Free NBA Picks Today for Monday, March 1st, 2021

Free NBA Picks Today for Monday, March 1st, 2021
Mon 1st March 2021

New month, new season, same free NBA picks that keep providing our followers with winners!

We ended February with a bang, going 19-5 across eight games and for a $100 bettor, our 24 predictions would have brought in a net profit of $1,058.32 for tonight. That’s right, over $1K profit from one night of betting!

We look to continue the momentum going, so don’t miss out on our NBA picks below!

Dallas Mavericks @ Orlando Magic – 7PM ET

The Dallas Mavericks will look to consolidate their massive win in Brooklyn on Saturday when they continue their road trip against the struggling Orlando Magic tonight. Three straight losses, all by double digits, is not the sort of form that any team wants and it will be tough for the Magic to snap that streak against a red hot Dallas team.

The Mavs have gone 3-1 since returning from a week-long break due to COVID-19 and their win over the Nets was the most impressive. While Brooklyn were without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Mavs locked the Nets down, especially in the second half. Dallas allowed just 34 points in the second half of their 115-98 win. Luka had a massive night while Kristaps Porzingis returned from a two week absence to help guide Dallas to victory.

Saturday wasn’t as favorable for the Magic, as they hosted the Utah Jazz and ended up losing 109-124. A big issue for Orlando was the fact that they sent Utah to the line 24 times, while only going eight times themselves. Nikola Vucevic continued to be a one man show, finishing with 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists but had minimal help from his team mates. 

A pretty straightforward one here as the Magic struggle to piece games together in order to win, especially against good teams. Dallas needs to keep winning to stay alive in the tight race in the middle of the Western Conference and this is just a game that they should be winning.

NBA Pick – Dallas Mavericks (-270)
NBA Spread – Dallas Mavericks -7 (-110)
Total Points Pick –Over 224.5 (-110)

Indiana Pacers @ Philadelphia 76ers – 7PM ET

The Philadelphia 76ers had a surprise home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night but have a good opportunity to bounce back against an out of form Indiana Pacers side. The Sixers are still an incredible 14-3 at home while the Pacers have lost three straight games, two of which were on the road. 

Saturday night saw Indiana jump to a 32-23 lead after the first period but couldn’t keep up after that, especially with Malcolm Brogdon sitting out with a knee injury. He is just questionable for this contest but that will allow TJ McConnell to get a second straight start. He flourished in New York, putting up a big night with 17 points, 12 assists and six rebounds but it couldn’t result in a win. 

Philly had a key player miss in their loss as well with Tobias Harris sitting with a knee injury and he is questionable for tonight as well. Joel Embiid picked up the slack putting up 42 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks in what was his fourth 40+ point, 10+ rebound game of the season, the same amount of the rest of the league combined. 

These sides have met once already this season, a 119-110 road win for Philly. If both Brogdon and Harris sit, then we see no reason why the Sixers can’t bounce back and pick up another win. They are a much better home team and won’t want to lose a second straight game, especially with both Brooklyn and Milwaukee within one game of them at the top of the East.

NBA Pick – Philadelphia 76ers (-160)
NBA Spread – Indiana Pacers +5.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick –Over 223.5 (-110)

Denver Nuggets @ Chicago Bulls – 8PM ET

Coming off a 30 point win last time out, the Denver Nuggets will look to continue the momentum when they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls tonight. That win put the Nuggets above 0.500 on the road for the season while Chicago are just 7-10 at home and are vulnerable at the moment as they are still missing Lauri Markkanen. 

The Bulls have had two nights off to regroup after their 97-106 home loss to the Suns on Friday, but their performance wasn’t really that bad. They were one make off shooting 50% from the floor, they shot better from three and made more as well, whilst also winning the rebound count clearly. The issue is that they had 17 turnovers to Phoenix’s seven and outside of Zach LaVine (24 points) and Coby White (19 points), no one could get going on offense. 

They will need a better showing against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets who put up 126 points last time out. Jokic had another triple double while Murray top scored for the game with 26 but Michael Porter Jr was the surprise stand out, finishing with 20 points on 63.6% shooting and 10 rebounds.

While the Nuggets have some outs, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap and Jamychal Green, they still have a much better team from top to bottom and with Porter Jr stepping up as a consistent third option, they will have too much offense for Chicago to handle. 

NBA Pick – Denver Nuggets (-180)
NBA Spread – Denver Nuggets -4.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 228.5 (-110)

Utah Jazz @ New Orleans Pelicans – 8PM ET

Following a surprise loss in Miami, the Utah Jazz bounced back nearly as good as possible with a 15 point win in Orlando. Their opponents for this clash, the New Orleans Pelicans, are coming off back to back road losses and will relish getting back on their home court. This will be the third and final matchup between the two sides and Utah holds a 2-0 lead in the season series after winning a back to back home set in late January. 

They won those two by a combined 27 points and that has been the story of their season, when they win, they win well and comfortably. That was evident in Orlando on Saturday night as the end result was 124-109. Donovan Mitchell had another good shooting night, ending up with 31 points and six assists while Jordan Clarkson was next best with 18 points off the bench.

Utah continues to boast the best net rating in the league and is the only team in the top five for both offensive and defensive rating and while the Pelicans are ranked sixth for offense, they are all the way down in 29th for defense. 

Saturday’s 114-117 loss was despite Brandon Ingram putting up 29 points and Zion Williamson having a big double double with 23 points and 14 rebounds. The issue was the other end, allowing San Antonio to shoot better from the field and from deep, allowing 117 points two nights after giving up 129 to the Bucks. 

New Orleans can keep in games and score enough to give themselves a chance, but their defense costs them opportunities to capatilise on that. Utah is far better on both ends of the floor and we like the Jazz to extend their lead on the rest of the league. 

NBA Pick – Utah Jazz (-270)
NBA Spread – Utah Jazz -7 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 234.5 (-110)

Brooklyn Nets @ San Antonio Spurs – 8:30PM ET

With Kyrie Irving joining Kevin Durant on the sidelines for Saturday night’s clash with Dallas, the Brooklyn Nets saw their eight game winning streak come to an end. They now get on the road for two games before the All Star break, starting with the San Antonio Spurs. 

The Spurs are missing multiple players due to COVID-19 protocols but welcomed DeMar DeRozan back on Saturday night and he willed San Antonio over the line against the Pelicans. The All Star snub put in 32 points and 11 assists while LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points off the bench to help San Antonio pick up another win. 

Things will be a lot tougher tonight as Irving is expected back and the Nets should be looking to get back to their form that saw them pick up eight straight and come within half a game of the lead in the East. James Harden put in 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists in their shock loss to Dallas but no one else could hit shots consistently enough to put up a competitive total.

We expect that to change tonight. With Irving back and the Spurs still missing players, we find it hard to see how San Antonio will be able to keep up. Brooklyn is playing some much better defense of late whilst still being the #1 offense in the league. Given they are underdogs in this one, we can’t pass up on that value, so we are riding with the Nets.

NBA Pick – Brooklyn Nets (+100)
NBA Spread – Brooklyn Nets +1.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 234.5 (-110)

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Houston Rockets – 9PM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets will face off for the second time in six days and the Cavs should be liking their chances to sweep the season series. Cleveland have won three straight games, most recently a 112-109 overtime win in Philly, while Houston dropped their 11th straight game last night and it was UGLY!

At home, Houston managed just 84 points on offense while allowing Memphis to put in a massive 133 points, resulting in a 49 point loss. Victor Oladipo sat out the first leg of the back to back set, meaning that John Wall is likely to sit out tonight, but regardless, this is just embarrassing. 

Wall scored 14 points on 4/16 shooting and had no other complimentary stats except for five turnovers. The team shot just 27.7% from the field and 4/45 from deep in a performance that is hard to believe. 

Cleveland on the other hand have looked impressive over their streak which included a 112-96 win over Houston last Wednesday. Saturday’s win over Philly was even better though. A 20-17 overtime period was enough to get the win with Collin Sexton putting up 28 points and three steals while Darius Garland had 25 points and nine assists. 

It is hard to see Houston being competitive, especially after a performance like last night. But sometimes, those performances are followed by shock performances at the other end of the spectrum. With that being said, we have no idea why Houston are currently favored and we like the value surrounding the Cavs. 

NBA Pick – Cleveland Cavaliers (+115)
NBA Spread – Cleveland Cavaliers +2.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Under 217.5 (-110)

Charlotte Hornets @ Portland Trail Blazers – 10:30PM ET

We round out the night with an interesting game between the Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers. Portland has been playing some very good basketball and are even sixth in the West but have lost four straight games. Charlotte on the other hand are coming off an edge-of-your-seat, come-from-behind win in Sacramento last night and have to back it up again on the road. 

PJ Washington poured in a career high 42 points while LaMelo Ball had another exceptional game with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but the heroes were Terry Rozier and Malik Monk. After having a terrible shooting night, Rozier scored six of his eight points in the final 55 seconds while Monk hit the lay-up plus the free throw with 1.2 seconds remaining to tie the game and then win it for the Hornets. 

The only issue is, as it was such a close game, the Hornets had five players eclipse 30 minutes of playing time including Washington who played a massive 42 minutes. Gordon Hayward did sit out on the front end of the back to back and is expected to play tonight, so his fresh legs will be vital. 

Portland will come into this one rested and hungry after last playing on Friday night, a 93-102 loss against the Lakers. Damian Lillard put up 35 points and seven assists while Gary Trent Jr had 19 but the team shot 38.6% from the floor and 29.7% from behind the arc. 

Charlotte are a surprising 4-3 on the second night of back to backs but we are taking Portland to snap their losing streak and get back on track. Lillard plays with too much pride and will come out hard from the jump against a tired and travelling Hornets side. 

NBA Pick – Portland Trail Blazers (-270)
NBA Spread – Charlotte Hornets +6.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 235.5 (-110)

If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NBA hub page for all your basketball needs.

*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of Bet365

Tim is a keen follower of all American sports, in particular the NBA and NFL. He has followed both sports for over a decade and would happily sit down and watch every game, regardless of who is playing! No matter the sport, whether it be NFL and NBA or even MLB, NHL, UFC and all sports, Tim covers it from every angle, staying in the loop to bring you the most up-to-date information and the best picks and predictions on the market.