NBA Picks

The Hornets are still fighting to improve playoff positioning in the East, while Detroit has already locked up the top seed in the conference after clinching already. That difference matters in the final stretch of the regular season because Charlotte is playing for leverage, while Detroit’s biggest goals are already secured.

The Hornets are also playing some of their best basketball right now. Charlotte has been on absolute tear, they have gone 9-3 SU in their last 12 outings. No matter where the Hornets land in the Eastern Conference bracket, make no mistake, they are a threat. Stylistically, Charlotte’s offensive balance makes them dangerous too. The Hornets have multiple options to post double figures, and that kind of distributed scoring matters against Detroit’s physical defense because it prevents the Pistons from loading up on one creator. At home, with urgency and momentum, Charlotte gets the situational edge. Against a Detroit team with less at stake, the Hornets are the time to hop on here. They are favored for a reason.

Pistons vs Hornets prediction: Charlotte Hornets -2.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -3.

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The Pels just ended their 8-game losing streak with a massive 156-137 win over the Utah Jazz. With not much to play for they’ve basically coasted the last couple of months of the regular season and with two games left they can play the spoilers role, if they wanted to. They head to TD Garden on Friday for a date with the Celtics, a team that’s beaten them in the last 9 meetings overall and in 6 of the last 7 in Boston. These days it’s really hard to figure out which Pelicans team will start the game, they have a total of 7 players on the injury report which includes most of their top guns.

Boston comes into this one after a disappointing showing at MSG last night where they lost to the Knicks 112-106. Jayson Tatum didn’t have the most efficient of games going just 7-for-22, while Jaylen Brown took the night off. The number two seed isn’t secured just yet, Boston needs at least one more win the remaining two games to do that. Playing with no rest against a fast paced Pelicans team won’t be ideal, but the Cs do have a positive 7-5 SU record in 12 games played in this scenario. It’s unclear if Brown will play here as he tries to recover from his Achilles issue, the Celtics might not even need him against one of the worst teams in the West.

The spread has been set at a very high 16.5 points and I normally wouldn’t hesitate to back the Celtics covering that. However, they’re playing with no rest after a tough loss to a direct competitor and they could also be without Jaylen Brown for yet another game. The numbers tell us that the under is a far more likely scenario here. That bet has cashed 7 times in 10 meetings with an average of 220 points scored. New Orleans has cashed on that bet 10 times in 14 games, the Celtics have done so in 13 of their last 20. The first meeting saw just 212 points scored, so let’s stick with the trends and back the under.

New Orleans Pelicans vs Boston Celtics Predictions: Under 224.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

After a long battle with the San Antonio Spurs, the OKC Thunder have finally secured the number 1 seed in the Western Conference. OKC’s win over the Clippers was their 7th in a row, the lead is now 3 games ahead of the Spurs with just two games remaining. That likely means the Thunder will rest most of their key players in order to get ready for the postseason. It’s exactly what this team needs following a season of uncertainty on the injury front. Although they are one of the deepest teams in the league, the oddsmakers still have them as double-digit underdogs on Friday against the Nuggets. They’ve covered just twice in 8 meetings against this team and only once in 5 visits to Ball Arena.

For the Nuggets this game means everything as they are still not 100% safe in the 3rd seed. The good news is they control their own destiny and if they can win the remaining two games they’ll finish 3rd and face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1st Round of the Playoffs. Jokic and co. have won 10 games in a row which is the longest active win streak in the NBA. Although the defense has not performed up to the level their fans hoped it would, this team has absolutely destroyed opponents on the offensive end during this win streak. Denver has posted an offensive rating of 128.2 in the last 10 games, that’s 3.1 points more than the Thunder who are in 2nd.

The Nuggets Net Rating during the win streak is at 9.6 points, they’ll look to take out their frustrations on this team after OKC took the first 3 meetings of the season earlier. They too have a bunch of players on the injury report, but with everything still left to play for I think we’ll see a full line-up from Denver here. Back the home team.

OKC Thunder vs Denver Nuggets Predictions: Nuggets -10.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Phoenix Suns are in an interesting position ahead of Friday’s game against the Lakers. They are finishing 7th in the West regardless of how their last two games end, so it’ll be interesting to see whether or not they decide to rest key players here. Devin Booker has already been ruled out, but there is a chance we get to see Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks out there. Phoenix did win 3 of the 4 meetings this season, they are now 5-2 SU in 7 games against LA. However, in games played at Crypto.com Arena they’ve won only twice in 8 visits.

LeBron and co. just celebrated a massive win at Golden State last night which kept them in the 4th seed. They have the edge in head-to-head meetings over the Rockets, so if both teams win their last two games they’ll keep home court advantage in that match-up. LeBron scored 26 pts and dished out 11 assists in last night’s win, he also got massive help from Deandre Ayton who had 21 on an impressive 9-for-11 shooting. As a team the Lakers shot 61% from the field and 55% from three, but they did all that against a Warriors team that was without Stephen Curry.

We don’t really know which Suns team will show up here, but what we do know is that the Lakers will play their hearts out to get a win here. Their faith is in their own hands and they’re playing their last two games at home, with the Utah Jazz coming to town on Sunday. This might be the game of the season for the Lakers; I think LeBron James once again turns back the clock and brings another big win for the purple and gold. Take the Lakers.

Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions: Lakers ML is available at +100 at time of publishing.