RADIO
Day Four of the NBA is here and we have our second full-sized slate with a massive Friday night of NBA action tonight. Every team has now played at least one game and we are ready to see if some of those opening game results were fluky or legit.
As a disclaimer, I will probably have more action on player props tonight than game sides and totals, just because those markets are softer at the start of the season and we don't have much of a sample size to go off for team data just yet. But I still have a few games that I am eyeing for bets and will share those with you today.
In this article, I'll be providing my favorite picks against the spread, game totals, parlays, and teasers for the first full NBA slate of the season that tips off at 7:00 PM EST on Friday, October 27.
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NBA Betting Picks: Game Totals
Houston Rockets (+2) @ San Antonio Spurs (226 total)
I try not to overreact to one game, but man did Houston look like a disaster once again. There was a lot of hype around this team as they have a young, exciting core of players and brought in an established leader in veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, but they scored just 86 points against Orlando and were handled with ease by another young team on the rise.
Perhaps it will take some time for this team to gel this season, but I think they are going to continue to struggle early on to adjust to a new coach and frankly, they look very much out of sync with each other. The total is not always greater than the sum of all of the parts - know what I mean?
Devin Vassell is a nasty scorer. With all eyes on the Spurs this year a lot of people are going to see how special Vassell is becoming. pic.twitter.com/MWeSlaQxoX
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 26, 2023
Meanwhile, the Spurs hung with Dallas for most of their opener as it took a huge Luka performance to finally deal them the death blow in that game. Wemby didn't even play all that much, or that well, and the Spurs still managed 119 points against Dallas. I think they can do it again here against Houston, who is a very undisciplined defensive team. Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson are underrated scorers with Zach Collins being a really nice complimentary piece around them and Wemby. I have the Spurs winning at home and I am betting them to cover their team total in this one.
The Pick: San Antonio Team Total OVER 113.5 points (-110 DraftKings)
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NBA Betting Picks: ML and Spreads
Toronto Raptors (+2) @ Chicago Bulls (216.5 total)
The Bulls are usually a nemesis of mine when it comes to betting. Last year they were a fringe playoff team that lost in the final play-in game to the eventual Eastern Conference champs - the Miami Heat and they were mired in mediocrity for much of the season for the second straight year.
I thought they'd come out fired up in the opener to take on an OKC team that was getting a ton of national publicity for their young exciting core and win a tough one at home. Instead, they lost by 20 and looked like the same old Bulls that really can't defend in the paint or score consistently enough on offense.
The Raptors have a high defensive ceiling. Hitting it depends on Scottie Barneshttps://t.co/nrsumulqsR
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) October 27, 2023
Meanwhile, the Raptors pulled off a nice upset on the road against a good Minnesota team, with Scottie Barnes putting on quite the show on both ends of the floor. Toronto has a new coach and a very talented starting lineup. They don't have quite the offensive firepower of other Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls, but they do play some excellent defense and they have length at every position on the floor. Anunoby is a great two-way player, Siakam is, too, and Jakob Poeltl is an underrated center.
Toronto was able to beat Chicago in two of three meetings last year and I think they have the edge again this season. Give me the Raptors to do it again tonight and pull off another slight upset to move to 2-0.
The pick: Raptors ML (+110 DraftKings)
Orlando Magic (-3) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (223.5 total)
I mentioned Orlando's big win against Houston in the opener already, but I have to reiterate that this was a really impressive win by a young team that seems to be trending in the totally opposite direction of Houston. Orlando has a solid core that has now played together for a full season, as Paolo Banchero enters his second year. It's an interesting group of guys with some former first-round picks who became cast-offs by other organizations (Fultz, Carter Jr.) and some of their own home-grown picks (Wagner, Anthony, Banchero).
I still don't think enough people understand how good Franz Wagner actually is
Creates space on a stepback 3, hits a fly by 3, and knocks down a spot up 3 all in a little over a minute pic.twitter.com/nazK3HZ2OV
— Zach Milner (@ZachMilner13) October 26, 2023
This team plays very unselfishly as each of their starters and their sixth man (Anthony) is capable of putting up 20+ points on any given night. I love the balance that they have on offense and they've made major improvements defensively the last several years running. This could be a playoff team this year if things break right with this group and I think they are a lot better than a rebuilding Portland team. Three points is nothing, we are slamming this spread and backing the Magic tonight.
The Pick: Orlando -3 (-110 DraftKings)
Favorite ML Parlay: DEN + BOS (-114 FD)
Favorite Teaser: DEN -1, BKN +11, NYK +6.5 (+130 DK)
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