Previewing Tuesday’s Bucks at Pelicans sports betting odds, with NBA matchup analysis and picks.
The East-leading Milwaukee Bucks (42-7) will take on Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans (20-30) on Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center in the Big Easy. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. ET.
We analyze Bucks-Pelicans odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
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Bucks at Pelicans: Key injuries
Bucks
PG George Hill (hamstring): Out
Pelicans
None
Bucks at Pelicans: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. ET.
The Bucks are predictably favored in this one, but the Pelicans are a different team with Williamson in the fold now. They’re 3-1 in their last four games and only lost to the Rockets in Houston by eight Sunday.
The Bucks’ moneyline is -278, which doesn’t offer much reward for the amount of risk that comes with betting against the Pelicans – even with Milwaukee being 9-1 in its last 10. The Pelicans are too dangerous (and healthy) right now, so I’d PASS on the moneyline.
New to sports betting? A $10 wager on the Bucks returns a profit of $3.60.
The Bucks are 6.5-point road favorites, and as good as they’ve been at home, they’ve been just as great on the road. They carry a 19-4 away record into this one, but are only 13-10 ATS on the road. The Pelicans are 14-11 ATS at home, but 4-2 in their last six.
Take the PELICANS +6.5 (-110) to cover the spread, as they’ve frequently done lately. They’re 7-3 ATS overall in their last 10 games and 26-23-1 ATS all season.
The over/under is a whopping 245.5 points, which is a huge number. However, both offenses are red-hot right now and New Orleans’ defense is ranked 28th in the NBA in points allowed. Both teams can score in a hurry and easily top 120 each.
The total has gone Over in 13 of the Pelicans’ last 17 games and five of the Bucks’ last seven games against the West. Bet OVER 245.5 (-106).
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Previewing Tuesday’s Charlotte Hornets at Houston Rockets sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Charlotte Hornets (16-34) travel to Toyota Center to take on the Houston Rockets (31-18) Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. We analyze the Hornets-Rockets sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
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Hornets at Rockets: Key injuries
Hornets
SF P.J. Washington (ankle) questionable
Rockets
PG Russell Westbrook (thumb) doubtful
C Clint Capela (heel) out
SF Gerald Green (foot) out
C Nene Hilario (groin) out
Hornets at Rockets: Odds, lines, picks, and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 1:15 p.m. E.T.
The Rockets (-1000) are monster moneyline favorites in this contest over the Hornets (+650) as they have won eight of their last 11 games at home. Meanwhile, Charlotte has lost 14 straight road games at Houston. Despite Houston being the better team, PASS on this moneyline due to the lack of value on the Rockets.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Rockets to win straight up returns a profit of just $1.
The ROCKETS (-13.5, -110) are double-digit favorites, despite likely being without two key starters in Westbrook and Capela. With G James Harden on the court, the Rockets are still an incredibly tough team to beat. It also doesn’t help that the Hornets have lost 11 of their last 12 games and are just 8-18 on the road this season. While 13.5 points are a ton in any NBA game, take the Rockets to cover this spread at home and win by at least 14 points.
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Could some of these names move by Thursday afternoon?
All the big names get a lot of attention at the NBA trade deadline, but what about the big contracts due to expire this summer?
They deserve as much attention, because they’re used as trading chips in deals to make sure salaries match and for those who acquire them, perhaps some cap relief this offseason in order to spend money in free agency.
So we combed through Basketball Reference’s database of contracts to find the deals set to finish this summer and found a few of the big ones who could be involved in what could be a very busy Thursday.
Atlanta Hawks: Chandler Parsons ($25.1 million), Jeff Teague ($19 million), Evan Turner ($18.6 million)
No wonder there’s a report they could be interested in Clint Capela. They could send some of these to Houston to help the Rockets get money off their books this summer.
Brooklyn Nets: Joe Harris ($7.67 million)
The sharpshooter went from shooting 47.4 percent from three to 40.5 percent. That’s still good! If the Nets think they’re a playoff team, they could hold on to him.
Charlotte Hornets: Bismack Biyombo ($17 million), Marvin Williams ($15 million), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ($13 million)
Michael Jordan is probably looking very much forward to this offseason, but I would guess he’d rather have the cap room than deal for a long-term deal at the deadline.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Tristan Thompson ($18.5 million), Brandon Knight ($15.6 million), John Henson ($9.7 million), Matthew Dellavedova ($9.6 million)
I’d be surprised if Thompson doesn’t end up somewhere, and I wonder if the Cavs just end up with some cap room and start surrounding their young nucleus with some short-term talent and veteran leadership.
Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson ($18 million), Langston Galloway ($7.3 million)
Maybe someone wants Jackson as a rental off the bench for a playoff run? Probably not.
Dallas Mavericks: Courtney Lee ($12.7 million)
He’s been on EIGHT TEAMS! It could be nine as the seasoned vet hasn’t played much this year.
Denver Nuggets: Paul Millsap ($30.5 million), Mason Plumlee ($14 million)
I think Millsap and Plumlee are valuable enough for the contenders that they hold on to them for the postseason, especially after they recover from injury.
Los Angeles Clippers: Mo Harkless ($11.5 million)
Same with the Clips and Harkless.
Memphis Grizzlies: Andre Iguodala ($17.1 million), Solomon Hill ($13.2 million)
The Knicks, being the rational, forward-thinking organization that they are, fired team president Steve Mills on Tuesday — just days ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
And according to multiple reports, the Knicks already have a dream candidate in mind to replace Mills. It’s Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri.
There’s just a couple problems with that: Ujiri is under contract with Toronto through the 2020-21 season, which would require Jim Dolan to either be patient (lol) or give up assets to Toronto. There’s also the whole Masai Ujiri publicly said he hated the Knicks thing.
In a 2014 interview with George Stroumboulopoulos (the tweet below incorrectly says 2015), Ujiri said, “I hate the Knicks.” Not exactly the kind of quote you’d want from a person to lead, well, the Knicks.
On one hand, hate is a strong word — even stronger when a person says it publicly and on TV. But Dolan would probably look past those comments if it meant getting Ujiri, and Ujiri could probably look past his Knicks hatred for a boatload of money.
But these are the Knicks we’re talking about — the same Knicks that were certain they were landing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and every other marquee free agent the past decade. In all likelihood, Ujiri will remain in Toronto and the Knicks will continue their incompetence.
Previewing Tuesday’s San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.
The Los Angeles Lakers (37-11) host the San Antonio Spurs (22-27) Tuesday at Staples Center for a 10 p.m. ET tip-off. We analyze the Spurs-Lakers sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
Spurs at Lakers: Key Injuries
Lakers
PG Alex Caruso (neck) probable
C DeMarcus Cousins (knee) out
PF Anthony Davis (shoulder) probable
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Spurs at Lakers: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 10:45 a.m. ET.
The Lakers (-769) are an easy choice once again on home court, if not for the cost-prohibitive odds. The top seed in the Western Conference is 16-6 at home this season and 6-4 over its last 10 games overall. The Spurs (+525) are 5-5 over their last 10 games, but just 8-15 on the road while entering Tuesday in 10th place in the West. They lost 108-105 to the Los Angeles Clippers Monday as they suit up for the second night in a row.
The Lakers lead the head-to-head season series 2-0 with 103-96 and 114-104 victories both coming in San Antonio. We’ll PASS on the moneyline bet as they go for the season sweep due to the heavy chalk. A $10 bet on the Lakers to win straight up will return a profit of just $1.30.
Back the SPURS (+12.5, -115) as they’re catching double-digit points on the road and will need only to stay within 12 points in a loss. The Lakers’ previous two head-to-head victories came by margins of 10 and 7 points. San Antonio is 22-26-1 against the spread overall and a strong 13-9 on the road. Los Angeles is 25-22-1 ATS overall and an unimpressive 11-10-1 at home.
The Spurs have lost by 10 or more points just seven times this season and not since Jan. 10. They’re 4-1 ATS on the second half of back-to-backs.
The Spurs are also 4-1 against the Over/Under when playing on no rest. As such, we’ll back the OVER 229.5 (-106). The two teams combine to average 227.4 points per game this season with 220.7 PPG allowed. The tired Spurs will struggle on defense against LeBron James and Co., but they’ll close the gap enough late to send this one Over the projected total.
Esten’s NBA betting record: 178-145
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A beef between Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant and Warriors star Steph Curry was not a feud many could have anticipated, oh, two days ago, but this is where we are.
Morant and Curry threw shade at each other on social media after Morant and Grizzlies teammate Dillon Brooks went public with their desire to see veteran forward Andre Iguodala traded from Memphis. Iguodala has refused to play for the Grizzlies and urged the front office to buy his contract out or trade him. The situation has since turned ugly, and, well, the fearless Morant doesn’t care about Iguodala’s accolades or NBA veteran status.
As the beef between Curry and Morant got into full swing, the Grizzlies rookie brought attention to his 2015 tweet that praised Curry’s championship. He explained that he was a fan then, still is a fan now … but he’s not scared of Curry.
lol delete it for what? if you scroll down my twitter you’ll see me talking about curry a lot . probably some other players too . i was a fan & still a fan but iann scared of him 😂😂
Seriously, just brilliant stuff from Morant. He preemptively called himself out, leaving NBA Twitter trolls to scrape for lackluster material like this.
There is one thing we’ve learned about Memphis Grizzlies rookie sensation Ja Morant: he has no fear. None whatsoever.
The point guard’s confidence is overflowing — remember when he yelled at James Harden last month after hitting a shot in his face? — and he backs it up with his incredible play.
Now, he’s going toe-to-toe with Steph Curry over social media.
The background: on Monday, Morant’s teammate Dillon Brooks said of the holding out Andre Iguodala that he “can’t wait til we find a way to trade (Iguodala) so we can play him and show him really what Memphis is about.”
Russell is being chased by multiple teams, Iguodala might not return this season if he doesn’t get dealt and more of the latest rumors.
RUSSELL ON THE MOVE AFTER ALL? The original belief was that the Warriors, who will certainly be sellers, were set to hold onto All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell and trade him over the summer after they’ve had time to evaluate him for a full season. As it turns out, however, that might not necessarily be set in stone, as it was reported Monday that Golden State is listening to pitches for their talented young ball-handler, with a few teams registering interest.
One of those teams is obvious; the Timberwolves have long been rumored to badly covet Russell, not just for his obvious talent level and their huge need in the backcourt, but because of his friendship with Karl-Anthony Towns, who’s experiencing a rough season in Minnesota, and not due to his own contributions.
But another team popped up as having interest in Russell, one that we hadn’t heard about on this front before, and that was the Knicks. Some of the players that were mentioned as heading back to Golden State in a theoretical swap for Russell were Bobby Portis and Frank Ntilikina, both of who could be solid role players on an elite team, which the Warriors believe they’ll be next season.
MORE TRADE SCUTTLE: The rumors are running rampant now with the trade deadline under three days away. Here’s just some of the latest. (For more, you can check out our Trade Rumors page.)
The Wizards want to improve at the deadline so as to show Bradley Beal they’re serious about turning things around, and one player they are reportedly targeting is Tristan Thompson. He’d be interesting there, setting strong picks for Beal and John Wall and finishing out of the pick-and-roll.
FUTURE COACH? John Wall has spent a ton of time rehabbing over the past 13 months, but he hasn’t let it go to waste. Wall is using his time off to sharpen his basketball mind, and he hopes he can use this experience to become a coach or front-office member in his post-playing career.
RAGS TO RICHES: A dude who spent over a decade playing semi-professional basketball and eventually gave up on his dream of reaching the NBA following a failed tryout with the Knicks in 2016 turned to fashion, and has now become a successful jeans designer.
OOPS: Spurs big man Jakob Poeltl checked into last night’s San Antonio game – like, legitimately got on the court – without his jersey on. It was hilarious.
Now that the Super Bowl is done, it’s time to seriously focus on the NBA again, and the timing couldn’t be better.
Thursday at 3 p.m. ET marks the league’s trade deadline, and the reports and rumors are already flying around like crazy. Heck, in the middle of the run-up to the big NFL game on Sunday, there was already an Adrian Wojnarowski report that the Houston Rockets were talking with some teams about dealing Clint Capela.
So here are a bunch of reports being floated about some possible trades, along with some grades ranging from, “hey, that’s actually not bad!” to “… really?”
1. This possible Luke Kennard deal
Possible package gaining traction for Kennard, per sources: Jevon Carter, Elie Okobo and a first-round pick. Suns imagine Kennard as a 30 minute-plus per game floor spacer to complement Devin Booker, Kelly Oubre, Jr., and Ricky Rubio. https://t.co/1iw2iqPmq2
What?! The Pistons want to trade a young player on a rookie contract in the middle of a career year (15.8 ppg, nearly 40 percent from three) who, despite health problems, looks like he’s breaking out? For THAT return?
GRADE: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
2. Clint Capela to the Celtics?
ESPN Sources: Another team engaged with the Houston Rockets in trade talks for center Clint Capela: The Boston Celtics.
We don’t know exactly the return, but this makes the most sense to me. The Celtics are thin at center especially if Daniel Theis is hurt and could use a big body like Capela if they face the Bucks and the Greek Freak. I wonder if a deal would involve Gordon Hayward in that case, but we’re not that far along.
The Knicks have also registered interest in Russell and discussed potential packages, league sources said. But the Warriors could choose to hold onto him until at least this summer to see if more deals materialize when they would no longer be hard capped.
If the Knicks can make a deal that doesn’t involve their young core (extremely unlikely) or first-rounders (the Dubs would probably hang up the phone), great. Otherwise, this is just a reminder that the Knicks should have signed Russell to an offer sheet this offseason.
GRADE: Ugh.
4. Julius Randle to the Hornets
Some names that came up in Hornets and Knicks recent talks included Julius Randle, Dennis Smith Jr., Terry Rozier and Malik Monk, per SNY sources. Ringer first reported that Knicks and Hornets had recently discussed Julius Randle.
Minnesota has been engaged in talks regarding Covington, whose suitors include Dallas, Houston and Milwaukee, according to sources. The Mavericks and Rockets discussed potential deals for Covington in the offseason, with the Mavericks having their 2020 Golden State second-rounder and the Rockets dangling future first-round compensation. Still, some executives have worries about Covington’s remaining two years and $25 million deal and injury concerns.
Injury concerns, sminjury concerns. I’m a huge fan of his game and he could turn a playoff team into a contender with his 3-and-D play.
GRADE: The Rockets and Bucks deals would be GOOD.
6. Danilo Gallinari to the Heat?
From ESPN’s Zach Lowe: “The Heat are among teams who have expressed interest in Danilo Gallinari.”
Oh HECK YEAH. As long as it doesn’t cost Miami one of their young studs (maybe Justise Winslow gets thrown in?), I love the idea of another stretchy shooter to go along with Tyler Hero, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson and Bam Adebayo. An already-dangerous team gets even tougher.
GRADE: YES YES YES DOOOOOOO IT.
7. Derrick Rose to the Lakers?
Yahoo says L.A. or the 76ers are interested, but the Lakers need backcourt depth badly and a fourth scorer behind Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma.
HoopsHype discusses D’Angelo Russell’s trade value and potential destinations with various NBA executives. We also look at the analytics.
As we approach the 2020 NBA trade deadline, one of the All-Star-level players who has been rumored about the most to this point has been Golden State Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell, who many expect to get dealt either by Thursday or, at the latest, over the offseason. It’s not because of his play that he’s a prime trade candidate, as the 23-year-old ball-handler is averaging 23.8 points and 6.3 assists per contest on 43.3/38.3/78.0 shooting splits, but rather simply because the Warriors project to have two All-NBA guards in their rotation next year, making Russell an expendable asset.
HoopsHype recently discussed Russell’s trade value and where he might end up with various league executives, and the responses varied quite a bit.
One Eastern Conference general manager told us: “D’Angelo Russell should be able to bring back a lot in a trade because you are getting a guy with cost certainty who’s under contract for three more years after this one and he’s still very young.”
Though age and contract certainly have to be factored in here, the fact that Russell is earning a max salary worth four years and $117.3 million might actually be a hindrance when it comes to moving him. As of now, Russell projects to be the 35th-highest paid player in basketball next season, but none of the catch-all advanced metrics, including Value Over Replacement Player (where he ranks 75th), Box Plus/Minus (55th) or Win Shares per 48 Minutes (146th!) have him producing at anywhere near that level this year.
Despite the advanced metrics, though, Russell is still held in high esteem around the Association, as one NBA executive told HoopsHype that he could see the Warriors netting multiple first-round picks in a deal for the five-year veteran while another said a Russell trade could return a player and a pick to Golden State.
That probably has to do with the fact that Russell is such an effective high-volume point producer, one who ranks as a “very good” scorer coming off of screens, in isolation and out of dribble hand-offs while producing “excellent” value as a spot-up shooter, per Synergy Sports. In the modern NBA, where such a premium is placed on offense, particularly through shooting, Russell can absolutely be considered a game-changing talent.
As far as potential landing spots for Russell, there were a few teams that consistently popped up in responses from league execs.
One Eastern Conference executive told HoopsHype: “With D-Lo, I could see a lot of teams at least discussing him. I could see the San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons all trying to see if there would be a deal – and probably some other teams too.”
Another responded to us: “Minnesota is possible and, I agree, they make sense. If not Minnesota, New York could be a possible landing spot.”
Finally, a third league exec told HoopsHype: “Russell could return a player and a pick. The Timberwolves are being linked to him, but they would have to include a lot more to complete a deal. It would probably include Robert Covington, but they’d need to add a lot more and the money doesn’t work.”
It’s no secret the Timberwolves desperately covet Russell, not just for his fit with the team (and the fit is definitely there, as Minnesota has badly needed a backcourt upgrade since Sam Cassell was there), but because of his friendship with the team’s best – and most important – player, Karl-Anthony Towns. There have been multiple occasions this season where the All-NBA-caliber big man has displayed his frustration with the constant losing, so the Timberwolves would be wise to find a way to improve their roster before he legitimately becomes disgruntled in Minnesota.
Could Andrew Wiggins and draft capital be enough for Golden State to accept a Russell trade? Wiggins has been a disappointment to this point in his career, but the Warriors have done a great job recently of getting the most out of their players, as was the case with Willie Cauley-Stein, Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks, who all became productive role players this year for the Dubs. If Golden State is able to work similar magic with Wiggins, they’d be filling a huge need on the wing to play alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
Meanwhile, the Knicks likewise make sense for Russell, as New York is severely lacking firepower in their backcourt, and has been since the days of Allan Houston, who was their last ball-handler to be named an All-Star all the way back in 2000-01. There is also a report that Russell was interested in signing with the Knicks this past summer as a way to stick it to the Brooklyn Nets for choosing to replace him with Kyrie Irving, which presents another interesting dynamic in this potential pairing.
New York can offer Golden State a few different interesting young players on rookie-scale deals, like Frank Ntilikina or Kevin Knox, for Russell, though the one the Warriors undoubtedly would covet the most is shot-blocking menace Mitchell Robinson, who’d be the best center they’ve had since an in-prime Andrew Bogut. The Knicks probably wouldn’t want to part with Robinson, though.
Regardless, the Warriors don’t have to rush things here. If they don’t get any offers they deem worthwhile (and they still might, as the Timberwolves seem pretty desperate to land Russell), they can just hold onto their big offseason acquisition and try to move him over the offseason as many thought they’d do all along.
One league executive told HoopsHype: “To be honest, I think D’Angelo gets moved over the summer – not right now. The Warriors may try to package Russell and their 2020 first-round pick for a star since they’ll be in win-now mode next year.”
Holding on to Russell until then could also give the Warriors a chance to see how he fits alongside Curry, who is reportedly returning from a hand injury in March, giving Golden State around a month to see what they have in a Curry-Russell pairing. If they like what they see, maybe they keep Russell for the long haul.
But if they don’t, expect the market for Russell to heat up again over the offseason.
You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter: @FrankUrbina_.