Tuesday NBA picks: Clippers vs Sixers, Trail Blazers vs Pelicans, and Spurs vs Thunder — will Joel Embiid's Twitter antics impact his play?
0-1 Monday, 92-87-1 overall.
Clippers (-1) @ Sixers (226)
Pick: Sixers +1
How do we not take Philly as a short home dog? At 24-2 at Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers enter Tuesday’s game with the best straight-up home record in the NBA. The ATS record is nowhere near as lopsided for the Sixers on Broad and Pattison, though still a very respectable 14-10-2, which is good for the sixth-best home cover rate in the Association. But in only three of those 26 games were the Sixers an underdog. They won all three outright against Milwaukee, Boston and the Lakers. Joel Embiid had some fun on social media last night, and it will be interesting to see how he is received by the fans tonight. However, we’re expecting him to look like his old self on Tuesday and lead the Sixers to a victory heading into the All-Star break. There’s been a lot of chatter about the Sixers nationally within the last 7-10 days and Embiid specifically after Al Horford’s comments last week hinted at locker room problems. This is the kind of game on national television that a player like Embiid steps up in and shuts everyone up.
Trail Blazers (+3) @ Pelicans (240)
Pick: Trail Blazers +3
Time and time again, I find myself disagreeing with lines on Pelicans games. This is the 10th game for Zion Williamson in his rookie season. In the previous nine, New Orleans is both 5-4 straight-up and against the number. Seven of those nine games have been against teams currently in playoff spots. In those seven games, the Pelicans won and covered in just three. One of those wins came on Saturday night in Indiana against the Pacers. With Williamson in the fold, results have fluctuated up and down for New Orleans yet the number on tonight’s game suggests these teams are about even. That’s simply not a message I can get behind with the Trail Blazers coming in having won seven out of their last 10 and also sporting a 7-3 ATS mark in their last 10 games. Damian Lillard appears to be on a mission to get his team into the postseason, where they could be one of the more interesting eight seeds in the NBA playoffs in a while. With wins over Miami, the Lakers and Dallas during this hot streak, the Blazers are beginning to look like the team that got to the Western Conference Finals and it might not be too late either. The wrong team is favored in the Big Easy tonight.
Spurs (+8.5) @ Thunder (218.5)
Pick: Spurs +8.5
We’ve mentioned before that as the regular season winds down, the Spurs are going to be a team we want to continue to buy, especially getting this many points. We might soon be living in a world where the San Antonio Spurs are not in the NBA Playoffs, but they’re not going away without a fight. A fight is all we need tonight to cover a number this big. San Antonio also let one get away last night in Denver, leading by 14 at half, only to lose to the Nuggets by seven and also push the spread. While this might be a deflating type of loss for a younger team, a veteran squad like the Spurs is one we’d expect to relish the opportunity to get right back on the floor the next day. Oklahoma City has been one of the biggest overachievers in the NBA so far this season, but these teams are simply too close to each other in talent for us to think this number is warranted.