Locks

NBA (0.5 Unit) LA Lakers Team Total Under 102.5 (-110; Odds via Caesars): 7:00 PM CT on Fanduel Sports North

There have been signs, sometimes faint ones but still signs, that the Wolves defense has rounded the corner. They held four straight opponents well under this team total until the second Golden State game got away from them, and included in that stretch was completely shutting the Lakers down at Target Center.

The rematch here has a chance to be a similar result with LeBron James ruled out tonight, and this Lakers offense struggling against mostly everyone. The Wolves have moved into 6th in the league for defensive efficiency, are much stingier at home, and should continue that progress tonight against a wounded Lakers team.

NBA (0.5 Unit) Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers -6.5 First Quarter (-110; Odds via Fanduel): 6:00 PM CT on Fanduel Sports OH

Gotta do it, simple as that. Fading the Wizards in first quarters is one of the more profitable angles you can take in this NBA season, while backing Cleveland in the opening quarter is also one of the most profitable angles. Washington is dead last in the league for average first quarter margin at minus-4.0 points on average. Cleveland meanwhile is first in the NBA with a plus-6.2 average margin that jumps to an incredible plus-9.9 in home games.

The Cavs put it on Washington in the previous meeting at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, leading by 15 after a quarter and they can easily do the same here. The Wizards simply do not care while Cleveland is out to snatch souls this season, regularly running out bad teams and likely to be wanting to atone for their loss in Miami on Sunday. I think this game gets ugly, but the biggest advantage for the vastly superior Cavs lies in the first quarter.

Degenerates

No degenerates today.

Tiny Nick has gained +74.3 Units on his Locks since joining Zone Coverage. 

Every day he will offer his Locks and Degenerate picks. Locks are the games he’s confident in. Degenerates are entertaining but riskier picks.