Early NBA Betting Analysis for Sunday, January 17, 2021

  • By Dan Besbris

    Last Updated on January 16, 2021 10:06 pm by Dan Besbris | Published: January 16, 2021

    In a weird twist these days, the entire Sunday card has lines the day before. What?! Well, I guess we should be thankful…

    #Knicks @ #Celtics (-7) (211.5)

    The Celtics seem like they’re not a team that takes much lightly this season, having steamrolled over some of my favorite motivational angles when I fade them. Lesson learned. Boston is playing hard, and when we can catch shorter lines, we should likely take advantage of that. This line isn’t what I’d call short, but it’s workable. Lean to the public home team with the Knicks going into a little bit of a slump, though, from a straight personnel standpoint, Julius Randle should have a far easier go of it with Grant Williams than he did with Larry Nance Jr. Boston has a pair of games with the Sixers on deck. Will they look ahead? So far this year, they haven’t really fallen prey to that stuff.

    #Bulls @ #Mavericks (-7) (226.5)

    This is another potential letdown spot for Dallas, but so far they haven’t really succumbed to those, either. Dallas just lost a tough one in Milwaukee, so this game should be one they take a little bit for granted. Still, Luka has been a monster lately, and despite being shorthanded, the Mavs have had no trouble putting up points. The Bulls seem to be capable of hanging in there with most NBA teams lately, but not quite getting over the hump late in games. Could that happen again?

    #Sixers (-3) @ #Thunder (219)

    The Sixers have been posting some weirdly low lines, and a lot of that can be chalked up to the absence of Joel Embiid. They’re also on a back-to-back, so the line takes a bit of a double whammy downward. How resilient do we think this team is, is the question. I don’t think we can make a call either way without seeing how the Sixers look in Memphis the night before, also without Embiid… coming back here after seeing the Sixers look pretty sleepy in Memphis. I think this is probably Thunder or nothing.

    #Jazz @ #Nuggets (-1.5) (219.5)

    Both of these teams have been ramping up. The recent news of Jamal Murray’s injury and some playoff revenge are in the air, so you guys already know where I’m starting on this game. I’m going to need to see some very compelling stuff to move me back over to the Nuggets side, and the return of Michael Porter Jr. is good news but not enough to shake me. I lean Jazz even on a line that might be overvaluing them a tad, already, but not enough.

    #Pelicans (-2) @ #Kings (230)

    Josh Hart tweeted that morale was low after the Pels losses in LA, and right now the Lakers are just breaking teams. But there’s no better place to get fat than against the Kings, who play no defense and make all sorts of foolish gameplan mistakes. Still, morale is tough. If you’re down, you lose. That’s just how it goes. The Kings might see this game as a letdown spot for the New Orleans after the Clippers and Lakers. But betting on the Kings lately has been a bad idea.

    #Pacers @ #Clippers (-6) (222.5)

    Indiana just keeps chugging along and though it seemed like perhaps Caris LeVert will make his debut, a mass found during his physical means the Pacers are going to be down a wing for the foreseeable future. What’s scary for Caris is another opening for Justin Holiday, but on the betting side, it doesn’t change much. The Pacers know how to play with or without someone in that slot on their starting unit. The Clippers are certainly the better team, but aside from their road win in Sacramento haven’t had a ton of success in putting teams away. I happen to think this line is pretty accurate. 6 points is right in that wheelhouse of a better team winning and sitting on late free throws. Look for an ATS coin-flip on the side.

    January 16, 2021, 6:52 pm

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