NBA Picks Monday 1/4/2016 – SAC vs. OKC

We got smoked on our first bet of the New Year and it seemed doomed when they announced Wade going to the locker room due to illness during pre game warm ups. Losing a fast pace playing scoring superstar a few minutes before game time is never good when you bet the over. As much as we would like to hope this was just a late injury bad beat we have to admit this bet was pretty much dead from the start so there might be bigger factors we need to reevaluate to get our game back on track. The Heat are starting to emerge as one of premiere defensive teams in the league so betting there overs will take a lot careful consideration going forward as well which is a nice lesson to learn from this latest betting debacle. The good news is were even in our record and still up one unit so its time to fight back and grab some of units we lost over the last few days. Its not often you can write or say this but shout outs to Jimmy Butler for breaking Michael Jordan's Bulls record (39 points) with points 40 after halftime against the Toronto Raptors in his last game. Truly amazing. Another observation we will need to note is that every game went under the total on New Years day. Do teams have New Years eve hangover syndrome? Something we will want to consider for next year... Now lets see how we can start some streaks of our own and get back to our winning ways of maintain a plus unites betting record.

Pick #1 – Sacramento Kings vs. Oklahoma City Thunder​

It was just announced that Kevin Durant will be sitting out this one which takes not only a huge amount of scoring out of play but also a weaker small forward defender (the suns small forwards just destroyed Durant on offense). Less scoring and better defenders playing more minutes should give the under some decent value when considering making a play. One of the most interesting aspects of this NBA over under total is the last time these two teams met (less then a month ago, December 6th) the score was 98 to 95 making the under of this total very appealing. Of other note is that the both teams score 214 combined but only allow 207.9 which is a full 7 point cushion which we simply can not overlook. The Kings have been hitting under this total more often then not lately and while the Thunder have been making a lot of over we have to give a lot of credit to having one best of players in Durant on the court which will not be the case tonight. We also have to like that the Kings have been really struggling on the road this (4-11) and also have made comments that they want to step it up defensively to become to form the elite team they know they can become. This was actually the last total released today so we have to believe the odds makers were having trouble coming up with and ideal line giving even more credence to the idea that this NBA over/under line might be softer then usual. With Durant out the Kings looking to be more defensive minded we will take a couple of units on the under 215 here and hope to get back to our winning ways.

Game Time:
Monday, January 04, 2016 8:05 PM

Spread:
513 Sacramento Kings +7½
514 Oklahoma City Thunder -7½

Total:
513 Sacramento Kings Over 215
514 Oklahoma City Thunder Under 215

Betting odds provided by 5Dimes

The Pick:
Under 215 (2 Units)
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As always bet within your means and bankroll. Enjoy the games!

Picks By TexasMatt