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Happy Monday, RotoBallers! I hope you had a good weekend and are looking forward to the Super Bowl in less than a week. In terms of the NBA, we have six games on the slate tonight.
There are a few compelling matchups with Western Conference teams taking their yearly East Coast road trips. The Clippers are in Atlanta to take on the Hawks, and the Sacramento Kings will square off against the Cavs in what is my favorite game on the slate.
In this article, I'll be providing my favorite picks against the spread, game totals, parlays, and teasers for the NBA slate that tips off at 7:00 p.m. EST on Monday, February 5. Follow me on X, @Jwiesel13.
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NBA Betting Picks: Spreads & ML
Sacramento Kings (+5.5) at Cleveland Cavaliers (233 total)
These are two teams playing great basketball right now. Cleveland is starting to get healthy again with the returns of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. Even without them, the Cavs just kept winning games, going 18-4 in their last 22 games.
In his last 15 games, Donovan Mitchell has played excellent basketball. The now five-time All-Star has averaged 28.5 points, 7.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.9 steals over his last 15 games. Jarrett Allen also deserves a ton of praise, and I think he should be named an All-Star reserve. Over his last 15 games, the Cavs big man has averaged 17.6 points and 13.2 rebounds. Evan Mobley had 28 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes of action Saturday night against the Spurs.
On the other side, the Kings have been playing well, winning six of their last seven games. Sacramento has hit 50.6 percent of their field goals during this run, while scoring a little over 120 points per game. This team can also get to the line, as showcased by hitting 24 of 29 attempts in their road win in Chicago on Saturday.
All-Star snubs Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox have played with fire since neither heard their names called on TNT on Thursday night. Fox comes into this game off of a 41-point outing in the win against the Bulls. Sabonis had a triple-double Saturday and is averaging 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 8.5 assists on 68.2 percent shooting in his last two games.
The Kings are on the last game of their seven-game road trip that started in Golden State on January 25. I like the Kings in this road spot to cover. They are 8-3 ATS as a road underdog this season. Mike Brown's team is 10th in defensive rating over the course of this road trip. For the season, Sacramento sits 17th. This road trip felt like a turning point in their season.
The Pick: Kings +5.5 (-110 DraftKings)
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NBA Betting Picks: ML & Spreads
Golden State Warriors (-1) at Brooklyn Nets (236.5 total)
After losing to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, the Warriors dropped to 21-25 this season. Stephen Curry dropped 60 points, but it wasn't enough. At the end of regulation, Steph had a chance to end it but missed a shot that would've ended it. Atlanta outscored them 18-11 in the extra frame, and the frustrating season for Curry and the Warriors continued.
Coming off that overtime loss and having to travel to Brooklyn, I'm going to take the Nets in the first quarter here. Brooklyn got off to a hot 38-22 first quarter start in Philadelphia on Saturday and never looked back. That was on the road, where the Nets improved to 7-16 ATS in the first quarter. In the Barclays Center, this team is an NBA-best 20-4-1 ATS in the opening quarter. They are 10-0 in their last 10.
Only the Cavs (22.8) have held opponents to fewer first-quarter points than the Nets (23.2) during that 10-game home stretch. Golden State is 12-7-1 ATS on the road in first quarters this season. They are the best three-point shooting team, but the Nets are holding opponents to a league-low 6.8 attempts and only two outside makes. During these 10 games, teams are shooting 29.3 percent beyond the arc at Barclays Center. If they can limit three-pointers, the Nets could be in good shape, as the Warriors are only converting 46.3 percent of their field goals.
Brooklyn is averaging 31.5 points while shooting 52.7 percent on FGA and 38.1 percent from three. To counter Golden State's average of 4.5 threes in the opening 12 minutes, the Nets are hitting around four. This should allow them to keep pace if it becomes a higher-scoring quarter.
The Nets are third in offensive rating and second in defensive rating in their last 10 first quarters at home. I like them to continue that good play tonight.
The Pick: Nets First Quarter ML (-105 FanDuel)
Favorite Teaser: SAC +10 - ATL +8 (+110 FD)
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