Free NBA Picks Today for Monday, January 24th, 2022

Free NBA Picks Today for Monday, January 24th, 2022
Mon 24th January 2022

Our free NBA picks are out for Monday, January 24th, 2022! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free NBA picks for the four games on today’s schedule!

New York Knicks @ Cleveland Cavaliers – 7pm ET

The new week brings in the beginning of a new road trip for the New York Knicks, and tonight they will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks are playing on back-to-back nights, and last night they beat the Clippers, 110-102. The Cavaliers have won six of their last seven games, and this brings their season record to 28-19.

Denis Kirilov

The New York Knicks will try to stay out of further troubles as they pay a visit to Cleveland on Monday. The team from New York has lost its last three matches in the NBA to teams from the middle of the table. All of these games were played in Madison Square Garden as they only had a chance against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They lost by 10 or more points to the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Their last meeting on the road was successful as RJ Barrett and Julius Randle led the team to the victory over the Atlanta Hawks. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers is one of the most interesting teams in the NBA this season. They have managed to surprise everybody with their fantastic performance during the first half of the campaign. The team was adroitly built by J.B. Bickerstaff who is doing something extraordinary so far. Darius Garland, Lauri Markkanen, and Evan Mobley elevated their game to a whole new level as they became one of the most recognized players this year. Being 5th in the East definitely gives them further motivation to hustle throughout the remainder of the season as I think that they will be able to continue their good run with a win over the New York Knicks. 

Denis’ NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5 (-110)

Michael Lantz

After a tough double-digit loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers answered back on Saturday with a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately, in that win they might’ve lost Lauri Markkanen for an extended period of time. Markkanen suffered a high ankle sprain, making him just another injury the Cavs have had to deal with this season. They’ve continued to be unfazed by these challenges and will look ahead to the New York Knicks on Monday.


After three straight losses The New York Knicks picked up a huge win against the Los Angeles Clippers yesterday. This team continues to give fans hope of a second straight year in the playoffs, but they just can’t string together a solid win streak. They’ll hope to pick up another big win on Monday against a very good Cavs team. Even though Cleveland has suffered a ton of injuries they continue to be resilient. I’ll pick them to beat the Knicks in a close one.

Michael’s NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers (-320)

Noah Dunlap 

The Cleveland Cavaliers may legitimately be unstoppable. Regardless of what gets thrown their way, they just respond, which is what they’ve done all year long. They lost both Colin Sexton and Ricky Rubio early in the year, but even with those absences, and a few COVID issues along the way, they simply can’t be stopped. With Darius Garland picking up a lot of the slack, this Cavs team has continued to roll right along, having won six of their last seven, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down at all, which could still have them as a borderline dark horse contender to come out of the wide open Eastern Conference. 

On the other end, we have the New York Knicks, who have simply been a roller coaster ride all year long. They started the year extremely hot, but then seemed to hit a wall for a while. Since then they’ve somewhat leveled the ship, and have simply gone back to playing closer to .500 ball, which isn’t terrible, but certainly isn’t what Knicks fans had in mind at the beginning of the year. As for this one, I’m going to take Cleveland to continue the hot streak, and get a win at home over a team that is simply too hard to try to figure out. 

Noah’s NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5 (-110)

Indiana Pacers @ New Orleans Pelicans – 8pm ET

The Indiana Pacers’ five game road trip is coming to an end on Monday night when they face off against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pacers had their two game winning streak snapped last time out, courtesy of the Suns, 103-113. The Pelicans have won three of their last five games, which includes wins over the Timberwolves, Clippers and Knicks.

Denis Kirilov

The New Orleans Pelicans host the Indiana Pacers in their Smoothie King Center on Monday. Both teams have been struggling this season, but they have actually made some positive impressions recently. The Pelicans won their last three matches at home against the Golden State Warriors, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Los Angeles Clippers. On top of that, they took a surprising 102-91 victory over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden in their last match. This performance might come in crucial at the end of the season as they are 11th so far with 17 wins and 28 losses. 

The Pacers, on the other hand, are one of the teams that might miss the Playoffs, but it’s still quite early to call it. They are currently 13th in the Eastern Conference with 17 wins and 30 losses, despite Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Chris Duarte’s strong performance. The Lithuanian battle won’t take place as Sabonis is sidelined with an ankle injury. However, Jonas Valanciunas will be available for the Pelicans as he will have the task to dominate the paint. The Pacers, however, managed to pick up some wins over the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers in a couple of their most recent games. That’s why I think that they will be able to surprise the Pelicans on the road. 

Denis’ NBA Pick: Indiana Pacers (+116)

Michael Lantz

The Indiana Pacers picked up two huge wins last week as they beat the Los Angeles Lakers and then their “B-team” pulled off a stunning win over the Golden State Warriors. They then fell to the Phoenix Suns, but nonetheless it was still an impressive run for this team. Now they’ll play a New Orleans Pelicans team that, like the Pacers this season, have failed to live up to expectations.
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New Orleans has had a tough time this season with injuries: Zion Williamson has been out the entire season and the likes of Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas have battled injuries and COVID. Still they’ve had some moments where their offense has been able to string it all together in which they’ve looked like a team that could go on a run at any time. The Pacers too—they have multiple players capable of scoring double digits in each game. With this game’s total being at 214.5 and both these teams having struggling defenses, I’ll go with the over.

Michael’s NBA Pick: Over 214.5 (-110)

Noah Dunlap 

Indiana has been another team that’s been somewhat difficult to figure out. They’ve shown flashes of what they can be, which is a solid playoff team in the East, when they’re playing well, but the problem is that far too often they simply can’t seem to get anything going. Their offense is reasonably consistent, as they have the ability to score points in bunches, but they do also have a tendency to disappear, and put politely, the defense is simply awful, as they’ve shown a complete inability to stop virtually anyone, which has proven to be the biggest reason their record on the year currently only sits at 17-30. 

In this one, they take on a New Orleans Pelicans team that has played a bit better lately, but still can’t seem to get any consistency at all, outside of Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Ingram. They’re still awaiting the return of Zion Williamson, who was already supposed to have returned, but has faced multiple setbacks along the way in his rehab process. Without Zion in the lineup, this is a Pels team that is having to rely almost entirely on two guys, and while both players are solid, they aren’t the kind of guys that you can build a team around, which has been the biggest issue surrounding their struggles. As for this game though, I’m going to go out on a bit of a ledge, and take New Orleans to get a big win, as I think their inside presence is able to disrupt and cause some problems with this Pacers team. 

Noah’s NBA Pick: New Orleans Pelicans (-136)

Chicago Bulls @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 8pm ET

The Chicago Bulls wrap up their three game road trip on Monday night when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder. The Bulls are playing on back-to-back nights and last time out they lost to the Magic, 95-114. The Thunder are currently on a five game losing streak, and this drops their season record to 14-32.

Denis Kirilov

The Chicago Bulls have been playing really well this season as they are 3rd in the Eastern Conference with 28 wins and 17 losses. However, in the absence of Zach LaVine due to a knee injury, the team went on a 1-6 run for the last 10 days. DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic are doing their best to stop that negative run and get back to the top spot in the East. The Bulls will play for the first time this season against the Oklahoma City Thunder who have been struggling a lot throughout the campaign. 

The Thunder might soon find themselves in last place in the Western Conference. Currently, they are 14th with 14 wins and 32 losses as they are coming into this fixture on a 1-11 run. They have only managed to upset the Brooklyn Nets who played with most of their bench players, eventually led by James Harden. The Thunder’s most recent performances suggest that they are in a tight mini-crisis at the moment as they will surely find it difficult to compete with the strong Chicago Bulls. That’s why I will recommend picking the team from the East as the final winner of the match on Monday. 

Denis’ NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls (-136)

Michael Lantz

The poor Chicago Bulls: just a couple of weeks ago they were the one-seed in the Eastern Conference with a team that was looking pretty dominant on both sides of the ball. Now they’ve had a plethora of injuries and are starting to fall in the standings. They even fell to one of the worst teams in basketball last night in the Orlando Magic. Now they have to face an Oklahoma City team that, while very subpar, should give the Bulls hard times.


OKC have maybe lost five games in a row, but they definitely have some future talent to get excited about. Players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey all look like a promising young core. With the way the Bulls have been playing, this might be OKC’s perfect time to break their skid. With this one in Oklahoma City, I think they will. 

Michael’s NBA Pick: Oklahoma City Thunder (+116)

Noah Dunlap 

Despite the fact that the Chicago Bulls have looked like one of the best teams in the NBA for much of the season, that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve looked like one of the worst teams in the league over the past two weeks or so, as they’ve dropped seven of their last eight, which coincides with them losing Zach LaVine for a while due to an injury, and then losing Lonzo Ball for potentially up to two months virtually immediately after that. That’s not to make excuses for this Bulls team, but it does show that there is a potential reason for their struggles, outside of just assuming they may not actually be as good as they were playing.

As for the Oklahoma City Thunder, I think the problem is that they are just as bad as they’ve been playing. They’ve lost five straight, and that’s nothing new for this season, as the roster just isn’t very good, with limited talent, and what little talent they do have is still extremely young and inexperienced. They have multiple draft picks in the coming years that could potentially make a difference, but for now I think this is a team that finds themselves stuck with a low ceiling. That’s why, despite the struggles that we’ve seen from this Chicago team as of late, I’m still leaning towards the Bulls and the spread in this one, as they go on the road to OKC. 

Noah’s NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls -2.5 (-110)

Utah Jazz @ Phoenix Suns – 9pm ET

Last cab of the rank on Monday night’s slate will see the Utah Jazz travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns. The Jazz played the Warriors yesterday, and this was a game they lost, 92-94. The Suns will be looking to build on their six game winning streak, and this has taken their season record to 36-9.

Denis Kirilov

One of the most entertaining matchups in the NBA will take place in Footprint Center in Phoenix as the Suns take on the Utah Jazz on Monday night. The two teams have been incredible this season, but it seems that the hosts are slightly ahead of everybody else. They top the Western Conference with 36 wins and 9 losses as they have been defeated just once in 2022, losing to the short-handed Miami Heat, 100-123. The Suns rely on a fully-stacked roster that combines with great depth, versatility and experience. 

On the other hand, the Utah Jazz have been going through a rough period recently. They lost six times in seven games which was considered a huge disappointment despite Rudy Gobert’s absence. The team managed to bounce off with a 10-point win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday as their top player, Donovan Mitchell, was sidelined due to concussion. He is expected to miss the upcoming match as well and as Deandre Ayton will be sidelined for the Suns, I think that the team from Arizona will win the game, but the Jazz will be able to cover the spread on the road in the end. 

Denis’ NBA Pick: Utah Jazz +9.5 (-110)

Michael Lantz

The Utah Jazz have had it rough recently: they struggled while Rudy Gobert missed time, going 1-4 over the five games he was out. Then, just two games after he returned, the team lost Donovan Mitchell to a concussion. They’ve continued to struggle without their leading scorer, including a 92-94 loss to the Golden State Warriors, in a game that under a month ago, was deemed a potential Western Conference Finals matchup. Now, the Jazz must go from one top-seeded Western Conference team to another, as they face the Phoenix Suns on Monday—with Mitchell’s status still up in the air.
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Phoenix are the best team in basketball right now; they have won their last six games to stay atop the always competitive Western Conference. But, on Monday night they might be in a bit of trouble as they will unlikely have starting center Deandre Ayton and will definitely be without key role player Cam Payne. Still, they’ll have Chris Paul and Devin Booker to work the offense which should frustrate this Jazz team that’s been on a downward spiral and just played a tough game 24 hours prior. Give me the Suns at home for this one.

Michael’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -9.5 (-110)

Noah Dunlap 

This is a matchup between two of the best teams in the league, despite the fact that one of them hasn’t really been playing like it as of late. The Utah Jazz, with everyone healthy, has shown not only this year, but over the past few years, that they are one of the most balanced teams in the league, and have the potential to turn it on at any moment. One of the issues they’ve had lately is they’ve faced absences from their two best players, as Rudy Gobert missed time due to COVID, and Donovan Mitchell has missed time with a concussion. The down side of this matchup for Utah is that they just had to take on Golden State last night, and dropped a two point contest, only to have to come back a night later and take on the Phoenix Suns. 

Phoenix brought back virtually their whole roster from last year’s team that made a run to the NBA Finals, and as long as they remain reasonably healthy, I think they have to be the favorites to potentially win this year’s title if we were picking right now. They’re record on the year sits at 36-9, including winning six straight, and in this one I think they push that streak to seven, as I think the combination of Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker prove to be a touch too much for this Jazz team, especially as this comes on the tail end of a brutal back-to-back for them. 

Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -9.5 (-110)

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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.

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