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Can Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics hold it down at hone against James Harden and the high-scoring Houston Rockets?
Will the Greek Freak ‘show out’ in Canada against fellow all-stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry?
Last but not least, do the Los Angeles Clippers stand a chance of beating Steph Curry and the streaking Golden State Warriors without either Chris Paul or Blake Griffin?
With the 2016-17 NB regular season another week closer to its annual all-star break, it’s time for another round of my potentially bankroll-boosting NBA picks of the week!
Harden, Greek Freak, and High-Scoring Dubs Highlight NBA's Best Bets
Houston at Boston
When: Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30 PM ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
TV: CSNE, RTSW
Analysis: Heading into Monday night, Boston (26-17 SU, 23-18-2 ATS) had dropped two straight after winning their previous three games and were on the wrong end of a heartbreaking 127-123 overtime loss to Portland the last time out. The C’s are ranked ninth in scoring (107.3 ppg) and 18th in points allowed (105.3 ppg).
Houston (34-13 SU, 29-18 ATS) managed to get past Memphis 119-95 on Saturday, but have been playing some uneven basketball in alternating wins and losses over his last six games while dropping four of their last 10 games overall. The Rockets are ranked an uninspiring 24th in points allowed (107.4 ppg), but are also ranked stellar second in scoring (114.5 ppg).
For this matchup, I’m expecting Houston to be favored by somewhere between 2-5 points, but it won’t matter as the Rockets win by a half-dozen points against a Celtics team that just doesn’t have the offensive firepower necessary to keep up with the Rockets.
The Celtics are a modest 13-8 at home this season while Houston has compiled an impressive 17-8 record on the road.
Pick: Houston 112 Boston 106
Milwaukee at Toronto
When: Friday, January 27 at 7:30 PM ET
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto,
TV: FSWI
Analysis: Heading into Monday night, the Toronto Raptors (28-16 SU, 26-17-1 ATS) had lost three straight including their humbling 115-103 home loss to rebuilding Phoenix on Sunday.
No matter, the Raptors are the easy pick to get past a Milwaukee Bucks (20-23 SU, 16-25 ATS) squad that had not only dropped five straight heading into Monday, but one that is apparently mired in a messy situation that caused young forward Jabari Parker to be benched following a heated team meeting on the team’s lack of unity.
Toronto has gone 15-7 at home and desperately needs to find some consistency while Milwaukee has managed to rack up just eight road wins in 21 outings. Both of these ballclubs give up about 104 points per game defensively, but the Raps average a half-dozen points per game more than the Bucks and will win this matchup by at least that many points.
Pick: Toronto 112 Milwaukee 104
LA Clippers at Golden State
When: Saturday, January 28 at 8:30 PM ET
Where: Oracle Arena, San Francisco, CA
TV: ABC
Analysis: Heading into Monday, the Los Angeles Clippers (29-16 SU, 22-23 ATS) have lost two straight after winning their previous seven games and got completely spanked in their humbling 123-98 road loss against Denver on Saturday.
The Golden State Warriors (38-6 SU, 20-23-1 ATS) have won seven straight and nine of their last 10 and looked as explosive as ever in dispatching Orlando 118-98 on Sunday while covering the NBA betting line for the fifth straight game.
Look, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Clippers are in for big beat-down in this contest, making the point spread the only worry for NBA bettors in this matchup.
I’m expecting the Dubs to be favored by about eight (8) points in this contest, but I don’t think it will matter much as Golden State wins by at least dozen points against their hated Pacific Division rivals.
Just think, if the Clips just lost to the mediocre Nuggets by 25 points, they’re likely going to fall to the Warriors by a nearly identical amount of points in this matchup.
Pick: Golden State 118 LA Clippers 102
