The Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets will all be looking to take care of business at home when they take to the court for their respective matchups this coming week. If you’re looking to get your 2019 calendar year NBA hops betting off to a positive start, then let’s get to my trio of expert NBA betting picks for the week right now.
Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – December 31st Edition
James Harden going in sicko mode has the Rockets trending up in our Week 12 NBA rankings 🚀https://t.co/Gk24kchdMX pic.twitter.com/Rb9YuVjgM0
— ESPN (@espn) December 31, 2018
Detroit Pistons (16-18) at Milwaukee Bucks (25-10)
- When: Tuesday, January 1, 2019 at 8:00 PM ET
- Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- NBA Odds: OFF / Total: OFF
Detroit has lost two straight and four of their last five games overall including a narrow 109-107 loss to Orlando on Sunday night. The Pistons have been held to 95 points or less in three of their last five games and are averaging a modest 107.7 points per game to rank 21st in scoring while allowing 109.5 points per game defensively (14th).
Milwaukee has won three straight and seven of their last eight games including their emphatic 129-115 spanking of Brooklyn on Saturday. The Bucks have scored at least 107 points in seven of their last eight games and are leading the league in scoring by putting up a whopping 116.9 points per contest while allowing 107.9 points per game defensively (10th).
For this Tuesday night matchup, the Milwaukee Bucks are the super easy pick to dispatch a Detroit Pistons team that struggles to score in the worst way this season. Outside of Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson, the Pistons just don’t have a whole bunch of players that can out the ball in the hole consistently while Milwaukee is blossoming before our very eyes with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Malcolm Brogdon, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.
The Pistons are an uninspiring 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. Conversely, Milwaukee has gone 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games against their Eastern Conference counterparts, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games against their Central division rivals. Milwaukee wins this one going away!
NBA Betting Pick: Bucks 125 Pistons 110
Minnesota Timberwolves (17-19) at Boston Celtics (21-14)
- When: Wednesday, January 2, 2018 at 8:00 PM ET
- Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
- NBA Odds: OFF / Total: OFF
The Timberwolves have heated up a bit recently and will head into their Monday night matchup against New Orleans riding the wave of three wins in their last four games including their 113-104 win over Miami on Sunday. The Celtics are also playing a bit better recently and have now won three of their last four games after losing three straight prior to their last four. The C’s man-handled Memphis 112-103 on Saturday.
Minnesota might be playing well right now, but I’m not really impressed seeing as how the Wolves have beaten up on some mediocre teams in taking out Chicago and Miami over their last three games.
Minnesota is an uninspiring 8-10 on the road this season while Boston has gone 11-5 at TD Garden. The Timberwolves have a pair of gifted scorers in all-star center Karl Anthony Towns and athletic, but oft-underachieving swingman Andrew Wiggins, but that’s about it as far as offensive firepower. Boston is the deeper team both, with their starting unit and reserve players and they have the best coach in all of basketball. I like Boston to win this one by close to double digits.
NBA Betting Pick: Boston 114 Minnesota 105
New York Knicks (9-28) at Denver Nuggets (23-11)
- When: Wednesday, January 2, 2018 at 9:00 PM ET
- Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
- NBA Odds: OFF / Total: OFF
