Every night of the 2025-26 NBA season gives us a fresh set of games and numbers to pick apart. This daily column digs into the best sides and totals on the board, using in-depth basketball analysis, betting trends, and our VSiN NBA betting splits to spot value. We’ll also be tackling these slates relentlessly on our live VSiN programming, which is why basketball fans should really consider a VSiN Pro subscription. Below you’ll find some NBA picks and predictions for January 5.
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NBA Best Bets Today – Monday, January 5
Knicks ML (-135 – 1.5 units) vs. Pistons
Knicks at Pistons – 7:00 pm ET
The Knicks have lost three straight games, but they’re going to get up for this meeting with the Pistons. These have been the two best teams in the Eastern Conference this year, setting up an awesome atmosphere in the first of tonight’s two Peacock games. Well, the Knicks won the Emirates NBA Cup, proving that they’re up for the playoff-like regular-season games. This one shouldn’t be any different.
New York should also have a massive advantage in the paint here. Detroit is currently playing without Jalen Duren, who has an injured ankle. That means that Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson should have their way around the basket. The Pistons are also missing Tobias Harris, so they’re down a couple of key offensive pieces. That should make it hard on Detroit to take advantage of a mediocre New York defense — especially with Cade Cunningham having played 37 tough minutes in a hard-fought win over Cleveland yesterday.
The Knicks are also 3-1 straight-up when facing teams with winning percentages of 70% or higher this season, so they have showed out against the league’s elite teams.
Clippers ML (+100 – 1.5 units) vs. Warriors
Warriors at Clippers – 10:00 pm ET
I feel like there has been a bit of an overreaction to Los Angeles’ blowout loss to Boston. The Clippers are still 6-1 in their last seven games, and I’m not sure they looked all that bad against the Celtics. I had a big play on Los Angeles in that game on Saturday, and the loss was a result of some outrageous shot-making from Boston. I watched the entire 48 minutes. The Clippers had their chances throughout that one, but there was just no cooling the Celtics off. It happens.
Over the last 10 games, the Clippers have still been much better than the Warriors. They have an offensive rating of 121.0, while the Dubs are at 116.4. Los Angeles also hasn’t been much worse defensively, even with Boston lighting the team up on Saturday.
I’m just not sure the Warriors have the overall speed and 3-point shooting to replicate what the Celtics did the other night. Also, Golden State is just 62-79 straight-up under Steve Kerr in road games with lines of +3 to -3. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is 8-5 SU under Ty Lue when coming off a home loss by 20 or more points.
Additional Plays
Jazz +7.5 (-132 – 2 units) & Jazz ML (+195 – 0.5 units) vs. Trail Blazers
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2025-26 NBA Record: 237-219 (+12.24 units)
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