Another 4-1 night gives us an 8-2 record the last two days and your boy is LOVING it. Thank you so much to the many people who have given these NBA articles so much viewership! It means a ton to me; I’m extremely passionate about these picks and I love it when we all win. Onto more free plays and onto more cash!
Wizards win (-160), 2.5 units and Game over 248 (-115), 1.5 units: I’m not sure if Washington can cover the 3.5, this should be a close game, but I do expect them to win. Both the Pacers and Wizards play with a ton of heart and they’re desperate for more victories before the season ends– Washington is ranked 10th and Indiana is 9th in the East, two of the last spots left in the play-in tournament to get into the postseason. While Sabonis and McDermott hold up the Pacers, Beal and Westbrook have been putting on a show for the Wizards. The pace and aggression of Russel Westbrook is really hard to match and I expect a big game for Beal against a Pacers team ranked 25th in points allowed this season. The Wizards play at the quickest tempo in the NBA and Indiana is ranked 5th, while both teams are in the top 8 (Pacers- 8th, Wizards- 4th) in points per game. The Wizards will edge the Pacers at the end in yet another 235-230 type scenario, so I’ll go with the over and Wizards. This should be entertaining!
Nuggets over 114.5 points (-110), 2 units: I don’t know if the Nuggets will win this game, Brooklyn is awfully desperate after 4 straight losses, but Jokic and Porter Jr. and Gordon are going to be a problem for the Nets. That rag-tag group from Brooklyn has been under siege over how they play defense (or lack thereof) and they deserve the criticism. They’re 23rd in points allowed per game, 21st in defensive efficiency, and they’ve allowed 119 ppg in their last 5 contests (they’ve gone 1-4 in that span). I like this game going over the 232 total and I lean the Nuggets side, too. The Nuggets have done nothing but win throughout the last month and after a let-down against the Jazz last night I expect Denver, at home, to put in maximum effort Saturday night. They’ll coast for the rest of their season (games against Charlotte, Minnesota, Detroit and Portland await) so they can slow down after tonight, but this is the type of game they’ll want to rise up for and flex. Jokic and company will have no issue out-smarting and scoring on Brooklyn’s defense, while the Nets will push the pace and force more points out of Denver. Hammer it.
Spurs +6 (-110), 1.5 units: This is too many points for the Blazers to cover and too many for San Antonio to give up. As much as we love to boast about Portland’s offense, they don’t create a ton of margin. They’re just over the level at +1.1 in point differential and they’re 22nd in points allowed per game. The Spurs are as desperate as ever in the 10th spot in the Western Conference with a ton of tough games ahead to end their season. They need this win and they need to keep covering on the road (they’re the away ATS leader at 68.8%, 22-10-1). This is an automatic play for me on a very solid, very well-coached team.
