NBA Opening Night best bets, predictions

The wait is finally over! After a long offseason full of stars switching teams,  rookies going off in summer league and preseason, and ongoing rumors, the NBA season is finally set to get underway tonight.

Tuesday night may feature only two games, but between the star-power, key injuries, and high expectations of the teams in action, we have a few bets we love going into opening night.

Anthony Davis to score 25+ points (+105)

Anthony Davis loves playing on opening night.

“The Brow” has averaged 27.5 PPG in openers in his career, and in this particular opener he gets to face a Nuggets team that he struggled against in the playoffs a year ago.

Davis averaged well over 25 PPG in that series despite a horrendous shooting performance in game 2, and I think he easily clears 25 as the Lakers’ best scoring option this season.

Golden State Warriors -2 (-108)

The Golden State Warriors are not the New England Patriots.

While this dynasty’s best days are most likely behind them, the Warriors still have their best player and future hall of famer Steph Curry. They still have his splash brother, Klay Thompson, and they still have Draymond Green.

This team knows how to win and that is exactly what they will do against an already banged-up Suns team tonight.

 

Suns vs. Warriors under 234.5 points (-110)

My finacè and I recently took engagement photos to fill out or wedding website and send out some save the dates. I noticed a small bald spot on the back of my scalp in one of the photos.

The only explanation I can come up with for that bald spot appearing is betting on NBA overs and watching these dudes take 20 seconds of the shot clock to throw up a brick.

I am done, for the most part, betting overs, especially this early in the season. The Suns are banged up and the Warriors are a historically above-average defensive team.

235 points is way too high for an opening night game.

Andrew Wiggins to record 6 rebounds (+114)

Andrew Wiggins is averaging a clean 4.9 rebounds per game in his career without Draymond Green.

Tonight he’ll play along side an aging Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and an undersized and old Chris Paul.

Kevon Looney will surely be a headache on the boards when he’s in the game, but in small lineup situations, Wiggins should eat up every defensive board.

Lakers vs. Nuggets First Quarter under 58.5 (-120)

I don’t have much data behind this one, but it may be my favorite bet on the board.

The emotions will be riding high for the Nuggets after their banner ceremony. The tempo may start slow, and that could be all it takes for the quarter to end under 59 points.

Lebron James is also notorious for passing the ball to his teammates early in games, and I like betting against the road role players to make some shots in the altitude early.