Handicapping the NBA: Friday Picks

Handicapping the NBA: Friday Picks

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

Alex Barutha

Grizzlies at Warriors under 221.5 points (-109) -- DraftKings (1:22 PM CT)

The final score of the regular-season finale between these teams was 113-101. Both teams proceeded to score just 100 points each in their next two matchups -- the Warriors against the Lakers and the Grizzlies against the Spurs. These are just not good offenses. Despite the exciting star power of Steph Curry and Ja Morant, the reality is that Golden State and Memphis are both better on defense than offense. They're also now aware of each other's gameplan, which will make this a game of tough, on-the-fly offensive adjustments.

Nick Whalen

Stephen Curry OVER 6.5 made threes (+105) vs. MEM -- DraftKings (11:40 AM CT)

Curry has gone over this number in five of his last nine games while hitting six threes in two of those remaining four contests. With a playoff berth on the line, the Warriors will obviously feed Curry more than ever, so anything short of a 35-to-40-point night will be somewhat of a disappointment, fantasy-wise. He might need another 20-plus-attempt night to get there, but I like Curry to launch a ton of shots and get to at least seven threes.

Jacob Lebowitz

Jonas Valanciunas OVER 15.5 Rebounds (+100) at GS -- DraftKings (10:45 AM CT)

Valanciunas has been dominant for the Grizzlies all season. He's been even more of a force over his past six games, averaging 16.7 rebounds. Against the Warriors this season, the center grabbed 16 rebounds in two of their three matchups and was one board short of his current rebounds line in the third game. In Wednesday's must-win game for Memphis, the 29-year-old snagged 23 rebounds against a mediocre rebounding team in the Spurs. The Warriors are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, so expect Valanciunas to have another strong performance.

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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.
Jacob Lebowitz
Jacob is a former RotoWire contributor. He's always doing something sports-related whether that's playing NBA 2K, watching a football game or playing a game of pickup basketball.
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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