Our free NBA picks are out for Sunday, March 13th, 2022! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the best five games on today’s schedule!
New York Knicks @ Brooklyn Nets – 1pm ET
We are in for a battle on Sunday afternoon when the New York Knicks face off against the Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks had their three game winning streak snapped last time out, as they went down to the Grizzlies, 114-118. The Nets may have turned a corner, they have won their last two games against the Hornets and 76ers.
Jeffery Thomas
The Brooklyn Nets have to be feeling great after taking out former teammate James Harden by 30 points and holding him to 3-17 shooting on Thursday. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving we’re both looking highly motivated and in playoff mode trying to make a statement that they are the team to beat in the East, despite what the standings look like. Unfortunately since this is a home game there will be no Kyrie Irving for Brooklyn, but with how KD has looked since returning from injury, he can more than pick up the slack in Irving’s absence. It will not be an easy task Sunday afternoon though, against this all of a sudden highly competitive Knicks team that we have seen the past few games.
New York had three straight blowout wins before traveling to Memphis and giving the Grizzlies everything they can handle, losing by only four. A big key to the Knicks surge has been Julius Randle who is averaging over 27 in his last six games and gets another great matchup here against Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Nets have struggled at home all season (for obvious reasons) and they will look to improve upon that against their in-state rivals Sunday. The Knicks may have finally woke up and seen their season dwindling away and realized if they don’t go on a run soon, they’ll miss the postseason all together. I like the fight NYK has been showing lately and I think they will keep this one close throughout against the Kyrie-less Nets, so I like getting the spread here with a highly-motivated Knicks squad.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: New York Knicks +6 (-112)
On f̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶s̶ Saturdays we wear flannies pic.twitter.com/aXucnt6Jcm
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 12, 2022
Noah Dunlap
The Battle of New York takes place Sunday night, as the Knicks take on the Nets at Barclays Center. The Brooklyn Nets have finally started playing better basketball lately, after struggling mightily while Kevin Durant was out of the lineup. They’re a team that was once the top-seed in the East, and then found themselves on the verge of missing the postseason, but if they play how they have over the last two or three games, I think they’ll be fine moving forward.
The New York Knicks on the other side have been a massive disappointment virtually all year, though they are playing better basketball lately. They lost their last game, to the Memphis Grizzlies, but they played well in that one, and before that they had won three straight. Despite their play of late, and even with Kyrie not available for Brooklyn, I’m still going to take KD and the Nets in this one, as I think they’re primed to make a run to close out the regular season.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets -6 (-108)
Dallas Mavericks @ Boston Celtics – 3.30pm ET
The road trip continues on for the Dallas Mavericks, who on Sunday will be on the road when they take on the Boston Celtics. The Mavericks have won six of their last seven games, and their only loss in this time has come against the Knicks in blowout fashion, 77-107. The Celtics are currently riding a five game winning streak, and this takes their overall season record to 41-27.
Jeffery Thomas
This will be game two of a five-game road trip for the Dallas Mavericks who took down the Rockets 113-110 on Friday night in Houston. Luka had his 4th straight 30 point game and added 14 rebounds in the win, the 41st in the season for Dallas. Wins are paramount right now, with the season winding down and the Mavs know they are still 0.5 back of the 4th seed and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Because of that fact, I’ll expect maximum effort and competitiveness in every game here on out and they’ll need a great effort on Sunday to take down this Celtics team in Boston. The Celtics have seemingly forgotten how to lose games, only losing twice since January 29 and are just brimming with confidence. On Friday, they took down the Detroit Pistons in the finale of their season series 114-103.
Jayson Tatum kept his hot streak alive and now has 30+ points in five straight games. Last week when he had a Sunday matinee home game, he dropped 54 points so we’ll see what he does for an encore. The Boston Celtics aren’t the sexiest team in the league so they aren’t getting a lot of headlines, but they sure are playing like one of the best teams in the league. Luka is great and will likely have another huge game, but there’s no reason for us to stop backing these Celtics. They can hone in on Luka defensively and make his teammates have to beat them (which they won’t), and if the Mavs try to hone in on Tatum then they have Jaylen Brown who can go off for 40 or 50 points, which he’s done this year. I love the Celtics at home here to cover and keep the hot streak going.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics -5.5 (-110)
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 12, 2022
Noah Dunlap
This is another game that is sure to be exciting, as the Dallas Mavericks, winners of six of their last seven, travel northeast to Boston, to take on the Celtics, who have arguably been the hottest team in the league for the last month and a half or so. The C’s struggled early in the year, but have since turned out in a major way, playing much better defense, and seeing better shooting from virtually everyone on the roster, and that has led them to become a team that a lot of people are looking at as a real contender in the East.
They get a Dallas team that has been nearly as hot in this one, but it’s a team that is simply too reliant on the play of Luka Doncic. When Luka is on his game (which is very often) they’re extremely difficult to beat, but if his level ever slips, then so do the Mavs. I think that proves to be problematic as we start getting closer to the postseason, and that starts here, as I think Boston slows down Luka, and manages to continue the hot streak, with this one in Boston. The Celtics get the win, and I actually think this one comes with ease.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics -5.5 (-110)
Philadelphia 76ers @ Orlando Magic – 6pm ET
The Philadelphia 76ers are on the road for just one game when they travel to Orlando to take on the Magic. The 76ers have won five of their last seven, but have dropped two of their last three, and last time out they were defeated by the Nets, 100-129. The Magic are on a two game winning streak, which includes wins over the Pelicans and Timberwolves.
Jeffery Thomas
The Sixers will be licking their wounds after suffering their first loss in a game that James Harden has played since trading for him. What makes it worse is that the loss came to the team that they traded with, so now they will have to just take their humble pie and try and rebound. The good news is they get a very beatable opponent to try and rebound against in the Orlando Magic who are tied with the Rockets for most losses in the entire league entering Saturday’s action.
The Magic are coming into this one winners of two straight though and a young team at home with a little bit of confidence could be dangerous so the Sixers can not take them lightly. Joel Embiid and James Harden were the deadliest duo for the first few games of the Harden era and one bad game shouldn’t make us forget that. In this matchup against a terrible defensive Orlando team, I expect Embiid to get whatever he wants and for Harden to carve them up for 10+ assists and maybe even a triple double. This has blowout written all over it as Orlando is miles behind this Philly team in every aspect of the game.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Philadelphia 76ers -13 (-110)
final.
🪙@Cryptocom pic.twitter.com/0gwHURV7r7
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 11, 2022
Noah Dunlap
This one is going to get ugly, despite being in Orlando. The Magic are one of the worst teams in basketball, as they simply don’t have enough talent to compete against most teams in the league, and it won’t get easier in this one, as they’re taking on a Philadelphia team that has shown to be one of the best in the East.
The other key with this matchup is the fact that the referees love the whistle when it comes to Philly and Joel Embiid. In fact, 7% of all of the Sixers points this season have come from Embiid at the free throw line. Whether that’s bad officiating, or the fact that Embiid is extremely good at drawing fouls, this is a number that is going to be similar to what we get in this matchup, as they take on a team that is simply awful, so give me Philly in a big way, as they take care of business on the road with ease.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Philadelphia 76ers -13 (-110)
Memphis Grizzlies @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 7pm ET
The Memphis Grizzlies are on the road to end the week, and tonight they are at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder. The Grizzlies will be looking to build on their modest two game winning streak they are currently on, which has taken their overall season record to 46-22. The Thunder, on the other hand, will be hoping this game will put an end to their current four game losing streak, as they have losses to the Timberwolves (twice), Jazz and Bucks.
Jeffery Thomas
The Memphis Grizzlies will start up a four-game road trip on Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team they have split the first two games against. If you go back to the first meeting FG though, it was a historic one and the game didn’t even feature their best player Ja Morant. It was Thursday, December 2 in Memphis when the Grizzlies beat OKC by a score of 152-79, setting an NBA record for the largest margin of victory ever. John Konchar’s dunk to give Memphis 145 points set the franchise mark for most points in a game and 9 players had double digits in the game, led by Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 27.
The two teams met a little over 2 weeks later and the Thunder were able to avenge the loss 102-99 so it’ll be very interesting to see how this one plays out, but I have a good idea how it will go. The Grizzlies are the 2 seed in the West heading into Saturday’s games and there’s a possibility the Warriors can overtake them so they will not take these very winnable games against easy opponents for granted. I see them coming out hot early and getting a big lead that they will maintain throughout and get their starters resting in the 4th. It won’t be another 73 point win but they will do more than enough to cover this double-digit spread.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Memphis Grizzlies -13 (-110)
gang on road. pic.twitter.com/Z5toZPQO8H
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) March 13, 2022
Noah Dunlap
These are two teams that have had a roller coaster of a season series so far this year, with the Memphis Grizzlies putting together a historic performance in the first meeting, one they won by 73, the largest margin of victory in NBA history. Then, the Oklahoma City Thunder came out and shocked them weeks later, as they snuck away with a win over that same Grizz squad.
The difference is that the Grizzlies have consistently been one of the best teams in the NBA all year, they’re currently second record wise, while the Thunder have been one of the worst in the league. With Ja Morant being an MVP candidate, and the Grizz continuing the hot run they’ve been on for virtually the whole year, I think it would be silly to assume that the Thunder, even being at home, get the win here. Memphis invades OKC, and leaves with a massive win.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Memphis Grizzlies -13 (-110)
Los Angeles Lakers @ Phoenix Suns – 9pm ET
The last game for the week will see the Los Angeles Lakers travel to Phoenix and face off against the Suns. The Lakers have lost six of their last eight games, but last time out they did get the win over the Wizards, 122-109. The Suns have won four of their last six games, and this takes their overall season record to 53-14, and they are the first team that has officially booked their spot in the playoffs.
Jeffery Thomas
The Lakers will look to build on their 122-109 win over the Wizards on Friday when they take on the Suns in Phoenix. In the win over Washington, LeBron dropped 50 points for the second time in 6 days and at 37, became the oldest Laker to have multiple 50-point games in a season. He also became the first Laker since Kobe Bryant to have 50 points in back to back home games so he is just on a crazy tear right now, even at his advanced age. Los Angeles will need more of that from the King, but this will not be an easy task nor will it be a home game.
The Suns are the top team in the league record-wise and already own a 2-0 record over the Lakers this year. Phoenix should come into this game angry after a 112-117 loss to Toronto on Friday. The Suns have 14 losses on the season and only twice have they followed up a loss in the previous game with another loss. They are a resilient team that knows how to bounce back after rough performances and given how they’ve owned this Lakers team all season, I don’t see how they won’t continue on Sunday at home.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -8.5 (-110)
First Laker in 14 years with multiple 50-point games in a season 👑 pic.twitter.com/b4SP9p2lqP
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 13, 2022
Noah Dunlap
Unless you’re under the assumption that LeBron is going to throw another 50-piece together, I think Phoenix has to be the play in this one. The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the most disappointing teams in basketball this entire year, and the only success they’ve managed to find has been when they’ve watched the King put together magnificent performances, much like he did in their last outing, where he threw in 50 in a much needed win over the Washington Wizards. They’re fighting to even make the play-in tournament, and they’re going to need similar performances from LeBron to get there.
The problem is that they take on the best team in basketball in this one, the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have been electric all year long, as they try to run away with the league’s best record, even though they have struggled just a touch lately. A lot of that has been due to the fact that they have had a depleted backcourt, with Chris Paul and Devin Booker being out for much of it. They’ve since gotten Booker back, but they’re still without CP3, which while that would normally affect how I view this matchup, I think this is a situation that as long as Phoenix slows down LeBron, they win with relative ease. I think they do exactly that, so give me Phoenix in this one at home, in relatively easy fashion.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns -8.5 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
