Monday NBA Predictions, Preview and Odds for March 18,2019

Monday’s NBA schedule has nine games on hand with six of the top eight teams in the Western Conference taking court and five playoff-positioned teams from the Eastern Conference seeing action as well.

The defending champions Golden State Warriors and the 2nd seeded Denver Nuggets face separate opponents in games that will determine who sits at #1 at the end of the day. The Dubs currently lead the Nuggets by one game but a victory by Denver pushes them to a tie with the champs.

Golden State Warriors vs San Antonio Spurs

The two-time defending champions Golden State Warriors continue their current road trip with a stop-over at the AT&T Center and a showdown against the streaking San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

After a 111-115 loss that head coach Steve Kerr said “opened their eyes”, the Golden State Warriors have stormed back with consecutive road victories over the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors now will look for their third straight road win against a third Top 8 team in the Western Conference in the San Antonio Spurs.

Stephen Curry leads the Warriors with 27.9 points while also adding 5.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Kevin Durant is also having a top-notch season with 27.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Klay Thompson is having another “quiet” 22.5-point season for the champs. Draymond Green is doing it all at 6.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game while DeMarcus Cousins is scoring 15.8 points and grabbing 7.9 boards per game for the Warriors.

Golden State is the top scoring team in the league at 117.9 points per game. They are also the #1 passing team in the NBA at 29.1 assists per game. The Warriors are also ranked 8th in rebounding at 46.3 boards per contest and they are 19th in scoring defense at 111.8 opponent points per game allowed.

Don’t look now but the San Antonio Spurs are surging as the season is closing. The Spurs have won a season-best eight straight games heading to this Monday contest and they have put together 10 straight victories at home entering their showdown with the defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors.

DeMar DeRozan leads the Spurs with 21.6 points, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. LaMarcus Aldridge is also having a strong season with 21.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Veteran forward Rudy Gay is scoring 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while Bryn Forbes and Marco Belinelli round up the double-digit scorers with 11.7 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. Point guards Derrick White and Patty Mills are also helping out with 9.9 points per game each.

San Antonio ranks 16th in the league in team scoring at 111.9 points per game. They are also ranked 16th in assists with 24.4 dimes per contest and they are 22nd off the glass with 44.5 rebounds per contest. The Spurs are ranked 13th in the NBA in scoring defense at 110.4 opponent points per game allowed.

The Warriors are 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played. Golden State is 3-2 SU in their last five games on the road. The Spurs are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played and the Spurs are 5-0 SU in their last five games played at home. Head to head, the Warriors are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against the Spurs.

Golden State has struggled recently, winning just half of their last 10 games. The Dubs’ struggles hit a low when they dropped a 111-115 decision to the lottery-bound Phoenix Suns and since that loss, the Warriors have roared back with back to back victories over top Western teams Houston and Oklahoma City, both on the road.

The Spurs are playing their best basketball of the season as they have recovered from a disastrous rodeo trip. San Antonio has won eight straight games overall and 10 straight at the AT&T Center. The Spurs are chasing home court advantage in Round 1 of the playoffs and right now they are just 1.5 games behind 4th seeded Portland and 2.5 games behind 3rd seeded Houston.

While the Spurs are trying to catch the Blazers and Rockets, the Warriors are also trying to hold-off the Nuggets who play the Celtics on Monday and who are just one game behind the Dubs in the standings. Kevin Durant is questionable with an ankle injury while DeMarcus Cousins may miss the game as well with an ankle issue too. San Antonio is 28-7 SU at home, the 2nd best home record in the West while the Dubs are 23-11 SU away from the Oracle, the best road record in the entire NBA. If the Warriors don’t have KD in this one,

I’m picking the streaking San Antonio Spurs to beat the Golden State Warriors on 3/18/19.

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Golden State is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games played and the Dubs are 2-3 ATS in their last five road games played. San Antonio is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played and the Spurs are 4-1 ATS in their last five games at the AT&T Center. Head to head, the Spurs are 3-1 ATS in their last four meetings against the Dubs.

The Dubs are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games against the Southwest Division, 1-8 ATS in their last nine games when playing on one day rest, 1-8 ATS in their last nine games after an SU win, 1-4 ATS in their last five games after an ATS win and 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games overall. The Spurs are 5-0 ATS in their last five games after an SU win, 4-0 ATS in their last four games after an ATS win, 5-1 ATS in their last five six games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games against opponents with a winning percentage higher than .600. San Antonio has been rolling and doing so even against elite opponents.

Prediction: Spurs +2.5

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The Under is 8-2 in Golden State’s last 10 games played. The total has gone under in four out of the last five road games played by the Warriors. The under is 7-3 in San Antonio’s last 10 games played and the Spurs have seen the total go under in four out of their last five home games.

The under is 7-0 in the Dubs’ last seven overall and 4-0 in their last four road games. The over is also 4-0 in the Spurs’ last four games versus the Western Conference and 4-0 in their last four games when playing on one day rest. The Warriors’ defense hasn’t been as good this season but given this is an important game to them, they should step up and play good defense. San Antonio’s defense is 13th best in the league and I’m looking forward to a good defensive game between to playoff bound teams.

Prediction: Under 224

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New York Knicks vs Toronto Raptors

The New York Knicks head to North of the border to take on the 2nd-ranked Toronto Raptors on Monday night at the ScotiaBank Arena in Toronto.

The Knicks are just waiting for the season to end, go to the lottery and hope they win big. At 13-56, New York has the worst record in the entire league. The Knicks enter this Monday game having lost eight straight ball games including six in a row away from the Madison Square Garden.

Dennis Smith Jr. is showing positive signs for the Knicks. DSJ is averaging 14.6 points, 6.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Emmanuel Mudiay is having a good season with 14.2 points and 3.6 assists per game while rookie Kevin Knox is putting up 12.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. DeAndre Jordan is having a double-double season with 11.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Mitchell Robinson leads the team with 2.4 blocks per game while also scoring 6.7 points per night.

New York has the third lowest scoring average in the league at just 105.0 points per game. The Knicks are ranked at the bottom in passing at 19.9 assists per game and they are also just 20th off the glass with an average of 44.8 rebounds per contest. New York is also ranked only 23rd in scoring defense at 113.6 opponent points per game allowed.

The Toronto Raptors cannot seem to catch the Milwaukee Bucks at the top of the Eastern Conference team standings. That’s because the Raptors have been in a funk lately, winning just half of their last six games. Toronto is still three games back and need to win as many games as possible now in order to have a chance to catch up with only 13 games left to play.

Kawhi Leonard leads the Raptors in scoring with 27.0 points per game while also averaging 7.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Serge Ibaka has been a solid force with 15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Pascal Siakam is a surprise this season with 16.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Kyle Lowry leads Toronto with 9.1 assists while also scoring 14.8 points per game.

Toronto is tied for 8th in teams scoring at 114.0 points per game. The Raptors are ranked 14th in passing at 24.8 assists per game and they are 16th off the glass with 45.2 boards grabbed per contest. Toronto is ranked 10th in scoring defense at 108.8 points per game allowed.

The Knicks are 2-8 SU in their last 10 games played and New York is 0-6 SU in their last six road games. The Raptors are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played and Toronto is 4-2 SU in their last six home games. Head to head, the Raptors are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games against the Knicks.

This has been a long season for the Knicks. At first they were thinking of bringing back Porzingis late in the season if the team were in a position to make the playoffs. Instead, they ended up trading Porzingis and now their rebuild is back to square one. Hopefully, they end up with the #1 pick in the upcoming draft and with the worst record in the league, they might just get that.

Toronto is still trying to catch Milwaukee at #1 but the Bucks have continued to play well and the Raptors have tapered off a bit recently. Toronto is three games behind Milwaukee and with 13 games left to play, they need to win as many games as possible now and hope the Bucks cool off down the stretch. In short, they need this game more than the Knicks do.

New York only has seven road wins this season while the Raptors only have seven homes losses against 28 home wins this season. The only worry here is that the Raptors are playing the Pistons the day before but the Knicks are also hosting the Lakers on Sunday. Dennis Smith is listed as day-to-day for the Knicks so that doesn’t make things any better.

I’m picking the Toronto Raptors to beat the New York Knicks on 3/18/19.

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New York is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Knicks are 2-4 ATS in their last six games away from home. Toronto is also 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Raptors are 2-4 ATS in their last six games at home. Head to head, the Toronto is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings against New York.

The Knicks are 4-1 ATS in their last five games when playing on zero days rest, 2-9 ATS in their last nine games against the Atlantic Division and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall. The Raptors are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games when playing on zero days rest, 2-6 ATS in their last 8 home games and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games overall. The Raptors are 5-2 ATS in their last seven meetings against the Knicks and 5-0 ATS in their last five home games against New York. Toronto has its struggles ATS but they’re playing the Knicks here whom they’ve dominated in Toronto in their last five meetings.

Prediction: Raptors -13.5

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The total has gone under in seven out of the last 10 games played by the Knicks. New York has seen the total go under in five out of their last six road games. The over is 6-4 in Toronto’s last 10 games played. The total has gone under in four out of the last six home games played by the Raptors. Head to head, the under is 6-4 in the last 10 games between the Knicks and Spurs.

The under is 4-1 in Toronto’s last five games and the total has gone under in 20 out of the Knicks’ last 27 games overall. The Raptors have a Top 10 defense and the Knicks are 3rd from the bottom in team scoring. The trends point to the under and I think the Knicks are going to struggle with the Toronto defense that’s warming up for the playoffs.

Prediction: Under

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New Orleans Pelicans vs Dallas Mavericks

The New Orleans Pelicans hit the road and travel to the American Airlines Arena where they will face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.

The New Orleans Pelicans have lost eight out of their last eleven games and head to Dallas with a six-game losing streak. In their last game, the Pelicans lost 136-138 to the Phoenix Suns after head coach Alvin Gentry called a timeout with 1.1 seconds to play when they had no timeouts left. The blunder led to a free throw and turnover that gave the Suns and unexpected win after trailing by three points with only 12 ticks left.

Since Anthony Davis’ trade demand, Jrue Holiday has led the Pelicans with 21.2 points and 7.7 assists per game. Julius Randle is having a career-season with 21.1 points and 8.7 rebounds in his first season with the Pelicans. E’Twaun Moore is scoring 11.9 points while Elfrid Payton is contributing 10.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game since returning from injury. Davis is still with New Orleans but his minutes have been restricted since he requested for a trade.

The Pelicans are the third highest scoring team in the league at 115.8 points per game. They are 4th in passing at 27.1 assists per game and they are also ranked 5th off the glass with 47.2 boards per game. However, New Orleans has the 4th worst scoring defense in the entire NBA at 116.0 points per game allowed.

Like the Pelicans, the Mavericks also struggled lately with a seven game losing streak. In the 7th loss of that skid, they lost by one point to the Denver Nuggets on a game winning floater by Nikola Jokic. But the Mavericks’ have snapped their struggles after winning 121-116 in Cleveland on Saturday night.

Rookie sensation Luka Doncic leads the Mavericks with 21.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Tim Hardaway Jr. is fitting in nicely with an average of 15.2 points per game in 17 games since the Porzingis trade. J.J. Barea and Dwight Powell are scoring 10.9 and 10.2 points per game, respectively with Barea also contributing 5.6 assists per game. Jalen Brunson is having a solid season with 8.6 points and 2.8 assists per game.

Dallas is ranked 22nd in team scoring at 107.9 points per game. The Mavericks are ranked 24th in passing with 22.8 assists per game while they are also 19th off the glass with an average of 44.9 boards hauled per contest. Dallas has the 11th best scoring defense in the entire NBA at 109.6 points per game allowed this season.

The Pelicans are 3-7 SU in their last 10 games played. New Orleans is 3-2 SU in their last five road games. The Mavericks are 1-9 SU in their last 10 games played. Dallas is 1-3 SU in their last four home games played. Head to head, the Pelicans are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against the Mavericks.

Both these teams are struggling badly right now with the Pelicans on a six-game losing streak and the Mavericks just coming off a seven-game slide. However, the Mavs appear to have the momentum after beating the Cavs in their last game and playing at home for this contest. Likewise, Dirk Nowitzki is just four points behind Wilt Chamberlain in the scoring list and this could be a big night for him and the Mavs so I expect Dallas to be fired up for this one.

The Pelicans still have Anthony Davis but he’s not played a role in the outcome of their games because of the minutes restriction. Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore have been the key players for the Pelicans but both Moore is out indefinitely with a quad injury and Holiday has been out of action for the past week with an abdominal strain.

The Pelicans are only 12-25 SU on the road this season while the Mavericks are a decent 21-13 SU at home during this campaign. I like the fact that the Mavs are at home and that this could be a big night for Nowitzki.

I’m picking the Dallas Mavericks to beat the New Orleans Pelicans on 3/18/19.

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New Orleans is 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played but New Orleans is 4-1 ATS in their last five games played on the road. Dallas is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played and the Mavericks are 2-2 ATS in their last four home games. Head to head, the Mavericks are 2-1 ATS in their last three meetings against the Pelicans.

The Pelicans are 0-5 ATS in their last five games after a straight up loss, 0-5 ATS in their last five games after an ATS loss, 0-6 ATS in their last six games after allowing more than 100 points in their previous games and 0-6 ATS in their last six games overall. The Mavericks are 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games when playing on one day rest, 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games after allowing 100 or more points in their previous game and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games overall. Dallas pulls off a win on a big night for Dirk.

Prediction: Mavericks -4.5

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The over is 4-1 in the Pelicans’ last five games played. The total has gone over in three out of the last five road games played by New Orleans. The under is 6-4 in the Mavericks’ last 10 games played. The Mavericks have seen the total go under in each of their last four home games. Head to head, the over is 7-3 in the last 10 encounters between the Pelicans and Mavs.

The total has gone under in the last four games of Dallas against Western Conference teams. The under is 5-0-1 in Dallas’ last six against the Southwest. The Pelicans have also seen the total go under in four out of their last five game against the West and the under is 6-2 in their last 8 against their Southwest division rivals  If Doncic out or playing limited due to the knee injury which kept him out of Saturday’s game, I think the Dallas offense takes a hit in the scoresheet. The Pelicans are likewise without Holiday and Moore so give the injuries, the under is the safe pick here.

Prediction: Under

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Quick NBA Picks and Predictions

• Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers, Prediction: Detroit Pistons
• Utah Jazz -180 vs Washington Wizards +160, Prediction: Utah Jazz
• Denver Nuggets +145 vs Boston Celtics -165, Prediction: Boston Celtics
• Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City Thunder, Prediction: OKC Thunder

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