This article is part of our NBA Picks series.
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Best NBA Bets Today (Friday, Jan. 2)
Jaren Jackson over 25.5 points + rebounds (-118) at Los Angeles Lakers
DraftKings, 12:27 PM CT
Alex Barutha: JJJ seems to have moved past his early-season struggles and has been more involved as a scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker lately. Over the past eight games, the big man has averaged 22.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in 32.8 minutes per game. He'll be going up against a struggling Lakers team that has the second-worst defensive rating since Dec. 1 (124.1). They've also been a below-average rebounding team during this stretch.
Kon Knueppel over 3.5 made threes (+136) at Milwaukee Bucks
FanDuel, 12:43 PM CT
Alex Barutha: The rookie has made at least three triples in each of the past eight games, and he's hit 4+ threes in 19 of his 32 appearances. The Bucks have not been providing much resistance on the perimeter lately, allowing the sixth-most made threes per 48 minutes across the past 10 games (14.5). The last time the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native played the Bucks in Fiserv Forum, he posted 32 points on 4-of-9 shooting from deep. I like getting significant plus money on this wager.
Wendell Carter over 20.5 points + rebounds (-123) at Chicago Bulls
DraftKings, 2:33 PM CT
Nick Whalen: Carter is coming off of a pair of down scoring games (6pts, 11pts), but he gets what should be an advantageous matchup against the shorthanded Bulls, who are on the second night of a back-to-back after facing the Pelicans last night. Over the last 10 games, Chicago ranks 24th in DRTG, and for the season the Bulls are in the bottom 10 in both points and rebounds allowed to the center position. Carter has gone over this number in each of his previous two matchups against the Bulls.
Jamal Murray under 40.5 points + rebounds + assists (-124) at Cleveland Cavaliers
DraftKings, 2:33 PM CT
Nick Whalen: The Nuggets were able to pull off a win over the Raptors in their first game without Nikola Jokic, but they also lost their backup center, Jonas Valanciunas, in that matchup, leaving them even more shorthanded across the board. The onus will be on Murray to try to keep Denver afloat, but there is some blowout potential here, and the Cavs' defense should be able to key on slowing down Murray, who went well under this number in 38 minutes against Toronto.
