There is no better way to get over the mid-week blues then with our free NBA picks! And we don’t just offer one pick per game or even two… SportsTips offer an unrivalled three picks for each game, every night!
We answer every question you might have based on studying the markets and form of all 20 teams in action tonight, making sure you are perfectly informed before placing your bets.
Can the Rockets snap their losing streak? Will the 76ers hold onto the No. 1 seed in the East without Joel Embiid?
We have all of the answers and all of the winners for you below!
Toronto Raptors @ Detroit Pistons – 7PM ET
The Toronto Raptors have had a couple of nights off after their disappointing 23 point loss in Chicago, giving them plenty of time to prepare for this matchup with the Detroit Pistons tonight. Due to being depleted from COVID-19, they are missing multiple key players and have lost five straight because of it. Meanwhile the Pistons have lost four straight including to the DeMar DeRozan-less Spurs on Monday.
Detroit could only manage 99 points in the loss with Josh Jackson being the top scorer for the team with just 15 points off the bench. Jerami Grant, the team’s leader, only put up nine shots for the game and scored just 14 points.
9️⃣ getting to it! 🚨 @JeramiGrant pic.twitter.com/dlLE9txL46
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) March 12, 2021
He will have to be better if the Pistons want to snap their own losing streak while adding another loss to the Raptors, especially while they are still missing key players. No Pascal Siakam, no Fred VanVleet, no OG Anunoby and no Nick Nurse isn’t a good sign for the Raptors, and their remaining players haven’t been able to step up in the meantime.
Normal Powell had another good scoring night with 32 points while Kyle Lowry had 20 points and eight assists but the rest of the starters combined for just 14 points and they weren’t able to keep up with Chicago on Sunday.
While all of their players have cleared quarantine, they are still just doubtful to play in this one for Toronto as they haven’t been able to train or do anything for the last two weeks. On top of that, the fact that this one is in Detroit, we are liking the Pistons’ chances to notch up win 11 for the season.
NBA Pick – Detroit Pistons (+155)
NBA Spread – Detroit Pistons +2.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Under 221.5 (-110)
Brooklyn Nets @ Indiana Pacers– 7PM ET
The Indiana Pacers return home after a three game trip, managing just one win over that stretch and being beaten badly by Denver in the last leg. Despite getting back to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, things don’t get any easier as the Brooklyn Nets roll into town.
The Nets have won 13 of their last 14 games, most recently a 117-112 home win over the Knicks. James Harden had another massive night with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists while Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 34 points.
While the Nets do perform better at home (16-6), they actually aren’t too bad on the road either (11-7). Indiana on the other hand struggles on their home floor with just a 7-11 record, which doesn’t bode well for this matchup.
Compound that with the fact they are coming off a 106-121 loss in Denver and things don’t look good for the Pacers. A 35-22 third quarter got them back in the game but Indiana crumbled late, giving up 34 points and only managing 15 of their own. Malcolm Brogdon led the team with 24 points while Domantas Sabonis could only manage 10 points on 11 field goal attempts.
Given Indiana’s struggles of late and the fact that Brooklyn is rolling at the moment, it is hard for us to not back the #1 ranked offense to pick up another win here.
NBA Pick – Brooklyn Nets (-170)
NBA Spread – Brooklyn Nets -3.5 (-115)
Total Points Pick – Over 232 (-110)
Milwaukee Bucks @ Philadelphia 76ers – 7PM ET
In a battle between the No. 1 and No. 3 seed in the Eastern conference, the Philadelphia 76ers will host the Milwaukee Bucks in a nationally televised game this Wednesday night. The game will be the Buck’s third and final leg of a three game East coast road trip while also being the 76ers third straight game at home and second straight game without Joel Embiid.
The Bucks have won nine of their past 10 games, most recently beating the Wizards 133-122 in Washington. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on fire recently, becoming the first player in Milwaukee’s franchise history to record three consecutive triple doubles, thanks to a 31 point, 15 rebound and 10 assist performance against the Wizards on Monday.
Philadelphia currently boasts a six game winning streak, the last two of which have been without Joel Embiid, who will miss the next two weeks after hyperextending his knee against Washington.
Although the 76ers are an 18-3 team at home, and the Bucks are only just above .500 on the road, 10-9, we can’t look past the absence of Joel Embiid for this encounter.
The Embiid vs Antetokounmpo matchup would be mouthwatering given the form that the two players are in, however with Embiid, who favorite to win the MVP award after the first half of the season, on the the sidelines, the reigning back to back MVP and in-form Giannis Antetokounmpo should navigate Milwaukee to an important win on the road in Philly, bridging the gap between themselves and the top two teams in the East.
NBA Pick – Milwaukee Bucks (-235)
NBA Spread – Milwaukee Bucks -5.5 (-115)
Total Points Pick – Under 236.0 (-110)
Sacramento Kings @ Washington Wizards – 7PM ET
The Sacramento Kings continue their East coast swing when they face the Washington Wizards tonight and they will be hoping for a better outcome than the first two on the trip. Losses in Atlanta and Charlotte have dropped the Kings back to winning just three of their last 16 games. Washington have had a tough go of it recently too, losing four straight including two to Milwaukee and one to Philadelphia.
Their most recent was a 122-133 loss to the Bucks, yet again despite huge games from Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook. After a one game absence, Beal returned to score a game high 37 points while Westbrook added 23 points and a massive 17 assists.
Bradley Beal has 1,130 points in 35 games.
Since the NBA-ABA merger, the only other players to score 1,100 points in the first 35 games of a season are
￭ James Harden
￭ Kobe Bryant
￭ Allen Iverson
￭ Michael Jordan
￭ George Gervin
￭ Adrian Dantleypic.twitter.com/IuFJBGALci— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 16, 2021
The issue was obviously on the other end. Allowing 133 points is more of a trend than a blip for this disastrous Washington defense. In fact that game pushed them to last in points allowed per game, overtaking Sacramento by just 0.1 point. The Kings have allowed 121 and 122 points in the first two games of their road trip and now have the worst defensive rating in the league.
Usually Sacramento is able to keep up with their opposition, scoring at the ninth best rate in the league but putting up 109 and 116 respectively, isn’t going to cut it when you allow so many points. De’Aaron Fox led the way once again with 29 points and eight assists but the big story out of their game with Charlotte is that Marvin Bagley suffered a fractured hand and will be out for some time.
Both teams are quite bad, especially on defense, but given Washington is at home, have two All Stars and a healthy supporting cast, we are siding with the home team.
NBA Pick – Washington Wizards (-150)
NBA Spread – Sacramento Kings +3 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 245.5 (-110)
Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers – 8PM ET
Looking to snap a four game losing streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers will host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
After returning from their All-Star break with two games on the road, Boston suffered an eight point loss to the Jazz in their return to TD Garden, going down to the No. 1 seed in the West 117-109 on Tuesday.
The Celtics will travel again, heading to Ohio to take on the struggling Cavaliers. Cleveland have been in an offensive slump since they’ve returned to play, posting a mere 82 points against New Orlenans, 82 points against Atlanta and most recently 98 points against Miami, resulting in an 0-3 record since the All-Star break.
Wednesday night’s match will be the Cavs first of a four game stretch at home, as they look to improve on their one game lead over Orlando and potentially pass No. 12 Washington who are just .5 of a game in front of them.
Although Boston’s 1-2 record after the All-Star break is not much better than Clevlands, the Celtics have been competitive in losses against the Jazz and the Nets, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams III all scoring double digit points in their most recent loss to Utah.
Given Cleveland’s recent offensive struggles that has seen just one Cavalier score 20+ points since the All-Star break (Colin Sexton 21 points vs Miami), Boston are going to be too strong on both offense and defense for Cleveland in this encounter, especially with Marcus Smart continuing to expand his minutes since returning from injury.
NBA Pick – Boston Celtics (-400)
NBA Spread – Boston Celtics -8.5 (-115)
Total Points Pick – Under 218.5 (-110)
San Antonio Spurs @ Chicago Bulls – 8PM ET
The Chicago Bulls will conclude their five game stretch of home games that followed the All-Star break when they host the San Antonio Spurs, who are in the middle of their four game East coast road trip. The Bulls are currently 2-2 heading and looking to leave Chicago with a winning record, while the Spurs are 1-1 in their two games since leaving San Antonio.
A 40 points, 75% shooting from the field performance from Zach Lavine was enough to steer the Bulls to victory in their most recent victory over Oklahoma City.
As for the Spurs, they held Detroit under 100 points to defeat the Pistons 109-99 despite being outscored 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Six Spurs scored 10+ points in Detroit as the Spurs comfortably won without LaMarcus Aldridge, who has parted ways with the franchise and DeMar DeRozan, who missed his third consecutive game while he takes time away from the team following the death of his father.
DeRozan has already been ruled out for Wednesday’s game in Chicago.
San Antonio are a top 10 team in the league when looking at defensive rating and only allow a league low 14.2 opposition points off turnovers.
Given that the Bulls often feed or famine based on the shooting stroke of Zach Lavine, we can’t go past the Spurs team defense to make it hard for the All-Star to score, giving San Antonio the advantage and making them our pick for this encounter.
NBA Pick – San Antonio Spurs (-105)
NBA Spread – San Antonio Spurs +1.5 (-120)
Total Points Pick – Under 228.5 (-110)
Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets – 8PM ET
After being embarrassed by the Los Angeles Laker on national television on Monday, the Golden State Warriors will kick off a three game road trip in Houston on Wednesday night. And speaking of embarrassing, the Houston Rockets!
Having now lost 17 games in a row, the Houston Rockets are edging closer and closer to taking the mantle of the longest single season losing streak in NBA history (26 games).
Thankfully for the Rockets their next three games will be in Houston, however after going down to the Hawks by 12 points at home on Tuesday, homecourt is beginning to mean less and less for a team as bad as the Rockets.
Although Victor Oladipo (34), Jae’Sean Tate (25) and Kevin Porter Jr. (22) combined for 81 points, Tuesday’s 107-119 loss to Atlanta was Houston’s 14th double digit loss in their 17 game losing streak.
The Houston Rockets lost their 17th straight game tonight.
It’s been 41 days since the Rockets’ last win. 😥 pic.twitter.com/kzmc0sdPDn
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 17, 2021
As for the Golden State Warriors they remain well and truly affixed in the playoff picture in the Western Conference despite a 26 point loss to the Clippers and a 31 point loss to the Lakers since the All-Star break (as well as a 12 point win over the Jazz).
Steph Curry is doing everything that he can to keep the Warriors above .500, putting up 14 points vs Clippers, 32 points vs Jazz and 27 points vs Lakers. However, in their victory over Utah Andrew Wiggins was able to contribute 28 points, James Wiseman added 16 points off the bench and Draymond Green posted a 11 point, 12 rebound, 12 assist triple double.
If the Warriors can continue to get more players involved on offense they should have no trouble defeating the lowly Rockets on Wednesday and officially giving the franchise their standalone worst losing streak in history, 18 games.
NBA Pick – Golden State Warriors (-700)
NBA Spread – Golden State Warriors -10.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Under 226.5 (-110)
Miami Heat @ Memphis Grizzlies – 9PM ET
The Grizzlies will return to Memphis to host the Miami Heat in their first of four consecutive games at home. The Heat are coming into this match with a five game winning streak behind them, as Miami have propelled themselves into the No. 4 seed in the East.
In their most recent outing, Miami held the struggling Cavaliers to just 98 points in their 113-98 victory on Tuesday night. Jimmy Butler continued his superb run of form with 28 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals against Cleveland, while Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro all scored in double digits.
Contrastingly, Memphis are just 1-3 since the All-Star break having lost their last three games against Denver, Oklahoma City and most recently Phoenix.
Although Jonas Valanciunas put up 24 points and 17 rebounds against the Suns, the Grizzlies had no answers defensively, allowing Phoenix to put up 122 points and five Suns to score 10+ points in the 122-99 loss.
In form wasn’t enough of an indication heading into this matchup, the Grizzlies are actually a better team away from home, 9-7. With a mere 8-2 record in Memphis, Miami (who are a .500 team in the road) will comfortably extend their winning streak to six games on Wednesday night, as Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk will sufficiently negate the impact of Jonas Valanciunas on offense.
NBA Pick – Miami Heat (-125)
NBA Spread – Miami Heat -2 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Under 220.5 (-110)
Charlotte Hornets @ Denver Nuggets – 9PM ET
The Charlotte Hornets get on the road to face the Denver Nuggets tonight after sweeping their three game home stand and winning four straight overall. This streak has seen them climb to fifth on the standings but things get tougher now on the road, where they are just 8-10 so far this season.
The Mile High trip to take on the Nuggets is one of the toughest road trips in the league, especially when Denver is full of confidence, which they should be after their 121-106 win over Indiana on Monday. Despite holding a nine point half time lead, the Nuggets found themselves trailing heading into the last but a massive 34-15 last quarter got them the comfortable win. Nikola Jokic had yet another spectacular performance with 32 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four steals in the win.
The issue for Charlotte is that they have no clear option that will be able to slow down Denver’s versatile big man. . Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyambo are both very solid rotation players however they aren’t quite up to scratch when it comes to an MVP level player like Jokic.
They will instead lean on Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball to carry them over the line offensively. In their 122-116 come-from-behind win over the Kings on Monday, Rozier had a team high 26 points, Hayward had 25, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals and Ball chipped in with 16, four and four.
When on the road this season, Charlotte actually scores over four more points per game, the sixth highest road average in the league, but also allows nearly eight more points per game, the fifth worst road average. That doesn’t bode well against a rolling Denver side that averages the sixth most points per game and has a nightmare matchup in the middle.
NBA Pick – Denver Nuggets (-260)
NBA Spread – Charlotte Hornets +6.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 231 (-110)
Los Angeles Clippers @ Dallas Mavericks – 9:30PM ET
We have a rematch of Monday night’s action that sees the Los Angeles Clippers looking to take the road mini sweep of this two game series against the Dallas Mavericks. LA dominated from the jump, getting out to an eight point lead after the first quarter and despite a Dallas resurgence in the second quarter, the Clippers never trailed in the second half, coming out on top 109-99.
It was a whole team approach that got it done for LA, with all seven players that played over 20 minutes reaching double figures. Kahi Leonard one again led the way, putting up a very nice line of 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Good W in Dallas. pic.twitter.com/G9nW8AILPm
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 16, 2021
It was nearly the opposite for Dallas with a few standout individual performances but not much whole team connectivity. Tim Hardaway Jr had 21 points off the bench, Kristaps Porzingis had 22 points and seven rebounds and Luka Doncic had a big night with 25 points, 16 assists and 10 boards, but five other players combined for just 31 points on 13/29 shooting.
The good things for the Clippers is that they did all of that without Serge Ibaka and Pat Beverley. While Beverley isn’t with the team on the road, Ibaka could return for this clash and it will only give them an extra boost. The big one here is that LA and their 19th ranked defense were able to hold the Mavs to just 99 points, but we expect Dallas to come out with a bit more intent to be able to turn things around.
With that being said, the Clippers are the superior team here and after that performance on Monday, we don’t see why they can’t go on and win again.
NBA Pick – Los Angeles Clippers (-140)
NBA Spread – Dallas Mavericks +2.5 (-110)
Total Points Pick – Over 227 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of Bet365.
