NBA Picks Today: Two Totals to Target on Sunday’s Slate

NBA fans will have nine games to choose from today for their viewing and betting pleasure, starting with the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers early in the day at 1:00 p.m. EST and wrapping up with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings at 9 p.m. EST.

Here are my NBA best bets for today’s slate:

San Antonio Spurs (11-2, 6-0 Away) vs. Utah Jazz (1-12, 1-6 Home)

Talk about two teams on totally different trajectories. San Antonio is working on an 11-game win streak after opening the season 0-2. Utah got the year off to a 1-1 start but has since lost 11 in a row.

With that in mind, it is unlikely the Jazz pull off an upset. However, 17.5 points is a really big spread. San Antonio covered it earlier in the month against Utah (Nov. 2, 119-97) but needed an overtime period to beat the Jazz 117-111 on Oct. 28.

My Pick: OVER 222.5 at -114 (DraftKings)

The OVER is 2-5 for Utah at home and 2-4 for the Spurs on the road. But the Spurs will likely be good for 120+ as long as they don’t take their foot off the gas. If Utah can score 118 on Houston, the Jazz can score 110 on San Antonio, which will likely be all they need to send the final score OVER the total.

New York Knicks (6-6, 2-3 Away) vs. Toronto Raptors (5-7, 2-3 Home)

The problem for the Knicks is clear: they aren’t scoring enough. They are averaging just 109.8 points a game, which puts them near the bottom of the league (No. 25), a surprising reality for a team that averaged 116.5 last season.

Toronto has been better on the scoreboard, averaging 114.3 points per game (No. 15). On the defensive end, they aren’t doing too bad, holding teams to 112.8, which has them tied for No. 13. The Raptors, however, have been dealing with a lot of injuries, i.e., Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes (who is listed as questionable but last played on Nov. 4).

My Pick: UNDER 217.5 at -110

I don’t trust the Knicks offense to cover a 4.5-point spread, and they may not even win if Scottie Barnes plays and can give the Toronto offense a boost. However, the New York defense will likely keep the Raptors offense in check. 

Toronto is playing good enough defense to keep a struggling Knicks offense from getting on track. Look for both teams to score right around 100 points, and well UNDER this total.