Wednesday's NBA Betting Picks!

Hoop Hopes – Ricky Rothstein makes his picks for tonight’s NBA action!

Having lost at Dallas 105-95 last night, Washington travels 300 miles south today to take on San Antonio. The wizards will need a whole lot of magic to cover the number in this one.

San Antonio is on a five-game winning streak currently, with the Sixers the latest victims to fall before the Spurs. Historically, San Antonio has dominated Washington, winning fourteen straight, and is a ten point favorite to extend both of those streaks tonight.

The Wizards’ loss at Dallas last night was a particularly disappointing one – Bradley Beal, a rookie out of Florida, shot lights-out basketball in the Wizards’ loss at the Thunder but could only muster nine points against Dallas’s veteran talent. He’ll bounce back, but it won’t happen tonight at San Antonio.

Hoop Hope 1 | Washington at San Antonio: San Antonio -10

The Nets have discovered that there is no “instant” in “team.” Any hopes for a quick start to the season being triggered by signing Celtics veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have proved optimistic in the extreme, and Brooklyn is coming to terms with the fact that the NBA season will be what it always is – hard and unrelenting.

The Nets are 2-4 and 2-4 against the spread so far this season, which isn’t good. But if they can’t cover the number at Sacramento tonight owner Jay-Z will have discovered his 100th problem. The Kings are awful – 1-5 straight up, 0-5-1 ATS and struggling in every game. Rebounding is seen as a particular problem for the Kings – it’s not easy to see them getting many boards tonight.

Hoop Hope 2 | Brooklyn at Sacramento: Brooklyn -4

The New York Knicks’ last game was a 31-point thumping at home against San Antonio. Tonight, the Knicks are at Atlanta, where the hometown Hawks are coached by Mike Budenholzer, a former assistant to Greg Popovich in San Antonio. Oh boy.

The biggest problem for the Knicks – other than the crushing pressure that all New York teams play under – is the injury to Tyson Chandler. Chandler broke his leg in a game against the Bobcats on November 5th and his absence is keenly felt. It’ll certainly be felt tonight at Atlanta – the Hawks’ have been big in the paint all year, and it’s hard to see the Knicks being able to live with them under the basket.

Hoop Hopes 3 | New York at Atlanta: Atlanta -4

Follow Ricky Rothstein’s Hoop Hopes every night – he’s 2-4 for the season so far!