NBA Previews for Sunday, October 29.
San Antonio Spurs (4-1) at Indiana Pacers (2-3), Sunday, 4:30 p.m. EST
Line: Spurs -7. Total: 207.
Both teams are coming off their worst shooting game of their season. Ironically, both teams shot 33.7% in their previous game. The Pacers lost 114-96 to Oklahoma City, while the Spurs lost to Orlando 114-87.
When a team loses by double-digits with a shooting percentage of 33% or less, a bounce-back spot is created. Consequently, we have two teams in a big-time bounce-back spot playing each other. When I see this situational spot, I cross games like this off my bet list for the day, unless there are other extenuating circumstances to look at.
Both teams are 2-3 ATS (Against the Spread), while the Spurs are 3-2 to the under and the Pacers are 3-2 to the over. San Antonio is 2-1 on the road, but just 1-2 ATS on the road this season. Indiana is 1-1 both straight up and ATS at home this season.
When both teams are in the same situational spot early in the season, my default play is to take the better team. So I expect the Spurs to handle this spot better than Indiana will. However, I not so sure San Antonio can be better than the 7-point Vegas number for this game.
Orlando Magic (4-1) at Charlotte Hornets (2-3), Sunday, 6:00 p.m. EST
Line: Hornets -3.5. Total: 212.5.
This game certainly looks like the trap of the day.
Orlando just destroyed the Spurs on Friday 114-87 at home to go to 4-1 on the young season. Their 4-1 record is good enough to sit the Magic atop the Eastern Conference standings alone in first place. On the other hand, the Hornets lost 109-93 at home to the Houston Rockets on Friday.
So why did the Hornets open up as 5-point favorites in this game?
From a handicapping perspective, Charlotte stepped up in class when the Rockets soundly beat them two days ago. The Hornets easily defeated their previous two opponents at home. Charlotte dismantled Denver 110-93 on Wednesday and blew out Atlanta 109-91 on October 20 at home.
Orlando is in first place in the Eastern Conference, but one might say they have only beaten one team with a winning record. One may also say that the Magic have not beaten some teams at full strength. Well, “One” would be correct.
The Magic beat Miami, currently owners of a 2-3 record, on October 18. After a loss to Brooklyn, Orlando has beaten three straight teams who were missing a starter. Cleveland was missing Derrick Rose, Brooklyn was missing Jeremy Lin and San Antonio was missing Kawhi Leonard.
As far as the total for this game goes, Charlotte has gone under in all five of their games, while the Magic are 3-2 to the over.
Denver Nuggets (2-3) at Brooklyn Nets (3-3), Sunday, 6:00 p.m. EST
Denver is just 1-4 ATS this season while the Nets are 4-2 ATS. The Nuggets have underachieved thus far, while Brooklyn has overachieved. I wonder if Denver coach Michael Malone has too many mouths to feed. I wonder if there is just a little bit of unrest behind the scenes when it comes to who is getting the playing time. Maybe the Nuggets just need some time to gel, like many other teams in the league do at this point of the season.
After all, Denver is not playing terribly. They did have a bad game at Charlotte as they were down 23 at the half and lost by 17. However, they led the Jazz by 9 points at the half and by 5 points after three quarters before collapsing in the fourth quarter to lose the game by 10 points.
The Nuggets played the Wizards tough at home in a game that featured 8 ties and 13 lead changes. A questionable technical foul called against Nikola Jokic with 32 seconds left in the game for elbowing Washington coach Scott Brooks really hurt Denver.
However, Denver has yet to beat a quality opponent. Their two wins have come against Atlanta (1-5) and Sacramento (1-4).
Meanwhile, Brooklyn has beaten the Magic and played them very tough in a 125-121 loss at Orlando. The Nets also beat Cleveland. However, the Cavs are struggling out of the gate and were on the back-end of a back-to-back for that game.
DeMarre Carroll is questionable for Sunday’s game for Brooklyn.
Record: 9-7 on the season, +$130.
Sides: 7-4
Totals: 2-1
2H: 0-2
#1 Sides: 6-6
#1 Totals: 9-3
Sides: (1) Den, (2) Cha, (3) Det, (4) Atl, (5) SA, (6) NY, (7) Sac.
Totals: (1) Cha un, (2) Atl un, (3) Det ov, (4) Sac un, (5) SA ov, (6) Den un, (7) NY un.
Note: I will be looking at second half plays on Sunday. I want to bet Denver and Charlotte but just do not know if I can trust those two teams right now. I may regret passing on betting neither team. If I change my mind, I will post a bet later.
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