Wednesday Jan. 28 NBA Best Betting Picks, Predictions

Wednesday night might not be LeBron James’ final game in Cleveland as an NBA player, but you can bet there won’t be many more — barring both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cavaliers meeting in the NBA Finals. Watch LBJ’s actions closely during the night as a clue to whether we’re down to just one more visit next year.

The Lakers are 3-1 on their eight-game road trip necessitated by The Grammys’ need for their arena, and a win in Cleveland would be a big one. Luka Dončić and Donovan Mitchell might put together their own award-winning shootout, too.

The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets will meet for the second time in nine days with the Spurs looking for revenge. The Golden State Warriors should be able to fatten the victory column when they visit the Utah Jazz.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS AT CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

The Lakers are Luka’s team, and he was on fire again Monday when he made eight 3-pointers and recorded 46 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in a 129-118 road victory over the Chicago Bulls. Dončić has eight 40-point efforts this season and leads the NBA with a 33.8 scoring average.

Mitchell was pretty explosive himself on Monday, scoring 45 points on 15-of-25 shooting during a 114-98 home victory over the Orlando Magic. He ranks fifth in the NBA with a 29.5 scoring average and has poured in 40 or more points five times this season. Get your popcorn out for these two.

Cleveland has won four consecutive contests but sits just 16-11 at home. The Lakers are a stellar 16-9 on the road, but look for the Cavs to beat Los Angeles for the fifth time in seven meetings.

Pick: Cavaliers -3.5 points to cover spread, -105 (DraftKings)

SAN ANTONIO SPURS AT HOUSTON ROCKETS

The Spurs have the second-best record in the Western Conference and the Rockets have the fourth, and their rivalry has been heating up due to both teams’ rise. San Antonio won the first matchup at home on Nov. 7 before Houston notched a 111-106 home victory on Jan. 20.

The Spurs shot just 39% from the field in the recent matchup when Victor Wembanyama (5-of-21), Stephon Castle (5-of-19) and De’Aaron Fox (6-of-15) all had lackluster shooting outings. Reed Sheppard had 21 points off the bench and Alperen Sengun had 20 points for Houston, which shot 51.8%.

Sengun (15-of-17 shooting) and Kevin Durant each scored 33 points in Monday’s 108-99 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. So which Spurs show up? Probably not the ones that collapsed in Monday’s 104-95 home loss to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans.

Pick: Spurs +2.5 points to cover spread, -102 (DraftKings)

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS AT UTAH JAZZ

The Warriors are 2-0 against the Jazz this season and have won nine of the past 10 meetings, but this could rate as a good time for Utah to face Golden State — despite the Jazz also playing Tuesday night when they lost 115-103 to the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers in Salt Lake City.

That’s because Golden State just got drubbed 111-85 by the host Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday when Stephen Curry (knee) and Draymond Green (back) sat out to join Jimmy Butler (season-ending ACL tear) and Jonathan Kuminga (knee) on the sidelines.

Of course, the bad thing is trusting a Utah squad that has lost seven of its last eight games and was earlier beaten by 55 at home by the Charlotte Hornets. But Lauri Markkanen scored 35 against the Warriors on Jan. 3, and he’ll have another big night Wednesday.

Pick: Lauri Markkanen to score 30 or more points, +280 (DraftKings)