Follow along on Twitter (@julianedlow) for any potential updates — things can always change with lineup moves leading up to tipoff. Here’s what jumps out to me on DraftKings Sportsbook.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
Plenty of spots to look at on this big NBA Wednesday card. I’ve locked in one side, and am still waiting to potentially fire on another side. Also a couple of prop leans in the mix.
Per usual, I’ll put everything official up on Twitter that I bet on personally. This is a betting guide for this NBA card, and anything I’ve actually bet will include a unit amount.
Best Bets
Chicago Bulls at Portland Trail Blazers
CHI ML (+100) — 1.5-units
The Bulls are off to a tremendous start with their new core, sitting at 10-4 SU/ATS. What I love most is being able to trust Chicago in almost any situation, with its balanced and identical 5-2 SU/ATS record in both home and road games. After eating some humble pie in Golden State to start this west coast trip, the Bulls got back on track with a pair of impressive wins on back-to-back nights in Los Angeles.
Portland’s splits so far this season are pretty absurd. The Blazers are just 1-7 SU/ATS on the road, but fortunate to be playing this one at home — 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS. That said, this team has been pretty inconsistent, and shown a lot of holes in the early going. Damian Lillard is dinged up for this one, and while he likely still plays, I doubt we see him at 100%. Portland just doesn’t have any signature wins so far this season, and probably shouldn’t be favored against a very efficient Bulls squad.
Other Considerations
Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks
BOS +4.5 (-110)
Dennis Schroder OVER 17.5 Points (-115)
After a pretty frustrating start from the Celtics, we’ve been doing well with them lately. We cashed the C’s as an article play on Wednesday and Friday last week, then again on Monday. We also correctly laid off on Saturday, a tougher spot for them. I was really hoping Robert Williams played in this one to offset Clint Capela a bit, making this an easy call to play Boston. With Williams ruled out, I want to wait and see who’s in for the Hawks, who are very banged up on the wing.
Like the Blazers, the Hawks have wild home/road splits — 5-1 SU/ATS at home and 1-8 SU/0-9 ATS on the road. So this should be a spot the Hawks can at least show up, but Boston has been clicking pretty well with Jaylen Brown off the floor. The offense runs well through Jayson Tatum, and Schroder has been stepping up. C’s or pass here. We’ll see.
As for the Schoder prop, we missed on it on Monday at 16.5. We got great closing line value, but a scoreless first quarter from him did us in, as he eventually landed on 14. Same analysis as Monday applies, with games of 20, 20, 38 and 28 points in the first four games Brown missed. Factor in a soft matchup against the Atlanta backcourt along with a revenge game against his former team, I feel we see Schroder get back on track.
Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns
Tim Hardaway Jr. OVER 17.5 Points (-115)
No hard hitting analysis here. Luka Doncic comes out of the rotation, and we have a massive scoring void to fill. THJ had already gone for 19-plus points in two of his last three, but the bump in usage here should really help him out. Hardaway averaged 24 points in six games without Doncic last season. Only red flag here is the blowout potential, which did cost us Tyrese Maxey points by the hook on Tuesday.
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