Wise n' Shine: NBA picks, NHL predictions and Australian Open best bets for Friday, January 27

Phil Agius

Show Bio

I've been writing about the NFL and a host of other sports for the UK's top daily betting paper the Racing Post for more than 20 years. An incurable Browns fan (1-31 survivor), I also specialise in all kinds of motorsport betting including F1, MotoGP, IndyCar and NASCAR. For Phil Agius media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.

@philagius

About Last Night

NBA parlay cashes at +612 odds
Our NBA parlay of Mavericks +1.5, Clippers -13 and over 226 in Knicks vs Celtics cashed comfortably on Thursday night. The Mavs beat the Suns outright, 99-95, the Clippers crushed the Spurs 138-100 and the Knicks-Celtics game went to overtime, where New York won 120-117. The Clippers pick was also our only 3-star play on the slate and gives us a 5-2 record with our last 7 NBA Best Bets.

Dominant NHL props run continues
It was another 2-0 night for our NHL player props, extending our red-hot run to 15-3 in our last 18 picks! The Lightning beat the Bruins 3-2 in the big game of the day.

Bruins upset by Trojans
Ranked teams Purdue, Arizona and Florida Atlantic all won on Thursday, but there was an upset as #8 UCLA lost 77-64 to USC.

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Today’s Slate

Doubleheader on NBA TV
There’s just a 5-game slate in the NBA tonight, but there’s a doubleheader on NBA TV, which is showing Grizzlies vs Timberwolves at 7:30 pm ET and Raptors vs Warriors at 10:00 pm ET. Read today’s NBA picks.

Red Wings vs Islanders on ESPN
We have a solid 8-game slate on the ice to sink our teeth into, featuring the Islanders hosting the Red Wings live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ET. Read today’s NHL picks.

There’s soccer and tennis too
Two of the top EPL teams are in FA Cup soccer action today and you can read our soccer picks for Manchester City vs Arsenal (3:00 pm ET, ESPN+). Also, the Australian Open tennis has reached trophy time and red-hot tennis expert Ricky Dimon has 3 tennis picks for the women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

Best Bet of the Day

NBA: Milwaukee Bucks -7.5 over Indiana Pacers
7:00 pm ET, Bally Sports

The Bucks have beaten the Pacers 9 times in a row overall and in 5 of the last 6 meetings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. They have won 27 of their 36 games as favorites this season. The Pacers are 2-8 SU in their 10 games without Tyrese Haliburton this season and after ending a 6-game losing streak against Chicago, they reverted to losing at Orlando in their next game. They have covered the spread just once in 7 games and could also be without Myles Turner, who left the last game with an ankle injury. Read our full Bucks vs Pacers predictions.

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Must-watch: Geoff Schwarz is today’s Let’s Bet It guest

Be sure to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.

Lauren Jbara and Jared are your hosts today, and they have a special guest as former NFL player Geoff Schwartz joins the show. Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) hosts the popular Geoff Schwartz is Smarter Than You podcast and will be looking ahead to Sunday’s NFL playoff action before the team reveals their Plays of the Day. You can also access the show at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).

The Conference Championship edition of Pickswise Playbook, our weekly NFL preview show presented by Superbook Sports, is also available, featuring former NFL star Tank Williams, so be sure to check that out too!

NFL news: Panthers appoint Frank Reich as head coach

The NFL coaching carousel has been slow to crank into action since the end of the regular season, but we finally had an appointment on Thursday as the Carolina Panthers named former Colts coach Frank Reich as their new leader. The Broncos, Cardinals, Colts and Texans still have head coach vacancies.

Must-read

For today’s action, we have our Grizzlies vs Timberwolves Same Game Parlay, along with today’s NHL player props as we bid to extend our winning run.

Our NFL coverage is building and our NFL predictions for both games are available. Our articles for Sunday’s games include Prop Holliday’s player prop picks for the Bengals vs Chiefs and 49ers vs Eagles games, and we’re already looking ahead to the Super Bowl, and looking at Brock Purdy’s chances of becoming the first rookie to win a Super Bowl.

Read all of our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.

Stat of the Day

The under has cashed 6 times in the last 7 games between the Grizzlies and Timberwolves.

Quote of the Day

“These guys believe in me, these guys trust in me to go out there and do what I do. And I wouldn’t be here without my teammates, my coaches.”

Donovan Mitchell was happy after being named as an NBA All-Star starter for the first time following his trade to Cleveland.

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Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news and best bets. Check out our expert NFL Picks, NBA Picks, Soccer Picks and NHL Picks pages for our latest game picks.