NBA Predictions December 23rd, 2015

None of yesterday's games caught my eye (although I was quite close to giving away $110 by picking the Nuggets at home giving 6 points to the Lakers). I split Monday's picks when the Clippers stayed close enough to the Thunder to cover the 2 point spread, losing by 1. My season results stand at a plus $440 mythical dollars with a record of 22-16-2. As usual I'll bet tonight’s NBA games using the the Betonline.ag lines as listed on the Yahoo Sports page for entertainment purposes only with no real money wagered.

Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers
Not only did the Lakers cover last night against the Nuggets, they won the game behind 31 points from soon to be retired Kobe Bryant. I can;t expect this kind of performance two games in a row. These two teams met last week in Oklahoma City with the result being a 40 point Thunder win. I expect this game to be closer but unless the Thunder have been hitting the LA party scene I expect then to easily cover the 13 point spread and will make a $110 wager on it to win $100.

Memphis Grizzlies at Washington Wizards
The Grizzlies played last night in Philadelphia and blew out the hapless 76ers (now the 1-29 Philadelphia 76ers). The Wizards have had two days off but I will pick the Grizzlies because they have a 5-1 mark on the second half of back to back games which includes a 112-95 thumping of these same Wizards in Memphis earlier this month. As a bonus I will even be getting a point for my $110 bet.

Dallas Mavericks at Brooklyn Nets
The Mavericks fell behind early to the Toronto Raptors last night which caused coach Rick Carlisle to empty his bench and rest his starters. The reserves nearly pulled off the comeback but lost by 4 in the end. After the game Carlisle blasted the starters lack of effort and threatened his players saying "Look, if it's going to be like that, these guys aren't going to be Mavericks very long". I expect Carlisle's rant to have a short term effect on his fundamentally flawed team even though the Nets are coming off an upset win in Chicago to break their 5 game losing streak I'll lay then 3.5 points against the Nets in Brooklyn for a $110 bet.