PICKS & PARLAYS

The Houston Rockets (37-22), sitting third in the Western Conference, wrap up their road trip Monday at Capital One Arena to face the Washington Wizards (16-43) on March 2, tipping off at 7:00 PM ET, with Alex Sarr confirmed out with a hamstring injury for Washington as Houston brings Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, and Amen Thompson all active on a team that has beaten the Wizards six straight times and covered 15.5 or more in back-to-back meetings against this same squad, while Washington arrives on a four-game losing streak, ranked 29th in defensive efficiency, sitting 4-11 against the spread as a double-digit underdog since the calendar flipped to 2026 and facing a Rockets offense that Durant essentially runs from a one-man heist every time he sets foot in D.C.

The Denver Nuggets (37-24), fifth in the Western Conference and desperate for a bounce-back after dropping Sunday's home game to Minnesota, travel to Delta Center on Monday, March 2, tipping off at 9:00 PM ET against a Utah Jazz (18-42) squad that has lost five straight, surrenders the most points in the NBA, and is missing Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Jusuf Nurkic, and Jaren Jackson Jr. for the foreseeable future. The Joker is running on less than 24 hours of rest after logging 37-plus minutes and dropping 35 points against the Wolves, Jamal Murray is right behind him at 37 minutes and 25 points, and the supporting cast shot 6-for-22 from three in a game Denver needed. Utah is pure lottery mode. The spread opened at 11.5 and the total is sitting at 243.5, a number that gets more interesting the more you look at Denver's recent scoring in regulation games.

The Clippers and Warriors and the Nuggets and Jazz are squaring off on Monday, with Benedict Mathurin and Los Angeles looking for a big away win. Christian Braun and the Nuggets visit the Jazz seeking to cash in a win. McBets is targeting both players in his two game parlay.

The Pelicans and Clippers and the Grizzlies and Pacers are squaring off on Sunday, with Kris Dunn and Los Angeles looking for a big home win. Ben Sheppard and the Pacers host the Grizzlies seeking to reverse the losing trends. McBets is targeting both players in his two game parlay.

The Los Angeles Lakers (35-24), sitting seventh in the Western Conference with their eyes on a top-six seed, host the Sacramento Kings (14-47) at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, March 1, tipping off at 9:30 PM ET, with Sacramento missing Zach LaVine (hand surgery, out for the year), Domantas Sabonis (knee, out for the year), De'Andre Hunter (retinal repair, out for the year), Keegan Murray (calf), Drew Eubanks (thumb), and Devin Carter (ankle) while Russell Westbrook enters as questionable with a thigh issue, leaving DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, and a skeleton crew to hold off a Los Angeles squad that just ended its three-game losing skid with a bounce-back win over Golden State on Saturday, with Luka Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer at 32.6 points per game, and LeBron James looking to feast on the league's most depleted rotation in what shapes up as the softest spot on the Sunday slate and the cleanest spread on the board at Lakers -13.