NBA Who’s Hot and Who’s Not:

We have our All-Star participants and will soon have several players move from team to team at the trade deadline. As good a time as any to see who’s heating up and who’s cooling down, which may or may not help you out with some sports betting. As always, we’ll try to highlight some lesser names here and there in addition to guys like Giannis, whose current stretch is impossible to avoid.

Let’s check the latest NBA news, stats, injury report, and NBA lines. We’ve got plenty of NBA picks for you to consider.

Eastern Conference Who’s Hot

• Giannis Antetokounmpo – Since Jan. 25, the standings for total points scored in the East look like this: 1) Giannis – 212, 2) Kyrie Irving – 148. That should tell you all you need to know about how far ahead of the pack Antetokounmpo has been in recent days. He posted his third 50-point game of the season (second in the last three games) with 54 against the Clippers on Thursday. In six games since returning from a knee issue, he’s averaged 40.2 points on 60% from the floor to go along with 14.7 rebounds. It’s a legit MVP push, and you can make a bet online for him to get the notch.
• Precious Achiuwa – He’s had injuries and mostly comes off the bench, but with a few starts sprinkled in and some increased playing time of late, Achiuwa has made some big contributions. He has five double-doubles in his last seven games, during which he’s averaging 16.6 points – more than six over his season average – and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 63% (68% over his last five).
• Darius Garland – He carried the Cavaliers to a big win over Memphis on Thursday with 32 points and 11 assists, notching his third double-double in the last four games. His 15 points-assists double-doubles rank fourth in the NBA. Garland is averaging 24.2 points with 9.6 assists over his last five games, during which he’s buried 16-of-32 3-pointers.

Western Conference Who’s Hot

• Anthony Edwards – The NBA’s leader in minutes played shows no signs of being overworked. He’s enjoying a seven-game hot stretch, posting 33.0 points per game while shooting a healthy 51%. Edwards has improved his points, rebounds, assists, FG% and 3PT% in each of his three seasons and is – in our opinion – the biggest snub in the All-Star Game selection process.
• Stephen Curry – We haven’t had Steph on here since very early in the season, but he’s been in a nice groove for a Warriors team that’s basically just treading water right now. The two-time MVP is averaging 32.5 points over his last eight games while doing his usual thing from the arc (45.2%) and the line (94.9%), and he has a chance to record his second career 50-40-90 season (as in 2015-16).
• Collin Sexton – Let’s give this Utah Jazz backup some love for a nice little stretch off the bench. He’s buried 7-of-10 3-pointers over his last three games, including a 3-for-3 performance (8-for-11 overall) at Portland last week. That is part of a streak of nine straight double-digit scoring games, despite averaging just 22.9 minutes.

Steph just hit his 50th 4-point play pic.twitter.com/3XZn2CZhsF

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 3, 2023

Eastern Conference Who’s Not

• Paolo Banchero – He had 29 points on 11-for-22 shooting two games ago in a huge win at Philadelphia, so there aren’t any issues here. However, that’s the only time in his last four games that the rookie star has shot better than 30%. We won’t go so far as to call it a “rookie wall,” but in the other three games in that four-game stretch, Banchero has gone a woeful 12-for-46 from the floor and 1-for-16 from the arc.
• Victor Oladipo – He received a day off Thursday in New York, and he needed it. While contributing in other ways with his excellent hands (he’s already fifth among reserves in steals after sitting out the first 24 games), Oladipo’s shot has disappeared. He’s 4-for-25 from long range over the last five contests and is shooting 30% overall in that stretch.
• Kyle Lowry – Oladipo’s teammate is starting to make Miami Heat fans wonder. Should Gabe Vincent, who usually plays the fourth quarter over Lowry, be the starter? Should the team make a move? Lowry had some recent knee issues and hasn’t had any explosiveness of late, averaging 7.1 points on 38% shooting in eight games since returning from the injury.

Western Conference Who’s Not

• Tim Hardaway Jr. – A streaky fella who’s seemingly a Who’s Hot or Who’s Not candidate most weeks, Hardaway is mired in a slump right now. He shot an eye-popping 3-for-18 from the floor in Thursday’s win over New Orleans. Since a 22-point effort vs. the Clippers on Jan. 22, he’s hitting 26.7% of his shots, including 7-for-38 from long range.
• Josh Okogie – This guy’s threatening to drop out of the Phoenix Suns’ rotation amid a brutal stretch in which he’s gone 4-for-27 from the floor (1-for-15 the last four games). He’s also missed all eight of his 3-pointers in that rocky four-game span and his minutes are dwindling. When Devin Booker comes back, he may disappear altogether.
• Tre Jones – After an eight-game stretch in which he averaged 18.4 points, this San Antonio Spurs point guard is averaging 7.5 while shooting 36.1 over his last seven games. Included in that is a 0-for-10 showing from the arc. He’s not a primary scoring option, but it helps when he’s hitting – the Spurs are 2-14 when he scores in single digits.