Locks
NBA (0.25 Unit) Minnesota Timberwolves +2.5 @ Utah Jazz (-110): 8:00 PM CT on Bally Sports North
For once, the Timberwolves don’t find themselves at a disadvantage in the injury department with Karl-Anthony Towns out. The Jazz are far less healthy among key players for this game, and it gives the Wolves a chance to pull out the victory here, or at least keep it close. Utah has shut down Collin Sexton for an extended period, plus Lauri Markkanen and Mike Conley are not trending towards playing tonight.
That removes the leaders in scoring, assists, and rebounds for this Jazz team, plus two of the other top six scorers. Utah has definitely started to trend in the wrong direction recently, going 5-10 straight up and 6-9 ATS the past four weeks. The Wolves can be extremely frustrating, but I like their chances here against a shorthanded Jazz team, especially in a game where Rudy Gobert is likely to carry them.
Bonus Bet (0.25 Unit): Rudy Gobert Over 13 Rebounds (-110)
I’m expecting a big night from a motivated Gobert in his Utah homecoming. That should mostly manifest on the boards, where he already dominated the Jazz once this season by pulling down 23 rebounds. Gobert should feast again here, especially if Utah’s top rebounder in Markkanen is out tonight. The Jazz are just 29th in defensive rebound rate, so look for Rudy to dominate the offensive glass as well to get over this prop total.
NCAA Basketball (0.25 Unit) Washington +16.5 @ Gonzaga (-110): 8:00 PM CT on WCC Network
This is not the Gonzaga team we’re grown accustomed to seeing over the past couple seasons. But they’re still priced that way in the betting market, and this kind of number is just too much for them at this point. Washington is not some in-conference cupcake for Gonzaga to steamroll, as the Huskies are vastly improved this season. Washington’s difficult zone defense is something that will give them an edge here against a Zags squad that is not the offensive machine of years past.
While Gonzaga has played an extremely strong schedule, they’ve only blown out their two cupcake opponents. Washington is more of a mid-tier team at this point, but so were a couple other Gonzaga opponents that hung around, most recently against Kent State. As an in-state battle, I see this one staying inside a number that’s based on Gonzaga’s history instead of current form.
Degenerates
No degenerates today.
Tiny Nick is 975-814 ATS (+88.8 Units) on his Locks since joining Zone Coverage.
Every day he will offer his Locks and Degenerate picks. Locks are the games he’s confident in. Degenerates are entertaining but riskier picks.
