Goodbye 2020: NBA Betting Picks for Friday, January 1st, 2021

Happy New Year’s! Let’s hope we can start 2021 off with some winning picks. Yesterday’s picks were mediocre, with a 3-4 record. Even with Pascal Siakam being a surprise scratch, the Raptors still covered the spread and defeated the Knicks by 17. Other winning picks included the Bulls defeating the (still) winless Wizards, and the Pacers dismantling the Cavaliers. Now let’s get into some picks and see if we can find an edge in some of these games.

Boston Celtics (-9) vs. Detroit Pistons

This one is pretty simple for me. The Celtics are coming into this game off their best 2 game stretch of the season, while the Pistons are still winless. It’s not as if their competition has been stiff either, as their losses have come against the Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Hawks, and Warriors. I expect the Celtics to take care of business in this game and win by double digits.

Pick: Celtics -9

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Charlotte Hornets (-4.5)

This one is a little trickier for me. The Grizzlies are coming into this game off a blowout loss to the aforementioned Celtics. The Hornets, after starting the season with 2 bad losses, have rebounded with wins against the Nets and Mavericks. I don’t like this Hornets team as a favorite, but they have a far more talented roster than the Grizzlies, especially with Ja Morant out. I don’t love this pick, but I’ll take the Hornets and hope they play as well as they did in the last 2.

Pick: Hornets -4.5

Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks (-1.5)

The Heat come into this game off an impressive 119-108 victory over the Bucks, while the Mavericks come into this game off an embarrassing 118-99 home loss to the Hornets. While I expect the Mavericks to bounce back here, the Heat expect Jimmy Butler to return for tonight’s game, and that’s enough for me to give the Heat the edge in this one.

Pick: Heat +1.5

Los Angeles Lakers (-7) vs. San Antonio Spurs

This same game occurred a couple days ago, and I made the wrong pick with the Spurs. Maybe I didn’t learn my lesson, but I’m going back to the Spurs here. I can’t give any excuses, but LaMarcus Aldridge didn’t play and Popovich got ejected, and the Spurs lost by 14. Unless both of those occur again tonight, I expect the Spurs to keep it closer here.

Pick: Spurs +7

Washington Wizards (-1) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

I’m not going to pick the Wizards until they prove they can win a game. This strategy has seemed to work through the first 5 games of the season, and I don’t love this spot on the second half of a back-to-back, and the 3^rd game in 4 nights. Even though the Wolves have less star power than the Wizards, they’ve at least shown they can win basketball games. I’ll side with the Wolves here.

Pick: Timberwolves +1

Los Angeles Clippers (-3.5) vs. Utah Jazz

I think the Jazz will bounce back after a tough loss against the Suns last night. I picked the Jazz in that game, and they let me down, so I hope they don’t let me down twice in a row. The Clippers have the potential to blow any team out by halftime, but they aren’t playing with the same consistency so far this season as they did last season. I think the Jazz will keep this one close, and potentially even pull out a victory over the Clippers.

Pick: Jazz +3.5

Those are my picks for some of today’s games. Please let me know if there are any you agree or disagree with. Let’s win some picks and make some money!

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