NBA parlay picks Jan. 18: Take the under in Pacers vs. Kings matchup

The Utah Jazz have seemingly turned their season around, and now they face a tough test at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The pregame narrative: Utah, which has won nine straight home games, is getting points tonight and looks like a good pick on an alt spread. I'm also taking extra points with the Memphis Grizzlies while riding a streak of unders in the Indiana Pacers vs. Sacramento Kings matchup.

Here are some NBA parlay picks for January 18.

NBA oddsas of 9:40 a.m. on 01/18/2024.

NBA parlay picks

Parlay: Jazz +8.5 + Pacers/Kings under 253 points + Grizzlies +16.5 (+231)

Jazz +8.5 (-265): On Dec. 11, the Jazz took a 14-point road loss against the Thunder to worsen their record to 7-16. Utah looked like a team destined to be sold for parts — but the turnaround has been real.

Since that loss to OKC, Utah is 15-4 and has won nine straight home games. The Jazz have also covered this number in 15 of their past 16 games.

The standard line is Jazz +3.5, and that looks pretty solid as a straight wager. After all, the Thunder dropped back-to-back games to start this road trip.

But pushing the spread to 8.5 points puts this at a number that OKC has failed to cover in six consecutive road matchups.

Other picks

Pacers/Kings under 253 points (-190): The over is 24-15-2 in Pacers games this year, which is the third-highest rate in the NBA. But Indiana hit the over in 14 of its first 15 games, which means unders have been a lot more prominent lately.

The under is 3-0 so far on the Pacers' road trip, and the under has hit in five of the team's past six games overall. Most of their games are still high-scoring, mind you, but the bar is being set a bit too high.

This teased-up line is higher than anything the Kings have seen this season. And they've hit the under at this number in 11 of their past 14 games.

In January, the Pacers and Kings rank 11th and 14th in offensive rating.

Grizzlies +16.5 (-167): When Ja Morant suffered a season-ending injury, the expectations for Memphis hit the floor.

But even without Morant for most of this month, the Grizzlies haven't been too bad. Memphis is 5-3 in January with the 11th-best net rating in the NBA in that stretch (+3.1).

For as talented as the Minnesota Timberwolves are, they haven't been much better this month. Minnesota is 5-4 in January with a +5.4 net rating (ninth in the NBA).

Minnesota is 16-2 at home, but this is a mountain of points and I think Memphis can at least cover. The Grizzlies have covered this number in eight consecutive games.