Our free NBA picks are out for Saturday, January 22nd, 2022! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the three games on today’s schedule!
Sacramento Kings @ Milwaukee Bucks – 7pm ET
The first of three games on this Saturday night slate will see the Sacramento Kings travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. The Kings are currently on a two game losing streak, after going down to the Rockets and Pistons. The Bucks are playing on back-to-back nights after taking on the Bulls last night, in that game they won 94-90 against the Bulls.
Denis Kirilov
The Milwaukee Bucks take on the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night in the NBA. After a tough meeting with the Chicago Bulls, the defending champions will be able to take a deep breath against the Kings before travelling to Cleveland. The Bucks have been struggling these past couple of matches as they weren’t able to find a solution to a long-existing problem. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are still performing miracles for the Bucks as the rest on the roster are underperforming. The Bucks stick to the top 5 in the Eastern Conference, but they will need to level up their game if they want to survive in the fierce competition this year.
The Sacramento Kings, on the other side, are looking at a 2-game losing streak as they were defeated by two of the worst teams in the NBA. First, the Houston Rockets outplayed them in Golden 1 Centre and then, the Detroit Pistons raised further concerns for Alvin Gentry and his players. The team sits in 11th place with 18 wins and 29 losses as they are slowly slipping away from the top 10. This will most likely be yet another disappointing season for the Kings who are still looking for the right recipe with great prospects like De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. I think that they might be able to put up a good fight against the Bucks, but I will trust both teams’ high-scoring abilities and pick the option for “over points” here.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Over 230.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
The Milwaukee Bucks survived a bit of a depleted Chicago Bulls team last night, winning 94-90. They were able to survive a 35 point performance from DeMar DeRozan, thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 30-point double-double. After their victory over another Eastern Conference elite, they’ll look to pull off a win against the always speedy Sacramento Kings.
Goodnight. pic.twitter.com/Z1dw6eECvU
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 22, 2022
Sacramento is undoubtedly a high-scoring team, but their defense is abysmal, as they just lost consecutive games to the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets—two of the league’s worst teams. Both squads were both able to overpower the Kings terrible defense to victory; things won’t get any easier on Saturday against the reigning NBA champs. While Sacramento has seen promise in the likes of Tyrese Halliburton and De’Aaron Fox they still are unpredictable as a unit. I think the safe bet here is a near full strength Milwaukee team at home. I’ll go with them to cover.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -9.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks have had a bit of a roller coaster year to this point. They’ve dealt with multiple injuries, as well as COVID issues, but have still managed to hang around and look to be a contender to win the Eastern Conference, behind the play of Giannis, as well as getting solid minutes once again from Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. Assuming this play continues, despite the fact that they’ve had lapses as well, I think they’ll be fine come the postseason, and will be a legitimate threat to come out of the East.
As for the Sacramento Kings, they’re a young team that has shown flashes of what they have the ability to become, but they just don’t have quite enough right now to be taken seriously as a legitimate contender in a loaded Western Conference. They’re youthful, and play with exciting energy and tempo, but against a team as disciplined as the Bucks, I’m not sure that energy is going to be able to play a huge role. Give me Milwaukee in a reasonably tight one at home, but with the line sitting at nearly double digits, I just don’t trust them with the spread here.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Sacramento Kings +9.5 (-110)
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Cleveland Cavaliers – 8pm ET
The next game up on Saturday night will see the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Thunder are playing on back-to-back nights, and last time out they lost to the Hornets, 98-121. The Cavaliers had their five game winning streak snapped last time out, thanks to the Bulls, 104-117.
Denis Kirilov
The Oklahoma City Thunder will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night in the NBA as they will try to escape from the bad situation at the moment. The Thunder have lost 8 out of their last 9 matches with the only win coming against the Brooklyn Nets on the road. Their offensive line has been terrible throughout this period as they failed to score more than 100 points on several occasions. The Thunder sit in 14th place with 14 wins and 30 losses which will most probably mean that they will once again miss the Playoffs.
The situation around the Cleveland Cavaliers is quite on the opposite side. They have been storming the NBA during the first half of the season as they are conveniently positioned in the top 6 in the East. With a 27-19 record, the team is looking focused on making the Playoffs, but the differences are slim and plenty of things might go wrong until the end of the season. They were on a 5-game winning streak before losing to the Chicago Bulls, 104-117, in their last match. The Cavs even defeated the Utah Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets in this run and they also got the better of the Thunder after a marvellous performance from Darius Garland. In my opinion, Cleveland is way stronger and they will be able to cruise past Oklahoma for yet another time this season.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers -13 (-110)
Michael Lantz
The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost nine of their last ten; while this team’s young talent has shown some promise, they’re still a couple seasons away from truly being able to compete. On Saturday they’ll face a team who went from bad to contender, a model they’ll want to follow, in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland is watching their draft talent payoff as Darius Garland has looked like an all-star and Evan Mobley might just be the Rookie of the Year. Additionally, they’ve gotten great production from big man Jarrett Allen and veteran Kevin Love. Cleveland has developed into one of the NBA’s most exciting teams to watch, a feat the Thunder feel they’re close to achieving. While OKC definitely has the talent to pull an upset, I think the Cavs will bounce back at home after they lost to a hobbled Bulls team that other night.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers (-1000)
Noah Dunlap
Oklahoma City is bad. Really bad. They’ve lost nine of their last ten, and are arguably the worst team in the league, as that’s a competition that comes down to them or the Detroit Pistons. They do continue to have multiple draft picks coming up in future years, which should help, but with the way this roster is currently configured, they’re a team that is going to continue to struggle.
They get the Cleveland Cavaliers in this one, and it’s a Cleveland team that continues to impress, despite injuries all over the place. They’re without Ricky Rubio and Colin Sexton for the remainder of the year, which for most teams would be extremely problematic, but for this Cavs team, they’ve simply rolled with the punches and continue to cruise right along. They did see their five game winning streak snapped last time out, but as they take on what may be the worst team at home here, I think they bounce back in a major way.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers -13 (-110)
Indiana Pacers @ Phoenix Suns – 9pm ET
In the final game on Saturday, the Indiana Pacers will hit the road and travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns. The Pacers are riding a two game winning streak, after defeating the likes of the Lakers and Warriors, which takes their season record to 17-29. The Suns are on a five game winning streak, and this includes wins over the Raptors, Pacers, Pistons, Spurs and Mavericks.
Denis Kirilov
The Indiana Pacers will travel to Arizona to face the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night in the NBA. The Pacers took two really decent victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors in their previous games. Chris Duarte and Caris LeVert led the way for the team dropping big numbers against some of the top contenders for the title. This run, however, didn’t help them much as they remained 13th in the East with 17 wins and 29 losses due to a really bad performance in December. The Pacers have been struggling with injuries as Myles Turner, TJ Warren, and Domantas Sabonis might miss the upcoming fixture.
The Phoenix Suns, on the other hand, are looking at an 8-1 run recently as they are once again on top of the Western Conference with 35 wins and 9 losses. The team has been merciless in 2022, only losing to the Miami Heat, 100-123. Devin Booker dropped 48 points against the San Antonio Spurs, suggesting that he finally found his rhythm this year. The whole team has been contributing a lot in each single game as even the bench players are able to help the Suns win it in the end. I think that the Suns will come on top for the sixth straight time and they will cover the spread against the short-handed Pacers.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -11.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
The Indiana Pacers are coming off two massive wins: on Wednesday they upset the Lakers in Los Angeles and then on Thursday they pulled off an even bigger upset 24 hours later. With a majority of their players on the bench resting, the Pacers “B Team” were able to take down the Golden State Warriors in overtime for a huge confidence boosting win. They’ll hope to use that momentum on Saturday as they face the team with the best record in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns.
Might not have counted as an official “block” this was still insane by @DevinBook. #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/J46KEp4shc
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 21, 2022
Phoenix is 35-9 and are among the best teams in basketball on both sides of the ball. They’re currently on a five-game win streak, including a massive win on Thursday against one of basketball’s best defensive teams, the Dallas Mavericks. While the Pacers are finally playing more toward their potential, I just don’t see them pulling off three straight against high powered teams. Sure, they upset a near full strength Warriors team without the likes of Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, and more, but I can’t see that being a repeat performance against Chris Paul and Co. on Saturday.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -11.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
Despite playing better basketball of late, including coming into this one on a two game winning streak with victories over the Lakers and Warriors, this Indiana team has still struggled this year, and it’s hard to think that they will continue this type of play consistently. The defense is still awful, and even in their wins they don’t play all that well, as well as this their offense has been hit or miss all year long.
Now they travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns, who at this point in the season are probably the best team in the NBA. They come in on a five game winning streak, and they have one of the best cores you’ll see from any team in the league, being led by DeAndre Ayton, Devin Booker, and Chris Paul. Even with the Pacers playing better ball over the past week and a half or so, I think the talent differential here is just too much for them to overcome, so I look towards Phoenix and the spread as the safe play here.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -11.5 (-110)
If you are looking for 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 FanDuel.
