The calendar year portion of the 2022-23 NBA season ended on Saturday and quite in style from Salt Lake City as Miami’s Tyler Herro made a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Heat a 126-123 victory over the Utah Jazz – that was the final basket made in all of 2022. Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups around the league. Check back for NBA odds.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week (January 2nd, 2023)

NBA Rookie of the Year rankings: Banchero, Mathurian pull away from pack https://t.co/Vm2CPAA0er pic.twitter.com/q8I7k7XR9z

— theScore NBA (@theScoreNBA) January 2, 2023

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Philadelphia 76ers

• When: Monday, January 2, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
• TV: NBCSP, BSNO
• Radio: WRNO 99.5 FM (Pelicans) // 97.5 The Fanatic (76ers)
• Live Stream: NBA League Pass
• NBA Betting Odds: Pelicans (+5.5) // 76ers (-5.5)

Could be an NBA Finals preview, although it’s not super likely. If the teams play again this season it would only be in the Finals as the Sixers lost 127-116 in New Orleans last Friday. CJ McCollum scored 42 points, making a franchise-record and career-high 11 3-pointers, and Zion Williamson added 36.

McCollum nailed 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in a 42-second span of the second quarter, giving the Pelicans a 56-40 lead. McCollum finished the half 7 of 11 from long range and 11 of 16 for the game. He surpassed Peja Stojakovic’s franchise record of 10 3s in a game, set against the Lakers in 2007. Williamson had 12 in the fourth quarter as New Orleans pushed a 99-91 lead to 119-107 with 5:03 left. New Orleans outscored Philadelphia 30-8 in fast break points, 52-44 in points in the paint and 14-6 in second chance points.

Joel Embiid finished with 37 points on 14-for-22 shooting in the loss. The Sixers played again Saturday and won easily in Oklahoma City despite playing without James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and PJ Tucker. That was simply load management and all three are good to go for this one. Maxey came off the bench and only played 19 minutes Friday vs. the Pels in his first game back after a month and a half long absence due to injury.

New Orleans remains without All-Star forward Brandon Ingram and key reserve Larry Nance Jr. due to injury. Ingram is still recovering from a left toe contusion, and that he’s waiting to get his “confidence” back before he’s cleared to play. Ingram has averaged 20.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in 15 games this season, his fourth with the Pelicans. The 25-year-old hasn’t played since Nov. 25, when he appeared to injure his toe after tripping while pushing the ball up the court.

The Pelicans have been dominating teams when going to the post this season, as they are ranked 3rd in the NBA in post-up points per game (7.3). Williamson is ranked 8th in the NBA in post-up points per game (3.9), and Jonas Valančiūnas is ranked 11th in the league, averaging 3.0 points in post ups. The Pelicans are having their way in the lane this season, as they are ranked 4th in the NBA in points in the paint per game, averaging 55.3 points. They have scored 60-plus points in the paint in 16 games, rather than last season when they only scored 60-plus points in the paint eight total times.

NBA Betting Pick: 76ers

Brooklyn Nets vs. Chicago Bulls

• When: Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 8:00 PM ET
• Where: United Center, Chicago, IL
• TV: NBCSCH, YES
• Radio: WFAN 660 AM (Nets) // 670 The Score (Bulls)
• Live Stream: NBA League Pass
• NBA Betting Odds: TBA

ESPN has the national telecast of this one. The Nets enter this week having won 11 straight games, the longest streak in the league this season and franchise’s longest since the ’05-06 season. That figures to be 12 by Wednesday as Brooklyn hosts a bad San Antonio team on Monday.

Brooklyn’s seven-game road win streak is the longest road win streak in the league this season. The Nets are 12-7 on the road this season, representing the most road wins in the league this season and marking the second-best road record overall. They are just one of just four teams over .500 on the road this season, joining Boston, New York and Denver.

Nets star Kevin Durant is averaging 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He’s shooting 56%. That would be a career high. Nine years after winning his only MVP, Durant is in contention for another. He just passed Tim Duncan, another immortal, for 15th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. By season’s end, he could leap to No. 10.

Durant (29.7 ppg) and Kyrie Irving (26.2 ppg) are one of three duos averaging 25.0+ ppg, joining Boston’s Jayson Tatum (31.0 ppg) and Jaylen Brown (27.0 ppg) and the Lakers’ Anthony Davis (27.4 ppg) and LeBron James (28.5 ppg). Irving and Durant have tallied 30+ points in the same game five times, tied with Boston’s Tatum and Brown for the league lead in 30-point games for a pair of teammates. Irving is shooting a career-best .585 from 2-point range this season (previous high: .561 in 2020-21).

Chicago has been one of the league’s most disappointing teams with a losing record. It did pull off a 108-99 win in Brooklyn on Nov. 1. Zach LaVine scored 20 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter. DeMar DeRozan added 20 points and Ayo Dosunmu had 17 for the Bulls, who outscored the Nets 31-19 in the final quarter. Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, but Kyrie Irving managed only four points on 2-for-12 shooting. He missed all six 3-point attempts. The Nets fired coach Steve Nash earlier that day and were a mess then. They aren’t now.

NBA Betting Pick: Nets

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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 – January 9th, 2023