to -3 hit at 67% ATS last week (season average 49%) and with the Magic -1 losing last night to the Raptors, data suggests the short-lined favorites will continue to fall for a couple of days. Expect a low-scoring defensive battle with Dallas coming out on top.

Timberwolves vs Mavericks prediction: Mavericks +3 (-106) available at time of publishing. Playable to -1.

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The Phoenix Suns will travel to Brooklyn Wednesday night to take on the Nets as heavy road favorites. The Suns have been winning games lately, winning 6 of their last 9 games, but are coming off a 118-92 defeat against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kevin Durant led the Suns in scoring with 23 points, but Phoenix could not slow down Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers offense. Tonight’s game will be the fifth and final game of the Suns’ current road trip. The Brooklyn Nets will try to defend home court tonight. They have a record of 5-13 at home this season. Brooklyn has struggled as of late, losing 9 of their last 10 games. Since December 1, 2024, the Nets only have managed to win 5 games. Brooklyn is coming off a 99-95 defeat to the New York Knicks. D’Angelo Russell led Brooklyn with 23 points and Nic Claxton pulled in 12 rebounds. The Nets are currently without Cam Thomas, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Ziaire Williams due to injury. They may see Ben Simmoms return from illness tonight.

The Brooklyn Nets are desperate to find a way to win a game on their home court. The Nets have lost 8 straight games played in Brooklyn, and they came very close to breaking that streak against the tough New York Knicks. If the Nets want to make tonight’s game competitive, they will need to put up a better offensive performance than they have produced lately. The Nets are only averaging 100.3 points per game in their last 10 games. Cameron Johnson is this team’s current offensive leader, averaging 19.4 points per game. Matching up against the Suns defense that ranks in the bottom 10 in the NBA in points allowed per game and points allowed per 100 possessions should be a good opportunity for the Nets offense. Phoenix has found ways to win basketball games this season, but they have made a habit of letting games stay close. Out of the Suns 21 victories this season, only 3 of those games were won by 10 or more points. 2 of those 3 double-digit victories were only by 10 points. I expect another close contest tonight.

Suns vs Nets prediction: Nets +12 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have seen somewhat of a decline in their spectacular season, having lost 2 of their last 5 games. Their road record now stands at 15-4 and could suffer further tonight as they visit one of the top teams in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets. With Evan Mobley remaining out for the visitors, their ability to get stops could be impacted tonight. With the Rockets 4th in offensive rating over the last 10 games, they should be well positioned to take full advantage. During that stretch of games, the Cavaliers have fallen to 22nd in defensive rating.

The Cavaliers have seen Caris LeVert struggle for form recently. He is listed as questionable ahead of tonight’s game due to a wrist injury. He has not scored double-digit points in his last 4 games. Considering he is their main shot creator off the bench, the Cavaliers could have issues dealing with the depth of the Rockets. Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore both average double-digit points this season and are well equipped to attack a Cavaliers team lacking rim protection outside of Jarrett Allen. Over the last 10 games, the visitors are 26th in opponent points in the paint. With the Rockets 7th in 3-point percentage during that stretch, their offense should have enough firepower to carry them to a win tonight.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Houston Rockets Prediction: Rockets ML

After losing by 40 points to the Celtics on MLK Day, the Warriors now have the tough task of making amends against one of the hottest teams in the league. Stephen Curry and his team cannot catch a break right now, as the injury bug has hit them hard. Just in Wednesday’s game alone, they’ll continue to be without Brandin Podziemski, Kyle Anderson, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga. This line-up managed just 85 points against the Celtics, and that number will need to go up by a lot in order to stay competitive against the Kings. Golden State managed just 99 in the first meeting of the season, losing by 30 points in one of the first games for Doug Christie as Kings head coach.

Sacramento cannot be stopped right now, they’ve lost just once in their last 10 games. Their latest win was an easy one over Washington 123-100 also on MLK Day. The list of teams they’ve beaten during this stretch is quite impressive, the most notable teams are Memphis, Boston and Houston. Fox, Sabonis and DeRozan are the only trio in the league averaging 20+ points each, without a single player on the injury report the Kings will also be able to rely on their depth to win this game. They’re currently on a streak of 6 home wins in a row, while also covering the spread in 6 of 8 overall.

Unless Curry goes nuclear here, I cannot see a scenario in which Golden State hangs on. It’ll be a high scoring game, so if you are uncomfortable trusting the Kings to win by at least 8 points, I would also recommend taking the over. I have faith in this red-hot Sacramento team to get the job done.

Warriors vs Kings Predictions: Kings -7 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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Boston just crushed Golden State by 40 points, they are now in LA to face the Clippers and the oddsmakers have them favored by 9.5 points here. At first glance it sounds a bit too much, considering the defending champs are just 5-4 SU over their last 9 games overall. During this stretch they rank just 14th in offensive rating which is fairly mediocre for a team that spent most of the first two months in the top 3 both on offense and defense. Perhaps the win at Golden State helps turn things around, but winning at LA hasn’t been an easy task for a while now. Boston is only 3-9 in their last 12 visits, and they’ve covered only twice in 7 meetings overall.

The Clippers opened as 5.5-point underdogs here, but now the spread is up to 9.5 points after the news of Kawhi Leonard being out. Norman Powell and James Harden are also questionable, if they cannot go here then it’s a wrap for the home team. We’ve seen some good things from the Clippers over their last 5 games, but they just lost to Chicago at home 112-99. Ivica Zubac missed that game, his absence was felt on both ends as the Bulls won the rebounding battle 54-40, while also grabbing 17 offensive rebounds. Whether or not Big Zu suits up here remains to be seen.

Without knowing the full extent of the injuries to Powell, Harden and Zubac, it’s really hard to make a judgement on this game. So let’s go with the point total. The over has cashed in 10 of 15 meetings, while the last 10 have seen an average of 225.1 points per game. The first meeting of the season saw 222 points at TD Garden, even with LA scoring just 94. The Celtics will score enough here to carry us over the total.

Celtics vs Clippers Predictions: Over 216.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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