Hi all!
I’m not mad about last night because, IMO, that was the right handicap, although we should watch and see just how motivated Utah is for the rest of the season. They might be less incentivized to win as the season goes on, hoping for better players in the draft.
On that note, I just feel much more comfortable with who these NBA teams are right now, so if I were you I’d start to express less caution in my plays. I know December was rough but things will and are turning around.
On another note, I’m going to start cherry picking CBB games to give you more plays and to diversify our bankroll risk on a daily basis. Can’t promise I’ll always have CBB plays but I’ll at least take a gander every day. My priority and expertise is still the NBA.
Onto hump day picks!
NBA:
Hawks ML (-105), to win 1.5 units
Hawks/Kings under 244 (-110), to win 1 unit
Maybe this moves more on the Kings’ side but I can’t predict this weird ass marketplace these days and it shouldn’t, I’ll tell ya that. This is an ideal spot for the Hawks to take care of business. The Kings are gonna be playing their 6th game in 8 days AND they’re on a back to back. That’s as bad as it gets. Atlanta needs to get right. Even on the road, this is the opportunity. Betting the under for the same reason we bet it today, and because the Kings’ will be even more tired. This is a Dejounte Murray game, aka more defense from Atlanta.
Ja Morant over 27.5 points (-120), to win 1 unit
Yea I don’t see ANY WAY that Charlotte can stop Ja. His style of play is not something the soft interior defense of Charlotte can contain, and he’ll need to do even more with the Grizzlies’ slew of injuries currently.
Knicks TT over 118.5 (-110), to win 1.5 units
I’m only playing this for 1 unit since I have the Knicks scoring 121 points in this, but there’s plenty of reasons to believe they can get even higher in this game. The Knicks are starting to focus more on offense again, and in their last battle against SAS a few games ago, they lost without Jalen Brunson. As usual, without Brunson their offense was clumsy and inefficient. This is a revenge spot, and SAS’s defense is among the worst in the NBA recently. In fact, they’re THE worst this season on the road. Opportunities abound for the Knicks to smash tonight.
Pacers TT under 111.5 (-110), to win 1 unit
The Pacers have been running hard and looking very efficient on offense lately, but that was mostly against teams in turmoil (the Hawks) or good teams in really tough spots (LAC). Plus, anomalies tend to happen more often around the holidays. Now that thing’s have settled down, one of the NBA’s best defenses in the 76ers will host Indiana in an attempt to slow them down. I think they’ll be successful. Philadelphia is healthy, they run at a very slow pace, and this total is too high for a Pacers’ team that averages only 106 ppg against above average defenses (like Philly, Miami, Boston, LAC, etc.). One unit out of respect for their momentum.
CBB:
Villanova 1H -5 (-115), to win 1 unit
The Hoyas are really struggling this year and especially against Big East. A more talented, experienced Nova squad, fresh off a bad loss, will come into this extra motivated to pour it on Georgetown early. I think they cover, maybe by double-digits, early.
Belmont/UIC over 144 (-110), to win 1 unit
This total is too low. UIC is not a good shooting team but they’re at home and Belmont’s tempo and demanding offensive efficiency should push them to play aggressively on offense. They’ll need to if they want to compete. Belmont’s defense has been trash, allowing over 71 ppg. Like the over.
