12-Game NBA Night with Three Previews, Picks and Props
Wednesday will be one of the busier nights in the NBA you’ll see with 12 games and 24 teams in action on the slate. We’ll preview three of them here but be sure to check out the Best Picks section at Oddscrowd for help with the rest of them. There’s also a full college hoops slate tonight but it’s lacking a marquee matchup. Then again, there aren’t any must-see NBA games tonight, but there are some interesting matchups.
The Pacers are coming in hot after winning four straight games, covering the spread in all four of them against the Hawks, Cavaliers, Clippers and Raptors. While they didn’t beat any great teams they won four games they could have easily lost. Rick Carlisle’s squad has played themselves right out of the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes and into the No. 6 seed in the East with a 21-17 record. Incredibly, they’re just 5.0 games back of the No. 1 seeded Celtics and they’re 7-3 over their last 10 games. They’re also just 2.0 games behind the No. 5 Sixers so they could make up some big ground tonight with a win at Philly. The Pacers are coming into this one pretty healthy, with only Chris Duarte (ankle) showing up as a game-time call. Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesemith and Myles Turner should comprise the starting lineup this evening and Haliburton, Hield and Turner should all have a chance to shine, although Turner will have his hands full with Joel Embiid.
The Sixers have won two straight against the Thunder and Pelicans, are finally starting to roll, compiling a 8-2 record over their last 10 games. The schedule hasn’t been all that tough and while the Pacers should offer a decent challenge tonight, the Sixers should have a chance to keep things rolling with dates with the Bulls, Pistons (twice) and Thunder coming after tonight’s game. James Harden and Joel Embiid have been putting up gaudy numbers all season, De’Anthony Melton and Tobias Harris have been solid glue guys and the Sixers finally got Tyrese Maxey back on Friday. Maxey has hit just 9-of-24 shots for a total of 21 points in two game since his return and it may take him another week to get back on track after such a lengthy absence. Perhaps the most important piece of information regarding this game is that Embiid is questionable with a sore left foot. He was a game-time call on Monday with a sore back and powered through it with another monster line but he hasn’t missed a game since November, so it may be time to get the big man a rest day. If he does sit this one out, Paul Reed, Montrezl Harrell and Georges Niang would all get a boost and I’d be tempted to roll with Niang in DFS and fantasy.
The Sixers won the last meeting 120-106 but this is a different Pacers team than they face back in October. Oddscrowd top performer wasakaa likes the over of 232 (-110) in this one but the final line and pick could be swayed drastically if Embiid is ruled out. I’m going with the assumption that he’ll play and that the Pacers will continue to battle as they make their playoff climb.
Pick: Pacers +6.5
Prop 1: Joel Embiid double-double/Sixers win -104 at FanDuel
Prop 2: Buddy Hield over 17.5 points -108 at FanDuel
Prop 3: James Harden over 22.5 points -106 at FanDuel
The Blazers got a win over the tanking Pistons on Monday and the list of teams they’ve beaten recently is a who’s-who of tankers. Their last six wins have come against the Pistons, Hornets, Rockets, Spurs and Timberwolves (twice), all of whom are in the hunt for Victor Wembanyama. They’ve also lost to Oklahoma City twice recently but the trend has been for them to win the games they should win, and to struggle against superior teams. Even with the unfortunate losses to the Thunder and their recent struggles the Blazers are solidly in the playoff hunt, sitting currently as the No. 7 seed. They’re just a ½ game behind the No. 6 Clippers and 4.5 games behind the first-place Nuggets. In other words, they need to win tonight. They won their first two meetings of the season fairly handily with Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic both playing well in those games. Nurkic is probable tonight after dealing with an illness, Gary Payton is iffy with an ankle injury and both Nassir Little (hip) and Justise Winslow (ankle) are out. Keon Johnson gets an interesting boost with the injuries, while Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Jerami Grant and Nurkic will do the heavy lifting tonight.
The Wolves got a big win over the Nuggets on Monday when Anthony Edwards had 29 points and 10 rebounds and guys like Jaylen Nowell, Jaden McDaniels and Kyle Anderson stepped up for the short-handed Wolves. Edwards is on fire, scoring between 27 and 30 points in six straight games and in eight of his last nine, while both Nowell and Anderson have been a roller-coaster ride all season. McDaniels had been rolling through December until a couple duds to end the year but got back on track with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting on Monday. The Wolves are currently sitting just out of the playoffs in 11th place and are 7.5 games behind the first-place Nuggets. Rudy Gobert looks like a shell of his former self these days and Karl-Anthony Towns remains out for the Wolves. Naz Reid, Taurean Prince and Bryn Forbes are all game-time calls tonight and Reid’s the most interesting DFS play if he’s going to give it a go.
We still can’t believe the Wolves shocked the Nuggets on Monday and it’s hard to see them pulling off two straight miracles. But they’re at home and might be due for a win against the Blazers. But top Oddscrowd bettors wasakaa and Bochbet like the Blazers minus the points and we also like Portland’s starting five and the fact they generally take care of business against teams they’re supposed to.
Pick: Blazers -1.5
Prop 1: Anthony Edwards to score 25+ points -160 at FanDuel
Prop 2: Damian Lillard to score 25+ points -200 at FanDuel
Prop 3: Jerami Grant to Jerami Grant to score 20+ points -230 at FanDuel
This was one of the more interesting matchups of the night until LeBron James was ruled out with an ankle injury at about 3:30 this afternoon. The Lakers have quietly won three of their last four games but their chances to beat the Heat fall significantly now that LeBron and Anthony Davis are both out. The Heat are currently heavy favorites and have won four of their last five and sit in as the No. 7 seed in the East, 5.0 games behind the first-place Celtics. The Heat have been playing well, going 7-3 over their last 10 and play well on the road with a 9-10 record. They just got nice wins over the Jazz and Clippers but lost at Denver on Dec. 30. They also beat the Lakers on Dec. 29 in Miami by a score of 112-98 when LeBron had 27 points but didn’t get a ton of help from his teammates, and the Heat’s starting five put up a balanced attack from their starting five. Caleb Martin (quad) and Gabe Vincent (knee) are both probable for tonight’s game, Dewayne Dedmon is questionable and Nikola Jovic, Duncan Robinson and Omer Yurtseven are all out. The Heat’s starting five of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Martin, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo has been playing well together and will offer a stiff challenge on the road tonight.
The Lakers are just 16-21, are the No. 13 team in the West and 0-7 in their division this season. They’ve won two of their last three games but those wins have come against the likes of the Hornets, Hawks and Magic, with the lone loss coming to these Heat in Miami on Jan. 4. And LeBron must really be hurting if he’s going to miss this one. Check out who the Lakers actually beat in L.A. in five of their eight home wins: Denver (twice), New Orleans, Brooklyn and Portland. The Lakers are also wrapping up a five-game road trip and have to be thrilled to be getting back home but the loss of James can’t be understated. Lonnie Walker (lower body) is questionable after missing the last two, and Troy Brown and Austin Reaves will see an increased role if he’s out again. Russell Westbrook is probable despite a sore foot, and, as usual, Davis won’t play in this one due to his lingering foot injury. Thomas Bryant has been playing well in place of Davis and has double-doubled in three of his last four games and can at least put up a fight against Adebayo.
The Oddscrowd algorithm originally gave the Lakers a 4.7% +EV Edge on the Moneyline (+235) but that’s likely to change now that LeBron is out and we’re going with the Heat.
Pick: Heat -7
Prop 1: Bam Adebayo over 32.5 total points & rebounds -113 at FanDuel
Prop 2: Thomas Bryant over 24.5 total points & rebounds -122 at FanDuel
Prop 3: Jimmy Butler to score 25+ points +165 at FanDuel
