4 Expert Picks
The Pacers picked the wrong night to run into Joel Embiid on Friday...n the wrong night
Can the Bucks win back-to-back for the first time in six weeks? ...
The Lake Show has some defensive issues that are hard to camouflage...
Is this the night the Warriors can finally beat the Blazers? ...
DraftKings at -130. Stephon Castle has cleared this rebound line in 13 of 14 full games he’s played this season. Even with Victor Wembanyama returning to play limited minutes tonight, Castle should continue to crash the boards from the wing. The Thunder are league average in rebounds allowed (53.5 is 15th most), and I expect Castle to come out aggressive in the NBA Cup semifinals.
Injury news first, as Wemby (calf strain) is slated to return to SA's lineup for the first time in four weeks tonight vs. the Thunder at T-Mobile. Though his presence should be a positive, we're not sure it will be tonight as the Spurs had adjusted nicely to his absence in recent weeks. No matter, this is a much different matchup for San Antonio than Wednesday's NBA Cup quarterfinal win over the Lakers, whose defensive slowness on the perimeter was made for the quick-fire Spurs offense to exploit. OKC, especially with Lu Dort back in the lineup, is going to present a much more difficult challenge. The Thunder is also 24-1 SU this season (just thought we'd mention that note!). Play Thunder (at las Vegas)
The NBA Cup semi-finals are here in Las Vegas. Both games have big favorites for a neutral site NBA game. New York has won eight out of their last nine games, with one of those a six point win over the Orlando Magic. In their latest win Jalen Brunson corrected his issues beyond the three point line by going six of nine against the Raptors. Lay the number here with the Knicks.
The NBA Cup seems made for this version of the Knicks. With new HC Mike Brown pushing most of the right buttons, the NBA Cup has been a motivator for Jalen Brunson & Co, who rolled past the Raps on the road in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night. The current win streak is now at four and includes a win over the Magic at MSG last Sunday when Brunson led the way with 30 points. That Sunday result was important for NY as it reversed a pair of earlier losses to the Magic at the Kia Center in November. Orlando is also minus key F Franz Wagner, though they did top the Heat when minus Franz in Tuesday's other quarterfinal. Play Knicks (at Las Vegas)
Lately, scorelines have been reducing in Orlando games, much like trends from the past two seasons when Jamahl Mosley preached defense and rebounding to keep the maturing Magic competitive. Minus one of the wheel spokes of the offense (F Franz Wagner) and Paolo Banchero slowly working his way back into form after missing nearly a month due to a groin strain, Orlando works on four straight under results into the NBA Cup semis later this afternoon vs. the Knicks at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas. Note the slower pace of Sunday's 106-100 Knicks win at MSG over the Magic and New York's subsequent under in the win vs. the Raptors in the other NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday. Play Magic-Knicks Under (at Las Vegas)
I'm gonna take a shot here. Again, the NBA lines are so backward right now that I want to take any reasonable ones. Anthony Edwards is iffy for Minny. If he sits, then I believe this for sure cashes. It may anyways with Steph Curry back for the Dubs, although Draymond Green being out is not ideal. I always enjoy seeing him and Rudy Gobert just ready to rumble. I don't know why but rumble has been in my vocab of late. Half-unit that certainly goes to full if Ant out. But obviously we won't get -120.
DraftKings. This line is too low for Brandon Williams, even in his role off the bench. Williams is averaging 14.9 combined points plus assists in just 21.6 minutes per game. Even off the bench, he should still see 20-24 minutes tonight, especially as D’Angelo Russell is out. Great matchup too.
Any NBA "go-with" list at the moment likely includes the Mavs, with wins in four of five as Jason Kidd has started to push the right buttons. Getting Anthony Davis back and in a healthy state has been one of the positives; AD is just off of a smashing 29-point effort in last Saturday's comfy win over the powerful Rockets. AD had scored 32 earlier in December in a win over the Nuggets Meanwhile, 6-9 Duke rookie Cooper Flagg has picked up the pace this month and is scoring better than 20 ppg in December. Granted, Brooklyn is not as much of a pushover these days and has won three of four, but a favorable recently slate has helped the results. Play Mavs
The correlation is too strong...Memphis has surged since a Morant went down with his calf injury. The Griz have won seven of nine, all minus Morant, its best surge of the season, with terrific balance reflected in five different leading scorers across the past five games. Emerging recently has been Washington State rookie wing Cedric Coward, who scored 23 in last Friday's win over the Clippers. Another reason Morant and his distracting presence haven't been missed is that his numbers had tailed off dramatically before the injury' his 35.9% FG shooting is well the worst for any season of his career in which he's been near 47% from the floor. Meanwhile, the Jazz are slumping again with two 30+-point losses in a row. Play Grizzlies
For the Atlanta Hawks no player has more attention than Jalen Johnson. Johnson is averaging 30 points and 14 rebounds over his last five games. This included a 29 and 13 performance against the Pistons on December 1st. Look for Detroit to center their game plan on limiting Johnson, and for Okongwu to take advantage. Okongwu has averaged 21 points in the two matchups against the Pistons, this included scoring 20 of their 98 points in the December matchup. Take Okongwu over.
Hornets rookie Sion James should see decent minutes Friday against a Bulls team that plays at the second-fastest pace. With LaMelo Ball, Collin Sexton and others out for Charlotte, I bet James to score at least seven points. On Nov. 28 vs. Chicago, James scored nine points in 20 minutes.