O'Sullivan's Christmas Day NBA Picks: Hawks at Knicks, Celtics at Bucks, Warriors at Suns, Mavericks at Jazz

I hope everyone (who cares to) is enjoying a happy and safe Christmas Day…with a mass of (now) unwrapped gifts under the tree, steaming mugs of hot chocolate fogging up your reading glasses, and-

“Cut the crap, O’Sullivan,” you’re saying. “Get to the picks.”

-and as I was about to say, your phone glowing with several sportsbook apps ready to take your winning picks. Okay?

Seattle O’Sullivan 2021-2022 NBA Season so far: 92-115-2, -$392.97

(Standing Caveat: The universe is chaotic. Life is unpredictable. Things happen. Like injuries. In following Seattle O’Sullivan’s betting advice, be advised that you should always monitor your bets during the day to make certain unforeseen things have not occurred which might change your wagering opinion. Thank you.)

Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks, 12 pm Eastern

Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks, 2:30 pm Eastern

The Pick: Teaser Atlanta +13.5 w/Milwaukee pick -132, bet $20 to win $15.38

Both Atlanta and New York are depleted with injuries and COVID, but the Hawks still managed to beat Philadelphia on the road on Thursday, while the Knicks managed to drop a game at home to Washington. Since it’s the early game on a holiday, in addition to featuring a lot of bench players getting a national spotlight for the first time, I am not expecting a well-played or offensively-skilled game. So I’ll tease that spread up to 13.5 while asking Milwaukee just to beat Boston in the next game. There is optimism that Giannis Antetokounmpo will clear COVID protocol in time for the game, and if he does, well, taking the Bucks at a pick ‘em will feel like a nice, warm mug of egg nog falling down my gullet. Even if he doesn’t play, I like the Bucks at home in a nationally-televised contest.

Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns, 5 pm Eastern

Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz, 10:30 pm Eastern

The Pick: Teaser Phoenix +0.5 w/Utah -5.5, bet $25 to win $19.18

I’m going with a similar philosophy for the evening games. Golden State and Phoenix are the top two teams in the Western Conference, but the Warriors will be missing Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, and Andre Iguodala, while the Suns have just gotten Devin Booker back and are pretty healthy. They’re also at home, so the tease to get them to be a home underdog is appealing. To do that, I’ll pair them up with Utah and a spread lowered to just 5.5 points. The Mavericks are quite thin tonight due to COVID protocols. The Jazz are actually 1-5 against the spread at home in their last six, and so I don’t think they’ll be screwing around tonight. They take care of business in the late game while most of us are already asleep.