Our free NBA picks are out for Tuesday, February 8th, 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!
Phoenix Suns @ Philadelphia 76ers – 7pm ET
The Phoenix Suns wrap up their four game road trip on Tuesday night in the NBA when they face off against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Suns are playing on back-to-back nights, as they played the Bulls on Monday and won, 127-124. The 76ers managed to put an end to their two game losing streak with a win over the Bulls last time out, 119-108.
Jeffery Thomas
The Phoenix Suns just continue to roll through the league, this time it was a 127-124 win over the Bulls on the road. Devin Booker poured in 38 points to lead the Suns, who at one point had a 27 point lead in the second half. Demar Derozan also had 38 for the Bulls in the losing effort. Interestingly enough, the Sixers also are coming off a win over those same Bulls, theirs coming in a matinee game on Sunday. In that one, Joel Embiid added to his MVP case with a 40 point performance, also adding 10 rebounds in the 119-108 win. Despite everything they have gone through with the Ben Simmons situation, Philadelphia sits at 5th in the Eastern Conference, only 2 games back of the 1st place Heat and a lot of that is thanks to the aforementioned Joel Embiid.
It’s interesting to see the best team in the league come in as underdogs but I’m sure them being on the back to back in a tough travel spot is the reason for that. However, this is a team with a nice mix of veterans and young guys who will still have enough juice in their legs to be able to perform in these situations. In fact, the Suns are 5-2 on the second leg of back to backs this year. I think having McGee and Ayton to throw at Embiid is going to cause more problems than most teams can cause (he’s unstoppable so you can just hope to contain him), and they also have the athletic wings, in Mikal and Cam Johnson, to get out on their perimeter shooters if he chooses to kick it out. Give me Phoenix and the spread.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns +2 (-110)
Michael Lantz
The Phoenix Suns continued to prove they are the NBA’s best team after they outlasted the Chicago Bulls 127-124 last night, despite Chicago nearly coming back with a 25-41 fourth quarter. They’ll hope that their fourth quarter performance doesn’t carry over to tonight’s game as they face one of the NBA’s hottest teams, the Philadelphia 76ers. Like Phoenix, Philly’s last win was also against the Bulls, as they beat Chicago 119-108 thanks to Joel Embiid’s 40-point performance. While the 76ers are still in fifth in the Eastern Conference, they’re only two games out of the one-seed.
this is not a green screen!
🪙@Cryptocom pic.twitter.com/XR0q5qAWbl
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 7, 2022
As they continue to stay healthy, they’ll look to match their dominant play from last season, which earned them a one seed. Not only is Joel Embiid having a top career year, but the team has been pleasantly surprised by the emergence of Tyrese Maxey, who has taken over for Ben Simmons. This game should be fun to watch, as it could be a potential Finals matchup. That being said, Philly plays quite well at home, and after the Suns got themselves into a bit of a stressful fourth quarter last night, I’ll look to the Sixers to prevail in this one.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Philadelphia 76ers (-130)
Noah Dunlap
There just doesn’t appear to be any stopping this Phoenix Suns team. They’re far and away the best team in the league, and they just continue to roll right along. They had run off 11-straight wins, before slipping up on the road in Atlanta, but since then they’ve won two straight, and now they look to make that three, as they take on one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia, similarly, is playing really good basketball, as of late, following a brief rough stretch that was due in large part to some injury, and COVID, issues. They have an MVP candidate in Joel Embiid on the roster, and while he’s been phenomenal virtually all year long, I am somewhat concerned that this Sixers team is too reliant on him. That reliance leads me to trust Phoenix just a touch more in this one, despite the fact that this is the second night of a back-to-back for this Suns team. Give me the Suns by a nose in this one, in a game that I think could easily come down to the wire.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns (+110)
Boston Celtics @ Brooklyn Nets – 7.30pm ET
Always an interesting matchup when we see the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets, both from the Atlantic Division, face off against each other. The Celtics are really making a move, winning five games in a row, and seven of their last eight, which takes their season record to 30-25. The Nets’ free fall continues on, they are now on a eight game losing streak, and last time out they lost to the Nuggets, 104-124.
Jeffery Thomas
It’s been tough sledding for the Nets who are currently on an 8 game losing streak dating back to January 23 and are 2-9 since KD went down with his sprained MCL. They’ve also been surrounded by drama and rumors regarding James Harden and a possible trade ahead of the trade deadline, rumors that head coach Steve Nash put to bed before their Sunday loss to Denver. They’ll hope to get James back in this one, who hasn’t played, due to hamstring tightness, since his 2-11 shooting performance February 2nd against Sacramento. Also, with this being a home game, they’ll be without Kyrie Irving who can only play road games due to New York City’s COVID vaccine mandate. The Celtics will travel to Brooklyn winners of five straight and seven of their last eight. Five of those seven wins in that span were by double digits, including their last game which was a 116-83 drubbing of the Orlando Magic.
One thing you can notice when watching them is their commitment to defense and it showed in their last two games, holding those opponents to 35% and 32% shooting. The Celtics dropped the opening matchup between these teams back on November 24, 123-104. In that game both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown struggled, combining for 9-31 (29%) shooting. Fast forward to now, with both teams tied in the standings, this will be a great spot to get revenge for Boston. They will look to take advantage of a short-handed Nets team, and this game could also have meaning later down the line, with tiebreakers, if they stay close and end up tied in the standings. Even if James Harden comes back for this one, I think the Celtics are in too much of a groove right now to go against and I think they’ll take this one on the road.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics (-240)
Michael Lantz
After a disappointing start to the season, the Boston Celtics have found themselves on a five-game win streak. In those five wins, they’ve played impactful defense and have been led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum on the scoring front. They’ve also seen solid production from veterans Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Marcus Smart. Now they’ll look to down one of their newer rivals, the Brooklyn Nets, in order to win their sixth straight and send Brooklyn out of Barclays Center with their ninth loss in a row.
Unfortunately for the Nets, that might be in the cards. Considering this game is in Brooklyn, the team will be without Kyrie Irving, along with Kevin Durant, LaMar us Aldridge and Joe Harris, who are all recovering from injuries. No Durant for the last couple of weeks, and intermittent playing of both Irving and James Harden are the big reasons for Brooklyn’s skid. Still, aside from the injuries, the team has just looked a bit out of it. They’ll hope their home court can provide them a little energy after a big road trip. But it might be tough, as Boston is playing their best basketball right now on both sides. I’ll pick the C’s to take care of business down the coast in Brooklyn.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics -5.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
At this point, is there a way to pick the Nets to win again until Kevin Durant returns? They’ve lost eight straight, and show no signs of getting any better, at least not until their undisputed leader, KD, manages to get back from injury. They do have James Harden and Kyrie Irving available, after Harden has missed a bit of time as well, but up to this point, those two haven’t been able to get anything going in terms of leading this squad, who have fallen from the two seed in the East down to the seven spot in the span of about two and a half weeks.
Things won’t get any easier for Brooklyn in this one, as they take on a Boston Celtics team that is starting to look more like what we thought we were going to see at the beginning of the season. They’re playing better defense, which has been the most notable difference as of late, as they’ve won five straight, and seven of eight, but the other key difference is their shooting throughout this stretch. Early in the year they couldn’t shoot consistently from anywhere on the floor, but now that they’re shooting the ball better, as well as playing better defense. This is a Boston team to keep your eyes on as we wind down towards the end of the season. As for this matchup, I like this hot Celtics team to go on the road and pick up another win, their sixth in a row, against a struggling Brooklyn team.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Boston Celtics (-240)
Los Angeles Clippers @ Memphis Grizzlies – 8pm ET
The Los Angeles Clippers kick off their three game road trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. The Clippers haven’t been able to string together consecutive wins or losses in their last five games, and this takes their season record to 27-28. The Grizzlies have won five of their last six, with their only loss in this period coming in overtime to the 76ers.
Jeffery Thomas
The Grizzlies got a couple days off after beating the Orlando Magic 135-115 Saturday afternoon. It was another spectacular game for MVP candidate Ja Morant, who dropped 33 points, making it 30+ points in eight of his last nine outings. Memphis is 18-4 since December 26 and scored at least 104 in all but two games in that stretch. The Clippers are coming off a 113-137 loss Sunday night to the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. During that same span, from December 26, they are 10-13 but are hoping to turn things around after making a pretty nice move ahead of the trade deadline. They brought in Norman Powell and Robert Covington from the Trail Blazers who dropped 28 and 13 respectively, combining for seven 3 pointers.
Norman’s 28 actually led the team off the bench and he is the exact scoring pop they will need off the bench, as he is averaging just under 19 points a game. Memphis is going for a season sweep of the Clippers with a 120-114 victory way back on October 23 and then a 120-108 victory at home November 18. They have been emphasizing fast starts, and in their last 6 victories they have won the first quarter, and done so by a margin of 9.2 points. I think in this game it’ll be more of the same, with the crowd on their side giving them that boost to start this game hot and my pick is for them to win another first quarter against a reeling Clippers team who is missing their stars.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: To Win First Quarter – Memphis Grizzlies (-130)
Michael Lantz
The Los Angeles Clippers we’re thrilled to see new acquisition Norman Powell explode for 28 points in his team debut on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more to be thrilled about as the Clippers took a whopping at home, losing to the Bucks 113-137. Still, the Clippers have been resilient this season; they haven’t let injuries to All-Stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard get them down. They currently sit in the eight seed in the hyper-competitive Western Conference and are hoping to stay there after acquiring another scorer in Powell last week. They’ll try to bounce back after a ugly performance against the Bucks against an equally difficult opponent: the Memphis Grizzlies.
You know his name 🦄🚫 pic.twitter.com/ZQ7LsjObE1
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) February 8, 2022
This impressive Grizzlies team continues to soar, as they sit at 37-18 which has them at third in the Western Conference. This young team is already ahead of where many thought they’d be in 2022, as Ja Morant has been an MVP candidate, while players like Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. have taken big jumps in their play. After a couple of nights off, the Grizzlies will look to knock off another Western Conference team in the Clippers. While the Clippers have a team full of guys ready to step up any night, I like this Grizzlies team, who beat them by 15 in Los Angeles a month ago, to have a similar performance Tuesday night.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Memphis Grizzlies -7.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
This Memphis Grizzlies team has surprisingly been one of the best teams in the NBA to this point, led in huge part by Ja Morant, and the defensive abilities of Jaren Jackson Jr. They’ve won five of six, which has pushed their record to 37-18 on the year, good enough for solid control of the three seed out West. They now host a Los Angeles Clippers team that has struggled a bit this year, but given the circumstances you could still say they’re over performing.
The Clips have faced an absolutely ridiculous amount of injury issues so far this year, mainly with the fact that Kawhi Leonard has yet to return from a torn ACL suffered in last year’s postseason, and they’ve also been without Paul George for a huge portion of the year, as well. Without their two best players, they’re running on a bit of limited talent, yet even with that they’re still sitting in the eight seed in the West, which is astounding. As for this one, however, I think the safe play is to take the Memphis Grizzlies to get the win, and pull off the season sweep over this depleted Clippers squad.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Memphis Grizzlies -7.5 (-110)
Detroit Pistons @ Dallas Mavericks – 8.30pm ET
The Detroit Pistons wrap up their short two game road trip on Tuesday night when they take on the Dallas Mavericks, who themselves are in the middle of a six game homestand. The Pistons have lost four games in a row, and eight of their last nine, dropping their season record to 12-41. The Mavericks have managed to string two wins in a row together after defeating the 76ers and Hawks.
Jeffery Thomas
The Mavericks had to adjust on the fly in their last game, with both of their top two guards dealing with foul trouble at home against the Hawks. Luka and Jalen Brunson were both called for their fifth fouls in the 3rd and sat most of the quarter, which gave more minutes to journeyman PG Trey Burke who did his job and collected a positive +/- with his minutes. Dallas outscored the Hawks 49-44 in the second half in the 103-94 victory. They held Trae Young to 6-19 shooting including zero 3 pointers, while Luka went for his third triple double in the last four games despite the lessened minutes. The Pistons are coming off a 105-118 loss to Minnesota on Sunday, making it 4 straight losses and eight losses in the past nine.
They were once again without the top pick in last year’s draft, Cade Cunningham, who they are hopeful to get back for this game. They are once again looking towards the lottery, as they sit 2nd to last in the league record wise at 12-41, with the only team worse being the Orlando Magic. This is a nightmare matchup for the Pistons who struggle at everything the Mavericks are good at. The Pistons are bad defensively, giving up over 115 points on the road, while Dallas is fifth in defensive efficiency. The Mavericks don’t turn the ball over, and that’s something Pistons have been very vulnerable to. The Mavericks are the much better rebounding team, and offensive team, and will have the home court advantage. It will be a much needed boost for Detroit to get Cade back for this one, but in the end it won’t make much difference as I see the Mavericks covering this spread easily.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Dallas Mavericks -11.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
A big question all year has revolved around Luka Doncic’s supporting cast in Dallas. Kristaps Porzingis has looked good, but is often injured; Tim Hardaway Jr. might be out for the year. Still the team has found a way to sit in fifth in the Western Conference, mainly due to Doncic’s heroics, but also the strong play of his supporting cast. That was evident on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks, as Doncic had to sit out a majority of the third with five fouls. Even when he returned, the Slovenian superstar had to play passive, to not risk picking up foul number six. The Mavericks were fortunate to get great performances from Jalen Brunson and Reggie Bullock, who’ve both been of great help to Doncic this year. They’ll look to continue their strong play on Tuesday as they face a lowly, yet unpredictable, Detroit Pistons squad.
While it’s easy to write the Pistons off in this one (they’re in 14th place and have lost eight of their last nine), it should be noted that the Motor City squad has been known to play spoiler at times this season. Their one win in the last nine games was a 115-105 upset over the Cleveland Cavaliers and they’ve also grabbed surprise wins over the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks this season. Despite their struggles, the team has seen some solid play from rookie Cade Cunningham and youngster Saddiq Bey. With another high draft pick in their near future, the Pistons should be able to have a young core that’ll only be a couple seasons from competing. But, in the meantime they have to suffer a bit before getting there. In this game I’ll go with the Mavs, who seem to be figuring out and won’t let the Pistons cause any distractions.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Dallas Mavericks -11.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
Mavericks. With ease.
The Dallas Mavericks have had their fair share of struggles so far this season, but they’re playing much better as of late, winning their last two, including a victory over Philadelphia, who has been playing great basketball lately. With Luka Doncic being great as expected, the key difference is that they’ve finally gotten more help from guys like Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr., over the last three weeks or so, which is a big part of the improvement we’ve seen from Dallas.
Detroit, on the other hand, is still just awful. They’re arguably the worst team in basketball, and they’re in the process of proving that, as they’ve lost four straight, and eight of nine. There’s not much talent on this team, and the talent they do have is extremely young, as much of it has come from high draft picks over the past few years. The easy play here is to simply take Dallas to take care of business at home against the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Dallas Mavericks -11.5 (-110)
Milwaukee Bucks @ Los Angeles Lakers – 10pm ET
The road trip continues on for the Milwaukee Bucks, who will go toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Lakers late Tuesday night. The Bucks have won their last three games in a row, which takes their season record to 34-21. The Lakers got a much needed win last time out, defeating the Knicks in overtime, 122-115.
Jeffery Thomas
The nightcap is a marquee matchup of Giannis vs LeBron in Los Angeles. The defending champion Bucks began their west coast road trip with a 29 point win over Portland before taking down the Clippers 137-113 on Sunday. Giannis had 28 points and 10 rebounds and it was another efficient night offensively for Milwaukee, who has really been clicking recently. LeBron returned to the Lakers lineup Sunday against the Knicks and put up a triple double in the overtime victory. The 29 points also extended his streak of at least 25 points to 19 games. One of the biggest stories of the Lakers season though, is the play of Russell Westbrook, who they acquired in the offseason. He had another awful shooting performance, which is becoming a nightly thing for him. He shot 1-10 and was benched for the entire overtime period.
It has been a steep falloff for the former MVP and future Hall of Famer. We will see how he bounces back in this one. The return of Anthony Davis to the Lakers has definitely made this team more competitive but they are still far off from being a true contender. They struggle defensively and lack the talented depth needed to make a deep run in the playoffs and compete with the best teams. Bad news for them in this one, is they are facing off with one of the best teams as Milwaukee will have their way offensively and will put Los Angeles in the position of playing catch up all game. It was nice to see them get a win, but beating a bad Knicks team isn’t enough to prove they’ve made any strides towards being a real threat, so I’m going to take Milwaukee to take care of a mediocre Lakers team on the road.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -4.5 (-110)
Michael Lantz
This one should be fun. Barring any late injuries, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks should have their biggest stars ready to play in this showdown. Although, the Lakers will be without Carmelo Anthony and the Bucks will continue to be without Brook Lopez. After a heartbreaking loss to their in-town rivals, the Clippers, the Lakers bounced back with a gritty win against the New York Knicks on Saturday, winning 122-115 in overtime. More importantly, the team got back LeBron James, who had missed a couple games with injuries. With Anthony Davis back from injury as well, the team should really start to cook with these two stars back on the court. They’ll have a massive test on Tuesday as they face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bobby was a whole mood last night. 😤 pic.twitter.com/3McXEWvjcj
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 8, 2022
After getting blown out by 36 points to the Denver Nuggets at the end of January, the Bucks have bounced back nicely, winning three games in a row. But, all three of the teams they played are lacking the star power: the Wizards are missing Bradley Beal; the Blazers are missing Damian Lillard; and while still a playoff team, the Clippers are missing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Still, wins are wins, but the Bucks must come in with the same style of play against this star-filled Lakers roster. Both these teams are going to want this win to prove critics wrong. The Bucks want back that Eastern Conference one-seed; the Lakers want to show they’re better than a play-in team. This one should be fun, but I just don’t trust the Lakers yet after this up-and-down season. I’ll take Milwaukee.
Michael’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks (-190)
Noah Dunlap
The Milwaukee Bucks, while having some issues this year, aren’t far off from what we saw from them in last year’s postseason, where they managed to win the title. Giannis is still doing what everyone expects him to do, which is to play phenomenal basketball, but where the issues have come is with a supporting cast that has struggled a bit, including Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday. If they can get those guys playing at a higher level again, this is a team that I fully expect to be hanging around deep into the postseason once again.
The Los Angeles Lakers, on the other hand, have serious problems. This was supposed to be a title-contending team, led by LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, but instead they’re having to fight tooth and nail to even get a playoff berth, and right now I’m doubtful as to whether they actually get it. LeBron, even as he continues to get older, is playing incredible basketball, but the problem is that the team is way too reliant on him right now. That doesn’t bode well against a team like Milwaukee, that when they’re playing well, has three or four guys that can hurt you at the same time. Give me the Bucks in a tight one on the road in Los Angeles in this one.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Milwaukee Bucks -4.5 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
