Free NBA Picks – February 16th, 2022

NBA

NBA: Nets (-4) Vs Wizards $$

Let’s be clear about the Nets, they are not very good right now. Kyrie is out of the lineup again tonight at home . Kevin Durant had better get healthy soon or his team may miss the playoffs all together. Who really knows when Ben Simmons will “mentally ready to play” and when he does, I am sceptical if he will be effective. As bad as the Nets are right now, the Wizards are much worse.

Betting against the Wizards will be staple of my NBA betting diet for the foreseeable future. Wizard’s management raised the white flag on the rest of the season recently and I expect them to head into a freefall. Washington was absolutely gutted with the departure of Dinwiddie and Bertans. They were already struggling prior to that with Bradely Beal who is out for the rest of the season.

They did pick up Porzingis in the deal with Dallas, but he is not expected to play until after the break. Even when Kristaps does play, he is not the type of player that can generate his own offence. He benefitted greatly with Doncic feeding him the ball and the Wizards do not have anywhere near that type of talent on their roster. Porzingis will struggle putting up the same numbers in Washington as he did in Dallas.

Despite the obvious holes in the Nets lineup, they are still thee much better team in this matchup and should get the win.

NBA: Hornets (+5) Vs Heat $

The Hornets are the quintessential 500 NBA team. Their offensive numbers on paper look quite impressive until you check out their defensive stats. They win slightly better than half their games at home slightly less than half on the road. The have just two wins in their last ten games, but that was a particularly tough section of their schedule and their were a couple of close loses in that mix. They dropped an OT game in MIN their last outing plus a loss against the red hot Grizzlies before that.

The Heat have been playing well recentlyly despite struggling with a few injuries. I like the Heat but I just feel this is too many points to be laying in this matchup. If they were fully healthy, five points could possibly be justified. But with Butler questionable, and Herro and Dedmon out, this line should be closer to a pick’em. There should be at least a few points in value here so I’ll take the Hornets to keep it close at home.

Follow my Daily Picks page for all my professional sports picks in the NBA.  I also coach live poker players, helping them win more often.  Of course, you can follow more of my writings right here at Last Word on Sports or find me on Twitter to stay up to date on all my latest blogs and helpful tips to grow your bankroll.

Legend $$ – two unit bet $ – one unit bet

NBA odds provided by Odds Shark. Posted lines are of writing time.

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Jason Grad

Helping serious betters and collectors win more often and grow their portfolios. Follow me on Twitter for my daily sports picks and NFT portfolio management advice.

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