NBA Best Bets Today - Free Picks for Wednesday, January 3

NBA Best Bets Today - Free Picks for Wednesday, January 3

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

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Best Bets

Trae Young under 28.5 points (-122) vs. Thunder

FanDuel, 4:14 PM CT

Alex Barutha: The Thunder are on the second night of a back-to-back, and the Hawks have two days rest, but the matchup doesn't line up well for Young. He had a fantastic December, averaging 30.4 points and 12.2 assists per game. However, the Thunder allow the third-fewest points per game to pick-and-roll ballhandlers, and Young leads the NBA with 13.3 PPG as a PnR ballhandler. That's a massive chunk of his scoring. He'll probably get others involved, but I anticipate his scoring getting cut off.

Alperen Sengun under 24.5 points (-120) vs. Nets

PointsBet, 4:19 PM CT

Alex Barutha: It's tough to take an under on Sengun when he's averaging 27.8 PPG over his past six games, with two 30-point performances. But despite the Nets being a fairly average team, they're the best at limiting opposing pick-and-rollers from scoring, largely due to Nic Claxton's interior presence. Sengun scores 32% of his points as a roll man, so I won't be shocked at a muted performance.

Jalen Brunson under 25.5 points (-110) vs. Bulls

FanDuel, 4:23 PM CT

Alex Barutha: Chicago, mainly due to Alex Caruso, is the best team in the NBA at preventing pick-and-roll ballhandlers from scoring. That's a problem for Brunson, who scores 11.6 PPG in that action. Plus, he might focus on trying to get new teammate OG Anunoby involved on offense.

Thunder -1.0 at Hawks

DraftKings Sportsbook, 4:30pm CT

Nick Whalen: OKC is playing on the second night of a home/road back-to-back, which is a brutal travel spot, but the Thunder are 3-0 ATS on the second leg of B2Bs already this season and 5-0 ATS when they're at a rest disadvantage. The Hawks are also an NBA-worst 1-12 ATS at home this season.

OG Anunoby over 19.5 points + rebounds (-135) vs. Bulls

DraftKings, 3:50pm ET

Ken Crites: How many times have we said that Coach Thibodeau "loves to play his guys" – as in, he makes his starters play crazy minutes?  Well, Anunoby is Thib's "new guy". And while the former Raptor was playing 33.4 minutes a game this year with Toronto, that number could go up with New York. The forward played 35 minutes in his Knick debut, and would have played more had he not fouled out.  The Bulls are without Nikola Vucevic, Torrey Craig and probably Patrick Williams, meaning Anunoby could face some weak Chicago reserves. Anunoby has averaged 18.5 points and 4.5 boards over his last four games. The K-Train is 15-10 this season, and probably due for some regression – feel free to fade.

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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.
Ken
An early RotoWire contributor from the 90's, K-Train returns with the grace of Gheorghe Muresan and the wisdom of Joe Gibbs. Ken is a two-time FSWA award winner and a co-host on the RW NBA Podcast. Championships incude: 2016 RW Staff NBA Keeper, 2019 RW Staff NFL Ottoneu Keeper, 2022-23 SiriusXM NBA Experts, 2022-23 SiriusXM NBA Kamla Keeper and 2023-24 FSGA NBA Expert Champions. Ken still owns a RotoNews shirt.
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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