Monday's NBA Betting Picks!
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Ricky Rothstein
Hoop Hopes – Ricky Rothstein makes his picks for tonight’s NBA action!
Indiana is the team everybody is talking about since the start of the season. The Pacers won a lot of fans with the way they fronted up to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, and they’ve started this season like men with a mission. Indiana has its best start to a season ever, is the only undefeated team in the League and is a seven point NBA betting favorite at home to Memphis tonight.
The Grizzlies haven’t been doing so well. Memphis is 3-3, but that’s 1-5 ATS and 0-2 on the road. However, the Grizzlies wiped the floor with Golden State when the Warriors visited Memphis on Saturday, led by new father Zach Randolph. Maybe they won’t beat the Pacers, but Memphis is worth a look to cover seven points.
Hoops Hope 1 | Memphis @ Indiana: Memphis +7.0
The 76ers are one of the more surprising teams in the League. Philadelphia is fourth in the League scoring standings, racking up 105.9 points per game, and have quality wins over Miami and Chicago to show for the year so far. The Sixers are now coached by Brett Brown, a former assistant at San Antonio, and tonight it’s the Spurs that visit the city of Brotherly Love.
Brett Brown would love to play Darth Vader when he meets Greg Popovich – “you should not have come back, old man – I am the master now!” – but he won’t. Popovich is one of the genius basketball coaches in the history of the game, and his Spurs are a good bet to put the upstart Sixers away and cover the number on the road.
Hoops Hope 2 | San Antonio at Philadelphia: San Antonio -6.5
Toronto has a 3-15 overall losing record at Houston and, while making that 4-15 might be a stretch tonight, the Raptors are a good bet to cover a big number against one of the teams most likely to win it all next summer.
Now is a good time to play Houston. The Rockets have lost three of their last four, James Harden is playing with a bruised foot and opponents are realizing that if you hack-a-Howard, the Rockets’ big signing isn’t able to punish you at the charity stripe.
Dwight Howard is a career 57.6% free throw shooter, and that’s not very good. But that number is held up by what he did earlier in his career. For the past three years and continuing into the start of this one, Dwight Howard is a 49% free throw shooter, and in this League that’ll get you killed. Toronto isn’t in Houston’s class but in this once-off game tonight, the Raptors have a shot.