Wednesday is the last full night of NBA action before the All-Star break with 20 of the league’s 30 teams in action. All but six teams around the league are then off for the week-long break.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Post-break, it’s important to know which teams are trying and which are flat-out tanking in an effort to get as many ping-pong balls as possible in the NBA Draft lottery. Remember, the team with the worst record no longer has the highest percentage of landing the top pick. Instead, the teams with the three worst records all have an equal chance.
The Memphis Grizzlies visit the Chicago Bulls in one Wednesday game, the second of a back-to-back for the Grizzlies. There’s zero doubt both these teams are in full tank mode so a win here could be detrimental. It’s the first meeting between the clubs. Memphis has covered just two of its past 12 in the second of a back-to-back, and is a 1.5-point betting underdog.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns visit the Los Angeles Clippers late Wednesday. Both those teams also have their eyes on the lottery. The Suns are simply terrible, while the Clippers made some interesting trades last week in jettisoning some of their best players – Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley – even though they are in the mix for one of the West’s playoff spots.
Clippers management knows the team has no chance at winning a first-round playoff series, and if the Clippers finish in the lottery they get to keep their first-round draft pick. If they make the playoffs, they must give that pick to the Boston Celtics. The Clippers go for the four-game season sweep of the Suns. Los Angeles has covered the past six at home in the series.
Perhaps the game of the night is Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers in what could be an Eastern Conference semifinals preview. The Bucks, who are 4.5-point road favorites on the Wednesday odds, got better at the trade deadline in landing Nikola Mirotic (although he’s still out injured) from the New Orleans Pelicans, while Indiana stood pat.
The Pacers’ chances of making too much noise in the postseason likely ended a couple of weeks ago when All-Star guard Victor Oladipo went down with a season-ending injury, yet Indiana is on a six-game winning streak. These teams have split two early-season meetings, each winning easily at home. The home team is 7-1 ATS in the past eight meetings.
Sacramento Kings at Denver Nuggets could be a first-round West playoff preview. The Kings have the longest postseason drought in the NBA but made two nice additions in Harrison Barnes and Alec Burks before the trade deadline. Denver leads the season series 2-0 and this is the final regular-season meeting. The Kings are just 1-7 ATS in the previous eight games and sit as 7.5-point underdogs for Wednesday night.
