NBA Pick: Cavaliers vs. Hawks – Under 225.5 (–110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Picks Summary:
- Cavaliers vs. Hawks – Under 225.5 (–110)
- Kings +6.5 (–110)
With the All-Star break done, the Under is our NBA pick for Friday’s matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.
If you’ve been betting on sports for a while, you know how the money ebbs and flows. We’re in that dry spell now between the Super Bowl and March Madness; there are a ton of games left on the calendar, but profit margins are low this deep into the regular season for both basketball and hockey.
There’s still some money to be made, though.
We’ve uncovered two games on Friday’s NBA schedule that are worth investing a single unit of your bankroll thereupon. It’s thin gruel compared to what will be available in just a few weeks, but gruel is actually quite tasty if you season it right. Try some of those ochazuke packets you can get in the “Asian” aisle. Itadakimasu!
Remember, fans from the Buckeye State who want to wager on this game should check out our top-rated Ohio betting sites.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks
Friday, February 24, 2023 – 07:30 PM EST at State Farm Arena
The Under is about as old-school as it gets for your basketball picks.
This is also the second of back-to-back games for the Cavs (Under 33-28 at press time), and the first for Atlanta (Over 33-26) since the extended All-Star break, so we’re targeting that 225.5-point total on the NBA odds board at BetOnline.
Why Did Cleveland Get Rid of Kevin Love?
It looks like Love (minus-1.3 EPM at Dunks and Threes) may have finally reached his expiry date at age 34. Or has he? Maybe I’ve been blinded by staring at the Box Plus/Minus numbers at Basketball Reference for so long, but Love (plus-1.4 BPM) seems like he still has something to offer.
The Miami Heat sure thinks so. Anyway, the Cavs will miss Love’s stretch-big properties, especially at the offensive end; that should mean more minutes off the bench for Dean Wade (plus-0.2 EPM), who is more of a 3-and-D big, emphasis on the D:
- Dean Wade OFF: minus-2.6 EPM
- Dean Wade DEF: plus-2.8 EPM
As for the Hawks, they’ve just fired head coach Nate McMillan and replaced him with assistant Joe Prunty, who cut his teeth as part of Gregg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio.
The last time Prunty was an interim head coach was five years ago after taking over for Jason Kidd in Milwaukee; the Bucks locked down on defense and drove the Under to the pay window in their first nine games under Prunty before turning on the jets. More of that would be nice.
NBA Pick: Under 225.5 (–110) at BetOnline
Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Friday, February 24, 2023 – 10:30 PM EST at Crypto.com Arena
I’m not going to lie to you; it feels wrong to recommend putting Sacramento (32-25 SU, 30-26-1 ATS) in your NBA picks, even if they’ve finally got their stuff together – it’s been 17 years since they parted ways with Rick Adelman. But here we are.
How Did the Kings Get This Good?
All those lottery picks were bound to pay off sometime. De’Aaron Fox (plus-2.2 EPM) has developed into a quality offensive point guard, and while the Kings look a bit foolish sending Tyrese Haliburton (plus-4.6 EPM) to Indiana, they needed a big like Domantas Sabonis (plus-3.4 EPM) to pair with Fox.
Meanwhile, the Clippers (33-28 SU, 31-30 ATS) are going to be the latest team to take their chances with Russell Westbrook at the 1-spot. Westbrook posted a minus-0.2 EPM with the Los Angeles Lakers before they magically turned him into an entire supporting cast of quality players at the trade deadline; Utah wisely bought out his contract.
Who knows, maybe Westbrook will fit better in this dressing room now that he’s reunited with Paul George (plus-4.8 EPM). They put in some quality work in Oklahoma City four years ago, but then again, they didn’t have to worry about making Kawhi Leonard (plus-6.3 EPM) happy. Good luck with that.
NBA Pick: Kings +6.5 (–110) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
