NBA: Brooklyn Nets VS Phoenix Suns Pick and Predictions 01/19/2023

Game: 10:10 PM ET,  Thursday, January 19th, 2023

Venue: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona

TV:  TNT

Nets: 27-16, 4th place Eastern Conference

Suns: 21-24, 12 place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Nets -2.5, O/U 220.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Nets -3.5, O/U 220.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Nets -3, O/U 220.5

Nets: PF Royce O’Neale, SF Joe Harris, C Nic Claxton, PG Ben Simmons, SG Seth Curry

Suns: PF Torrey Craig, SF Dario Saric, C Deandre Ayton, PG Landry Shamet, SG Mikal Bridges

An Eastern Conference battle of teams that tasted greatness earlier in the year and have been falling since.  The Nets started the season slow and suffered the Kyrie Irving Curse as he publicly embarrassed the team, the city, the state, the league, his family, and NBA fans.  They recovered behind the superstar play of SF Kevin Durant who when healthy is the best pure scorer anywhere.  Kyrie also put up a few weeks of quality play and zero public waves.  But then KD got hurt.  The type of hurt that will keep him out 6 weeks if not more.  They have fallen a few spts since with several more to go if they can’t keep winning at a good rate.  The Phoenix Suns returned to the court this season with a super embarrassing owner who has been suspended and has started the process of selling the team to billionaire Matt Ishibia for 4 billion dollars… just in time to watch the Finals contenders suffer a rash of “predictable” injuries and stumble from top 3 to bottom 4 in the Western Conference Finals.  The team needs an overhaul to stay relevant… They also desperately need health.  The great betting opportunity in this game will be in comparing the actual starting 5’s against each other… and not the recent trends before injury.

The Brooklyn Nets very briefly touched the #1 spot in the Eastern Conference.. Before Kevin Durant got injured… and they began to fall. They have won 6 of their last 10 games, but are on a 3-game losing streak.  The streak coincides with the loss of KD AND the hobbling of Kyrie Irving to injury.  Kyrie may play in this one… but he is listed as Questionable.  In their last game they lost to the San Antonio Spurs (a bad team).  The Nets got 19 points from TJ Warren off the bench in 24 minutes, who actually ended up leading the team in scoring.  The play of Ben Simmons is ultimately enviable and embarrassing.  He had a triple double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists… BUT he was only 4 of 10 from the field with ZERO tries from 3-point range… He has all that talent and can not shoot the ball.

The Phoenix Suns stink like week old fish.  They have only won 1 of their last 10 games. They have fallen from a playoff team to 12 place in the Western Conference… and that was after a fall.  They are at the point where they have to decide whether or not they will chase the #1 pick in the NBA draft.. And that will only mean more losing.  If the Suns trade Deandre, Crowder and possibly Shamet.. They could facilitate losing until the end of the year.. Which would put them in the running…. But as a dark horse.  They are on a 3-game losing streak with the last loss to the Memphis Grizzlies 136-106… a blow out that caused them to lose against a +12 spread in their favor. In the loss they got 21 points from Mikal Bridges, 18 points from C Deandre Ayton, and 12 points from the mostly invisible Dario Saric… Dario by the way was a high draft pick and wildly talented kid who has evolved into a mostly invisible 8th year vet… he has missed so many games since his 2014 #12 pick promise that no one in the league expects him to be here after year 10.

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BRK: 27-16, 19-22-2 ATS, 17-26 O/U, 14-9 on the road.

PHO: 21-24, 22-23 ATS, 21-24 O/U, 14-7 in home games.

The Nets are 16th in scoring with 113.5 points per game, 28th in rebounds with 40.7 per game, 10th in AST/TOP ratio with 1.8, and 1st in blocked shots with 7.0 per game.

The Suns are 20th in scoring with 112.6 points per game, 16th in rebounds with 43.1 per game, 5th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9, and 12th in blocked shots with 4.9 per game.

Our prediction for Thursday, January 19th is…. Suns 112 - Nets 99

Bet on the Suns.  It is crazy but… Mikal Bridges is a great defender and Ben Simmons is reluctant to shoot.  The combination will give the Suns the advantage all game long. Mikal will know not to ignore the passing lanes… Deandre will know not to drift off the low block.  They both will wait for Ben to make them look silly, but he never will.

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Phoenix is 15-9 ARTS versus Brooklyn at Phoenix since 1996.
Brooklyn is 65-36 ATS against Pacific Division opponents since 1996.
Phoenix is 16-5 ATS in the game after allowing 135 points or more since 1996.

Nets: PG Kyrie Irving.  Can this knucklehead be a leader while Kevin Durant is out with injury?.. He can certainly play… That has never been the question about Kyrie.  The Question will always remain “Is it about you or the team?”.  Kyrie needs to show it's about the team. The Nets brass are hopeful someone will want Kyrie at the deadline, but the waters are certainly muddy at the moment.

Suns:  SF Mikal Bridges.  A quality 2-way player who does lots of everything well.  He often plays out of position if the teams are struggling with injury and they have been over the last month.  Mikal has up and down nights… but he has the talent to be the #3 on any Contending team.. His team just has to start contending.

Nets:  Jacque “Kevin can get hurt?” Vaughn

Suns: Monty “I deserve better employers” Williams