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Best Bets
Cade Cunningham over 6.5 assists (+105) at Hornets
DraftKings, 3:31 PM CT
Alex Barutha: Cunningham was excellent in Detroit’s season opener on the road against the Heat, posting 30 points and 9 assists. I’m targeting the assists specifically because he had 15 potential assists, which NBA.com converted into 12 adjusted assists. He barely has to go over half that number for this bet to hit. Charlotte’s defense is much worse than Miami’s, so he should have an even easier time finding open looks for his teammates. The 226.5 over/under indicates a good pace for this game, too.
Tyler Herro over 19.5 points (-115) at Celtics
PointsBet, 3:36 PM CT
Alex Barutha: Herro had a 32.8 USG% Opening Night against the Pistons, but he scored just 16 points, going 7-of-24 from the field and 2-7 from three while not getting to the free-throw line. He’s too talented not to have a bounceback sooner than later. The Celtics’ defense is tough, but Miami is thin on playmakers, and I’m banking on Herro getting to 20 points just on sheer volume.
DraftKings, 3:39 PM CT
Alex Barutha: Porzingis went 5-for-9 on triples Opening Night against the Knicks, but that was against the plodding Mitchell Robinson, who isn’t chasing floor-spacing centers out to the three-point line. Facing Bam Adebayo is a different story. Adebayo is one of the best perimeter-guarding traditonal-sized centers in the NBA, and I’m sure coach Erik Spoelstra is focused on not letting Porzingis get freebies from three.
Nikola Vucevic over 0.5 threes (-165) vs. Raptors
PointsBet, 3:41 PM CT
Alex Barutha: Vucevic went 0-for-2 from three in the opener against the Thunder, when his under 0.5 threes was one of my best bets. Now I’m playing the other side. Jakob Poeltl isn’t going to chase Vucevic out to the three-point line like OKC’s centers would, so I expect Vooch to be open and launch often.
Xavier Tillman over 8.5 rebounds (-125) vs. Nuggets
PointsBet, 2:40 ET
Ken Crites: As most of us know, Steven Adams is out for the season due to injury. That means new center duties fall to Xavier Tillman and Santi Aldama. But Santi is out due to an ankle injury. Jaren Jackson seems like a “big” due to his blocked shots, but the reality is JJJ is a poor rebounder – he averaged 6.4 boards a game last year. That’s weak for a power forward. Memphis’ bench also lacks a true rebounder, meaning big minutes for Tillman, who grabbed 12 boards in the season opener. Denver is a mediocre rebounding team, ranking 16th last season with 51.3 boards per game. I like Tillman’s chances. The K-Train is 2-1 so far this season – feel free to fade.
