An 11-game slate greets us on the first Saturday of the NBA season, and there are several top teams who get the chance to flex their early season muscle today. Here, we pick out our favourite bets of the day and outline the reasons why you should bet them.
Be sure to check out our best futures tips article, as well as our NBA tips page where you will find our best bets for multiple slates each week!
NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, 22nd October
Boston Celtics at Miami Heat
AmericanAirlines Arena, 10:30am AEDT
An early rematch of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals from last season, as the Boston Celtics (1-0) head to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat (0-1). The Celtics looked great on offense on opening night, shooting 56% from the floor in their 126-117 victory over the 76ers. Jayson Tatum continued on from his stellar for from last season, posting 35 points and 12 rebounds, whilst Jaylen Brown also had 35.
The Heat were defeated at home on Thursday by the Bulls 116-108, in what proved a slow start for last season’s number 1 seed coming out of the east. You’d have to think they had one eye on this contest with the Celtics, with revenge high on the agenda following a heartbreaking 4-point loss at home in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
Whilst I lean the Heat with the 3-point start, I’m more interested in the total, with both these sides priding themselves on team defence. It is a relatively low total, however in the 9 games these two sides played last season, they only went over this total twice.
Under 218.5 points
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
Detroit Pistons at New York Knicks
Madison Square Garden, 10:30am AEDT
The Detroit Pistons (1-0) head to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks (0-1) in a clash between two non-playoff teams from a year ago. The Pistons’ first up game this season was a thriller against the Orlando Magic, as the Pistons cut down an 11-point early deficit to sneak home 113-109. The big positive was the contributions from three players who will be key to their success moving forward, with free agent signing Bojan Bogdanovic (24p, 5r), rookie Jaden Ivy (19p, 4a) and last year’s number 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham (18p, 10a) all contributing.
The Knicks were plucky in defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies, forcing overtime after overcoming a 15-point half time deficit. They shot the ball horribly from downtown, and with a small uptick in this area they should be difficult to stop in this game. The Knicks were led by Julius Randle (24p, 11r) and Cam Reddish (22p, 5r), however need more from RJ Barrett who went 3 of 18 (16.7%) from the floor.
The Knicks have won 8-straight over the Pistons, and in their home opener I would expect a strong advantage with the crowd. Whilst the number is a tad high, this young Pistons team may struggle against a vocal home crowd at the historic venue in New York.
New York Knicks -6.5
$1.95 (1 Unit)
Memphis Grizzlies at Houston Rockets
Toyota Center, 11:00am AEDT
Whilst the Grizzlies (1-0) managed a first up win over the Knicks on Thursday (115-112), I don’t believe they would have been entirely happy with their efforts. Being taken to overtime at home on opening night by a team that finished with a 37-45 record last year isn’t what the Grizzlies will want moving forward.
The Rockets, on the other hand, were somewhat surprising in their opening night loss to the Hawks, despite only pushing the closing line of +10. Houston is not expected to figure this season; however, their young core wasn’t embarrassed on the road in a 117-107 loss to the Hawks, and could prove quite plucky, at least early in the season.
Despite this, I like the Grizzlies to be far too good in this one and cover the spread comfortably. Jai Morant is entering the upper echelon of NBA talent, and a player in that category should single be more than enough to beat this Rockets team by margin.
Memphis Grizzlies -5
$1.92 (1.5 Units)
