So, last week wasn’t my best week playing NBA Pick ‘Em Weekly Six. I split my six picks going three and three. This week, I’m looking to rebound (pun intended). Now that the All-Star Game is in the books, teams will be focusing in to make that last push either for playoff position or to fight for that eighth seed.

Last Week’s Results

NBA Pick ‘Em Week 18 -Nuggets Over Thunder by Five Points

This is a really interesting match up this week because there is every possibility that this could be a first-round playoff series in the Western Conference.

In team PPG they are 17th and 19th according to teamrankings.com. The Nuggets average 110.4 points a game while the Thunder average110.6. Denver allows 106.7 PPG while OKC allows 108. Opponent effective field goal percentage is 52.2 to 52 percent in favour of the Nuggets. Effective field goal percentage is 53.3 to 52.6 percent in favour of the Thunder. And the list of pretty close stats goes on.

Whenever I see Denver in a match up, I always have to have a look at the pace of play stats. Denver is one of the slowest teams in the league averaging 101.5 possessions per game. OKC plays a bit faster with 102.3 possessions per game. Although OKC has this pace advantage over Denver, it seems unlikely that will be any real advantage. OKC is dead last in the league in fastbreak points.

One place that Denver enjoys a real advantage over OKC is in rebounding. Denver rips down 53.4 rebounds per game, good for 16th in the league. OKC sits at 24th with 50.9. It’s not an easy task keeping Denver off the boards and OKC is not a team constructed to cause any real issues in that regard.

Overall, although a lot of the team numbers are close between these two I think the Nuggets are going to be able to walk away from this game with a win. Overall, they’re just a better team than OKC is right now.

76ers Over Nets by Nine Points

Don’t expect the same in-depth analysis of stats and standings for this matchup that you got in the last one. This was a much easier pick. It 100% comes down to the fact Brooklyn is at Philadelphia for this game.

Although the ‘6ers have been hot garbage on the road this season (9-19) they have absolutely dominated on their home court (25-2). The Nets also have struggled on the road this season (9-16).

Sometimes the answers are just so obvious, I just don’t see a point in creating complicated analysis and pulling up all kinds of stats. This is one of those times. Check out the gallery below for my other four picks for the week and follow me on Twitter @auxiliarythings for random basketball commentary, live tweets during games, my other articles and my podcast.

And don’t forget to check out all of the other great fantasy sports content we have available.

P.S. Since I picked the 76ers twice this week, I’ll throw in another quick pseudo analysis. Bucks over ‘6ers by 12. Why? Because Philly is playing in Milwaukee. And it’s the 46 and 8 Bucks. Kind of went without saying, right?