The National Basketball Association (NBA) has just three games on the schedule tonight, although we do have a Peacock doubleheader. The San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons meet at Little Caesars Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET in the front end of the doubleheader, while the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets meet at Toyota Center at 9:30 p.m. ET. In the middle game, which isn’t nationally-televised, the Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies meet at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Let’s build our bankroll with our best NBA picks & predictions for Monday, February 23rd.
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Monday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
San Antonio Spurs (+100) at Detroit Pistons (-118) | O/U 227.5 (-110/-110)
The Spurs (40-17) and Pistons (42-13) meet at Little Caesars Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET in the front end of the Peacock doubleheader.
The Pistons swept this series last season, while also going 2-0 against the spread (ATS). Detroit returned the favor after San Antonio pulled off the straight up (SU)/ats sweep in 2023-24. The under is 3-1-2 in the previous six meetings, including 1-0-1 last season.
San Antonio has been on fire lately, winning eight in a row, while going 6-1-1 ATS in the span. The Spurs won 139-122 last time out, but San Antonio was unable to cover as 18.5-point favorites at most sportsbooks, as the over (230.5) cashed. The over is 6-1 in the past seven games.
Detroit has won and covered five in a row, while going 8-1 SU in the past nine games with a 7-2 ATS run. The over has hit in the past two games, averaging 126.0 points per game (PPG) during that span. The defense has been on point, conceding 111 or fewer points in all five games during the win streak.
As far as the injury report is concerned, there is nothing really to move the needle one way or the other. While the Spurs’ Mason Plumlee is doing a return to competition conditioning and Lindy Waters III (hyperextended left knee) is questionable, that doesn’t do much to change things for the Spurs. For the Pistons, there are no notable absences.
Detroit is 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS in the past five at home, while San Antonio is 5-1 SU/ATS in the past six on the road. We’re going to take the Pistons while laying the one point, based on the venue alone making the difference, and we’ll go high on the total based on recent trends.
Picks: Pistons -1 (-112) & Over 227.5 Points (-110)
Sacramento Kings (+166) at Memphis Grizzlies (-196) | O/U 233.5 (-112/-108)
The Kings (12-46) and Grizzlies (21-34) square off at FedEx Forum in Memphis at 8:00 p.m. ET in a game missing an awful lot of star power.
Sacramento announced over the All-Star break that Zach LaVine (hand) and Domantas Sabonis (knee) will each miss the rest of the season to have corrective surgeries. LaVine leads the team with 19.2 PPG, while Sabonis has managed 15.8 PPG, third on the team, while leading with 11.4 rebounds per game (RPG). He is also third with 4.1 assists per game (APG), so it’s a huge loss for the Kings. LaVine and Sabonis accounted for 31.8% of the team’s point production.
The Kings suffered a 139-122 setback in San Antonio, hanging on for a cover as 18.5-point underdogs, as the over (230.5) cashed. Sacramento has dropped four in a row by at least 17 points, and it has lost 16 in a row since its last victory on January 16th at home against Washington. That includes a 129-125 loss to Memphis as a 3-point favorite on February 4th, as the over (236.5) cashed.
In that win, Ty Jerome went for 28 points with seven assists, while Cedric Coward recorded five points, seven rebounds, six assists and a block. For Sacramento, Sabonis had 24 points and 14 rebounds, while LaVine went for 11 points, but again.
We’ll lean with the Grizzlies to get the job done, and we’ll go low on the total based on the fact that the Kings are missing a huge chunk of offense. They just can’t seem to find any continuity. It’s full tank time in Sacramento.
Picks: Grizzlies -5 (-108) & Under 233.5 Points (-108)
Utah Jazz (+610) at Houston Rockets (-900) | O/U 226.5 (-112/-108)
The Jazz (18-39) and the Rockets (34-21) meet at the Toyota Center in Houston at 9:30 p.m. ET in the second end of the Peacock doubleheader.
Utah was toppled 123-114 by the aforementioned Grizzlies last time out along the banks of the Mississippi River, failing to cover as 2.5-point underdogs, as the over (236.5) cashed. For Houston, it was nipped at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, falling 108-106 to the Knicks as a 3.5-point underdog, as the under (220.5) cashed.
The Rockets have managed to win three of their past four games, but Houston is just 1-3 ATS during that span, while going just 2-7 ATS across the previous nine outings. The under has cashed four in a row, while cashing in 21 of the past 25 games - 84% of the games in the stretch since New Year’s Day.
The Jazz have dropped four of the past six games, while going 4-14 SU in the past 18 outings. After a 6-0 ATS run from February 1-11, Utah has failed to cover in the past two games. The over has cashed in each of those games, and the Jazz have scored 114+ points in seven in a row, while allowing at least 120 points in five of those contests.
These teams have split the first two meetings, both in Salt Lake City, with the Jazz posting a 133-125 win as 11.5-point underdogs, as the over (235.5) cashed in the most recent meeting on December 1st. The Jazz are 5-2 ATS in the past seven in the series, and 7-3 ATS in the past 10 meetings. The over has cashed in five of the past six meetings, and is 8-2 in the past 10 in the series. Go with the Rockets to get the job done, but despite a strong over trend in the series, back the under based on Houston’s production this season.
Picks: Rockets -14.5 (-108) & Under 226.5 Points (-108)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe.