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Well, it’s finally here. After what seemed like a long offseason this year, NBA basketball is finally back. Real NBA basketball. Not Summer League. Not preseason. Honest to goodness count-in-the-standings Association.
And while our Houston Rockets don’t kick things off until Wednesday night, there is a doubleheader on TNT with the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics playing the early game at 6:30pm central, and the Los Angeles Lakers heading north to take on the Golden State Warriors in the late game at 9:30pm central.
Head over here to DraftKings to get a wide array of odds on tomorrow’s contests.
In particular, the late game is a good chance to make some money if you’re into the sports betting kind of thing. The Warriors are favored by six points, and quite frankly, with the way these two teams looked in the preseason, this could be an easy win for Golden State and some smart money would be on the Warriros to cover the six points.
In addition, there are a couple of interesting prop bets. My personal favorite is a Stephen Curry 30-plus points and 6-plus rebounds currently listed at +425, meaning for every $100 put on that prop, you’d get $425 back. Switch out the rebounds for 8-plus assists, and the odds jump to +475. Steph may be ready to rip through the Lakers tomorrow night, so either of those could be lucrative.
Another bet I like is Andrew Wiggins for 20-plus points and 4-plus assists. That’s sitting a +1100, meaning that’s an $1100 payout for every $100 wagered, and those aren’t unrealistic numbers for Wiggins in what is probably a relatively high-scoring affair. In fact, the over/under is 226, illustrating that the oddsmakers expect some points.
A really interesting one is both Curry and LeBron James to have 35-plus points. Is that likely? Certainly not, and that’s reflected in the +1800 odds. But if you’re looking for long shot that both looks juicy in the pocket book and just might happen, that’s your winner right there.
The Philly-Boston game is a little trickier, as I think these two teams are pretty evenly matched, with the home Celtics favored by 2.5 points. I might stay away from picking a winner outright on this one and stick with the props.
You can get James Harden for 20-plus points and 10-plus assists for +340 or you can get Embiid and Harden for 25-plus points each at +500. On the Boston side, I’d be looking at Marcus Smart and Jalen Brown for three-plus triples apiece at +500 and Jason Tatum for 25-plus points and 8-pus rebounds at +320.
I’m more confident in the results of the late game, so in my opinon, that’s where the money is to be won, but either way, there’s a interesting set of games to kick off this latest NBA season we’ve been waiting for all summer. DraftKings odds are here.
Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.
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