Handicapping the NBA: Friday Picks

Alex Barutha and Joe Bartel are both targeting the Nuggets.
Handicapping the NBA: Friday Picks

Alex Barutha

Nikola Jokic over 46.5 points + rebounds + assists (-113) at HOU -- FanDuel (1:46 PM CT)

Over the past seven games, Jokic has averaged 44.0 P+R+A. I think he can play even better against the lowly Rockets. Houston allows the sixth-most points, most rebounds and 14th-most assists in the NBA. Without Jamal Murray, Jokic has to be even more of a focal point of the offense. This is a great scenario for him to have a monster performance.

Joe Bartel

Nuggets (vs. HOU) and Heat (vs. MIN) to win (-130) - DraftKings (12:51 PM CT)

I know we're only collecting a bunch of singles, but this formula has been pretty productive this week so let's hope the trend continues. Friday's slate is a bit weird in the sense that a couple of teams definitely trying to lose (OKC, DET, ORL) are all playing against similarly inferior opponents, and the couple of other obvious favorites (BRO and UTA) have way too high of odds to add to the parlay. Of the two games, I'm a bit more worried about the Heat considering how dominant Karl Anthony-Towns has been since his return, but Bam Adebayo feels like one of the few centers in the league capable of reining in KAT. No real reservations with the Nuggets; they are probably the easiest parlay builder of the slate.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
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 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.
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