Ricky Dimon
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We have a 6-game slate in the NBA on Saturday, headlined by a nationally televised showdown at 8:30 pm ET on ABC between the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors. The Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, and Memphis Grizzlies are also in action.
Nets-Warriors is part of our 3-team mega parlay for the festivities, and now it’s time to take a look at the whole thing.
Celtics -9.5 alternate spread (+140)
Warriors -6.5 (-110)
Grizzlies -9.5 alternate spread (+175)
Parlay odds: +1160
For this parlay we are going with 3 favorites against the spread – 2 on an alternate number. Let’s break down each of the legs one by one.
Celtics -9.5 alternate spread over Pelicans (+140)
The Celtics may not be in great form at the moment, but they can win by double-digits on Saturday – mainly thanks the opponent. For the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram is out and both Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte’ Graham are day-to-day. Neither seems likely to play. Valanciunas is dealing with a non-Covid illness and Graham suffered a knee injury during Friday’s 116-105 loss to Denver. Playing on back-to-back days only adds insult to injury. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown should be way too much for New Orleans to handle.
Check out all our NBA previews and picks for Saturday
Warriors -6.5 over Nets (-110)
The Nets are slipping in the Eastern Conference standings game by game. Following their most recent loss to Denver — which was their 3rd defeat in a row – they are now down to 5th in the East standings and just 2 games clear of the play-in tournament. Kyrie Irving will try to fix that as he joins the team once again on the road. Brooklyn has played really well away from home with a 14-4 record in its last 18 games. However, Golden State is 5-1 over the last 6 games and has defeated Brooklyn 7 times in the last 8 played in the Bay Area. Stephen Curry caught fire when he dropped 29 points on Minnesota in a 124-115 home win earlier this week. Not having Draymond Green resulted in 115 points allowed, but the Warriors are in top shape scoring-wise, so they are able to compensate. The Nets have some real issues to sort out as we approach the halfway mark of the season. Their last 3 losses have been by 6, 10, and 11 points. These 2 teams already met once this season and the Warriors dominated with an 18-point win at Barclays Center.
Check out our Nets vs Warriors preview
Grizzlies -9.5 alternate spread over Wizards (+175)
Washington has lost 4 consecutive games, falling to Brooklyn, Toronto, Boston, and the Clippers. Since December 26, Memphis is 15-3 — ranking 6th in the NBA in Net Rating during that span. The Wizards are at full strength for tonight’s tilt. That is a good thing for their defense, but it could be problematic from an offensive standpoint. Per Cleaning the Glass, when Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Daniel Gafford have been on the floor together this season, the Wizards rank in the 6th percentile in offensive efficiency and the 78th percentile in defensive efficiency. The result for Washington’s most common starting 5 is a -6.1 Net Rating, which ranks in the 22nd percentile in the league. Memphis played yesterday, defeating the Jazz 119-109. However, fatigue should not be a major concern since only Ja Morant played more than 30 minutes. Plus when you are hot, you just want to keep playing.
Check out our Wizards vs Grizzlies preview
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