A Couple Of NBA Bets For Monday To Fill-In The Void Left By Football's Offseason

Look, would I rather be betting on Monday Night Football? Of course. Especially because betting on regular-season NBA games has become one of the most frustrating things in the world. Between the 3-point-chuck-off and load management eras, the NBA's regular season is a joke. 

Nonetheless, there is a massive slate in the Association Monday and I want to gamble on something. I encourage you to wait until the official starting 5's are announced before fading or following my picks since players randomly sit out games daily. But, let's discuss the two NBA games I've decided to lose (or win) my hard-earned money on. 

NBA Betting Card for Monday, January 27 

  • New Orleans Pelicans -120 moneyline at Toronto Raptors via DraftKings, risking 1.2 units (u).
  • Los Angeles Clippers -120 moneyline at Phoenix Suns via DraftKings, risking 1.2u.

Pelicans (-120) at Raptors, 7:30 p.m. ET

This is a buy-low spot for New Orleans and a sell-high one for Toronto. The Pelicans got crushed by the Charlotte Hornets 123-92 Saturday. The Raptors have won three in a row and five of the last six. They have recent wins vs. the Orlando Magic with All-Star Paolo Banchero, the reigning champion Boston Celtics, and the Golden State Warriors with Steph Curry. 

Toronto beat NOLA 119-93 in their first meeting this season. However, the Pelicans were missing Zion Williamson, SF Trey Murphy III, and PG Jose Alvarado, who are all expected to play Monday. Zion is the best player on the floor, Murphy is a floor-spacing, athletic wing, and Alvarado is one of the best defensive guards in the NBA. 

According to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG), Alvarado has a +4.0 on/off net rating and Williamson has a +12.7 on/off net rating, which is in the 96th percentile of all NBA bigs. This includes the best player in the world, Nikola Jokić, and Knicks C Karl-Anthony Towns, the starting center in the All-Star game for the Eastern Conference.

Ultimately, Zion will bully Toronto's weak defensive frontcourt, and the Raptors have the highest defensive free-throw attempt rate in the NBA. Williamson's aggressiveness in the paint gets his opponents into foul trouble, and Toronto isn't deep enough to get quality minutes off its bench. 

Prediction: New Orleans 122, Toronto 113

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Clippers (-120) at Suns, 9:30 p.m. ET

Phoenix's 7-3 record over the last 10 games is misleading because only one was against a team with a winning record, the Detroit Pistons. Otherwise, those wins include the 6-38 Washington Wizards twice, the 14-32 Brooklyn Nets, the 12-30 Hornets, and the last-place Utah Jazz. The Suns have a -2.9 spread differential in the last two weeks, according to CTG. 

The Clippers, on the other hand, are 8-2 against the spread over their last 10 games and beat the Milwaukee Bucks 127-117 Saturday. The market is overlooking the fact that Kawhi Leonard is back, and he is still an All-NBA-caliber player. Kawhi has a +23.6 on/off net rating, per CTG, which is in the 100th percentile of forwards. 

Furthermore, I'd take Leonard and James Harden over Phoenix All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in the NBA Jam-style matchup. Neither duo is consistently healthy. Yet, Kawhi and Harden do different things and Booker is just a smaller version of KD. They are both just iso-scorers, whereas Leonard is a lock-down defender and Harden is a legit floor-general point guard. 

Prediction: LA Clippers 116, Phoenix 111

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Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. I'll add bets to my NBA 2024-25 betting record via X all season. 

Written by
Geoff Clark serves as OutKick’s sports betting guru. As a writer and host of OutKick Bets with Geoff Clark, he dives deep into the sports betting landscape and welcomes an array of sports betting personalities on his show to handicap America’s biggest sporting events. Previously, Clark was a writer/podcaster for USA TODAY's Sportsbook Wire website, handicapping all the major sports tentpoles with a major focus on the NFL, NBA and MLB. Clark graduated from St. John University.