Thursday, January 23 is highlighted by the NBA’s first international game of the season — the NBA Paris Game between Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers, who don’t have a French player on the roster (although Pacers star Pascal Siakam speaks French fluently). All in all, there’s a nine-game slate for tonight’s NBA Rivals Week action, headlined by a Lakers-Celtics matchup in Los Angeles at 10 p.m. ET.
Here are my top bets for Thursday’s games at DraftKings Sportsbook.
First, let’s take a look at the full slate:
- San Antonio Spurs vs. Indiana Pacers, 2 p.m. ET (Paris, France)
- Portland Trail Blazers at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. ET
- Miami Heat at Milwaukee Bucks, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Toronto Raptors at Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m. ET
- Sacramento Kings at Denver Nuggets, 9 p.m. ET
- Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. ET
- Chicago Bulls at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m. ET
- Washington Wizards at LA Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET
Portland Trail Blazers +8 (-108)
Although the Magic have demonstrated remarkable resilience since losing Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and Goga Bitadze to serious injuries, they’re finally a man too short. They got Banchero back last week, and he’s played well since his return, but the team has lost four straight games, looking dispirited in a 109-93 loss to the Raptors on Tuesday. Orlando might finally be getting healthier, though; Franz Wagner is slated as questionable after missing six weeks with an oblique tear, and Bitadze has been upgraded to doubtful. Suggs remains out, and Moritz Wagner will not return this season after tearing his ACL.
If the Magic lost four straight games with Banchero in the lineup, including that terrible loss to Toronto, I’m not sure how much of a difference Franz Wagner will make, given that he’s sure to be on a minutes restriction if he plays. Portland is a better team than the Raptors are and have pulled off two consecutive wins over fully healthy Bulls and Heat units. I wrote in my New Year’s Resolutions piece that the Trail Blazers needed signs of life from Scoot Henderson, and he’s delivered just that, dropping 20 or more points four times in his last seven games.
Davion Mitchell 6+ Assists (+195)
Since Toronto re-inserted Mitchell into the starting lineup four games ago, Toronto has gone 3-1, including upset victories over the Warriors and Celtics and Mitchell has played well. Even though his primary role is still as an on-ball stopper — they don’t call him Off-Night for no reason — he has improved as a facilitator as well, recording six or more assists twice and averaging 5.0 assists per game across his last four outings. He also started 13 of the team’s first 18 games and averaged 5.7 assists per game across that stretch, recording six or more assists eight times.
Besides Immanuel Quickley — whose hip injury allowed Mitchell to reclaim his spot in the starting lineup — the Raptors have a fully healthy squad going into tonight’s game, so Mitchell should have his full arsenal at his disposal to dish out assists. Because Atlanta plays at the league’s second-fastest pace, its defense fares poorly by count statistics, allowing the third-most points, 10th-most rebounds, and third-most assists per game, which should allow Toronto’s offense to get into rhythm and open up more opportunities for Mitchell to demonstrate his playmaking chops.
Sacramento Kings-Denver Nuggets O241.5 (-112)
This is a matchup between two of the hottest teams in basketball. Sacramento was largely an afterthought when the calendar turned to 2025, but since then, they’ve won nine of their 10 games to climb to seventh in the Western Conference, including an epic comeback last night against Golden State. Across that span, Domantas Sabonis is averaging 21.3 points, 16.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while shooting 65.4% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Nikola Jokić’s Nuggets have gone 8-2, with the three-time MVP averaging 25.9 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 10.6 assists across that span despite missing three games.
Over the last 10 games, Denver has had the league’s best offensive rating, with the Kings not too far behind in fifth. Both teams have been good defensively, too, but in the modern NBA, great offense tends to beat great defense. This season, the over is 23-19-1 in Sacramento’s games (including in four of the last five), and 26-16-1 in Nuggets games (three of the last five). I’m not sure who’s going to win this game, but both teams are on fire offensively and virtually at full health. In a battle between two of the best big high-post facilitators the game has ever seen, I’m all-in on the offenses.
Kawhi Leonard 20+ Points (+170)
Although it’s unclear who will be playing for the Clippers tonight — LA’s regular starting five of Leonard, Norman Powell, James Harden, Ivica Zubac, and Kris Dunn all missed last night’s overtime loss to Boston — Leonard is the one whose injury status is the least in question, given that he has been held out for each of the last two games with knee injury management and is otherwise healthy. The Clippers have been incredible with Fun Guy on the floor this season, outscoring opponents by 32.3 points per 100 possessions.
Leonard has only scored 20 points once this season, dropping 23 points in 24 minutes in a 59-point demolition of the Brooklyn Nets on January 15, and it’s unclear if he’ll be on a minutes restriction tonight, given that he’s had the last three days off. Either way, Leonard is averaging his second-highest three-point attempt rate this season, and given that his 39.1% career three-point percentage is the 81st-best in NBA history, LA will clearly benefit from him firing away from deep. This season, the woeful Wizards have allowed the most points and second-most made three-pointers per game to opposing players.
Golden State Warriors Moneyline (-122)
I am extremely hesitant to bet on the Warriors, given how inconsistent they’ve been all season. They followed up an encouraging road win at Minnesota on January 15 with a pair of dispiriting performances, a mere eight-point win over Washington and a 40-point loss to the Celtics. Then, last night, they took a huge lead over a red-hot Kings unit before choking it away at the end, as Stephen Curry scored just 14 points.
I’m also not sure what to make of this Bulls unit, which had lost five consecutive games to mediocre teams before upsetting the Clippers at Intuit Dome on Monday night. I’m chalking it up to a scheduling loss for LA, which was in the middle of its fourth game in six nights, and still calling Chicago and Golden State both fundamentally average teams. The Warriors have the fourth-worst net rating in basketball over the last 10 games, while the Bulls’ is actually positive, and Chicago’s roster is somewhat healthier.
But Curry has shot just nine-for-30 (30%) from beyond the arc over his last three games. He’s the greatest shooter of all time. That slump has to end eventually…right?
