NBA Picks 3/5 – The Victor Wembanyama Classic??
The San Antonio Spurs (16-48) make the crosstown trip to face the Houston Rockets (14-49) in what could be considered the Victor Wembanyama Invitational. The Rockets opened as a 2.5-point favorite and the public money has pushed them up to a 4.5-point favorite. These teams played last night in San Antonio with Houston winning 122-110, the win snapped an 11-game losing streak. San Antonio won the first two matchups with Houston, 118-109 and 124-105, in December. Houston, San Antonio and Detroit have all spent this entire season tanking in order to increase their chances of landing 7-2 phenom Victor Wembanyama, the projected number one pick in the 2023 NBA draft and one of the most hyped NBA draft prospects off all time.
Wembanyama is considered to be a generational talent in the mold of other sure-fire number one overall picks such as Magic Johnson, Ralph Sampson, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan and LeBron James. Wembanyama is 7-2 with an 8-foot wingspan and everyone who has seen or scouted him seems to agree that he can do everything (shoot, rebound, block shots, mid-range, pick-and-pop, pass, etc.) at a high level on the court! The Rockets are currently a half game ahead of Detroit (15-49) for the worst record in the NBA, so a loss tonight gives increases their “lead” over Detroit.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has spent the entire year “load managing” his young team, so you can’t be sure who will be suiting up for the Spurs on a given night. The Spurs best player and leading scorer Keldon Johnson (21.8pts, 4.8rebs), along with their second leading scorer Devin Vassell (19.4pts, 3.9rebs) are scheduled to play tonight. The Spurs will be without their next three leading scorers in Tre Jones, Zach Collins and rookie Jeremy Sochan, all of them mysteriously suffered injuries after playing last night! Houston actually has some very good young talent in guards Jalen Green (21.5pts, 3.9rebs) and Kevin Porter Jr. (18.8pts, 5.5rebs, 5.5asts), center Alperen Sengun (14.8pts, 8.7rebs) and rookie forward Jabari Smith (11.8pts, 7rebs, 1blk) who the Rockets selected third overall in the draft. The youth and inexperience just leaves them completely overmatched on most nights.
THE PICK
I think Gregg Popovich wants to lose this one a lot more than Houston and gain some ground in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes…lay the 4.5 and take the Rockets!
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