Handicapping the NBA: Thursday Picks

Handicapping the NBA: Thursday Picks

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

Alex Barutha

Giannis Antetokounmpo 32+ points and Milwaukee to win at Phoenix (+380) -- FanDuel, 5:32 PM CT

Antetokounmpo annihilated Anthony Davis and the Lakers for 44 points on Tuesday. He often steps up when the challenge is the toughest, and I think that will be the case again going up against the Suns team that he dismantled in Game 6 of last year's finals.

Nick Whalen

Miami Heat -4.5 at New Orleans Pelicans -- DraftKings Sportsbook, 3PM CT

This will be somewhat of a celebratory night in New Orleans as CJ McCollum makes his debut, but at the end of the day I'm not sure the Pelicans really got all that much better. McCollum adds scoring help, but the Pelicans only got worse on the defensive end. That's not a good recipe when facing the Heat, who will have almost all of their regular contributors tonight. That's been a rare occurrence for the team that currently sits atop the East. It'll be interesting to see how McCollum meshes with Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas, but I think the Heat roll on the road.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
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.
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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