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NBA Who’s Hot and Who’s Not: Bam Paces Heat, Markkanen Stays Hot in Utah

The holiday season is behind us, which means many dark and dreary days until those first few flowers pop up. What better time to focus on some indoor activities such as basketball and NBA betting? In order to help you out at the sportsbook, let’s take our weekly look at some of the players who are heating up and some of those who aren’t. As always, we’ll try to include some lesser names when we can to give them some standing alongside the usual superstars.

Let’s check the latest NBA picks, stats, injury reports, and NBA predictions. We’ve plenty of NBA expert picks for you to consider.

Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat in action against the Houston Rockets
Carmen Mandato - Getty Images - AFP

Eastern Conference Who’s Hot

  • Bam Adebayo – Jimmy Butler is Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro is getting plenty of attention for his run of game-winners, but the best player on the Miami Heat right now is their athletic big man. Adebayo has at least 30 points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career, and exactly half (7 of 14) of his career 30-point games have come this season. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra recently called Adebayo – for years somewhat of a one-dimensional offensive talent – a “Swiss Army Knife killer” for the variety of ways he’s attacking defenders.
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo – We sometimes avoid superstars, but sometimes it’s impossible. Giannis is averaging 44.3 points, 17.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists over his last four games, the most recent of which resulted in his second triple-double of the season. Those are video game numbers, and with them, the Milwaukee Bucks are showing signs of crawling out of a recent slump.
  • Alec Burks – Time to give some props to a veteran bench contributor for his solid run. Burks has put up 19.6 points in 27.1 minutes off the Detroit Pistons bench over the past five games. Much of that came in a 32-point effort on Dec. 28, but he’s been on the mark throughout this hot stretch, making 15 of 22 3-pointers. Burks ranks ninth among all NBA reserves in total points despite missing the first 12 games of the season and is fourth among all players in 3-point percentage (45.2).

Western Conference Who’s Hot

  • Keldon Johnson – If you saw how much this San Antonio Spurs talent was struggling at one point earlier in the season, you’d understand how important it is to give him some credit right now. Over the last four games, Johnson is averaging 27.0 points while shooting 51% from the floor. It’s a sharp contrast to the nine-game stretch at the end of November and early December, in which he averaged 15.3 points while shooting 29.6% (24.0% from the arc).
  • Lauri Markkanen – The Finnisher (one of our favorite nicknames…he’s from Helsinki) continues a phenomenal campaign for the Utah Jazz. He posted a career-high 49 points at Houston on Thursday night, giving him a 32.8 average over his last eight games. And he was a split-second shy of an incredible buzzer-beater the other night vs. Sacramento.
  • Thomas Bryant – Some figured the Los Angeles Lakers would go into the toilet once Anthony Davis was hurt, but Bryant’s fantastic play at the center position has kept the engine running. The Lakers are 6-5 in their last 11 games, during which Bryant is averaging 16.0 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 66.1% (10-for-18 from long range).

Eastern Conference Who’s Not

  • Grayson Allen – One in the handful of complementary pieces for Giannis has not been very complimentary of late. Allen is shooting 30.9 percent over an eight-game span, making 14 of 47 (29.%) 3-pointers. The Bucks are 7-0 when he scores at least 16 points, as he did Wednesday in Toronto, so it would be nice for Allen to chip in a little more on the offensive end.
  • Chris Duarte – You again? Two straight weeks with you! It’s hard to step away from Duarte this week as he continues a pretty troubling stretch for the Indiana Pacers. After returning from a lengthy injury layoff and putting up 14 points in 15 minutes in his second game back. Duarte has made a total of five shots in 36 attempts over a seven-game span. In a very Blutarsky-like showing, he is 0-for-15 over the last four games. Nine of those misses have been INSIDE the arc, so it’s not like he’s just taking a bunch of 35-footers.
  • Jaden Ivey – The young rookie is trying to find his way, and it’s been an up-and-down (mostly down) process of late. He had a recent 8-point game, followed that up with a 22-point effort, and then posted a 1-point showing (0-for-4 FG). Overall, the 20-year-old Detroit Piston is averaging 11.2 points on 32.6% over his last five contests.
Jaden Ivey #23 of the Detroit Pistons dribbles up the court against the Chicago Bulls
Jaden Ivey #23 of the Detroit Pistons dribbles up the court against the Chicago Bulls // Michael Reaves – Getty Images – AFP

Western Conference Who’s Not

  • Davis Bertans – When your only role on the team is to come off the bench for about 15 minutes a game and make a couple of 3’s, it’s rather glaring when none of them go in. That’s the case with Bertans, who has missed all nine of his long-range attempts over the past four games and is shooting 23.1% from the arc over his last eight.
  • Mikal Bridges – The absence of Devin Booker is sinking the Suns out West, and Bridges is part of that freefall. He’s 7-for-26 from the floor over his last two games and is shooting 37.7% over a larger sample (12 games).
  • Austin Reaves – Like Bridges, Reaves makes up for shooting slumps in other ways and has been among the most valuable Los Angeles Lakers this season. But we have to take note of the recent 9-for-36 shooting stretch, which includes two consecutive games in which he went a combined 1-for-18. Yikes!

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