Jan 8, 5:20am | 4 min read

Daily Picks 01/08: Rocket Man

NBA

Dan Canova

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One of our expert hoops handicappers gives his best picks for today's games

ANALYSIS

In Monday’s NBA action, Nikola Jokic finished with 47 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Denver Nuggets in a 123-115 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Will Barton added 28 points, nine boards and five assists.

For the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic had 38 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 118-110 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Here are Today’s NBA Picks:

BET OF THE DAY:

San Antonio Spurs @ Boston Celtics

Since the 2016-17 NBA season, the San Antonio Spurs have a 4-1 against the spread record in night games against the Boston Celtics. (Stat courtesy of Statschecker)

The San Antonio Spurs will seek revenge against the Boston Celtics.

Back on Nov. 9 in San Antonio, Jaylen Brown finished with 30 points and seven rebounds and Kemba Walker had 26 points, eight assists and five boards for the Celtics in a 135-115 victory.

DeMar DeRozan led San Antonio with 22 points and four rebounds and Patty Mills contributed 20 points off the bench.

San Antonio is coming off a 126-104 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks. The Spurs will look to continue to keep trending in the right direction in this road game

I am not sure if the Spurs will pull out the win, but San Antonio plus the 6 points is the pick here.

2u – Spurs (+6.5) @ -110

Houston Rockets @ Atlanta Hawks

The Houston Rockets have a 4-1 against the spread record in night games against the Atlanta Hawks since the 2017-18 NBA season. (Stat courtesy of Statschecker)

The Houston Rockets enter this matchup having won two straight games - key wins over the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets - and they will look to make it three in a row against Atlanta.

James Harden finished with 44 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, Russell Westbrook contributed 20 points, seven boards and four assists, and Clint Capela had 30 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets in a 118-108 win over the Sixers on Friday.

Westbrook won’t be available for the Rockets in this game, but they still have Harden.

In 18 career games against the Hawks, Harden is averaging 25.9 points.

So far this season, Harden is averaging 38.4 points, 7.6 assists and 6.0 rebounds.

Take Houston minus the 8 points against an inferior Hawks team.

1u – Rockets (-8) @ -105

Denver Nuggets @ Dallas Mavericks

Since the 2017-18 NBA season, the Denver Nuggets have a 22-43-1 against the spread record after a win when playing as an away team. (Stat courtesy of Statschecker)

The Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks will look to win consecutive games when they face the Denver Nuggets.

In their game on Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, Doncic finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Dwight Powell added 16 points and seven boards in a 118-110 win.

For Doncic, it was the second straight game he had a triple-double with 30 or more points and it was his 11th triple-double overall this season, which is more than the rest of the NBA combined.

The Mavericks at home minus the 3 points are the pick here. Roll with Dallas.