NBA Basketball Picks

Sportsbooks have one of the preseason East favorites 76ers as a 2 point underdog versus the Pacers tonight. It’s completely understandable for a young team to struggle on the road, particularly one as oddly designed as the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s also completely understandable for a team from Philly to be undefeated at home. It’s not completely understandable for a team with two of the fifteen best players in the NBA to look disjointed and out of sync offensively. Brett Brown’s lineup decisions are sometimes head scratching, but leaving Markelle Fultz alongside Ben Simmons is basketball malpractice. Can the Sixers coach their way to giving the Pacers a fight? Kyle Cash has your NBA pick.

The rumors of Portland’s demise were greatly exaggerated. Despite having their butts handed to them in an embarrassing sweep in the 2018 NBA playoffs by the Brow, the Trail Blazers have looked like a team out to prove that their 2018 playoff 3rd seed wasn’t a fluke. Unfortunately the closest thing the NBA has to the Brow is the Freak and tonight is the Freak Show. Can the Blazers stay hot when they host the Bucks? Sportsbooks have this game as a pick’em and Kyle Cash has your NBA pick!

New Orleans is in trouble. The injury bug has already hit the Pelicans hard; Elfrid Payton has been sidelined for more than a week, and AD is going to need to be rebuilt like Robocop if he ever wants to play a full season. The Western Conference takes no prisoners, and New Orleans has too small of a margin of error to be punting games due to injury concerns. Which players have enough Duck tape to go on Monday night and can they play like they are 100%? Kyle Cash has your NBA prediction.

In order for Phoenix to come away with a W that they don’t even want, they are going to have to rely on their superstar Devin Booker. Despite his early health problems, Booker has looked like he’s ready to make the leap, and he’s a legitimate go-to scorer/playmaker. Can the Suns young scorers show something against some of the best defenders in the NBA? Kyle Cash has your NBA pick.

In their last time out, Boston finally made a stride towards figuring out their proper closing 5-man group of players. Kyrie Irving was up to his old tricks, Tatum is a young, blossoming go-to scorer, Horford commands their daunting defensive front, and Gordon Hayward does whatever it is that he feels comfortable doing right now. Their fifth spot theoretically belongs to Jaylen Brown, but early struggles and injuries have left him standing as the odd man out. Can Boston get JB back in full gear and can he shut down Oladipo to help the Celtics cover the spread? Kyle Cash has the NBA pick and prediction.

The best chance the Wizards have of salvaging their season is through the incorporation of Dwight Howard into their rotation. With his debut on Friday, we’ll be able to see what it looks like when John Wall has a legitimate rim-running, above-the-rim athlete as a pick-and-roll partner. Howard can set hard screens to free up Beal on the perimeter. He has untapped passing ability, so maybe a little high-low action from the elbow with cutters like Kelly Oubre Jr. and Otto Porter? The possibilities are endless! Or maybe Dwight can come back in time to play his usual role of the fall guy for a failed season? Kyle Cash breaks down the chances of the Wiz beating OKC and gives his NBA pick.

Anthony Davis is a once-in-a-generation talent. There’s hardly any dispute surrounding that. But he’s also a once-in-a-generation glass skeleton; it’s impossible that a man this big and strong can get this many ticky-tack injuries. He looked like he was operating at 80% capacity in last night’s bout versus the defending champions, and 80% isn’t going to cut it for a team who’s 4th best player is E’Twaun Moore. What can we expect out of Davis tonight versus Dame and the Blazer? Cash gives his prediction.

What Indiana lacks in style they make up for in competency. Nate McMillan’s team ranks in the top-10 in the NBA in Offensive Rating, Defensive Rating, and Boring as Shit rating. The Pacers are the perfect control test team; they are perfectly balanced. They are too talented and professional to lose to bad teams but lack the talent to take on the league’s elite. Most betting sites have Pacers -5.5 and their efficiency should mean an easy cover, right?

Coach Nick Nurse hasn’t proven the ability to game plan for the 76ers but they have bodies to throw at guys defensively. Ibaka is a stout defender, while Anunoby and Siakam are long enough and athletic enough to be a problem. Not much needs to be said about that new pair of baseball gloves from San Antonio. If Toronto watches the tape from the Hawks game and decides to sag off of Fultz and Simmons, the onus will be on them to knock down shots or find other ways to score. This will allow Raptors to help on Embiid on the block. Will the Raptors use the tools available and can bettors count on Nurse to be disciplined for 48 and cover the -6.5 most betting sites are dangling?

Los Angeles currently sits in the bottom-10 of both offensive and defensive rating, and it’s unclear whether the main culprit is scheme, personnel, chemistry, or all of the above. I’m going to go with D. All of the above. Final answer. LeBron-led teams have struggled on defense over the last couple of seasons as the King has realized his energy is best saved for offense, but that end isn’t clicking yet either. Who will win this pick’em game outright and earn the right to say they are a 3-4 team? Kyle Cash has his NBA pick!