Handicapping the NBA: Wednesday Picks

Handicapping the NBA: Wednesday Picks

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

Alex Barutha

Karl-Anthony Towns OVER 2.5 threes (+106) vs. MEM -- FanDuel (2:04 PM CT)

Over his past nine appearances, Towns has averaged 2.7 made threes, so it's nice getting plus money on Wednesday's prop. The Grizzlies are 15th in the NBA in threes allowed, so I'm not worried about their gameplan limiting Towns' attempts. Ultimately, I'm banking on Jonas Valanciunas struggling to contain Towns on the perimeter. He's not light-footed enough to contest threes regularly. Hopefully, the Wolves recognize that and run plenty of pick-and-pops.

Nick Whalen

Trail Blazers -11.5 (-109) at CLE -- DraftKings (11:28 AM CT)

Thanks to the second-biggest overtime point differential in NBA history, I lucked out on my Suns -13.0 pick last night. The banged-up Cavs caught lightning in a bottle against Phoenix, and I don't see that happening twice in two nights. The Blazers are more vulnerable than the Suns, but they're still a vastly superior opponent that needs to keep bankrolling victories as they attempt to stay out of the play-in tournament.

Dejounte Murray OVER 4.5 assists (-127) at UTA -- DraftKings

This is a number Murray has hit in six of his last seven games, including in Monday night's loss to this same Jazz team. Utah will still be without Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, so I'm expecting a better effort from the Spurs, and especially Murray, who averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists over his last three games prior to Monday.

Ken Crites

Magic to cover (+11.5) vs. BOS - BetMGM (12:33 PM CT)

Look, I'm not saying the Magic are a good team. But the Celtics have a bad habit of playing down to their competition. Also, the Magic have won three of their last four (@CLE, MEM, @DET).  The Celtics will win this without Jaylen Brown (ankle), but it will be shamefully close. I can't resist that 11.5-point spread. Plus, revenge game for Moritz Wagner

Joe Bartel

BOS (at ORL) + UTA (vs. SA) + PHI (at HOU) all to win (-139) -- DraftKings (12:55 PM CT)

I know these aren't fantastic odds, but I would be truly stunned if any of these teams lost Wednesday. There's not a lot of value in the PHI/HOU game, so if you want to do some cross-sport parlay, by all means, go ahead. The Celtics have obviously been faltering as of late, and while they did lose to the Thunder last week, I don't see how they make a similar gaffe against the Magic this go around. That's the one I "could" see failing as opposed to UTA/SA since we just saw the Jazz beat up the Spurs on Monday.

Jacob Lebowitz

Collin Sexton OVER 45.5 points + rebounds + assists (-113) vs. POR -- DraftKings (3:02 PM CT)

Over the Cavaliers' last two games, in which Darius Garland missed both, Sexton has averaged 27.0 points, 7.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds. With Garland out Wednesday against a shaky Trail Blazers defense, expect Sexton to post similar stats to how he's been playing over the team's prior two games. Sexton also averages 1.6 more points, 1.1 more assists and 2.4 more field goals attempted per 36 minutes when Garland is out. This game should be high scoring as well, so I believe Sexton will live up to the hype.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Joe Bartel
Joe Bartel is RotoWire's Operations Specialist and football contributor among many other things. When not at the office, he's probably playing a variety of Gen 4 console games or rooting on his beloved Green Bay Packers.
Alex Barutha
Alex is RotoWire's Chief NBA Editor. He writes articles about daily fantasy, year-long fantasy and sports betting. You can hear him on the RotoWire NBA Podcast, Sirius XM, VSiN and other platforms. He firmly believes Robert Covington is the most underrated fantasy player of the past decade.
Ken
An early RotoWire contributor from the 90's, K-Train returns with the grace of Gheorghe Muresan and the wisdom of Joe Gibbs. Ken is a two-time FSWA award winner and a co-host on the RW NBA Podcast. Championships incude: 2016 RW Staff NBA Keeper, 2019 RW Staff NFL Ottoneu Keeper, 2022-23 SiriusXM NBA Experts, 2022-23 SiriusXM NBA Kamla Keeper and 2023-24 FSGA NBA Expert Champions. Ken still owns a RotoNews shirt.
Nick Whalen
Now in his 10th year with the company, Nick is RotoWire's Senior Media Analyst, a position he took on after several years as the Head of Basketball Content. A multi-time FSGA and FSWA award winner, Nick co-hosts RotoWire's flagship show on Sirius XM Fantasy alongside Jeff Erickson, as well as The RotoWire NBA Show on Sirius XM NBA with Alex Barutha. He also co-hosts RotoWire's Football and Basketball podcasts. You can catch Nick's NBA and NFL analysis on VSiN and DraftKings, as well as RotoWire's various social and video channels. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @wha1en.
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