This article is part of our NBA Picks series.
Alex Barutha
Pacers to win (-126) at Heat -- FanDuel, 3:11 PM CT
Indiana is practically fully healthy while the Heat are still down Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and other rotation players. Even though the Pacers have been relatively disappointing and are on the road, this should be an easy win for them.
Nick Whalen
Phoenix Suns -7.0 at LA Lakers -- FanDuel Sportsbook, 1:45PM CT
While much of the league has been ravaged by COVID, the Suns don't have a single player in protocols -- let's hope that doesn't change over the next few hours. The Lakers do get Talen Horton-Tucker and Dwight Howard back tonight, but they're still woefully undermanned around LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. Anthony Davis (knee) is out, and while he hasn't been playing at the highest level this season, the step down from Davis to Howard/DeAndre Jordan is massive. Meanwhile, Devin Booker is back for the Suns, who've consistently looked like the league's best regular-season team. Even if Davis was healthy, I'd love the Suns here.
Ken Crites
I'm taking the OVER on Killian Hayes scoring 7.5 points (-130)
This is purely based on Kemba Walker's terrible defense. Walker made Payton Prichard look like Magic Johnson the other night. Kemba is a fantastic person and great ambassador for the game. I was hoping his "coming home to NYC" story would go better than this. But he's a -117 total plus-minus over 19 games. Hayes has scored 9+ points in four of his last 8 games. Detroit desperately wants him to succeed. This is a good game to get Hayes moving in the right direction.
