A very solid start to our free NBA betting picks as I went 2-0 last night! I don’t know if I’ve ever had an undefeated week but, who’s to say it can’t happen? I don’t love today’s NBA card so pardon my conservative approach for Tuesday. Here are my picks:
Lean- Celtics -2.5 (-110): This game sets up really well for Boston. Denver is sitting out a ton of players, including Paul Millsap, while the Celtics are in bad need of a redemptive win. The Celtics are 6-4 at home, they’ve lost 4 out of their last 5, they’re considerably healthier than Denver tonight, and while they’ll still have to contend with Nikola Jokic, who’s playing at an MVP level right now, the Nuggets could easily blow this game off after a huge win against LAL. With the way Boston’s been playing they’re tough to bet on, but the spot doesn’t get much better.
Lakers/T-Wolves over 223 (-110), 1.5 units: This total feels too low. The Lakers limp a little heading into Tuesday night after a humbling loss against Denver Sunday. We saw that coming. Unfortunately Anthony Davis will be out a few weeks, so the Lakers bigs will have to contend with Karl-Anthony Towns, who may be finding his groove after a long layoff from injury. Minnesota finally snapped their losing streak on Sunday, giving them some confidence heading into Tuesday night’s matchup. The Timberwolves haven’t been very effective offensively this year but they have looked a lot better since Towns returned, averaging over 116 ppg in their last 5 games. Lebron James will look to expose Minnesota’s poor defense, a unit that ranks in the bottom third of the league in Hollinger’s efficiency rating (ESPN), by pushing fast break points with his quarterback-like passing. He’ll need to do that to fill the offensive-gap that Davis leaves behind. That should pump up the pace of the game and force Minnesota to play catchup. Since the T-Wolves offense has been more effective lately, I see that resulting in an easy over.
Blazers -5 (-110), 2 units: Well I figured the Blazers were due for some positive regression but I didn’t think they would look this good. Damien Lillard is playing like a mad-man lately and what do you know– Portland can even play a little defense when they feel like it. The Blazers aren’t a true contender when it gets to the postseason but they can routinely win and obliterate bad opponents. The Thunder are riding lightning (love me a good thunderstorm, another thing I miss during the dead of winter) into this contest and may still be high off that win again Milwaukee on Sunday. Trust me, though, that was an aberration. The Thunder shot 47% from the field and 42% from 3 point land in that game, a real feat without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Shai leads his team this year in assists and points but he’ll will be out again on Tuesday. That’s bad news for OKC, especially considering their next best scorer is Al Horford. The Thunder won’t have the juice to keep up with the scorching hot Blazers offense. Ride “Dame Time” and take Portland to cover.
