Continuing its trend as one of the most exciting days on the NBA calendar, this Saturday brings us 8 enticing fixtures. The 1-6 Wizards will look to get their season back on track as Russell Westbrook and the Thunder come to town in our early tip-off. The late game features an intriguing Western Conference affair as they play host to the Timberwolves, with the Jimmy Butler situation still up in the air. As always, our value-laden preview will feature our 3 best bets of the day and another money multi.
Orlando Magic
Aside from a shock road win over the Celtics, the 2-5 Magic have gotten off to a dreadful start to the season. The lack of shooting and playmaking stuck out as problem points for this roster before the season, both of which have definitely played out so far. D.J. Augustin just can’t cut it as a starting Point Guard at this level, heaping pressure on backcourt mate Evan ‘Don’t Google Me’ Fournier. Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba have the makings of an exciting front court and will hopefully start to receive more time together from Coach Steve Clifford.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers travel to Orlando at 4-4 after consecutive road losses to the Thunder and 76ers. Forwards Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris continue to form a strong frontcourt duo, combining for an impressive 45 points and 16 boards against Philly last night. Calls for Center Boban ‘Tiny’ Marjanovic to start will continue, after he bagged 15 points and 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes yesterday. A real strength of this Clippers side is the excellent defense of backcourt mates Patrick Beverley and Avery Bradley, whom I expect to shut down Orlando here.
Prediction: Clippers -1.5
Whilst the Clippers haven’t been in red-hot form of late, I’m not putting my hard-earned cash on Orlando in their current form. As outlined earlier, the Clippers backcourt defense should prove the difference in this one, as Orlando struggle to generate offense. The deep bench of the Clippers means that they bounce back strongly here, despite being on a back-to-back.
Washington Wizards
The 1-6 Wizards return home after a truly brutal West Coast road-trip that saw them lose their last 4. In-fighting has already begun in the Wizards locker room, which will surely be aided by the return of notoriously good teammate Dwight Howard here. John Wall and Bradley Beal have continued to put up numbers on offense, but the lack of a strong supporting cast has cost Washington so far. Power Forward Markieff Morris missed Wednesday’s tilt with the Grizzlies and his projected return should help the struggling Wizards here.
Oklahoma City Thunder
After an 0-4 start to the campaign, the 3-4 Thunder continue their East Coast road trip after three straight victories, including a come-from-behind win in Charlotte last night. Point Guard Russell Westbrook has been on a tear of late, falling just 2 rebounds shy of a triple double yesterday. Dennis Schroder and Alex Abrines combined for 46 off the bench, effectively overcoming a poor shooting night from Paul George. Back-to-backs are never easy, but I think the Thunder are finding form here and expect the consistency of Westbrook to lead them to victory.
Prediction: Thunder +3
I’ve taken the Thunder in their past 2 games and I’m keeping the trend going here. Teams travelling from long west-coast road trips rarely perform well in their first game back and I can see a sluggish Washington performance in this one. OKC again have the two best players on the floor and I think they should cover the 3 points here, if not win it outright.
Phoenix Suns
After a promising opening win over the Mavericks, the Suns have slumped to 6 straight terrible losses. A dreadful 30-point home loss against San Antonio last time out typified their season. The absence of Devin Booker has really hurt the offense and his impending return will no doubt provide a boost. That said, their defense has been absolutely atrocious. They’ve also allowed big offensive nights to OKC, Golden State, Memphis and the Lakers. Against this immensely talented Raptors side, I expect them to struggle here.
Toronto Raptors
The 7-1 Raptors bounced back from their only loss of the season with a convincing win over Philadelphia in their last time out. Small Forward Kawhi Leonard has gotten off to an incredible start to the season, averaging 27.3 points and 7.8 boards as part of the 50-40-90 club. Point Guard Kyle Lowry has also started the season strongly with less of an offensive burden, whilst Shooting Guard Danny Green has slotted in seamlessly. This exciting Raptors side runs 10-deep and will be looking to reclaim top spot in their conference on this road trip.
Prediction: Raptors -8.5
Even if Devin Booker plays in this one, I’m very confident in a Raptors win. In the modern NBA, 8.5 points isn’t too high of a point spread either. I expect the Raptors smothering defense to contain Phoenix, whilst Leonard and Lowry lead the way with big offensive nights. Raptors by double digits here.
4-leg multis are never simple in the NBA, but this is one I’m relatively confident in. Here you’ve got 4 teams who are favoured by 7 points or more in games they have a significant talent edge in. The Jazz and Warriors have been straight money at home in recent years, whilst the Pacers and Raptors are travelling to take on two of the worst teams in the NBA. All of this makes for excellent value at $2.38