Oddsmakers expect it to be largely a four-team race to win the 2023 NBA Title as the Boston Celtics (+325), Phoenix Suns (+450), Milwaukee Bucks (+525) and Denver Nuggets (+700) are the four favorites to win it all in late June. Here’s a look at two intriguing national TV games this week once the NBA comes out of the All-Star break. Check back for NBA odds.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week (February 20th, 2023)

The top 5 holds steady in the NBA App Power Rankings as we approach the #NBAAllStar break.

See the full list https://t.co/ObkZCMtwUQ pic.twitter.com/TzhsFip8vZ

— NBA (@NBA) February 14, 2023

READ MORE: Late 2022-23 NBA Season Moves

Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers

• When: Thursday, February 23, 2023, 10:00 PM ET
• Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
• TV: TNT
• Radio: 95.7 The Game (Warriors) // 710 ESPNLA (Lakers)
• Live Stream: NBA League Pass
• NBA Betting Odds: TBA

TNT has this game at 10 PM ET. The Dubs will not have the return of superstar Steph Curry for this game or the next couple after it. Curry has been out since Feb. 4 with partial tears in two lower-leg ligaments and will need a bit more time before returning. The Warriors’ ability to continue to rise in the West standings largely depends on the severity of Curry’s injury.

This is the second extended absence for Curry this season. He missed 11 combined games in December and January because of a left shoulder subluxation. During that time, the Warriors went 6-5. This time, they are 2-3 without him.

“It’s all dictated around how this heals,” Curry said. “This is different than the shoulder (injury), where it was pretty predictable where I would be able to get to a point where I could play and not re-injure it or put myself in jeopardy out there on the floor. This one’s different because ligaments can heal on all different types of timelines. So there’s like a window for each checkpoint. After the All-Star break, I’m going to hopefully get back on the court. Then depending on how things go from there, you can start to key in on a specific date to get back.”

The Warriors are 20-3 when holding opponents under 115 points this season, second-best winning percentage in the NBA (.870) behind Denver (.875). The league average for scoring is 114.3 points per game, the highest since 1969-70 (116.7 ppg). Overall this season, the Dubs have scored at least 125 points 14 times and are 13-1 in those.

Could LeBron James miss this game? He didn’t play in the second half of Sunday’s All-Star Game after suffering an injury in his hand. The injury likely occurred when James tried to block Pascal Siakam and got his finger stuck in between the rim. In the first half of the game, James put up 13 points and four assists and looked like he was headed for another All-Star Game MVP. The Lakers can’t afford for him to miss any time.

“It’s 23 of the most important games of my career, for a regular season,” James said Sunday. “It’s the type of mindset that I have, and I hope the guys will have, coming back off the break. I want to make a push to make the playoffs. I don’t want to see myself not being part of the postseason for two years straight.”

The Lakers and Warriors have split two meetings this season. They last played Feb. 11 at Golden State with the Lakers winning 109-103. D’Angelo Russell had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds in his Lakers return after being acquired from Minnesota. Curry and James were out.

NBA Betting Pick: Lakers

Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks

• When: Friday, February 24, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
• Where: Fiserv Forum. Milwaukee, WI
• TV: TNT
• Radio: 560 The Joe WQAM (Heat) // WTMJ 620 (Bucks)
• Live Stream: NBA League Pass
• NBA Betting Odds: TBA

This could be the Heat debut of former All-Star power forward Kevin Love. He was recently bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers and will join Miami as a free agent. Love had fallen out of the Cavs’ rotation entirely and hadn’t played at all in a couple of weeks. Prior to Love’s benching, he was playing 20 minutes a game — a career low in his 15 NBA seasons — along with averaging 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. He was also shooting 35.4% from 3-point range.

Joining the Heat appealed to Love because of the possibility for consistent and significant playing time and the opportunity to play in Miami alongside the leading duo of center Bam Adebayo and wing Jimmy Butler. Love (6-8, 251 pounds) helps address multiple Heat needs as a shooting big who can play as a center when Adebayo is on the bench as part of smaller lineups or alongside Adebayo as a power forward.

Miami is currently 32-27 overall and occupies the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. The Cavaliers announced Saturday they were parting ways with Love, whose No. 0 will eventually be retired by the franchise, after nine seasons.

Will Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo be ready for this game? The Greek Freak was traveling to New York on Monday to undergo further testing on his injured right wrist. Antetokounmpo, who captained Team Giannis to a 184-175 victory against Team LeBron in Sunday’s All-Star Game, played 20 seconds to begin the game before exiting with the wrist injury he suffered in Thursday’s win in Chicago when he tried to block a shot by Bulls guard Coby White in the second quarter. Giannis was to compete in the Skills Competition during All-Star Weekend but was unable to.

“Taking it day by day, try to get healthy,” Antetokounmpo said when asked after the game about his level of concern about his wrist. “You know, obviously I had the incident three days ago. I don’t think it’s smart in any way to … play a lot of minutes in the All-Star Game.”

The Bucks’ 12-game winning streak is their longest since winning 18 straight games during the 2019-20 season and is just the second time since the 1985-86 season that they have had a win streak reach 10 or more games. Miami is 2-1 vs. Milwaukee this season. The last nine consecutive games in the series have been won by the home team.

NBA Betting Pick: Bucks if Giannis plays

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This is just one of the many sports betting guides that you can read here at Nitrobetting news. Stay tuned for more 2022-23 NBA season previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest basketball betting odds on our online BTC sportsbook.

READ MORE: Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – February 27th, 2023