Our free NBA Picks are out for Saturday, November 6th, 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!
Houston Rockets @ Denver Nuggets – 5pm EDT
The struggling Houston Rockets are on the road when they travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets. The Rockets are currently on a six game losing streak, with their season record standing at 1-7, and in their previous game they lost to the Suns, 111-123. The Nuggets are also in need of a win, to boost their record, which currently sits at 4-4, and in their previous game they lost to the Grizzlies, 106-108.
Denis Kirilov
The Houston Rockets are having a hard time adapting to the current situation in the NBA, as they are second to last in the overall table, losing in 7 occasions out of 8 attempts. They have one of the worst points differences in the League, as they frequently lose by more than 10 points. The team is young and it will take some time before they can be competitive enough in order to contest the Playoffs. However, until then, they will need to enjoy the journey and not give up no matter the circumstances.
The Nuggets are hoping for another strong season this year, as they managed to keep their stars on the roster. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are hungry to reach new heights in their career. However, Murray is still recovering from a knee injury, while the Joker is having troubles carrying the whole team on his shoulders. They lost twice to the Memphis Grizzlies in their previous games and they will need to find a victim as soon as possible. That’s where the Rockets might come in handy for Denver. I think that we will watch an exciting match with more wide-open shots and lots of approaches to the rim. Hence, I am leaning towards choosing “over 219.5 points” as I see high value in this pick.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Over 219.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
Early in the season, the Houston Rockets already look primed for a high lottery pick. This should come as no surprise—even though they have some nice young talent, they’re in no way molded for success. Still, they’ve been able to put up some decent fights against good teams. On Thursday night they were leading the Phoenix Suns at halftime before a rough third quarter and prior to that they only lost by two to a full-strength Lakers team. Despite a 1-7 record, there have been some positives for a team that’s looking to the future.
Work hard. Have fun doing it.@memorialhermann | #LightTheFuse pic.twitter.com/89ABKEfk7Y
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 5, 2021
Meanwhile the Denver Nuggets are coming off of back-to-back losses to the Memphis Grizzlies. For a team with no Jamal Murray and a pretty disastrous Michael Porter Jr, the fact they’re sitting at 4-4 is quite impressive and continues to speak volumes about Nikola Jokic’s dominance, as he averages 25 points and 13 rebounds per game. They should be able to handle the Rockets at home, but with Houston gaining confidence in recent games, a good big man in Christian Wood, and some upstart scoring talent in Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green, I think Houston at least covers.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Houston Rockets +10.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
Both of these teams come into this one struggling a bit more than they would like, as the Rockets are predictably 1-7 on the season, and have lost six in a row, while the Denver Nuggets are coming off a road trip to Memphis that saw them lose twice. The difference is that Houston was supposed to be this bad. They’re a young team who’s having to rely on Christian Wood and rookie Jalen Green to lead the way, with Eric Gordon being virtually the lone veteran experience they have on their roster.
As for Denver, coming off of a trip to the Western Conference Finals, the team had high hopes for this season, and currently they’ve been extremely underwhelming. Even with the somewhat disappointing season so far, last year’s league MVP Nikola Jokic has still been playing stellar basketball, and looks like he has his eye on trying to go back-to-back in terms of the MVP award. In this one, even with Denver having lost two straight and looking mediocre in both, that losing streak comes to an end, and they extend Houston’s. The talent differential is just too great, and Denver takes care of business relatively easy at home.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Denver Nuggets -10.5 (-110)
Utah Jazz @ Miami Heat – 7:30pm EDT
The Utah Jazz are in the middle of a three game road trip when they take on the Miami Heat. The Jazz will be looking to build on their three game winning streak, as well as their record, which currently stands at 7-1, and in their previous game they got a big win over the Hawks, 116-98. The Heat are another team that is performing very well to start the season, with their record standing at 6-2, but last time out they were beaten by the Celtics, in a very low scoring affair, 78-95.
Denis Kirilov
The Utah Jazz are one step ahead of the Miami Heat as we are entering into this spectacle on Saturday night. Both teams have similar points difference statistics and similar win-rates with Utah leading by 12.5%. The Heat suffered a hard loss against the Boston Celtics in an away game on Thursday. They scored just 9 points in the 2nd quarter and they finished the game with 78 points. This was their worst performance so far as none of their starting lineup scored more than 50% from the field. Kyle Lowry was 2-9, while Tyler Herro disappointed with 3-11. Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson underperformed as well with 8-18 and 5-17 respectively. Even Bam Adebayo was struggling to go above the 50% mark as he wrapped up the game with 4 successful shots out of 8 attempts.
The Utah Jazz are the best in the League at this moment and they will be looking to continue this trend. They have dropped a single game against the Chicago Bulls, but this fixture was a clumsy one for the Jazz. Mitchell went on for 9-27 from the field, while Bogdanovic and Clarkson weren’t even close to their highest level of play. However, I think that was just a one-time moment and we won’t see such problems in Utah again. I believe that they are the better team than the Heat and they can take this home. It’s going to be one heck of a battle tomorrow and although Donovan Mitchell is uncertain for the game, I am still willing to go with the Utah Jazz.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Utah Jazz (+132)
Michael Lantz
In what looks like this short season’s best game, The Utah Jazz and their 7-1 record travel to South Beach to take on a Miami Heat team that’s been fairly dominant—prior to Thursday night, when they were uncharacteristically flat on offense against the Boston Celtics (the Heat only scored nine points in the 2nd quarter). I wouldn’t depend on that being a trend for the Heat, though it was disconcerting that a Celtics team that’s struggled so far, not only beat the Heat at home, but blew them out.
Miami will have to get back in gear and play a near flawless game with the Utah Jazz coming to town. This Jazz team is led on offense by Donovan Mitchell (who is averaging 25 points per game), on defense by the game’s best defender in Rudy Gobert, and they have dynamic bench scoring thanks to Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson and runner-up Joe Ingles. The Heat have won the big games this year and seem to always love playing with a chip on their shoulder. After this bad loss to the Celtics, expect them to come out firing, even if they don’t have anyone who’s quite as tall as Gobert, they’re not going to have another atrocious offensive game. Also, Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale might not be 100% for the game—the Heat will undoubtedly take advantage of these two starters either being out or a bit off in this one. I’ll take Miami.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (-156)
Noah Dunlap
Go ahead and book this as the best game of the season up to this point. Both of these teams have looked like the class of each of their respective conferences, with Utah looking once again like the best regular season team in basketball. Rudy Gobert is an all-around force, and along with Donovan Mitchell, who continues to look like the best player on the team, and Jordan Clarkson continues to give meaningful minutes in his smaller role.
For Miami, even coming off an embarrassing loss to the Boston Celtics, I like this team as arguably being the favorite in the East at this point. Apart from Thursday’s loss, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have been playing outstanding ball, and Duncan Robinson continues to impress as a perimeter presence. In the end, give me the home team in this one, as I think this is simply a toss up going either way. There’s no way to figure out how the spread plays out, so keep it basic and just take the Heat on the moneyline.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (-156)
Philadelphia 76ers @ Chicago Bulls – 8pm EDT
The Philadelphia 76ers wrap up their two game road trip in Chicago, when they take on the Bulls. The 76ers have a good season record so far, standing at 7-2, and in their previous game they got a solid win against the Pistons, 109-98. The Bulls have also been performing well, with their record standing at 6-2, but their last game was against the 76ers and it was a game they lost, 98-103.
Denis Kirilov
The Philadelphia 76ers have been flying high since the start of the season as they are 1st in the Eastern Conference. They are on a 5-game winning streak, and some of their victims include the Chicago Bulls, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Atlanta Hawks. The game between these two teams was won by the 76ers, who had greater consistency and depth. Although DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine combined for 64 games for the night, this wasn’t enough to stop Philly. The 76ers had a total of five players surpassing the 10-point mark with three of them scoring around 20 points. The Bulls managed to deny Joel Embiid, but they had no answers to Seth Curry and Georges Niang.
On the bright side, the Bulls are also rolling in the East as they are 6-2 in the beginning of their 2021/22 campaign. They brought Jazz’s first loss for the season and fought well in their losses against the 76ers and the Knicks. The team from the “windy city” showed that they should also be considered a contender in potential Playoffs in the spring. If the current roster gets more playing time together, they can be deadly for some of the toughest teams in the League. However, I think that it’s still too early to talk about this, since only time will show how the Chicago Bulls’ team will develop. As for the match, I believe that it will be much easier for Philly to stop their main players than it will be for the Bulls to stop Embiid, and Curry. Hence, I am giving my preferences to Philly in this fixture.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Philadelphia 76ers (+134)
Michael Lantz
A week ago, the 76ers and Bulls matchup would’ve been on par with the Jazz/ Heat matchup for the day’s best game. Unfortunately, the 76ers have fallen to the COVID bug: Tobias Harris is out and now so is top defender Matisse Thybulle; additionally Furkan Korkmaz is questionable to play. These two teams battled on Wednesday with Harris out and it was a great game as the 76ers won a close one, 103-98. Now the Chicago Bulls hope for payback against a short-handed 76ers squad.
the birthday boy went off a bit.
🔥 @TyreseMaxey pic.twitter.com/7nCDmDniOa
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 5, 2021
The Bulls have excelled to a 6-2 record, and were 6-1 prior to their Wednesday loss to Philly. The Bulls should be able to make adjustments on both sides of the ball. With the 76ers being a bit depleted and the Bulls having the extra rest time, I expect them to take this one at home, but don’t count the 76ers out—they’ve handled plenty of adversity this season already and they’ve constantly had guys step up. Still, I’m not sure I’m convinced they’ll be able to cover the +3.5 spread. So I’ll take Bulls straight up.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls (-158)
Noah Dunlap
Both of these teams also look like contenders in the East, with Philadelphia having been a contender for the past couple of years already, while it’s taken some great offseason moves for Chicago to enter the picture. This is going to be their second game against each other in four days, with Philly getting a 5-point win in their first meeting. In that one, the Sixers got great performances from Seth Curry and Georges Niang to lead the way, while Joel Embiid was held in check all night.
For Chicago, Zach Levine and DeMar Derozan led the charge, combining for well over half their team’s 98 points. The rest of the Bulls roster struggled in that one however, which has been uncommon for them so far this season. To me, this one comes down to which duo you think continues the hot play, LeVine/ Derozan or Curry/ Niang. The clear answer seems like it should be LeVine and Derozan, which is why even if Embiid plays better than he did in their first meeting, I still like the team from the Windy City to sneak away with a tight one.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls (-158)
Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks – 8:30pm EDT
The Boston Celtics wrap up their three game road trip in Dallas when they take on the Mavericks. The Celtics have won both their road games so far this trip, and will be looking to make it three from three in Dallas, their season record currently stands at 4-5. The Mavericks will be looking to build momentum off their narrow 109-108 win last time out against the Spurs, and also build on their season record, which currently stands at 5-3.
Denis Kirilov
The season opening for Boston Celtics wasn’t as what was expected from their fans. They went on to lose 5 of their 7 games in the beginning of the season which raised several concerns within the team. They have been achieving anti-records, plenty of which were directly correlated with their 3-point shooting. However, they managed to get back on their feet with 2 straight wins against the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat away from home. There has been a significant improvement in their 3P % as Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Lonzo Ball started racking up points from the 3-point line.
On the other hand, we can see a slightly demotivated Dallas Mavericks’ team who is far away from their top performance. They are 5-3 from the start of the season, but that’s really misleading. They won against teams who are either inexperienced or are struggling with injuries or on a tight and busy schedule. The only team that stands out from their victims is the Sacramento Kings. Whenever the Mavs had to face off against a better opponent, they lost early in the match. The Atlanta Hawks defeated them by 26 points, while the Nuggets and the Heat went on to win their games against Dallas with 31 points and 15 points respectively. This will be my main reason to go with the Boston Celtics in this game. They are entering the match in high spirits after beating the Heat and they are looking for a new victim.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Boston Celtics (+180)
Michael Lantz
The Boston Celtics have to be feeling good, after a blowout win against the lowly Orlando Magic, the Boston Celtics pulled off their best game of the year by beating the then 6-1 Miami Heat, 95-78. Their confidence has to be on a high after two great defensive performances. They’ll look to continue that trend against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
After a cold first game of the year where they only scored 87 points, the Dallas Mavericks have put up over 100 points in every game since. This team has been consistent on offense thanks to Luka Doncic and an unpredictable supporting cast; “unpredictable” is the key word. Even though they’ve been high powered on offense, they still don’t have a stable number two behind Doncic. Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr. are both averaging 15 points per game, but that’s not going to be enough to push this team over the top. Despite this Celtics team having some early struggles, they have a fantastic duo in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, plus some solid role players who can step up and have big games. As they start to hit their stride, I think they overwhelm this Mavericks team in the process
Michael’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics (+180)
Noah Dunlap
After an atrocious start to the year, featuring some unbelievably bad three point shooting, the Boston Celtics have suddenly come alive and started to play good basketball, as they’ve taken the first two games of a three game road trip, including a win over the Miami Heat, and now they’re looking to sweep the road trip. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have finally seemingly found their rhythm as of late, and they’ll try to continue against a struggling Dallas Mavericks team.
Dallas seems to have some serious issues, as currently they appear to be completely unable to beat quality competition. They’re sitting at 5-3 on the year, but all three losses have come against playoff teams, while the majority of their wins have been against below average teams. Luka Doncic, while he is absolutely a top-3 player in the league, if not the best, has struggled so far this year, leading what has started to be a one-man show. He’s getting nowhere near enough help from his supporting cast, and that’s causing this Dallas team to struggle against the better teams in basketball. Until I see evidence of a supporting cast that helps Luka, I simply don’t see how Dallas beats a Boston team that is extremely talented, and seems to be getting things together.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics (+180)
Atlanta Hawks @ Phoenix Suns – 10pm EDT
The Atlanta Hawks start their four game road trip when they take on the Phoenix Suns. The Hawks are looking to put an end to their losing streak, which currently stands at two, and in their last game they lost to the Jazz, 98-116. The Suns, on the other hand, are on a three game winning streak and will be looking to build on their momentum for Saturday’s game. In their last game, they won, 123-111, against the Rockets.
Denis Kirilov
The Phoenix Suns welcome the Atlanta Hawks in the last match for Saturday night in the NBA. Both teams are still trying to find their rhythm. Devin Booker and Trae Young are underperforming at the moment and their team will start to need them at some point. The Suns are slightly better, keeping in mind that they are 4-3, while the Atlanta Hawks are 4-5, with 4 of these losses coming in their last 5 games. The Hawks had to face some of the toughest teams in the League, while Suns had an easier season opening.
Both teams are highly likely to make the playoffs, as the Suns will try to match their performance from last year when they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals. The Hawks also know that they have the potential to contest the title, but with the Eastern Conference getting more and more competitive, this turns out to be a slightly harder task for now. Keeping in mind both teams’ matches up until now, I am willing to give my support to the Hawks, as they know how to play against a not so strong top-tier team. Hence, I will recommend picking the Atlanta Hawks on their spread.
Denis’ NBA Pick: Atlanta Hawks +5 (-114)
Michael Lantz
The Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns were two teams with high expectations that have started off a bit slow. The Suns were last season’s Western Conference champs and the Atlanta Hawks took the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks to six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Luckily the Suns are starting to get, well, hot. Phoenix has won three in a row to advance to 4-3 on the year. While Devin Booker has scored 27 in two of those last three, the team has been getting scoring from players across the board. Only thing is the last three opponents have a combined record of 8-20 (including the now 1-9 Pelicans and 1-7 Rockets). Even though Atlanta is 4-5, they have much more talent than any of their previous matchups.
Mikal all the way to the hoop. 🏃♂️@paypal | #ValleyProud pic.twitter.com/JZTLjG3Qhg
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 5, 2021
The Hawks will undoubtedly get a great scoring performance from Trae Young, but the game will be won inside as Deandre Ayton will battle with Clint Capela down low. Ayton started off a bit slow on the scoring end, averaging just over 10 points per game in his first three games. Luckily, in his last three games, he has upped it to 18 per game. Capela will be one of Ayton’s tougher matchups; him continuing to perform will be the key to their victory, as both these teams have flashy supporting casts. I think he does, but I also think the Hawks keep it close in a game that could potentially turn things around for them. I’ll take them to cover.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Atlanta Hawks +5 (-114)
Noah Dunlap
The team that plays better on the inside wins this one. Both teams have had disappointing starts to the year, with the difference being that Atlanta seems to be struggling right now, as they are currently on a two-game losing streak, while Phoenix may have finally found their footing, having won their last three. Trae Young has been decent, but nowhere close to his ceiling, which is virtually the same that can be said for Devin Booker.
In the end, the supporting cast are going to be the difference maker in this one, as the question becomes: can Clint Capela, John Collins, and company help Trae Young to overcome the Western Conference champions from a year ago. The answer to that, for me, is no. I like DeAndre Ayton to outplay Capela in the paint, with Booker getting help from Chris Paul and Cameron Johnson as needed, leading to a relatively close Suns win at home.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -5 (-106)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
