Our free NBA picks are out for Thursday, February 17th, 2022! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the five games on today’s schedule!
Miami Heat @ Charlotte Hornets – 7pm ET
Two Southeast Division rivals will go toe-to-toe in the first game in the NBA for Thursday night. The Miami Heat had their five game winning streak snapped last time out, thanks to the Mavericks, 99-107. The Charlotte Hornets have lost their last two games in a row, and this takes their season record to 29-30.
Michael Lantz
Right as the Miami Heat started to look like the Eastern Conference’s elite team, they fell to the Dallas Mavericks at home on Tuesday 99-107. It was their first loss after a five-game win streak as they fell victim to a Mavericks defense that’s become one of the game’s best. They’ll try to regroup on Thursday as they’ll face one of the league’s best offenses in the Charlotte Hornets.
Charlotte has some exciting young talent in LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, who’ve really progressed as offensive stars this season. Unfortunately, the team’s defense has become a massive liability as they’ve lost eight of their last nine, dropping them to the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference. They’ll try to get back on track against a very good Heat team, but so far they’ve struggled when playing their South Beach foes this season. The Hornets have lost both matchups by double digits and they now face a Heat team that’s fully healthy and looking to avenge a disappointing loss the other night. Look for the Heat to cover in this one and continue the Hornets miserable run.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat -4 (-110)
OFFICIAL: The Miami HEAT have signed guard Javonte Smart to a two-way contract.
More info on Smart – https://t.co/3Z6Pv1KcAy pic.twitter.com/c1FpfyjWrN
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 16, 2022
Noah Dunlap
The Miami Heat are currently sitting as the best team in a wide open Eastern Conference, seeing as I don’t see a truly dominant team that has emerged. The Heat saw a five-game winning streak come to an end in their last game, a matchup that they slipped up to a good Dallas Mavericks team. If they can ever get everyone healthy, I like this Miami team to come out of the East, though that is dependent on them getting everyone back healthy in time to make that playoff run.
The Charlotte Hornets, on the other hand, are trying to sneak into getting a low playoff seed in that same Eastern Conference. Offensively they’re one of the better teams in the league, led by young star LaMelo Ball, but the defense has been absolutely atrocious. I do think this is a playoff team, as they’re sitting at 29-30, but until that defense gets better, I can’t see them being a real contender. Give me Miami to go on the road in this one and pick up a reasonably tight win.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat -4 (-110)
Washington Wizards @ Brooklyn Nets – 7.30pm ET
The Washington Wizards wrap up their short two game road trip in Brooklyn when they take on the Nets. The Wizards are playing on back-to-back nights, and they lost, 108-113, to the Pacers, which takes their season record to 26-31. The Nets are also on the second night of their back-to-back, but last time out they got the win, 111-106, over the Knicks.
Michael Lantz
No KD, no Kyrie, no Simmons—no worries. The Brooklyn Nets beat their in-city rivals, the New York Knicks last night, coming back from being down 28 points. They were led by rookie Cam Thomas and new addition Seth Curry who scored 21 and 20 points respectively. This Nets team is looking like they’re finally having fun after shipping James Harden off to Philadelphia. Add in their three All-Stars, and this team once again becomes a favorite to come out of the East. They’ll be without their All-Stars again tonight, but luckily they’ll have another chance to win as they face a Washington Wizards team that’s fallen apart in recent weeks.
The Wizards sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, but even after recently losing Bradley Beal to injury and trading the likes of Montrezl Harrell and Spencer Dinwiddie, they’ve found a way to win two of their last four. Kyle Kuzma and Kantavious Caldwell-Pope have both been putting up good numbers over the last week and they’ll look to keep it going against this hobbled, yet confident Nets squad. While the Wizards beat the Nets the other night, this was before the arrival of Curry and Andre Drummond from Philadelphia. The team seems to be thriving and playing more cohesive basketball. I’ll pick them to avenge their loss to the Wizards last week.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets (-148)
Let the good vibes roll!
Goodnight, #NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/Mn8iyaKW3x
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) February 17, 2022
Noah Dunlap
The free fall of the Washington Wizards has slowed down just a bit lately, but that doesn’t mean they’re playing good basketball by any means. After they started the year looking like the best team in the East, they completely fell apart for well over a month, but since then have just virtually been treading water. While they’re currently on the outside looking in, in terms of the postseason, the crazy thing is that all it takes is one good run from this team to slide right back into the conversation.
Now they take on a Brooklyn Nets team that, after a horrendous 11-game losing streak, has since run off two straight wins, including a come-from-behind victory over the Knicks, in a game that they trailed by as many as 24. Even with James Harden now on to Philadelphia, and Kevin Durant still trying to recover from injury, this new look Nets team has shown potential to get better, and look like a team that could be a real contender in the East, especially when Durant returns. Give me Brooklyn to push their winning streak to three in this one, as I like them to get a relatively easy win at home over Washington.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets -3 (-110)
Dallas Mavericks @ New Orleans Pelicans – 8pm ET
The road trip continues on for the Dallas Mavericks, who will play the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night. The Mavericks have won five of their last six games, including a win last time out against the Heat, 107-99. The Pelicans have lost three of their last four games, and this takes their season record to 23-35.
Michael Lantz
The Dallas Mavericks nabbed a huge win the other night, as they beat the Eastern Conference one seed Miami Heat, 107-99. The Mavs have become one of the league’s premier defenses and with Luka Doncic’s MVP worthy performances night in and night out, they’re set to make a run in the competitive Western Conference. They’ll have a solid test on Thursday as they face a New Orleans Pelicans team that’s looking to work their way into the play-in game.
The Pelicans got a big lift just before last week’s trade deadline as they acquired CJ McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers and they look to make a postseason run. McCollum showed how essential he can be in Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies as he scored 30 points. Unfortunately the Pels lost by double digits and it was their third loss in four games. They’ll need to be more consistent if they want to get into the playoffs; they currently sit in 11th behind a Portland Trail Blazers team that’s still playing with a lot of heart and a Los Angeles Lakers squad with LeBron James at the helm. This should end up being a close one as the Pelicans have a lot of different guys that can score. But, I’ll go with defense over offense and pick the Mavs to come out on top.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Dallas Mavericks -2.5 (-110)
.@CJMcCollum through 4 games:
26.0 PTS | 7.0 REB | 5.5 AST 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oeZHoCi3J4
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 16, 2022
Noah Dunlap
After a bit of a slow start to the season, due in part to the fact that Luka Doncic certainly wasn’t playing his best basketball, the Dallas Mavericks have seemed to get things back on the right track over the last month or so. Luka is now playing truly phenomenal basketball, the defense has improved, and the help that he’s getting nightly has certainly gotten a lot better as well. This was put on display in their win Tuesday night, as they knocked off the East-leading Miami Heat in a tight one. If Luka keeps up this level of play, and he can continue to get productive minutes from his help, this is a Dallas team to keep your eye on as we reach the postseason.
As for New Orleans, they’re a decent team, but I wouldn’t even really classify them as good. They’re trying to hang on to a really low playoff seed in the West, but they’re certainly going to have to work to even keep hold of that, which they haven’t done a good job of as of late, as they’ve dropped three of four. They did make a move at the trade deadline to bring in CJ McCollum, which I think is going to help, but I’m still not sold on them being a team that’s really even that close to being a contender. I think this is a game that gives Luka a really good chance to continue his phenomenal play, so give me Luka and the Mavs to travel over to NOLA and get the win.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Dallas Mavericks -2.5 (-110)
Philadelphia 76ers @ Milwaukee Bucks – 8.30pm ET
The Philadelphia 76ers kick off a three game road trip on Thursday night when they travel to Milwaukee and take on the Bucks, who themselves are in the middle of a six game homestand. The 76ers suffered a pretty humiliating loss in front of their home crowd last time out, as they went down to the Celtics, 87-135. The Bucks put an end to their losing streak last time out, as they got the win over the Pacers.
Michael Lantz
In this potential Eastern Conference playoff showdown, the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Milwaukee Bucks in a battle of the Eastern Conference’s 5th and 3rd seeds respectively. Only issue: no James Harden for the Sixers. That didn’t seem to bother the Sixers on Saturday as they still beat the playoff bound Cleveland Cavaliers by ten. But on Tuesday, they were utterly destroyed by their rivals the Boston Celtics, who won 87-135. No Harden was obviously a factor, but the team proved that aside from Joel Embiid, they can be terribly unreliable. Even with Harden remaining out, they’ll hope for a better result against this Bucks team.
That won’t be easy: the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing like both the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year as he dropped 50 points in Tuesday’s 128-119 win over the Indiana Pacers. His matchup against Embiid should be a heavyweight battle for the ages. If Philly was at full strength, this one would probably go in a different direction, but with the Bucks’ big three (Giannis, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday) all playing, I expect it to be another long evening for the Sixers.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -6.5 (-112)
50s, 40s, 30s, all those things. Accolades are going to come.
But at the end of the day, all I care about is that we’re able to get a win. pic.twitter.com/lT4wf79WVi
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 17, 2022
Noah Dunlap
I’m still at a loss as to what to make of this Milwaukee Bucks team. They’re the defending champions, and they’ve brought back much of the same roster, including Giannis, but quite clearly something is missing. Now they’re still one of the best teams in the East, but for much of the year something has just seemed a touch off for them, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better, which is why they’re losing more games against mediocre competition than most people would expect them to. I think part of that is the fact that guys like Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday haven’t been quite as effective as we’ve grown accustomed to, and the other part is the fact that I think they’re saving more energy for the postseason. While it’s been a bit of rough sledding so far, if you’re a Bucks fan, I wouldn’t be freaking out quite yet.
Philadelphia comes into this one as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, or at least they were, before the trade deadline. At the deadline they managed to acquire James Harden, but the price of that move ended up being quite a few of the role players that helped your team get this far. They do still have Joel Embiid, who is currently the favorite to win MVP, and when Harden returns from hamstring soreness, I’m curious to see how well those two play together, but right now, especially with Harden out, and having traded away multiple role players, I think they’re way too reliant on Embiid to led the way. Give me Milwaukee to get a big time win at home in this one.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -6.5 (-112)
Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Clippers – 10.30pm ET
For the final game before the All-Star break, we will see the Houston Rockets take on the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets are playing on back-to-back nights, and last time out they lost to the Suns 121-124. The Clippers suffered a tough loss against the Suns last time out, in a game where they were in it to the end, losing 96-103.
Michael Lantz
Despite a valiant effort, the Houston Rockets fell to the NBA’s best team, the Phoenix Suns, last night 121-124. Chris Paul’s ejection for the Suns definitely helped the Rockets keep it close, but the team inevitably lost their fifth straight game, keeping them in the cellar of the Western Conference. Still, they once again got a couple of solid performances from their up-and-coming talent as Jae’Sean Tate and Jalen Green scored 22 and 17 points respectively. The team also had some injuries of their own, as Christian Wood and Kevin Porter both missed this game with an illness. This Rockets team will look to carry this performance over to tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers last game was also a loss against the Phoenix Suns, as the team fell 96-103 on Tuesday, but that came just 24 hours after they beat the Golden State Warriors 119-104. That’s pretty much as hard as it gets in a 24-hour span, so props to this Clippers team for keeping it close against Phoenix, as they remain the eight-seed in the Western Conference. Despite the constant injuries that hit their squad, the Clippers have continued to power on, and they won’t look to slow down against a Rockets team that’s arguably the league’s worst team. I’ll pick them to take advantage of their rest and take down a Rockets team that played to the wire 24 hours before.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Los Angeles Clippers -9.5 (-110)
Gearin’ up for game day. pic.twitter.com/vNlQtGNpsP
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 17, 2022
Noah Dunlap
Despite the fact that the Houston Rockets are beginning to play a little better, and starting to show what they can potentially be when some of their young talent gains more experience, I think this is a matchup that everything just kind of lines up against them. They may potentially be without two of their young stars, who missed last night’s game due to an illness, and they just had to take on the league’s best team, the Phoenix Suns, last night on the road, in a game that they only lost by three. To me, I could see this being one of those games that they come out tired and flat, as it’s the second night of a back-to-back, and you could be without multiple starters.
Meanwhile, despite injuries piling up everywhere for this Los Angeles Clippers squad, they just continue to roll along. They’ve been without Kawhi Leonard for the entire year, Paul George for much of it, and now newly acquired Norman Powell is out with a fractured foot, as well. Despite all of this, the Clips are sitting as a playoff team in a very competitive Western Conference, which has to give Clippers fans hope moving forward, especially if they can get everyone back. But even with the injury issues, I’m going to take them to get the win in this one, as I think Houston is simply going to be too tired to come out on the road again, this time in Los Angeles, and actually get a win.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Los Angeles Clippers (-450)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
