Locks
NBA (0.75 Unit) Portland Trail Blazers/Sacramento Kings Over 214.5 (-110; Odds via Caesars): 2:30 PM CT on ROOT Sports NW
There was a stretch late in the season where you could make easy money going over on Portland games with this kind of total, so it’s fitting that we can close the year with one more. The Kings are playing with some motivation here to get out of the 9-10 matchup, so look for them to stomp on the G-League roster that the Blazers will trot out today. But Sacramento has struggled with Portland in the season series, so the Blazers hanging in would also make it a higher-scoring game. Neither team can stop much of anything right now, so look for enough offense in this finale to get over the low number.
NBA (0.75 Unit) Utah Jazz/Golden State Warriors 1st Quarter Over 54.5 (-110; Odds via Fanduel): 2:30 PM CT on NBCS-BA
The Warriors aren’t without motivation in this game as their play-in seeding could change, but not by much. So Steve Kerr has been a little cryptic about what he plans to do with his starters, but if they play it’ll be early while other games are still in the balance. I want to take advantage of those Curry minutes as much as possible, and I think no matter what we see plenty of early scoring.
I also want to take advantage of the league’s most generous defense in road first quarters, with Utah allowing 32.5 per game. Golden State is also 25th in points allowed in first quarters at home, so it’s no wonder these teams have put up 60, 75, and 69 first quarter points in their meetings this season. I’ll look for another here on what I consider a very low number.
Degenerates
No degenerates today.
Tiny Nick is 2196-1994 ATS (+96.6 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.
