Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
The NFL’s conference championships have come and gone, so it’s time for the NBA to retake center stage for a while. It begins with a 10-game slate on Monday, when the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks are among the teams taking the court. A double-header on NBATV will feature the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Stephen Curry.
Here’s our five-team parlay for Monday:
Pistons +6.5 (-110)
Nets -7.5 (-110)
Nuggets -1.5 (-110)
Spurs ML (+120)
Warriors ML (-380)
Parlay odds: +1801
For this parlay we mix in two favorites against the spread, one underdog and the points, and two outright winners (one favorite and one underdog). Let’s break down each of the five legs one by one.
Detroit Pistons +6.5 over Philadelphia 76ers (-110)
These two teams are facing each other for the second time in 72 hours after Philadelphia pulled out a 114-110 win on Saturday. Joel Embiid is questionable for this one as he continues to deal with a back issue. If he is confirmed to be out, the Pistons will like their chances of winning outright. If he plays, the Pistons can still take comfort from the fact that the first game was a close one despite the struggles of some of their key players. Jerami Grant went 3-for-19 from the floor, finishing with 11 points on the night. Considering he was riding a 14-game streak of at least 20 points, it is fair to assume that a return to the norm is in store for this rematch. Blake Griffin also missed the first contest but appears to be back for this one. Although Griffin has been inefficient scoring-wise this season, he should provide the Pistons with a much-needed boost.
Brooklyn Nets -7.5 over Miami Heat (-110)
The big three of Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden finally showed that they can work together when they beat this same Miami squad 128-124 this past Saturday. Brooklyn was up by 14 points heading into the fourth quarter, at which point they temporarily fell apart before closing the game strong. The more reps that these new Nets get together, the better they will become. The Heat are still dealing with coronavirus issues and injury problems involving their best players. They are missing Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Avery Bradley. Bam Adebayo had one of the best games of his career in the first matchup on Saturday and it still wasn’t enough or the underdogs.
Denver Nuggets -1.5 over Dallas Mavericks (-110)
Denver is on a 3-0 SU/ATS run, with its past two wins coming at Phoenix—both in overtime. Nikola Jokic is tantalizingly close to averaging a triple-double this season and it will be interesting to see how the Mavericks look to defend him. Kristaps Porzingis could give him some trouble because he is so long, but right now it looks like no team has any defensive answer for the Joker. In support of Jokic, Jamal Murray is once again in stellar form and Michael Porter Jr. is back from injury. MPJ has been coming off the bench and delivered a double-double in Denver’s last game. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have. struggled with consistency this season. They are 8-8 and coming off a disappointing loss to a shorthanded Houston team.
San Antonio Spurs ML over New Orleans Pelicans (+120)
Following a 20-point win over Washington on Sunday, the Spurs look to improve on their 6-3 road record. In a balanced attack in which seven players average between 11.7 points and 20.9 points per game, DeMar DeRozan has been the leader offensively for San Antonio. But head coach Gregg Popovich’s team is so deep that it can overcome any off night by DeRozan. Case in point: against the Wizards, DeRozan scored only nine points and the Spurs still had six guys in double-figures. New Orleans has won just twice in five attempts at home this season. In the Pelicans’ last 10 overall they have won a mere two games. They are coming off a difficult six-game road trip in which they went 1-5 and wrapped it up by losing 120-110 to a Minnesota club that was without both Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell.
Golden State Warriors ML over Minnesota Timberwolves (-380)
Despite the Timberwolves’ victory over a struggling New Orleans squad, they are still just 2-8 in their last 10 contests. Russell should be back for Monday’s date with Golden State, but Towns is still down because of Covid-19. The Warriors have dropped four of their last six, but they can never be discounted with Curry on the court. Over the weekend, Curry passed Reggie Miller for second place in NBA history in three-pointers made with 2,562 for his career. It is also worth noting that Golden State has dominated Minnesota at home of late, winning the last seven.
Pickswise is the home of free NBA picks and predictions. We will cover all the big offseason news before making picks for every game during the 2021 season.
