NBA Expert Picks and Best Bets | November 22

Before taking off for Thanksgiving, the NBA gives us a full plate of good match-ups Wednesday, including Giannis and the Bucks traveling to Boston riding a five-game win streak. We’re also talking about the division-leading Kings down in New Orleans and a rematch in San Antonio between the Clippers and Spurs. We had a good day Tuesday, let’s keep it going.

Kings -2 (-110) at FanDuel

We got a couple of rematches on today’s slate (no back-to-backs) starting with this one down in the Big Easy.

The Pelicans handed the Kings their worst loss of the season Monday night in a 129-93 beatdown. When New Orleans is healthy and playing well, they are as good as any team. The issue is, they are rarely healthy. They’re still missing guard CJ McCollum who had a collapsed lung, although he did practice Tuesday.

Sacramento leads the Pacific Division with a 9-6 record. They’re missing Keegan Murray with a bad back, but they still have De’Aaron Fox and Donatus Sabonis. The Kings are the least respected team in the NBA.

This comes down to how do you feel about rematches? I think the Kings will be amped up and ready to play. Sacramento is 5-1 against the spread in their last six. I think they cover.

Celtics -5.5 (-115) at BetMGM

This is the marquee game of the night at  Michigan sportsbooks with two Eastern Conference powers.

Milwaukee has won five in a row by an average of 15.2 points. Giannis Antetokoumpo is playing at an MVP level again. He went 20-23 from the floor against the Wizards Monday night, the highest shooting percentage for an NBA player since 1983.

But these are the Celtics, who are 5-0 at home and just are able to throw one great big guard after another at you. Jrue Holiday has given the C’s great minutes off the bench. Jayson Tatum is still fantastic. The Celtics have beaten the Bucks four of the last five.

The BetMGM spread is kind of high, but I’m feeling good about the Celtics pulling away late.

Clippers -8.5 (-110) | at DraftKings

After 15 games, we are starting to get a feel for what Spurs No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama is. He’s a freak. He still has a ways to go, but he looks like he can play in the NBA.

But man, he needs some help. The Spurs are lousy – again – they’ve lost nine in a row, and this is the other Wednesday rematch we were talking about. The Clippers handled the Spurs easily on Monday in LA covering the DraftKings 9-point spread spread.

James Harden is averaging 16 points in his seven games with the Clips so far, but this is still Paul George and Kawhi Leonard’s team. Remember, Leonard used to be a Spur, and he’s going to want to have a big game down in San Antonio.

I read an amazing stat in doing research for this game. (Yes, we do research). Greg Popovich has been the Spurs coach for 28 years and during that time every NBA team has had at least three coaches. That’s amazing.

This is not one of Pop’s best teams though. The Clippers will roll over them for a second time.