The March Madness Bracket was released yesterday but college basketball is not the only programming that will have you glued to your television this week. The NBA kicks off a new week of the regular season tonight with some exciting matchups, including the Battle of New York between the Knicks and Nets, and a showdown between LeBron James and Stephen Curry in the late game of the evening. Also on the docket, MVP candidates Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic will lead their respective teams in what should be some competitive action.
Today, we have a four-team parlay that will give bettors something to root for from coast-to-coast, but do not forget to check out our picks for the side and total on every NBA game as well.
Washington Wizards +10 (-110)
Brooklyn Nets -8 (-110)
Denver Nuggets -5 (-110)
Memphis Grizzlies ML (+240)
Parlay odds: +2287
Let’s break down each of the four legs one by one.
Washington Wizards +10 (-110)
The Milwaukee Bucks and the Washington Wizards will face off for the second time in three days on Monday evening. On Saturday, the Bucks fell behind big early but clawed their way back for a 125-119 victory, though they failed to cover the double-digit spread on the game. It will likely be another cover for the Wizards tonight, thanks to the Bucks’ lackluster defense and due to the fact that these teams just saw each other. Familiarity breeds close games, as we have seen all year long with the unique frequency of the baseball-style series that the NBA has implemented in response to the global pandemic. Additionally, Bradley Beal will return to the lineup tonight for the recently surging, Wizards, after resting in Saturday’s matchup. The Bucks have been a .500 team away from home this year, and have shown multiple times that weaker opponents are not guaranteed wins, even on the moneyline. Washington is the play to start the night.
Brooklyn Nets -8 (-110)
The Battle of New York is upon us! Unfortunately, there are a lot of pieces missing from this action, and that likely only favors the Nets more than they already should have been. Derrick Rose remains out due to COVID health and safety protocols. New York’s offense takes a noticeable hit when he is absent from the court. On the other sideline, Brooklyn will still be without Kevin Durant and the recently acquired, Blake Griffin. However, it should not matter much. In the last eight games that James Harden and Kyrie Irving have been in the lineup, Brooklyn is 8-0, allowing only 105.5 points per game. In their last 13 games overall, the Nets are 12-1, having defeated a number of high-quality opponents during that stretch. It is a wise strategy to bet on Brooklyn until proven otherwise–and especially if their opponent is going to be missing one of their key players due to injury or COVID.
Denver Nuggets -5 (-110)
If a bettor looks at the Indiana Pacers’ most recent box score, they will see a convincing victory over the Phoenix Suns who own the second-best record in the Western Conference. However, that win was far more about how disengaged and unprepared the Suns were rather than how good the Pacers played. In that game, it was fantastic to see Caris LeVert return from his health scare, but it is evident that Indiana is going to experience some growing pains integrating him into the offense, especially if their opponent actually shows up to the game. It is never a bad bet to back MVP-candidate, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at home in the altitude. Take them with confidence.
Memphis Grizzlies ML (+240)
The Memphis Grizzlies are a seven-point underdog in this matchup but bettors will find little value with sportsbooks giving them seven points. This team has been mostly boom or bust over the last month of the season. In their last 20 games, they are 8-12 with each of their eight wins coming by nine or more points, but nine of their 12 losses during this stretch have also come by nine or more points. We anticipate “boom” Memphis to show up to play tonight after blowing a double-digit second-half lead against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon. The market always over-accounts for fatigue concerning teams that are playing on zero days of rest. Memphis is most likely not going to lose by less than seven, which means that we are going for a home run to end the night–take the Grizzlies to upset the Phoenix Suns tonight.
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