Best NBA Betting Lines January 16: Bank on the Pistons in Detroit; Kings and Nuggets Cover

With the NFL Playoffs dominating the sports landscape Sunday, the NBA takes something of a backseat with just four games today. Utah at Denver arguably promises to be the most competitive matchup, but the Golden State/Minnesota game is packed with stars, and Houston at Sacramento or Phoenix at Detroit could always surprise.

If Super Wild Card weekend doesn’t do much for you as a bettor, maybe one of these three lines can juice your bankroll heading into the week.

Phoenix @ Detroit

The Bet: Pistons +12 (-110, Sugar House)

Detroit, one of the worst teams in the league this season, has weirdly been money ATS at home over the last few weeks. They’ve covered in Detroit in four straight games, and they’ve all been outright wins, including games in which they were 9.5-, 10.5-, and 17-point underdogs. 

Phoenix has been very good – both straight up and ATS – of late, but this line seems too high. The two teams played earlier this season in Phoenix, and the Suns were just 11.5-point favorites. (They won by 11.) It’s strange to see ostensibly the same spread on a game in Detroit where and when the Pistons are playing perhaps their best basketball of the season. Unlike their last few home games, we wouldn’t expect the Pistons to win this straight up, but they can keep it to single digits. 

Houston @ Sacramento

The Bet: Kings -5.5 (-110, Bet MGM)

Here’s another spread that doesn’t make a ton of sense based on the previous history of the two teams this season. 

The Rockets and Kings faced off in Sacramento just two nights ago. The Kings took that game by 12 as 5.5-point favorites. So we’re rolling it back and giving back a half point to Sacramento? That’s strange, but it’s even stranger when you consider it’s the Rockets getting that credit. The “2-12 ATS in their last 14” Rockets. The “16.4-point average losing margin over their last 12 games” Rockets. The “15-23-1 ATS as an underdog this season” Rockets. 

Take the Kings.

Utah @ Denver

The Bet: Nuggets +4.5 (-110, Borgata)

The Jazz have hit some rough notes over the last week or so. They’ve lost four consecutive games outright and against the spread. It goes down a little easier when you consider Rudy Gobert has been out for the entirety of the losing streak and that he’ll be back for this contest at Denver. 

But going back even further, you see the team has some serious spread-covering problems. They’re just 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games. Among those games is a win and cover at Denver, but without Gobert, that was an unusual Jazz team for the Nuggets to plan for. They’ll be ready for his return tonight and should get one back against their division rivals and possible playoff opponents this spring.