Merry Pickmas! Here are tonight’s best bets…

Tonight’s Free NBA Tips

*Original NBA betting lines and lineups taken game morning, adjust accordingly.

The original expert NBA picks for each game are taken a couple of hours prior to the tip-off, so adjust your picks accordingly should a line change.

Confidence is out of 1-5 stars  

Tonight’s Parlay

Washington @ Boston – Boston ML 

Cleveland @ Golden State – Cavaliers +4.5 

Houston @ Oklahoma City – Houston ML

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Tonight’s NBA Picks

Philadelphia @ New York

H2H Trends – 

  • Philadelphia are 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
  • Philadelphia are 7-2 ATS in the last 9 meetings in New York.

Stats Edge – 

PHI EDGE IN: NY
Points/Game
Field Goal %
Free Throw %
Defense
Rebounding
Turnovers
Bench

Win/Loss 

TEAM W L HOME ROAD
Philadelphia 14 18 7-9 7-9
New York 17 15 15-5 2-10

Season Points +/- 

TEAM PPG OPP PPG DIFF
Philadelphia 107.9 109.2 -1.2
New York 104.2 103.5 +0.6

Picks against the spread

 Spread O/U Points   Result
 Philadelphia  Over Philadelphia
 +3.0  209.0  105-98

The Knicks are 15-5 at home and 2-10 on the road, so at this stage, home wins are all they have, and with a road trip on the way this one is valuable.

The 76ers have lost 5 straight but we’ll take them at the line tonight as underdogs.

Best Bet = Philadelphia ML

Cleveland @ Golden State

H2H Trends – 

  • Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
  • Under is 7-2-2 in the last 11 meetings in Golden State.

Stats Edge – 

CLE EDGE IN: GS
Points/Game
Field Goal %
Free Throw %
Defense
Rebounding
Turnovers
Bench

Win/Loss

TEAM W L HOME ROAD
Cleveland 24 9 14-4 10-5
Golden State 26 7 12-4 14-3

Season Points +/-

TEAM PPG OPP PPG DIFF
Cleveland 111.3 107.6 +3.8
Golden State 115.0 105.0 +10.0

Picks against the spread

 Spread O/U Points   Result
 Cavaliers  Over  Golden State
 +4.5  217.5  99-92

The Cavaliers have won eight of their last ten games (twelve straight wins at home) and are currently 1.5 games behind Boston for the top spot in the East.

The Warriors have won 12 of their 16 home games this season and are behind Houston for first place in the Western Conference by %.

Both rank in the top 3 in offensive efficiency, so the over is worth a look, with the Cavs at the +4.5.

Best Bet = Cavaliers +4.5

Washington @ Boston

H2H Trends – 

  • Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Boston.
  • Washington are 0-9 ATS in the last 9 meetings in Boston.
  • Washington are 2-6 ATS in the last 8 meetings

Stats Edge – 

WAS EDGE IN: BOS
Points/Game
Field Goal %
Free Throw %
Defense
Rebounding
Turnovers
Bench

Win/Loss 

TEAM W L HOME ROAD
Washington 18 15 10-6 8-9
Boston 27 9 14-4 13-5

Season Points +/- 

TEAM PPG OPP PPG DIFF
Washington 105.7 103.6 +2.1
Boston 103.5 98.2 +5.3

Picks against the spread

 Spread O/U Points   Result
 Boston  Over  Washington
 -5.0  206.0  111-103

The Celtics for us tonight ATL.

Boston rank 1st in defensive efficiency and Washington rank 9th, so the under is a nice take.

Best Bet  = Boston ML

Houston @ Oklahoma City

H2H Trends – 

  • Houston are 7-0 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Oklahoma City.
  • Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Oklahoma City.
  • Houston are 12-3 ATS in the last 15 meetings.

Stats Edge – 

HOU EDGE IN: OKC
Points/Game
Field Goal %
Free Throw %
Defense
Rebounding
Turnovers
Bench

Win/Loss 

TEAM W L HOME ROAD
Houston 25 6 13-5 12-1
OKC 18 15 12-4 6-11

Season Points +/- 

TEAM PPG OPP PPG DIFF
Houston 115.4 105.4 +10.0
OKC 102.6 99.8 +2.9

Picks against the spread

 Spread O/U Points   Result
 Houston  Under  OKC
 -2.5  216.5  112-107

The Rockets finally hit a sour patch dropping the last two after winning 14 in a row.

Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 road games, and despite CP3 questionable with an adductor strain, we’ll take them tonight. Zero faith in the Thunder at this point.

Best Bet  = Houston ML

Minnesota @ LA Lakers

H2H Trends – 

  • Over is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings.
  • Over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Los Angeles.
  • Minnesota are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles

Stats Edge – 

MIN EDGE IN: LAL
Points/Game
Field Goal %
Free Throw %
Defense
Rebounding
Turnovers
Bench

Win/Loss

TEAM W L HOME ROAD
Minnesota 20 13 11-6 9-7
LA Lakers 11 20 6-9 5-11

Season Points +/-

TEAM PPG OPP PPG DIFF
Minnesota 108.0 106.3 +1.7
LA Lakers 106.6 109.4 -2.8

Picks against the spread

 Spread O/U Points   Result
 Minnesota  Over  Minnesota
 -4.5  216.5  121-104

The Lakers have dropped 5 of their last 6, albeit by an average of 5 points.

Ball to sit for the Lakers with a shoulder injury and the T-Wolves with enough to beat the Lakers in another close but no cigar effort.

Best Bet = Over 216.5