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NBA Betting: Favorite Picks for Jan 8

Sara Jane Gamelli 13332 January 8, 2024 No Comments

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Sara Jane Gamelli

There are six games on the NBA slate tonight, starting at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET. The Indiana Pacers will look to get revenge tonight, as they host the Boston Celtics in back-to-back matchups. 8-2 in their last 10 games, the Chicago Bulls will face the struggling Charlotte Hornets on the road.

Fresh off two consecutive losses, can the Oklahoma City Thunder get a victory tonight against the Washington Wizards on the road? For my picks, I took them all as straight bets, although grouping into a parlay is just fine, if you want to take the risk. Here you will find the NBA betting odds, stats, trends, player prop bets, and predictions for Monday, Jan 8.

NBA Daily Game Odds for 1/8

*Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

Celtics (-3) )(-155) @ Pacers (+130): O/U 247
Thunder (-11) (-575) @ Wizards (+440): O/U 247
Bulls (-6) (-230) @ Hornets (+195): O/U 215.5
Rockets ( +142) @ Heat (-4) (-175): O/U 220
Jazz (+280) @ Bucks (-8)(-355): O/U 242
Suns (+200) @ Clippers(-6.5) (-245): O/U 230

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NBA Bet #1: Jaylen Brown Over 37.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists

Season Stats PPG: 22.7 | FG: 48.6 % | 3 PT: 72.5 % | FT: 88.7 % | REB: 5 | AST: 3.6 | STL: 1.1 | BLK: 0.6

Tonight, the Boston Celtics (28-7, 11-7 away) will play the Indiana Pacers (20-15, 11-8 home) for the second consecutive matchup. With Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser out with injury, that should leave Brown to feast tonight.

If you're betting on the NBA, Jaylen Brown is coming off a 31 point, one block, one assist, and four rebound performance against Indiana on Saturday night. Tonight, he gets the Pacers again, and this time, will have limited wing depth behind him.

On Saturday, Brown had 20 field goal attempts, the most since Dec. 20. Logging 36 minutes, Brown will have the task of carrying the offensive load on his shoulders, along with Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford. While Tatum and Hauser combined for 43 points last matchup, Boston will look to give wingman Oshe Brissett some minutes behind Brown tonight.

Normally I wouldn't pick the over, but we can't ignore how Brown performs without Tatum. Dating back to the 2022-2023 season, the Celtics swingman has over points, rebounds, and assists in eight straight games without Tatum in the lineup. In two games without Tatum this season, Brown has 39 and 47 PRAs against the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors. Under different circumstances, I wouldn't pick the over, since it only has a 21 percent hit rate this season, including 40 percent in the last ten matchups.

In this case, I'm taking my knowledge of the Celtics, combined with advanced stats and the matchup. In the last 5 meetings against Indiana, Brown is averaging 42.4 points, rebounds, and assists against the Pacers. With Tatum in the lineup, No. 7 is averaging 33 PRAs in three regular season matchups against them this season.

Stats courtesy of Props.Cash

The Celtics won't have Jayson Tatum, Sam Hauser tonight

Coming off a combo of 36 points, rebounds, and assists on Saturday, Brown has a prime matchup with the Pacers, who allow the 29th most points in the NBA (124.2). Additionally, they allow opponents to shoot over 50 percent from the field this year, and rank 25th in offensive rebounds per game (11.3).

If you watch Jaylen Brown, he's adapted on this newly constructed Celtics team, and is elite with those mid range fadaway shots. He learned to attack inside and be aggressive against the Pacers this past weekend. Since the New Year, Rick Carlisles Pacers allowed Brown, Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovich, Garrison Matthews, and MaJon Beauchamp to all hit over points, rebounds, and assists.

This is also a prop that's hit 100 percent of the last five games without Jayson Tatum. While Porzingis should be good tonight, look for Brown to have more opportunities, especially with Porzingis and Al Horford able to space the floor.

In three games against Indiana this season, Brown is averaging 25.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.7 assists. Averaging slightly less numbers on the road, he's averaging 19 field goal attempts in there games against the Pacers this year. While he came out slightly flat in turns of rebounds and assists last game, he had a cumulative 16 boards in their first two matchups.

Overall, the Pacers will play hard and physical against the Celtics tonight. They rank 26th in defensive rating, allowing nearly 124 points per game. In addition, they are ranked 25th in opponent effective field goal percentage.

NBA Bet #2: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander O 29.5 Points

Season Stats PPG: 31.5 | FG: 54.7 % | 3 PT: 34.2 % | FT: 89.1 % | REB: 6 | AST: 6.4 | STL: 2.4 | BLK: 0.7

Certainly in the MVP conversation, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having a career year with the Oklahoma City Thunder. In his 6th season, SGA is averaging a career high 31.5 points on 54.7 percent field goal shooting. At a 32.9 percent usage rate, the Thunder guard will get the Struggling Washington Wizards on the road tonight.

At first I was hesitant of this prop, in case No. 2 was pulled from the game in case of a blow out. 2-0 in their last two meetings, the Thunder defeated the Wizards 127-110 on Jan 6. In that game, SGA finished with 30 points in 33 minutes, on 12-23 and 1-4 three-point shooting

On the road, we simply cannot forget his 42 point performance in D.C back in Nov. 2022. Simply fantastic this season over 29.5 points has a 76 percent hit rate this season, including 90 percent in the last ten games. Hitting the over in consecutive straight games, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 34.3 points in the last three matchups against the Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and the Boston Celtics.

Stats courtesy of Props.Cash

Why I like this prop tonight

Tonight, he will face a Washington team, who are 2-8 in their last ten games, and are struggling, to put it lightly. Allowing 126 points per game is a league worst, and their opponents are shooting 38.2 percent from the three against Washington. With teams shooting over 50 percent from the field against the Wizards, SGA should not have a problem tonight. While he performs the best stat wise off two days rest, SGA averages 30.3 points on 52.9 field goal shooting coming off one days rest.

With no injuries reported, aside from Davis Bertans, Washington has recently allowed Jalen Brunson, Trae Young, and Steph Curry to all hit over 30 points. Likely to have a matchup with Tyus Jones or Jordan Poole, Gilgeous-Alexander over 29.5 points has a hit rate of 80 percent of the last five road games.

Overall, SGA is an MVP caliber player, and there's not much he can't do on the hardwood. With the shot volume there, he's averaging 36 minutes played and 21.6 field goal attempts per game. Getting to the line as frequent as he does, the Wizards allow the 24th most 23.9 free-throw attempts per game.

If you're betting on the NBA, Gilgeous-Alexander is a special player, who's proven he's one of the top guards in the NBA. Able to score in a multitude of ways, he leads the Thunder in scoring, and is averaging over 30 minutes in all but three games this season. It's important to note, this prop has a hit rate of 73 percent when SGA plays over 35 minutes.

NBA Bet #3: Chet Holmgren O 8.5 Rebounds

Season Stats PPG: 17.4 | FG: 54.3 % | 3 PT: 39.6 % | FT: 82.6 % | REB: 7.4  | AST: 2.6 | STL: 0.7 | BLK:2.6

Tonight, I have Chet Holmgren over 8.5 rebounds against the Washington Wizards. Only a 32 percent hit rate this season, I love this prop regardless of the stats. I say this especially since he's only had a combined 12 boards in the last three games.

Holmgren will get his first career start against the Wizards tonight. As stated previously, Washington has been equally terrible on the defensive end, as well as on the glass. 30th overall in opponent rebounds per game (49.4), the Wizards rank near last in opponent defensive and offensive rebounds. While Holmgren only hit this prop in 20 percent of the last ten games, he has a prime matchup tonight.

NBA Betting: Favorite Picks, Odds, Trends, Statistics, Analysis, Information and Predictions for Monday, Jan 8.
Stats courtesy of Props.Cash

He has an excellent matchup vs. the Wizards

Much like Washington, Oklahoma City has a smaller roster, and rank near the bottom in rebounding despite much success this season. Over the season, the Wizards have allowed centers to absolutely dominate their props and rebound numbers. Recently, Jarrett Allen, Tristan Thompson had a combined 28 rebounds against Washington. Additionally, they allowed Clint Capela (17), Nic Claxton (12), DeAndre Ayton (16), and Domantas Sabonis (13) to all hit over their rebound props.

Overall, the Wizards allow the most rebounds to centers, and Holmgren has 11 games over 8.5 rebounds. While he can stretch the floor, that certainly impacts his ability to attack on the glass. However, Battling Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year, expect him to thrive in a juicy matchup tonight. Over the last ten, he's averaging only 5.9 rebounds per game.

In 15 road games this season, the sophmore is grabbing 7.8 boards in 29.5 minutes. The last time he had over 8.5 rebounds was on Christmas Eve against the Nets (10).

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Sara Jane Gamelli is a full-time Sportswriter at Ballislife, and Sports Content Creator on Twitch and TikTok. She has a focus on the NBA, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL. Sara Jane currently resides in Connecticut/NYC area with her Cat and Dog. SJ has her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut in Economics, with a minor in business administration.

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