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A heavy Wednesday night gave way to chaos, as Kyrie Irving erupted for a career high 55 points, the Atlanta Hawks won for the 17th time in a row and all but two teams took care of business on their home floor. That comes a night after zero teams won in their own stadium, so it looks as though things might be back to normal. We went a steady 7-4 despite the Knicks shocking the Thunder and the Pistons getting housed by the Pistons.
Overall, it was a good Wednesday night of pro basketball betting and we walk into Thursday with a still stout 386-198 season record and our heads held high. We all get a bit of a breather tonight, too, as just four games grace the docket. That’s naturally prepping us for a rigorous Friday and Saturday run, but we’ll take our breaks when we can get them. Let’s dive right into our NBA picks for Thursday night and see if we can’t go 4-0:
Bucks @ Magic
Orlando took the game in the first meeting and will look to go up 2-0 in this season series with the Bucks. Milwaukee will of course have other plans, as they’re a much better team than they were to start the year. If Milwaukee sticks to their sound defense and can keep Victor Oladipo or Nikola Vucevic from exploding tonight, they’ll have a solid chance to top the Magic, who have dropped six straight games.
Pick: Bucks 104, Magic 102
Knicks @ Pacers
New York could win back to back games tonight if they can come into Indiana and shock the Pacers. They surprised us all by topping the Thunder last night, so anything seems possible. That’s extremely unlikely in general, but even more unlikely if Carmelo Anthony (knee, rest) takes this game off. He probably will, so look for the Pacers to get a nice home win and inch one step closer to the East’s 8th playoff seed.
Pick: Pacers 89, Knicks 87
Nuggets @ Grizzlies
Denver trounced the Grizzlies the last time they faced, but Memphis is at full strength this time around, as well as on their home floor. The Nuggets are still a dangerous offense that can run on anyone in any given night, but Memphis is likely to put the clamps down defensively to lock down a fifth straight victory.
Pick: Grizz 104, Nuggets 98
Bulls @ Lakers
Chicago could come into L.A. a little under-manned tonight if Jimmy Butler sits out a second straight game, but with everyone else at full health, it probably won’t matter. The Bulls are fresh off a huge road win over the Warriors and the last thing they’ll want to do is drop a gimme game to a bad Lakers team. Jordan Clarkson and Wayne Ellington stepped up for the Lake Show in their last game, but this is still a struggling team. Lakers fans can prepare for a 10th straight loss on Thursday night.
Pick: Bulls 109, Lakers 102
