Our free NBA Picks are out for Friday, November 26th, 2021! Make sure you check our NBA Picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA Picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!
Phoenix Suns @ New York Knicks – 7pm ET
While it wasn’t pretty, the Phoenix Suns won their 14th straight game on Wednesday, beating the Cavs in Cleveland. They now lace them up inside The Garden, taking on a New York Knicks side that struggled to beat a short-handed Lakers team and hasn’t been able to string consecutive wins together since the end of October.
Denis Kirilov
The Phoenix Suns have closed the gap to the Golden State Warriors on top of the Western Conference. After getting into a 14-game winning streak, the team from Arizona looks to break more and more records, but their upcoming fixtures will be a great test to what is left in tank for Monty Williams’ players. Phoenix has been conservative lately as this might have been due to an increasing fatigue for their starting lineup. Devin Booker and Chris Paul are forced to play more than 30 minutes per game and this will surely start to have a negative impact on the whole squad.
The New York Knicks are very promising this year, although they have won just 10 games out of 18 matches. This puts them in 7th place in the East, right behind Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Washington. The team with its current roster can easily compete with at least two of these teams, so I will convincingly say that the Knicks are focused on yet another top 4 finish at the end of the season. However, the Eastern Conference has suffered quite a shock in the positive meaning of this word, as plenty of teams in the likes of Charlotte, Chicago, and Washington rose up from the ashes. However, I think this will be the last opportunity for the Suns to get an easier win compared to what is coming up soon for them. I will give my preferences to the Suns, since the Knicks are quite inconsistent at Madison Square Garden.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns (-146)
Michael Lantz
The Phoenix Suns are on an incredible 14-game win streak, as they continue their mission to avenge last year’s NBA FInals loss. They are second in points per game and defensive rating in the NBA, as they’re aiming for the Golden State Warriors spot as top team in the Western Conference. They’ll go for 15 straight at “The Mecca”, Madison Square Garden, against the New York Knicks.
After a 1-3 start to the season the @Suns rattle off 14 straight wins 😱🔥
Phoenix is only a half-game back from Golden State for the best record in the league 👀 pic.twitter.com/EX24jWmrC2
— Blue Wire (@bluewirepods) November 25, 2021
The Knicks are staying alive at 10-8, after a big win on Tuesday night against a Lebron-less L.A. Lakers squad. The Knicks do need to play more consistent ball, as they’ve let the defensive identity they built last season slip away. A big season for them to get back on the right track would be to foil the Suns win streak in front of a home crowd. I’m reluctant to pick the Knicks because they’ve let me down a lot so far this year and with the Suns beng the hottest team in the league, I think they’re the safest bet at this point.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns (-146)
Noah Dunlap
Despite a 14-game win streak, in a season that they’ve only played 18 games, the Phoenix Suns are still a game back of the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference, which just shows how good Golden State has been to start the season. After a rough first week or so of the season, the Suns have been unbeatable (literally), and they look more and more like the team that made the NBA Finals last year with each passing game.
For New York, they started the year extremely hot, before slowing down over the past three weeks or so, and they now have many people concerned about the potential moving forward for this season. With them coming off a close win over the Lakers (without LeBron) on Tuesday, I like Julius Randle and company to come into this one with confidence and momentum, but I just don’t think that’s going to be enough, even at home, against the way the Suns are currently performing. Give me Phoenix to get the win in a close one on the road.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns (-146)
Atlanta Hawks @ Memphis Grizzlies – 8pm ET
We have an exciting matchup between two young, dynamic point guards as the Memphis Grizzlies host the Atlanta Hawks. Both Ja Morant and Trae Young continue to play at such a high level for their team, allowing them to reach heights that normally wouldn’t be expected of them, but only one can come out on top tonight.
Denis Kirilov
The Atlanta Hawks enjoyed a wonderful past 10 days as they went unbeaten in 6 consecutive games. It all started with a victory over the reigning champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, and continued with wins over their main rivals for the Playoffs spot, the Charlotte Hornets and the Boston Celtics. Trae Young regularly posts double-doubles with points and assists, but the most concerning thing is that he has never played less than 30 minutes in a match from the start of the season. He might find himself in perfect shape, but his body will definitely need some rest around Christmas. Otherwise, he won’t be able to endure the whole season. The Hawks managed to pull themselves out of the bottom as they now hold a 10-9 record.
One of the most versatile and exciting teams to watch in the West is the Memphis Grizzlies. They are all about teamwork. Ja Morant might take charge from time to time, but he closely relies on his teammates like Jaren Jackson and Desmond Bane. However, the Grizzlies are in a very interesting place at the moment as they outplayed the LA Clippers and the Utah Jazz, but at the same time, they got squashed by the Raptors and the Timberwolves. The situation is quite clear – if Ja Morant doesn’t have a good performance, then the whole team suffers. If he plays well, then the rest of the squad play on his level as well. I think we will see another disbalance within the Grizzlies and they will suffer yet another loss to a surmountable opponent.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Atlanta Hawks (-102)
Michael Lantz
The Atlanta Hawks started off on a bumpy path after making the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Just two weeks ago they were sitting at 4-9 and were about to lose key player De’Andre Hunter to injury. Since a November 12th loss to the Denver Nuggets, they’ve won six consecutive games and look like the lethal team that went on a deep run last year.
As they look to go for seven straight, they’ll head to Memphis to take on Ja Morant and the Grizzlies. This one should be an offensive clash as the Grizzlies sit as a top ten offensive team, but are dead last in opponent points per game. Meanwhile the Hawks sit right in front of the Grizzlies in points per game, and while their defense isn’t dead last, it’s far from flawless. With two top ten offenses and two defenses that are below (or in Memphis’ case well below) the league average. I look for this one to be a scoring delight. I know 226.5 is a big total, but I’ll go for the over in this one.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Over 226.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
Atlanta is finally beginning to get things turned around this season. They started the year with an atrocious 4-9 record, but have since run off six straight, and are beginning to look more like last year’s postseason Atlanta Hawks. To me, the biggest reason for this is the help that Trae Young is getting along the way. We all know that Young can put up great numbers against virtually anyone, especially on the offensive end, but early in the year he was getting no help from his supporting cast. Over the past two weeks or so, the supporting cast is helping out, and suddenly Atlanta looks like they could be a contender once again in the Eastern Conference.
Memphis, on the other hand, is a team that is simply impossible to predict. They continue to play well against the league’s best teams, as they have wins over the Jazz, Warriors, and Clippers to name a few, but they also have inexcusable losses, like the Pelicans,a 43-point blowout loss to Minnesota, and now a collapse late that saw them slip up against Toronto on Wednesday. This one’s virtually impossible to know for certain, but I like Memphis, at home, to squeak out a tight one against a good Atlanta team, largely due to a big night from Ja Morant.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Memphis -1.5 (-110)
Milwaukee Bucks @ Denver Nuggets – 9pm ET
This matchup was originally supposed to put the last two MVPs up against one another but Nikola Jokic has been sidelined with a wrist injury for the last three games and is just questionable for tonight’s clash. That leaves Giannis Antetokounmpo as the star attraction of this matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks, but will he be able to get his team over the line?
Denis Kirilov
After winning 5 in a row, the Denver Nuggets are now in a 5-game losing streak. This was mainly due to Nikola Jokic’s absence in the last three games for the team. He is having a great season so far, but a wrist injury put an end to his remarkable run. However, the “Joker” is uncertain for the game against the Bucks on Friday night in Ball Arena. Milwaukee, on the other hand, has managed to bounce back and recover some places in the standings. They are enjoying a 5-0 run lately as their team is slowly, but surely getting back together with Khris Middleton making a return in the beginning of this winning streak.
When comparing both teams, we can see a lot of similarities. Both of them depend on a big guy that should cause plenty of troubles for the opposing side. The Bucks are full of 3-pointers and Denver doesn’t fall back as they also have players like Jokic, Hyland, Campazzo, and Dozier who can all sink down some shots from way downtown. However, I see one big difference between these two rosters and that’s the second guy on the team. Khris Middleton is by far a better player than any other than Jokic in Denver. I think he will once again be the deciding factor for the winning performance from the Bucks. I will suggest picking them as a winner, and the riskier ones of you might try something for Middleton like “over a certain number of points”.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks (-156)
Denis’ Bonus NBA Pick: Khris Middleton Over 16.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
The Denver Nuggets have had their fair share of ups and downs this season. They’ve had to battle through multiple injuries, a current five-game losing streak and now they aren’t sure if Nikola Jokic will be joining them for Friday’s showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks. Still they’ve battled through a good amount of adversity this year and will continue to stay resilient as the season unfolds.
5⃣ IN A ROW! #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/hYaDPrLfPA
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) November 25, 2021
Speaking of ups and downs, the Milwaukee Bucks have also had a rough go as defending champs. This has mainly been due to injuries and COVID, which have at some point have sidelined Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Brook Lopez. As incredible as Giannis Antetokounmpo is—he can’t do it alone. Even though Lopez continues to recover from injury, the team is thrilled to have Middleton and Holiday back as they are in the midst of a five-game win streak. The Bucks will travel to Denver on Friday in pursuit of six, but will have to go up against a Nuggets team that plays great defense, as they allow the third least opponent points per game. Still the Nuggets may be without their MVP in Jokic, and even if he does play he likely won’t be 100%. Denver has pulled off some surprising wins this year, but the defending champs are a different story
Michael’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -3.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
The Denver team we’ve seen over the five game losing streak that they’re currently on isn’t indicative of the team that I think they’ll be by season’s end. With Nikola Jokic out with a wrist injury (likely out for this one as well), Jamal Murray still yet to return from an injury suffered last season, and Michael Porter Jr. out as well, I think they’re in a situation of just trying to wade through injury issues in order to allow them the chance to make a push late in the year.
Unfortunately for them, Milwaukee has already seemingly been through their injury/Covid struggles, and are now on the back side of it, with Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday both back. With Giannis leading the way, and Middleton lined up as a clear second option, I just don’t see how the Nuggets, probably without Jokic, find a way to stop this Bucks team. I like Milwaukee to simply dominate down low, getting a relatively easy win, and pushing the Denver losing streak to six.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -3.5 (-110)
Portland Trail Blazers @ Golden State Warriors – 10pm ET
The Portland Trail Blazers’ troubles on the road continued in their last start, losing by four to the Kings. They are now just 1-8 on the road for the season and have to travel down to the Bay Area to take on the Golden State Warriors. While Portland struggles on the road, Golden State is nearly perfect at home, with a 10-1 home record and 16-2 overall record so far this season.
Denis Kirilov
The Golden State Warriors will try to keep their composure against a high-flying Portland Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard has been magnificent recently as he finally found the right rhythm. He hasn’t gone below 22 points in his last 8 games for Portland and he will definitely be looking to continue with this run. CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic also had their contributions for the team’s performance lately. The Blazers reached a 4-game winning streak, but they suffered a defeat against the Sacramento Kings in their last match ahead of the clash with the Warriors.
Steph Curry and his teammates are 16-2 so far and they are in the top 3 when it comes to both offensive stats and defensive stats. The team brought us back to 2016 when they made the impossible finishing off the campaign with 73 wins and 9 losses. However, this achievement seems quite unlikely to be repeated, but the whole NBA community can dream about it for a moment. Apart from ‘chef’ Curry, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are also quite consistent in their games so far. For instance, Andrew Wiggins hasn’t had a single-digit performance yet which is an admirable achievement when he is not the main guy on the roster. I think their march will go on with another enormous win over the Blazers on Friday. I will also suggest looking at “over 224 points” as both teams are on fire at the moment.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Golden State Warriors -6.5 (-110)
Denis’ Bonus NBA Pick: Over 224 (-110)
Michael Lantz
After a rough start to the season, the Portland Trail Blazers won four straight last week; all of the sudden looking like a true contender. This was thanks in large part to Damian Lillard’s resurgence. Lillard started the season struggling with his scoring and shooting percentage. But, last week he was named “Western Conference Player of the Week” as he averaged 28.3 points per game and 8.3 assists per game. Things looked like they were finally blossoming in the “Rose City”—until Wednesday night. On Thanksgiving Eve, the Trail Blazers were certainly in a giving mood as they let a dysfunctional Sacramento Kings team steal one from them 125-121. Now the Blazers get to follow that game with a matchup against the league leading Golden State Warriors.
After a 116-96 win against a hobbled 76ers team, the Warriors advanced to a league best 16-2. On Friday night they’ll face another offensive juggernaut, as the Portland Trail Blazers come to town hungry for a win against the game’s best. The Warriors will look to use their exceptional defense to frustrate this Blazers team with plenty of shot takers. This series has been pretty back and forth in recent years, aside from the Warriors playoff sweep in 2019. That being said, I don’t have full confidence in Portland on the road. If this was at Moda Center I could see them playing spoilers, but I just don’t see it for tomorrow.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Golden State Warriors (-255)
Noah Dunlap
The Golden State Warriors are the best team in basketball, and have been all year long, at least to this point. Keep in mind, that’s without Klay Thompson, who is finally practicing again, and is likely to return sometime around Christmas if all goes well. Even without Klay, Steph is dominating, and getting major help from Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins as well, which is why this Warriors squad looks like a perennial title favorite right now.
With Portland, after an abysmal start to the year, they look as if they might have finally turned it around last week, going on a four game winning streak, before seeing that streak snapped Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings. A big part of Portland’s success over the past week or so is that Damian Lillard is finally playing better basketball after an atrocious start to the year, which has loosened up guys like CJ McCollum and Yusuf Nurkic to play a bit more free, as well. In this one though, none of that matters, as Golden State is just on a whole different level right now. I think Steph outplays Dame in this one, and with just decent play from Wiggins, Poole, and Draymond Green, I like the Warriors to get a comfortable win at home.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Golden State Warriors -6.5 (-110)
Sacramento Kings @ Los Angeles Lakers – 10:30pm ET
The traditional rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings adds another page tonight as the two square off inside the Staples Center. Both sides have had turbulent starts to the season, with the Kings already firing their head coach and the Lakers trying to figure out how to fit the pieces together, being just 0.500 on the season when a Championship is the goal.
Denis Kirilov
The last game on Friday night in the NBA puts up the Sacramento Kings against the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams are having some issues they will have to deal with, but having in mind all the excitement around the Lakers, I would say that their problems are quite crucial. LeBron James surely has an effect on the whole squad, but it seems that even with him in the roster, they have a lot of misunderstanding in the build-up plays. The Lakers are 9th with a 50% win-ratio and they are looking more than confused right now. At least they will have the opportunity to host one of the teams that struggles even more than them, the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings are 2 out of 10 in their last 10 games which puts them second-to-last in the West, being just above the Houston Rockets. The team dropped down to 11th place in the overall standings within the Conference and this doesn’t really meet the high expectations from their fans and from their management. Tyrese Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox are fantastic prospects and they can use the help of the more experienced players on the roster like Richaun Holmes, De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Harrison Barnes. However, something is in their way of showing their full potential. However, against this inconsistent LA Lakers’ team, I am reluctant to give them a chance to give us a small glimpse of what they can actually do with the ball. I will have them cover their spread in this one.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Sacramento Kings +7.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
Despite how much of a mees the Sacramento Kings have been in recent weeks, the team was able to pull off a big win on Wednesday night against the Trail Blazers, ending Portland’s four-game win streak. Now they’ll take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a battle of coach Luke Walton’s ex-teams.
LEBRON JAMES NO WAY
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 25, 2021
The Lakers had a big win themselves on Tuesday, as they beat the Indiana Pacers in overtime after LeBron James one and a half game suspension. James put on a classic performance, torching the Pacers for 39 points. Even though this Lakers team hasn’t had it easy this year, they’ve also had very few games in which their “Big Three” played together. Despite this team being quite old, they haven’t really had the opportunity to click; if James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook just get a little more time to mesh, they should really start to excel. That being said, age isn’t the only concern: defense has been a big issue as well. The Lakers are second to last in opponent points per game and won’t have any easy time with a quick kings team that has plenty of offensive talent. While I think the Lakers have a favorable chance at home, they don’t really match up well against this speedy team. I think the safest bet is for the Kings to cover.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Sacramento Kings +7.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
Both of these teams have honestly just been bad this season, with one’s start being more expected than the others. With Sacramento, there was always a question of talent on the roster, which is proving to be a valid question, as outside of De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes, they lack the star level talent that it takes to win in today’s NBA. They sit at 2-8 in their last 10, even though they did manage to pick up a win in their last outing on the road against Portland.
The LA Lakers had everyone’s hopes up after a busy offseason that saw them sign Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard,and Carmelo Anthony, in order to bring them to southern California to play with LeBron. The problem is that up to this point, LeBron hasn’t actually played much of this season. He missed a large portion at the beginning of the year with an abdominal strain, and then missed the Lakers game at New York due to a suspension. He finally played in the team’s big win over Indiana Tuesday night, and had a great game in the process. The problem I have with that is that I think James is beginning to lose a bit of the ability to put in those types of performances night after night as he gets older, and with a roster that hasn’t yet learned to mesh together, I think LA is relying a bit too heavily on an aging LeBron. For this reason, give me Sacramento to cover. I think the Lakers get the win, but I don’t trust them to cover so I’ll take the Kings with the points.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Sacramento Kings +7.5 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
