Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – January 7th Edition

Six of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference standings are starting to take off, having won seven or more of their last ten games. Toronto still leads the East, with Milwaukee coming right behind them, just a game back. In the Western Conference, Denver has won five games in a row and eight of ten to lead the standings, 1 ½ games ahead of Golden State. Houston and San Antonio are just as hot as Denver right now, also winners of eight of their last ten. What can we expect to see this week in the NBA? Take a look at our three NBA betting picks from pro basketball for the week ahead.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – January 7th Edition

🏀NBA Power Rankings🏀: It’s all about the East’s top teams in this week’s rankings https://t.co/wjwAeyd4ov pic.twitter.com/A8Y3tkQmkf

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) January 2, 2019

Monday, January 7

Denver at Houston (8:00pm ET)

The Nuggets come out of a fairly easy stretch of games to take on the Rockets on the road. Their last four wins have come over Phoenix, New York, Sacramento and Charlotte. The big story in Denver right now is the emergence of center Nikola Jokic, who put up 39 points and a dozen rebounds against Charlotte in a 13-point win on Saturday. He also had six assists, three steals and a blocked shot — and he went 4 for 5 from the free throw line. Denver is off to their best start (26-11) in franchise history, and it has been 41 years since they led the conference standings this late in the season. Houston saw a six-game winning streak come to an end in Portland, falling 110-101. During that streak, the Rockets took down some of the league’s best: San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Boston, New Orleans and Golden State. The win in Golden State saw Houston erase a 20-point lead on the road and win in overtime, 135-134, so it made sense for the Rockets to come into Portland a little tired. In the loss to the Trail Blazers, James Harden’s five-game streak of scoring at least 40 points came to an end — as he settled for 38, going 13 for 35 and 5 for 17 from behind the arc and scoring just nine points in the first half. Can the Rockets get back up for Denver? At home, I say yes. NBA Betting Prediction: Houston 111, Denver 106

Tuesday, January 8

Minnesota at Oklahoma City (8:00pm ET, NBA TV)

The Minnesota Timberwolves decided to fire team president and head coach Tom Thibodeau…right after the team routed the Lakers by 22 points. Overall, the team had won three of five, but the drama that apparently began with the departure of Jimmy Butler never settled, and now the team has to head to Oklahoma City to take on a stout Thunder team. In the win over the Lakers, Andrew Wiggins put up 28 points, matched by 28 from Karl-Anthony Towns (and 18 boards). With that win, Minnesota is now 19-21, still looking for a way forward behind Towns and Wiggins. Oklahoma City saw a three-game winning streak against Washington, falling by 18 points at home, a setback that Paul George saw as a trap game. Russell Westbrook had a triple-double in the loss, but he also turned the ball over eight times. He led the team with 22 points, along with 20 from Paul George and 17 from Jerami Grant. I don’t expect the Thunder to have two sloppy games in a row. NBA Betting Prediction: Oklahoma City 109, Minnesota 98

Wednesday, January 9

Indiana at Boston (7:00pm ET)

Indiana will complete a back-to-back on Wednesday night at the TD Garden as they take on the Boston Celtics. The Pacers had won six in a row before losing by 16 in Toronto, and they play in Cleveland on Tuesday before heading to Boston the next night. In that loss to Toronto, the Pacers didn’t even have to face Kawhi Leonard. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 points, Domantas Sabonis put up 16 points and 11 boards, and Victor Oladipo added 16 more. The Pacers have still won 13 of 17, but now they have another tough road test on Wednesday. The Celtics have won three of four, taking down Memphis, Minnesota and Dallas over that span. That victory over the Mavericks on Friday featured 16 points, 11 boards and eight assists from Gordon Hayward, 21 points from Jaylen Brown and 18 points from Jayson Tatum. Kyrie Irving remains out (scratched corneas), so you’ll want to check injury reports before locking in this wager. Even so, the Celtics had solid ball movement without their starting point guard, dealing out 35 assists on 42 made baskets. NBA Betting Prediction: Boston 108, Indiana 101