NBA betting trends, odds and predictions for Thursday, October 19th, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
NBA Knowledge
Not a lot to go on for the first 7-10 days, until these teams get some games under their belts. I’ll give you what relevant information I have:
Bulls won nine of last ten games with Toronto (10-0 vs spread), losing last meeting in OT. Over is 9-1 in last ten series games. Chicago won three of last four visits here, with wins by 2-2-13 points. This is the season opener for both clubs.
Carmelo Anthony sees his old team on Opening Night. Knicks lost six of last eight games with Oklahoma City- they’re 1-3 in last four visits here (1-3 vs spread), losing by 12-11-29 points. Under is 4-2 in last six series games. This is the season opener for both sides.
Clippers won nine of last ten games with the Lakers (under 8-2), though Lakers are 6-3 vs spread in last nine meetings. This is season opener for both teams.
Armadillosports.com
NBA Pick ‘n Roll: Thursday’s Picks and Analysis
Covers.com
We’re taking baby steps back to respectability with a 1-1 showing on Day 2 of the season and bringing our season record to 1-3. There are lots of goodies in today’s edition including an embarrassing trend for backers of the Toronto Raptors.
New York Knicks at Oklahoma City Thunder (-12, 214)
Carmelo Anthony’s up-and-down ride in New York ended this summer when the Knicks traded their one-time franchise player to Oklahoma City for Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott.
We wonder how well Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Paul George will share the ball. Each member of the new fab trio is used to having the ball and – in Anthony’s case in particular – holding the ball while sizing up the opponent guarding them. We’re guessing the Thunder offense will have its missteps early on while George and Anthony learn how to play with Westbrook.
The Knicks might roll out the worst defensive starting five in the league with rookie guard Frank Ntilikina as possibly their best defender. The bigger worry is who’s going to score points for this team? It looks like Tim Hardaway Jr. is going to be the No. 2 option on offense behind Kristaps Porzingis.
Pick: Under 214
Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers (+5, 218.5)
According to Purple and Gold supporters, the Lakers are going to make the playoffs, Lonzo Ball is going to win MVP, Kyle Kuzma is going to win Rookie of the Year and Magic Johnson is going to win Executive of the Year next season after he gets LeBron James and Paul George to sign with the Lakers in the summer of 2018.
We hate to burst the La-La Land bubble but we’d take the "No" on each of those outcomes if they were prop bets.
The Clippers have revamped their roster after losing point guard Chris Paul in the offseason. This is now Blake Griffin’s team, and while there is not as many elite players on the roster with Paul gone, the overall team depth has unquestionably improved.
Pick: Clippers -5
Yesterday’s picks: 1-1
Season record: 1-3
Totals Streaks
*The Under went 8-2-1 in the Knicks’ final 11 regular season games last season.
*The Under is 9-2 the last 11 times the Clippers and Lakers have played each other.
Injury To Note
The Bulls are missing rotation forwards Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis after there was an altercation between the teammates during practice on Tuesday. Portis punched Mirotic in the face and was suspended eight games by the team. Mirotic suffered facial fractures from the punch and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Also, new Lakers shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is suspended for the first two games of the season. Expect Jordan Clarkson to start in his place.
Top Trends
*The Bulls might as well take the 905 area code because they’ve owned Toronto. The Bulls are 12-0 against the spread and 11-1 straight up in their last 12 games against the Raptors.
*The Lakers went 6-1 ATS over their final seven games last season.
Consensus
Consensus players love the Thunder to cover in their home opener against the Knicks. Around 75 percent of people are backing OKC to cover the double-digit spread.
Clippers, Lakers clash Thursday
By: StatFox.com
Lonzo Ball and the Lakers take on the crosstown rival Clippers on Thursday night.
When Chris Paul first became a Clipper in the summer of 2011, his arrival signaled a new era of Los Angeles basketball, one that would come to be known as "Lob City." And while the next few years were marked by playoff disappointments to difficult Western Conference competition, it easily marked the most successful stretch in franchise history. But Paul's time with the organization has come to an end, after the team traded him to Houston for a long list of role players and a draft pick. The team now belongs to PF Blake Griffin, and will need him to step up after years of injuries and off-the-court distractions. It's also a new era for the Clippers' crosstown rival, as the Lakers welcome rookie PG Lonzo Ball to town. The second overall pick in this past summer's draft, Ball brings a combination of size, deadly shooting and flashy passing to the point guard position, and all eyes will be on his regular season debut after impressive runs in Summer League and the preseason. For the Lakers, newly acquired SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will begin a two-game suspension to start the season and C Andrew Bogut is out for the opener with a groin injury. PF Julius Randle is listed as probable, as is Ball. For the Clippers, Houston transplants PG Patrick Beverley and SF Sam Dekker are questionable to play, as is second round draft pick SG Sindarius Thornwell.
For the Clippers, the offense that was once dictated entirely through Paul will now shift to something in which the ball will move more freely between all five players. The player through which it will run most frequently could be Griffin, who has shown an ability to make plays from the forward position throughout his career. He's an excellent passer, and has enough of a jumper to draw defenders on the perimeter. SF Danilo Gallinari, who arrived in LA via a three-team trade, brings the kind of scoring presence at the three-spot that Clippers fans begged for during Paul's time in the city. He'll help make up for some of the perimeter shooting lost in the departures of JJ Redick and Jamal Crawford. So will SG Lou Williams, who had the best season of his career last year as both a Laker and a Rocket. He'll look to fill the Crawford role for the Clips. Beverley is one of the league's most aggressive perimeter defenders, and an underrated offensive player. Also at point guard are Austin Rivers and Milos Teodosic, the latter of whom enters the league at age 30 with some of the flashiest passes you'll ever see. Star C DeAndre Jordan has already been the beneficiary of several alley-oops from him in the preseason.
On the other side of town—on the same side, actually, as both teams play in Staples Center—Ball figures to be running the show from now on in Luke Walton's offense. There's been much speculation regarding whether his unconventional but heretofore deadly jumpshot will translate to the NBA, and that will be something to watch closely in his regular season debut. Less of a concern is his passing, which figures to dazzle night in and night out. But there is actually, for a certain sect of NBA nerd, another Laker rookie whose debut is even more anticipated. That would be PF Kyle Kuzma, a mid-draft pick out of Utah who has been thrilling in Summer League and the preseason. He has looked explosive and surprisingly accurate from the outside. While D'Angelo Russell has left town, two shockingly young members of the Lakers core remain: 22-year-old PF Julius Randle and 20-year-old SF Brandon Ingram. Ingram is of particular interest—he was always expected to be something of a project in his early years in the league, but he showed growth in the second half of last season. Playing with Ball could help him find easier scoring opportunities. C Brook Lopez comes to LA via the trade that sent Russell to Brooklyn, and figures to get plenty of touches as one of the few veterans on this team that has two legs to stand on.