JutPicks
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Pickswise was nice enough to give me the opportunity to write my plays up for you all. For those of you who don’t know me, they refer to me as JutPicks on Twitter. I post all my plays with brief writeups every day. Now I get to write even more with no character limit!
I pride myself in being as transparent as they come. My NBA record from last season and this season are listed in my bio alongside with my MLB record. Without further ado, let’s dive into my favorite plays for Friday.
Joel Embiid (76ers) over 30.5 Points (-105)
Line available at Draftkings at the time of publishing.
Embiid is making a case for MVP this season. He is carrying Philly on his back with an average of 28 points per game and fresh off tying his career high of 50 points. The amazing part is, he only played 27 minutes. He is arguably the hardest player in the NBA to guard right now.
Zubac is going to have a difficult time against Embiid just like he did with Jokic on Wednesday. Joel has covered 31 points in 13 of his last 15 games and continues to get to the line with ease.
Joel has faced off against Zubac 3 times in his career. In those games, he has totaled 90 points. I expect another phenomenal performance from Embiid tonight in front of the home crowd.
Check out our full game preview of Clippers vs 76ers
Dejounte Murray (Spurs) over 36.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-125)
Line available at Draftkings at the time of publishing.
It is no secret that Murray is a fan favorite of mine. An athletic point guard that fills up the stat sheet and runs the pick and roll flawlessly is a work of art. Murray is doing all he can to keep San Antonio in fighting distance for the play-in games and making a case for himself to become an All-Star this season.
Murray matched up against the Nets a little over a week ago and showed out. He scored 19 points, had 9 rebounds, and 12 assists. Cleveland Cavaliers point guard, Darius Garland is coming off a 40 PRA game against Brooklyn with Kyrie in the lineup on Monday.
Over their last 5 games, the Nets have the 5th worst defensive efficiently and are allowing over 115 points per game. I expect Murray to lead the charge for the Spurs against the Nets led by Kyrie and Harden.
Murray is over this line in 60% of his games played and could realistically score 25+ points.
Check out our full game preview of Nets vs Spurs
Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) over 25.5 points (-118)
Line available at FanDuel at the time of publishing.
As an east coast guy, I had the pleasure of staying up late on Wednesday night to watch last year’s MVP Nikola Jozic have one of the best games a player has had this season. He scored 49 points, reeled down 14 rebounds, and had 10 assists. He made a fantastic pass to Aaron Gordon with 2 seconds left to carry the Nuggets to an overtime victory against the Clippers. I am targeting Jokic to continue his magic at home against an exciting young Memphis Grizzlies team.
Jokic has had plenty of battles against Memphis center Steven Adams. Dating back to when Adams was a member of the Thunder, Jokic has totaled 26 points or more in 8 of their last 10 matchups. He presents a tough matchup for Adams not only in the paint but on the perimeter as well.
Jokic has gone over this line in half the games he has played this season but, more importantly, 10/17 in front of his home crowd. I expect Jokic to go toe-to-toe with perennial All-Star Ja Morant.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Denver Nuggets vs Memphis Grizzlies
Cole Anthony (Magic) over 5.5 assists (-128)
Line available at FanDuel at the time of publishing.
Cole Anthony is putting up impressive numbers in his sophomore campaign. He has been one of the few encouraging takeaways from this season for Orlando. The Magic currently hold the worst record in the league at 8-38 and continue to be in rebuild mode. UNC product Anthony has struggled to score as of late. He is shooting under 35% from the field and 22% from the deep in his last 5 games. With his struggles, he has made it a point to get his teammates involved. In those 5 games. he has totaled 34 assists with an average of 12 assist opportunities per game.
Tonight, he gets a soft matchup against the disastrous Los Angeles Lakers. They have made several headlines this week with the benching of Russell Westbrook late in games and the pressure is on their head coach, Frank Vogel. The Lakers currently allow the 3rd-most assists in the league and play at the 10th-highest pace. Those statistics bode well for Anthony to have a ton of opportunities to cover 6 assists.
Anthony has gone over this line in 59% of his games played this season and 6 of his last 8 since returning from an ankle injury. I am looking forward to a battle between the young Magic squad against the aging Lakers.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Los Angeles Lakers vs Orlando Magic
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