Best NBA Bets Today: Picks and Player Props for Friday, January 31

Best NBA Bets Today: Picks and Player Props for Friday, January 31

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

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Best NBA Bets Today

Toronto Raptors (-4) vs. Chicago Bulls

Caesar's Sportsbook, 1:40 PM CT

Alex Barutha: The Raptors have gotten into a groove lately, winning five of the past six games. Not only that, but they've been a great home team straight up (11 of their 15 wins) and against the spread (16-8) all year. Meanwhile, the Bulls are 2-7 over this same time period and will be without their best player in Zach LaVine. They've been a quality road team straight up (11 of their 20 wins) but are slightly below average ATS (11-12). Ultimately, these are teams going two different directions in a positive environment for Toronto.

LA Clippers at Charlotte Hornets under 209.5

BetRivers, 1:41 PM CT

Alex Barutha: Without LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, I don't trust Charlotte to score. They've actually been decent defensively all year, however. And the Clippers are the second-best defense in the NBA. I think this game will turn into a slog. The data backs that up, as the Hornets are 18-6 to the under at home and the Clippers are 7-15 to the under on the road.

2-Leg Defense Parlay: Kyrie Irving and Guerschon Yabusele each over 1.5 steals (+774)

FanDuel, 1:53 PM CT

Alex Barutha: I figured we'd have some fun here with defense props and throw in a parlay. Irving is going up against the Pistons, who are allowing the most opponent steals per 48 minutes (9.7) over the past 10 games. Over his past seven appearances, he's averaging 1.0 steals in 38.0 minutes. For Yabusele, he's started 12 consecutive games and is averaging 0.8 steals in 31.6 minutes. Denver is allowing the third-most opponent steals per 48 minutes (9.6) across the past 10 games and allowed five steals over the past three games to Rudy Gobert, Nikola Vucevic and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Hornets team total U97.5 vs. Clippers

DraftKings Sportsbook, 3:00 PM CT

Nick Whalen: The Hornets are down LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams and are facing what's been the best defense in the NBA of late. The Clippers are 4.2 points per 100 possessions better than OKC defensively over the last 10 games, so I see this as a spot where the Clippers' defense can choke out a limited Charlotte team. The Hornets have finished under 100 points in six of the last seven games Ball has missed, including Wednesday against THE NETS, when they managed only 83 points.

Raptors -3.5 vs. Bulls

BetMGM, 3:00 PM CT

Nick Whalen: Well, the Raptors are at home against a middling team, so we know what to do. Toronto is 16-7-1 ATS at home this season – the second-best mark in the NBA – and 11 of its 15 SU wins have come in Canada. Meanwhile, the Bulls are still without Zach LaVine and are 8-10 ATS as a road dog. Immanuel Quickley may also make his return for Toronto, which would be a nice boost to the offense.

Devin Booker O26.5 points at Warriors

DraftKings Sportsbook, 3:00 PM CT

Nick Whalen: We're leaning right into the "All-Star snub" narrative here and taking Booker to send a message to the rest of the NBA. The Suns basically have two offensive options, so the onus will be on Booker and Kevin Durant to carry the Suns offensively. Golden State is coming off of a big win against OKC, so this could be a letdown spot for a team that's still struggling on the defensive end over the last month-plus.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alex Barutha
Alex is RotoWire's Chief NBA Editor. He writes articles about daily fantasy, year-long fantasy and sports betting. You can hear him on the RotoWire NBA Podcast, Sirius XM, VSiN and other platforms. He firmly believes Robert Covington is the most underrated fantasy player of the past decade.
Nick Whalen
Now in his 10th year with the company, Nick is RotoWire's Senior Media Analyst, a position he took on after several years as the Head of Basketball Content. A multi-time FSGA and FSWA award winner, Nick co-hosts RotoWire's flagship show on Sirius XM Fantasy alongside Jeff Erickson, as well as The RotoWire NBA Show on Sirius XM NBA with Alex Barutha. He also co-hosts RotoWire's Football and Basketball podcasts. You can catch Nick's NBA and NFL analysis on VSiN and DraftKings, as well as RotoWire's various social and video channels. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @wha1en.
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