A plethora of season debuts yesterday, with only a few teams remaining. Potential MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, will face last seasons award winner in Nikola Jokic. Last seasons ‘Rookie Of The Year’ Victor Wembenyama will premiere in the Texas showdown, facing the 2024 Western Conference Champions Dallas, lead by Luka Doncic.
Best Bet
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Sacramento Kings (1:00pm)
It wasn’t the night that the Timberwolves were hoping for after going down to the Lakers in the season opener. The good news for us is that Rudy played well and looked to enjoy the space created from trading KAT for Randle in the off season.
This one is simple, Rudy Gobert loves playing the Kings. In his last 5 he has averaged 14.8 rebounds per game and if you check his data for his last 10, it goes to 15.6. The Sacramento Kings have a rebounding machine themselves in Domantas Sabonis, but compared to Gobert’s 7ft 9in wingspan he comes up undersized.
Opening night for Sacramento, who will look to put their 0-5 pre-season behind them. The Kings ranked 3rd overall for 3-point field goal attempts last season and ranked 16th for 3 point makes. Hopefully they have an off night and the “Stifle Tower” can clean the glass.
SGM – Gobert 12+ Rebounds/ DiVincenzo 10+ Points/ Edwards 3+ 3s = $3.50
Next Best
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Denver Nuggets (1:00pm)
OKC are starting the season on the back foot already, with a broken hand for new recruit Isaiah Hartenstein. They also have Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams listed on the injury report for this game. That leaves Chet Holmgren and not much else at Centre.
Chet averaged 8.5 RPG versus Denver in their four regular season meetings. He cleared double figure rebounds both times he played 30+ minutes, which I expect him to be required for in this match up.
Averaging 7.9 RPG for last season, this line is around the mark for Holmgren on face value, but after taking into account the lack of depth at Centre and expected minutes on the cards, I see Chet getting at least 8 rebounds and potentially more.
SGM – Holmgren 6+ Rebounds/Braun Under 9.5 points/ OKC +2.5 = $3.50
Value Bet
San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks (10:30am)
Who? I hear you say. The San Antonio Spurs winger is definitely not a household name. The Spurs have not had many regular names on the roster to be fair and now with Victor Wembenyama and Chris Paul, they are starting to reintroduce Spurs basketball.
Champagnie managed to carve 19.8 minutes per game last season and all things point to more court time in this upcoming season. The absence of Devin Vassell (foot injury) only helps his cause. His points line for this game sits at 8.5, but for the value I’m happy to chase 10+. A 3-point shooter, Julian averaged just under 4 attempts per game from deep last season. This pre-season however, he averaged 7.6 attempts and pushed his points average to 12.4 PPG in just 20.6 minutes.
Over his last 15 games of last season he averaged 28.4 minutes. With all the attention firmly on Wemby and CP3 he should be able to find some open looks. If he can be trusted for 25+ here, he should be able to clear both his standard line and 10+.
SGM – Champagnie 2+ 3 pointers/Lively 6+ Rebounds/Wemby 20+ points = $3.10
Thursday NBA Multi
Dallas/Boston/Minnesota/OKC (+2.5)
$4.79
