It feels like we have been waiting an eternity for the NBA season to finally get underway! The extended trade period which included some massive player moves has built the preseason hype to unmatched levels over the past few months and on Wednesday, the wait will finally be over!
The NBA season kicks off Wednesday with two monster games back to back. The Boston Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers from 11am, following that will be the 2017-18 Champion Golden State Warriors taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder from 1.30pm. We take a look at both games and give our betting tips below.
NBA Wednesday 17th October Betting Tips
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics (11am AEDT)
The Celtics made it to the conference finals in the East last season and will be looking to go one better in 2018-19 as they will get their starting point guard Kyrie Irving and their starting small forward Gordon Hayward back from injury. Boston made a great run in the Eastern Conference playoffs last seaosn without their two star players, with young guns in the likes of Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum stepping up to defeat Milwaukee in the first round and Wednesday’s opponent, Philadelphia in the second.
Philadlephia were active in the offseason, bringing in Wilson Chandler from the Nuggets and Mike Muscala from the Hawks to bolster their depth. Chandler in particular should be a great inclusion and adds to the long list of tall, athletic perimeter players that the 76ers possess. Natural progression of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and Markelle Fultz will be the barometer for the 76ers this season though.
Alwyas tough to make predictions in the opening games of the season, but Boston look tough to beat given their extreme depth. Jaylen Brown, who was arguably the Celtics best and most consistent player throughout the playoffs last season looks likely to come off the bench in 2018-19 along with Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris and Aaron Baynes. They are decent starters on any team in the league not names Golden State.
We think Boston will win at home but we are staying away from the game line here as it’s just too unpredictable on day one of the season. We love Joel EMbiid to be playing more minutes this season than the 30.3 he averaged last season. He averaged 23 points per game in the five-game series against the Celtics in the playoffs last season and should be a good chance to clear his point line Wednesday.
Joel Embiid OVER 23.5 points
$1.91
Oklahoma City Thunder at Golden State Warriors (1.30pm AEDT)
The rivalry between Golden State and Oklahoma City has become one of the best in the league over the last decade. From facing each other in heated playoffs series and now with the added bitterness of Kevin Durant having switched from the Thunder to the Warriors, Wednesday’s season opener is set to be a heated one.
Apart from the addition of all-star centre DeMarcus Cousins, who won’t be available until November at the earliest, the Golden State Warriors were pretty quiet in the off-season. They waved goodbye to Javale McGee and Zaza Pachulia and brought in Jonas Jerebko who should add depth. If all goes to plan for the Warriors, they’ll be lifting their third straight Bill Russel trophy and fourth in five years.
The Thunder surprised many in the off-season when they were able to secure the signature of Paul George, who signed on for four years to play alongside Russel Westbrook and Steven Adams long term. The core should be extremely competitive in the West and the extra additons of Dennis Schroeder and Nerlens Noel should add great depth.
Interestingly, the Warriors were just 29-12 at home last season, and boasted the exact same record on the road. The Thunder, however, weren't great on the road at 21-20 throughout the season. As good as the Warriors have been over the past few years, we’re not sure they deserve to be 11.5-point favourites on night one against a highly improved Western Conference contender. We are taking the Thunder at the line here.
