The NBA has just three games on the schedule tonight and they have some of the league’s best teams in action! Our free NBA picks have made nine selections across all three games for you.
The early game sees the Lakers head to Milwaukee to put their undefeated road record against the line against the Bucks. Both sides are coming off losses so who out of LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will be able to will their team over the line?
Find out the answer to that and see our free NBA picks below!
Los Angeles Lakers @ Milwaukee Bucks – 7:30PM ET
LeBron James v Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This game has so much feeling and although the pair will always say that it is just the Lakers v the Bucks, everyone knows there is so much more to it. James sees himself as the best player in the league over the last 10+ years while Giannis has won back to back MVPs and he wants to see himself on the top of the list of current NBA players. We are expecting the stars to come out and shine in this one, with both coming off losses in marquee nationally televised games.
When these sides met in Milwaukee last season, Giannis balled out and hit a career high five three pointers helping seal the game and seemed to place an imaginary crown on top of his head, referencing James’ nickname – ‘King’. The Bucks’ leader is having somewhat of a down year so far but is still averaging over 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.
To make it better, he has hit two triples in each of his last four games. In Monday’s loss to the Nets, Giannis had 34, 12, seven and two steals while Khris Middleton had 25 points, four boards, four assists and four steals of his own.
Anthony Davis and the Lakers are laser-focused for their next game against the Bucks 😤 pic.twitter.com/cAc9Du7mxE
— LakeShow (@LakeShowCP) January 20, 2021
There is a secondary story to this game, with former Pelicans Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis going head to head. The pair were teammates for six years but now see themselves on two of the top title contenders and thriving.
Holiday had 22 points and six assists in that loss to Brooklyn while Davis had a big game with 17 points, 17 boards, 7 assists, two steals and three blocks, but it wasn’t enough to help the Lakers hold off the Warriors.
Dennis Schroder led the way for LA with 25 points while James had an off night with just 19, 5 and 5. The worrying aspect for the Lakers is that they were up by 19 points at one stage but were outscored 34-21 in the last quarter and couldn’t keep their lead.
This is such an interesting clash as we will likely see Holiday v Schroder, Middleton v James and Giannis v Davis for most of the game, and this one will come down how well the supporting cast will play.
Can Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis play well enough in their center rotation minutes? Can KCP, Wes Matthews and Kyle Kuzma knock down shots to open up the lanes for their main distributors?
The Lakers are 7-0 on the road so far this season while the Bucks are 6-1 at home and both sides have a perfect record following a loss. Giannis plays with a chip on his shoulder that always gives his team the best shot at winning games while James has a tendency to coast through games during the regular season. We are siding with Milwaukee here, but we are more excited to watch some of the best in the business go to work.
NBA Pick – Milwaukee Bucks (-120)
NBA Spread – Milwaukee Bucks -1.5 (-110)
Game Totals Pick – Over 228 (-110)
New Orleans Pelicans @ Utah Jazz – 10PM ET
A rematch of Tuesday night that saw the Pelicans put up a dismal effort, going down by 16 points in Utah. This one was over well before the final siren as the Jazz used a 36-20 third quarter to lead by 22 points at the final break.
Donovan Mitchell paced the Jazz with 28 points while Rudy Gobert dominated downlow with 13 points, 18 boards and three blocks. What is even more encouraging for Utah is that they had three players score in double figures off the bench, including Jordan Clarkson, current favorite for Sixth Man of the Year, who had 18, six and six.
A couple of interesting stats for Utah is that they are the only team to use the same starting five in all of their games so far this season, and they also have the sixth best defensive rating while shooting from deep at the third best rate.
Astonishing for this team that always seems to be there abouts in the stacked Western Conference has them sitting tied for second in the West standings with the equal second best record in the league.
Despite the big loss, Zion Williamson still managed to put up 32 points and five rebounds, but he had little to no help from the rest of the team. Brandon Ingram had a down game with just 17 points but no other Pelicans player scored in double figures.
Utah had 11 more assists and 16 more rebounds in the matchup, hit 15 more triples in the game and we see no reason why they can’t do it again. Utah should get another comfortable win at home here.
NBA Pick – Utah Jazz (-260)
NBA Spread – Utah Jazz -6.5 (-110)
Game Totals Pick – Under 217.5 (-110)
New York Knicks @ Golden State Warriors – 10PM ET
The New York Knicks have won two straight games against playoff teams from last season but now head across the country to take on the Warriors who never looked like losing last night against the Spurs.
The Warriors won the first quarter by 12 points and never looked back from there, ending up winning by 22! Andrew Wiggins was a game time decision for the clash and it had us leaning towards San Antonio but he ended up playing and playing well.
He had 18 points and seven assists while James Wiseman stepped up after an off game with 20 points and six boards but Steph Curry was the lead man and did a bit of everything for the Warriors. He ended up with 26 points, 11 boards and seven assists to lead the team in all three categories.
Add one to the win column. pic.twitter.com/HyOJxbkPbl
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 21, 2021
Given they are on the second night of a back to back, there is always some caution with players resting or just not being able to run out the full game, but Golden State should be able to overcome an inconsistent New York side.
New York followed up their 30 point dominating victory over the Celtics with a seven point win against Orlando in a low scoring affair on Monday. RJ Barrett had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Julius Randle contributed 21 points and 17 boards in the win, with the pair emerging as the team’s leaders.
An interesting stat for New York, and one that you wouldn’t usually associate with the Knicks, but they are the best defensive team in the league. Under Tom Thibodeau’s leadership and hard nosed style, they rank first in opponent points per game, opponent field goal percentage and opponent three point percentage.
They will need all of that against Curry and the Warriors, and we are expecting a very close contest. Either Oubre or Wiggins will be tasked with slowing down Barrett while Draymond Green’s defense will be used against Randle.
With the Warriors playing how they are at the moment, we are riding with them to get their third straight.
NBA Pick – Golden State Warriors (-256)
NBA Spread – Golden State Warriors -5.5 (-110)
Game Totals Pick – Under 215.5 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of Bet365.
