NBA Betting Guide: Lines, Trends & Picks For Saturday, Jan. 7

Today's NBA Betting Lines, Odds & Picks

While college basketball is starting to dominate Saturdays, we still have five NBA games going on today. Scroll down to check out my favorite play in each game as well as Saturday's top picks from our BetQL model.

One trend to note is that the BetQL NBA model is on fire, going 146-117 (58%) combined on spread and total picks rated ⭐⭐ and higher in the last 30 days for a total return of $1,573 on $100 bets! Take advantage of BetQL's free trial and see all of today's best NBA bets, plus what the model is projecting for this week's NFL, NHL, and NCAA football and basketball games! Start your free trial today!

Pelicans at Mavericks Prediction

The Dallas Mavericks (22-17 SU, 13-23-3 ATS, 22-17 O/U) welcome the New Orleans Pelicans (24-14 SU, 20-18 ATS, 22-16 O/U) to town for their second meeting of the season.

This is a tough spot for the Pelicans after playing the Nets on Friday night and having to travel to Dallas for the second leg of a back-to-back. They'll also continue to be a little thin with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram still sidelined. The Mavericks are coming off a poor performance in which they were dominated by the Celtics. Luka Doncic was 0-for-6 from deep and as a team they only shot 21%. Doncic didn't look like himself in that game, but I don't expect that to be the case two games in a row. Lay the points with Dallas.

My pick: Mavericks ATS

Magic at Warriors Prediction

The Orlando Magic (14-25 SU, 20-18-1 ATS, 20-18-1 O/U) kick off a five-game West Coast road trip on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors (20-19 SU, 19-20 ATS, 22-15-2 O/U).

If there is any team that I'd want to back coming off of a bad 3-point shooting performance, it's the Golden State Warriors. As long as they're at home, that is. The Warriors only shot 37.5% from deep in their loss to the Pistons on Wednesday. They now face a Magic defense that gives up a ton of 3s and allows teams to connect on them at a high percentage. The fact that Golden State suffered just its third home loss of the season also makes me believe that we're in for a dominant performance by the home team on Saturday.

My pick: Warriors Team Total Over

Lakers at Kings Prediction

The Los Angeles Lakers (17-21 SU, 15-21-2 ATS, 23-15 O/U) will play their second game in as many nights when they take on the Sacramento Kings (20-17 SU, 21-16 ATS, 16-20-1 O/U) on Saturday.

The Lakers have struggled in back-to-back situations this season, which is what makes me like the Kings in this one. Los Angeles is 1-4 ATS on no rest and 1-5 ATS when playing with a rest disadvantage, which is tied with the Houston Rockets for the worst mark in the NBA. Not to mention, this is going to be the Lakers' third game in four nights. Sacramento has also already beaten the Lakers twice this season despite L.A. shooting really well in both contests. I like the Kings to easily win and cover.

My Pick: Kings ATS

Take advantage of BetQL's free trial and see all of today's best NBA bets, including player props, plus what the model is projecting for every NFL, NHL and NCAA football and basketball game this week! Start your free trial today!