The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the NBA’s bigger disappointments at 18-24 and now will be without All-Star guard Trae Young at least for Monday’s game in Sacramento as he landed in the concussion protocol after leaving Saturday’s game. Young is averaging 26.9 points per game and is second in the league with 10.8 assists per game. Here’s a look at two intriguing early-week matchups.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week (January 22nd, 2024)

The Boston Celtics return to the number one spot in @johnschuhmann's latest NBA App Power Rankings!

See where all 30 teams rank: https://t.co/p2WTv8K529 pic.twitter.com/PXRSvfoR4L

— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2024

San Antonio Spurs vs. Philadelphia 76ers

• When: Monday, January 22nd, 2024, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
• TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, Bally Sports SW-SA
• Radio: WOAI 1200 AM (Spurs) // 97.5 The Fanatic FM (76ers)
• Stream: NBA League Pass
• NBA Odds: Spurs (+14) // 76ers (-14)

This probably won’t be a competitive game with the Sixers as 15-point favorites, but it’s the first ever meeting between 7-footers in San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, the reigning league MVP and two-time scoring champion – and currently leading the NBA in scoring at 35.0 points per game.

Wembanyama, who turned 20 earlier this month, enters Sunday averaging 19.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and an NBA-best 3.2 blocks per game, numbers that put him in competition with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren for this season’s Rookie of the Year award. Wembanyama is ranked in eight of the nine rookie categories, including the top spot for rookie scoring, blocks, rebounds and steals. His 3.19 blocks per game leads the NBA. In Saturday’s Spurs win at the Washington Wizards, Wembanyama scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, and added eight rebounds and six blocks.

“He has the potential to accomplish a lot of great things,” Embiid said of Wembanyama. “Obviously, a man that size being able to move the way he does — whether it’s ball-handling, shooting ability, defensively, just his presence — I think it’s huge.” That versatility is why Embiid is quick to emphasize that “I don’t think [Wembanyama] thinks he’s a center. I think he thinks he’s a basketball player.”

Wembanyama is averaging just 24.7 minutes per game since suffering a sprained ankle Dec. 23 during pregame warmups for a road contest against the Dallas Mavericks as the Spurs want to handle their franchise player with care. “Not by (Monday), but perhaps after that,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said when asked about lifting Wembanyama’s minutes restriction Sunday.

There are only two players in the NBA this season that put up 300+ rebounds and 90+ assists in less than 1,000 minutes: Wembanyama and Embiid. He enters having scored at least 30 points in a franchise-record 20 straight games, which is the sixth longest such streak in NBA history. Embiid totaled 33 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks across 37 minutes during Saturday’s 97-89 win over Charlotte. In this 20-game streak of 30-point games that dates to Nov. 17, he’s 36.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals while shooting 55.3 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from three.

NBA Betting Pick: Spurs

LA Lakers vs. LA Clippers

• When: Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024, 10:00 PM ET
• Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
• TV: TNT
• Radio: ESPN LA 710 WQAM (Lakers) // AM 570 LA Sports (Clippers)
• Stream: NBA League Pass
• NBA Odds: TBA

TNT has the national broadcast of this Battle of Los Angeles – they will not be sharing the same arena after this season, though, as the Clippers are moving to the new Inuit Dome. The Clippers are 18-4 (.818) at home this season, the fourth-best winning percentage on home court in the NBA. LAC is sixth in the NBA at home in plus/minus differential (8.5), and fourth in FG% (50.0) and in 3P% (39.3).

The Clippers remain without injured center Ivica Zubac, who is averaging career-high 12.4 points per game this season to go along with 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on 65.5 percent shooting. Zubac was acquired from the Lakers in exchange for center Mike Muscala on Feb. 7, 2019 in a steal for the Clippers. He had never previously had to miss more than six games in a season since joining the Clippers but will this time.

“I mean, I didn’t feel when it happened, that was the crazy part,” Zubac said of his calf strain suffered on Jan. 12 at Memphis. “I just felt pain after the game, so I don’t know when it happened, what play, how it happened, nothing. I just felt a little soreness after the game, but I thought I just got hit in it, so I didn’t really mind it, you know, and it’s not a lot of soreness, so that’s all it is.”

Norman Powell has been on a tear off the bench this season for the Clippers, averaging 13.4 points while shooting 49.6% from the field and 45.4% from three. Powell ranks second in the NBA in games with at least 10 points off the bench (32), and is the only player in the NBA to be shooting at least 49% from the field, 45% from three and 85% from the free-throw line off the bench (minimum 20 games played).

The Lakers’ LeBron James is already the leading scorer in NBA history. Will he catch Michael Jordan for the most 30-point games in a career? MJ has a record 562 with James second at 545. James has scored in double digits in a record 1,191 consecutive games overall.

The Lakers are 2-0 vs. the Clippers this season, with them last meeting on Jan. 7 and the Lakers prevailing 106-103. LeBron had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Taurean Prince hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:17 to play. Anthony Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who beat the Clippers for the second straight time after losing 11 in a row to their hallway rivals.

The two teams have met 237 times overall and on 170 occasions since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. The Lakers lead the all-time series 152-85 (106-65 vs. LAC). They have lost 11 season series in the all-time matchup with the Clippers (2020-23, 2012-18, 1992-93 and 1974-75) but would clinch this season’s series with a win.

NBA Betting Pick: Clippers

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READ MORE: Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – January 29th, 2024