NBA Wednesday betting article: Buy healthy 76ers vs. Rockets
Another 2-1 record against the spread on Tuesday's NBA picks has us feeling good heading into Wednesday's action. Here are our favorite bets on the day.
Grizzlies (-3, 238) @ Timberwolves
Add this as one of the bigger surprises of the NBA season: the Timberwolves are among the hottest teams in the league. They've covered six of their last seven games, winning two contests outright against the Jazz and coming 0.5 points short of covering seven straight after Saturday's loss to the Pelicans.
Yes, Saturday - the T-Wolves get three days' rest coming into this one, while the Grizzlies are playing two days after Monday's blowout loss to the Knicks, their fourth ATS defeat in five games. They'll also be without talented center Jaren Jackson, who will sit out for injury management.
Teams with at least two days' rest more than their opponent are 12-3 ATS in their last 15 contests, outscoring the other team by 6.7 points per game. Back the hotter - and more rested - squad in this one.
Pick: Timberwolves +3
Suns (-1, 228) @ Hawks
Am I missing something here? The Suns haven't been at their best over the last month, but they've still won five straight (4-1 ATS) after Tuesday's victory over the Cavaliers and are mostly healthy for Wednesday's matchup.
The same can't be said for the Hawks, who are still without swingmen De'Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish and have dropped three of their last five games amid various injury concerns with their starting lineup. Those three losses came by a combined 80 points, while the wins came against the shorthanded Bulls and a Trail Blazers team playing through internal strife.
The Suns are better than both squads, and they've been 5.1 points per 100 possessions better than Atlanta over the course of the season. Expect the superior team to take this one.
Pick: Suns -1
76ers (-13, 223) @ Rockets
If you haven't already bought into this healthy version of the 76ers, it might be time to take a closer look. Philadelphia has won five straight games (4-1 ATS) by an average of 22.2 points, and its five-man lineup of Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Danny Green, and Seth Curry has the highest net rating (plus-15.2) of any lineup with at least 300 minutes played.
The Rockets don't even have an available lineup with more than 75 minutes of continuity, which is partly to blame for their historically bad 22-43 ATS record (33.8%) - currently the second-worst ATS mark by any team in the last 25 years. Houston also has eight players listed as "out" on their latest injury report, further stripping away the available talent on this roster.
The 76ers are 5-2 ATS this year as double-digit favorites, outscoring opponents by 16.1 points per game. They should have no problem extending that record against arguably the worst team in the league.
Pick: 76ers -13
C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.