Tuesday’s NBA Picks and Analysis

We’re back in the NBA picks game after a brief two-day hiatus. After last leaving you with a respectable 4-4 mark on Saturday night, we stroll into Tuesday’s two-game night with a season record of 276-144.

With Sunday and Monday being a little unpredictable, we’re almost glad to have taken the break. After all, even Saturday didn’t go as planned, as the Bulls needed overtime to beat Boston at home, the Magic and Timberwolves lost winnable games at home, the Grizzlies got smoked by the Nuggets and Portland lost on their home floor.

Sometimes NBA games just aren’t easy to call. Luckily we return with just two games to get right. If you plan on doing any NBA betting on Tuesday, be sure to break both of these matchups down with us first:

Phoenix Suns @ Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee struggled to win in Phoenix for decades. The last time they faced them, though, they won. This is clearly a different Milwaukee team than we’re used to seeing and the Suns need to be worried about a season sweep tonight – especially with this game coming in Mil-town. The Bucks tend to play solid team defense and could push two games over .500.

While the Bucks getting over a little hump would be nice here, their season path thus far suggests they probably won’t. They’re just 7-7 on their home floor, just 5-5 in their last 10 and just 18-17 on the year. Overall, they’re an inconsistent bunch that just can’t seem to string a lot of wins together. That’s not a terrible thing for a young team with a coach getting his feet wet in his second ever season, but it’s not great when you have to take on a talented Suns team that loves to run.

Milwaukee can run with Phoenix if all goes right, but ever since Jabari Parker went down, they’ve had inconsistency at forward. With no Larry Sanders (personal) to help handle Phoenix’s bigs, the Bucks will have to catch fire to take down the Suns.

Milwaukee did slow the Suns down in Phoenix and got the win, but the Suns are healthier now than they were then and they’ll be out to even the series. Phoenix comes in with two straight wins and it looks like this could be three in a row. That said, I think the Bucks will give them hell at home.

Pick: Suns 105, Bucks 104

Detroit Pistons @ San Antonio Spurs

On paper you’d think the Pistons have zero chance to go into San Antonio and get this win, but a closer look suggests this is a pretty tough game to call. Not only have the Spurs been shaky over their past 10 games (just 4-6), but they’re also just 21-14 on the year. Detroit also has been quite good ever since freeing themselves of the curse that appears to be Josh Smith, as they’ve now won five straight games. Before they got that winning streak game going they had five wins all year.

Andre Drummond has been a beast and should give the Spurs trouble down low, but all it will take is some early foul trouble to get him out of his game. If Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter are aggressive early, that could be a real issue for the visiting Spurs.

Tonight’s a good night for Detroit’s winning streak to hit a skid. The Spurs are healthy and well rested, while they’ve gotten 2015 off to a good start with two straight wins. Tonight should be number three in a row, as San Antonio is at home (12-5 on their home floor) and they know they can’t afford to drop games like this.

Pick: Spurs 109, Pistons 101