Free NBA Picks Today for Tuesday, March 16th, 2021

Free NBA Picks Today for Tuesday, March 16th, 2021
Tue 16th March 2021

Over here at SportsTips, we don’t just offer one pick per game or even two picks per game… Our free NBA picks offer a massive three picks for each game, every night, meaning we have another 21 selections for tonight’s seven games.

We answer every question you might have based on studying the markets and form of all 14 teams in action tonight, making sure you are perfectly informed before placing your bets.

Can the Jazz fix up their road woes in Boston tonight? Will the Hawks hand the Rockets their 17th straight loss? Read on below to get all the right information for all of tonight’s bets in our free NBA picks.

Utah Jazz @ Boston Celtics – 7:30PM ET

The Utah Jazz head out East to take on the Boston Celtics and there are some really worrying signs for the best team in the league. They are just 4-5 over their last nine games but the more important factor, especially as they continue this road trip, is that they are just 1-5 in their last six games when travelling. 

Most recently, the Jazz fell 119-131 to Golden State, tied for the most amount of points they have given up all season. Four different Jazz players scored over 20 points, led by a massive night from Rudy Gobert. The defensive player of the year front runner had 24 points, 28 rebounds, four blocks and two steals, but it wasn’t enough to help the Jazz pick up the win.

Boston will be looking to capitalize on the Jazz’s road woes, as they are winners of their last five home games and have won five of their last six overall, only losing in Brooklyn. On Sunday night, they had a blowout, 134-107 win in Houston where no one played over 29 minutes. Both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum dominated in the win, scoring 24 and 23 points respectively.

When these sides met earlier in the season, in Utah, the Jazz got the easy 14 point win. But now the tables are turned given this is Boston’s home game, and the way Utah are playing on the road lately, the Celtics should be able to make this a much closer contest. However, we are still siding with Utah to bounce back from a disappointing showing last time out. Their flurry of defensive wings should be able to slow down Brown and Tatum and help them get over the line.

NBA Pick – Utah Jazz (-192)
NBA Spread – Boston Celtics +5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 227.5 (-110)

New York Knicks @ Philadelphia 76ers – 8PM ET

The schedule makers must have had it in for the New York Knicks, sending them to play the Philadelphia 76ers one night after playing in Brooklyn. It was a very tough contest for the Knicks, going down by as many as 18 in the first half before cutting the lead to just three points, eventually falling 112-117. But things get even tougher, playing the Sixers, in Philly, on the second night of a back to back. 

Julius Randle led the second half comeback, scoring 19 of his 33 points after the main break, adding 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals as well. RJ Barrett added 23 points, six rebounds and four assists while Immanuel Quickley had 21 points in his first start of his career. The issue was, the best scoring defense in the league allowed Brooklyn to shoot 58% from the field and 41.4% from deep. 

Defense like that won’t work against a Philadelphia side that is the fourth highest scoring team in the league and averages seven more points per game when playing at home. In their first game without Joel Embiid since his knee injury and it was extremely impressive. 

The Sixers pulled away, winning 134-99 with Tobias Harris leading the way, putting up 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Seth Curry and Danny Green combined for 37 points and three threes as Philly shot 57.1% from the field and 51.7% from deep. 

Philadelphia averages the fourth most points per game, a number that gets as high as 119.2 when playing at home, while also holding the second best defensive rating in the league. They are an incredible 17-3 at home this season and while the Knicks still have the best scoring defense and fourth best defensive rating, they are just 9-13 on the road. 

NBA Pick – Philadelphia 76ers (-300)
NBA Spread – Philadelphia 76ers -6.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 215.5 (-110)

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Miami Heat – 8PM ET

The Miami Heat are rolling right now, winners of 10 from their last 11, including their last four. They now return home to host a Cleveland Cavaliers side that has dropped three straight and is just 5-14 on the road this season. 

After a 34 point loss in New Orleans, Cleveland suffered an 18 point loss in Atlanta on Sunday night. The issue since the break, in those two games, has been the Cavs’ offense, scoring just 82 points in both games. Collin Sexton led Cleveland with just 15 points, shooting 29.4% from the floor and adding three turnovers compared to just one assist. 

The Heat, led by Jimmy Butler and the probable return of Bam Adebayo, should be liking their chances against this struggling Cavs side. Butler had 29 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals in Miami’s 102-97 win in Orlando on Sunday night while Tyler Herro added 22 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Cleveland doesn’t have anyone to slow down Butler, let alone Adebayo if he returns, and given how their offense is going at the moment, they won’t be able to score enough points to be competitive in this one. Miami has the best defense over the last month of action and is fifth overall for the season, so they should be able to take care of the team that scores the fewest points per game and has the worst offensive rating in the league.

NBA Pick – Miami Heat (-350)
NBA Spread – Miami Heat -6.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Under 210.5 (-110)

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Chicago Bulls – 8PM ET

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls are coming off impressive wins on Sunday night, but only one of them will be able to add a second straight when they face off in the Windy City tonight. The Thunder got a six point home win over the Grizzlies while the Bulls had an impressive 23 point home win over a depleted Toronto side. 

The Bulls had one of their more impressive team performances of the season with nine different players scoring in double figures, led by rookie, Patrick Williams and his 23 points, six rebounds and four assists. Billy Donovan changed up the starting lineup and it seemed to pay off as Chicago won all four quarters in the blowout.

Things weren’t as easy for OKC, seeing themselves fall in a 10 point hole with one quarter to go, but a massive 38-22 last quarter saw them pull away with the win. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned to action after a one game absence to lead the Thunder with 30 points, five assists and four rebounds while rookie, Aleksej Pokusevski, had his best career game with 23 points and 10 rebounds and became the youngest player in league history to have a game of 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ threes. 

While the Thunder had a couple of impressive individual performances in their win, Chicago’s whole team was impressive and Zach LaVine only had 15 points on 40% shooting. We can expect a much better performance from him and that improves the Bulls’ ceiling massively. We like the Bulls to pull away here. 

NBA Pick – Chicago Bulls (-200)
NBA Spread – Oklahoma City Thunder +6.5 (-105)
Total Points Pick – Under 225 (-110)

Atlanta Hawks @ Houston Rockets – 8PM ET

Can the Atlanta Hawks add another loss to the Houston Rockets season? After their 107-134 loss to Boston on Sunday, the Rockets have now lost 16 straight, four straight by at least 15 points and nine straight by double digits. 

Victor Oladipo returned to the lineup for that clash with the Celtics and while Christian Wood was hopeful to be back for tonight, he is still just doubtful and without him, we can’t see how Houston can stop their skid. Oladipo had 26 points, six rebounds and four assists in the massive loss while the rookie, Kenyon Martin Jr, had 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench. 

Atlanta’s fate, especially lately, has been quite different to Houston’s. In order to pick up their fifth straight, the Hawks had to overcome a late scratching of their dominant big man, Clint Capela, to pick up their 100-82 win over the Cavs on Sunday. John Collins dominated in his absence with 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Hawks did it on the other end as 82 points is the second lowest total they have held a team to all season.

This is clearly another loss for Houston, but the question is by how much. The Hawks are favored by a massive 10.5 points for this one and what is really impressive is three of their five game streak were on the road. Add the Hawks to your parlays for the day. 

NBA Pick – Atlanta Hawks (-450)
NBA Spread – Atlanta Hawks -9 (-115)
Total Points Pick – Over 223.5 (-110)

New Orleans Pelicans @ Portland Trail Blazers – 10PM ET

The New Orleans Pelicans have had an interesting three games after the break, losing their first game by 20 points to the struggling Timberwolves before beating the Cavs and the Clippers by a combined 54 points. They now get on the road for the first time in over two weeks to face the Portland Trail Blazers tonight. 

Portland just split a pair in Minnesota, most recently losing 112-114 despite 38 points from Damian Lillard. Gary Trent Jr added 21 while Robert Covington had an impressive 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but it wasn’t enough to get them over the line for the second straight night. 

They will relish getting back on their home floor against a New Orleans side that is just 5-12 on the road this season and could be complacent after two massive victories. 

Their 20 point win over the Clippers on Sunday was extremely unexpected, but the Pelicans dominated from the jump, winning the first quarter by 12 and seeing their lead extend to 33 before taking their foot off late. All eight players for the Pelicans who played over 15 minutes shot 50% from the field or better while three over them reached 20 points, led by Zion Williamson’s 27 points on 13/16 shooting.

This is the first of a two game set between the two sides, with the Blazers and the Pelicans playing just once so far this season. That one ended in a two point Blazers win, in New Orleans, so that has to give them confidence heading into these two back in Portland. We like the home side, who are slightly favorites, to take the win here. 

NBA Pick – Portland Trail Blazers (-130)
NBA Spread – Portland Trail Blazers -1.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Under 238.5 (-110)

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Los Angeles Lakers – 10:30PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are rolling right now, following up their five point win over Indiana with a massive 128-97 win in Golden State last night. They return back home tonight to host a Minnesota Timberwolves side that they have beaten by 36 points and eight points in their only two previous encounters this season.

While Minnesota has the league’s worst record, they are 2-1 since the break with a 20 point road win over the Pelicans and a narrow two point win over the Blazers to show for it. In their 114-112 win over Portland, Anthony Edwards, first pick in the 2020 draft, had his career best game with 34 points on 50% shooting with six threes to go with it. 

He will need to play like that and even better against a Lakers side that seems to have found their groove and are dialled in at the moment. Montrezl Harrell led the way for LA, especially in the first half where he scored 19 of his game high 27 points. LeBron James did his thing with a 22 point triple-double while Talen Horton-Tucker had a nice game off the bench, finishing with 18 points and 10 assists. 

While the Lakers are one of the league’s best teams and the Timberwolves are the only team that hasn’t reached 10 wins yet, this may be closer than some expect. The line is set at nine points for this one but the last matchup between these sides saw LA win by just eight and they are just 2-3 when playing with no rest. With that being said, the Lakers should be able to make it three from three since the break and continue their push towards the Jazz on top of the West.

NBA Pick – Los Angeles Lakers (-350)
NBA Spread – Minnesota Timberwolves +9 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 223 (-110)

If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NBA hub page for all your basketball needs.

*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of Bet365

Tim is a keen follower of all American sports, in particular the NBA and NFL. He has followed both sports for over a decade and would happily sit down and watch every game, regardless of who is playing! No matter the sport, whether it be NFL and NBA or even MLB, NHL, UFC and all sports, Tim covers it from every angle, staying in the loop to bring you the most up-to-date information and the best picks and predictions on the market.