It’s quite fitting that the Brooklyn Nets will host the Phoenix Suns on Halloween, as it will be a true horror matchup kids shouldn’t be allowed to watch. But, since it’s a fun holiday, after all, the teams can at least entertain you with plenty of baskets.
Suns at Nets
Spread: Brooklyn -3 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 231 points (-110)
Modest Suns’ win streak snapped in Portland
The Phoenix Suns are trying to move on from the embarrassment of having sacked their head coach after just three games in the season, and their face of the franchise asking to be traded, so it was as bad of a timing as it gets to hop on a plane and start a road trip. The team has responded well to the changes, winning two games, before coming short in Oregon. The Suns would not allow any blowout to Portland, but still ended losing the game, 107-114.
Ever since the changes have been made, the Suns have been starting Mike James at the point and Marquelle Chris at the four, and they played fairly well. Against the Blazers, it didn’t work. If you add Tyson Chandler’s struggles into the mix, you can see why the Suns figure to be among the worst teams in the league. They practically have only one piece in place, and that’s Devin Booker. Booker was great in Portland, carrying his team long and giving them a chance. He efficiently scored 34 points and added 6 rebounds and 6 assists. No other player did much positively for the Suns. Phoenix ended up shooting a below average percentage from the field and the deep, but were helped by knocking down 24 free throws. On the defensive side, they tried their best to stay in front of the ball, but are still very much struggling to set up each time the ball moves quickly, either from side to side, or in transition. Over the first 6 games, the 114 points they allowed to Portland was the second fewest in a game. They give up over 117 points on average this season, and score 102.5 a game. Since the Game 1 of the season, the Suns are searching for consistency, having alternated double and triple-digit scoring each time.
Bledsoe is still on the trading block, as the Suns are probably being low balled with offers. As much as they look to convert him to future assets, they need immediate help and I hope they get a decent two-way wing for him, or a pass first point guard. Aside from him, the Suns are coming to East Coast healthy.
Place: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 31st, 2017. 7:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: YES
Brooklyn can’t build on a marquee win
Beating the Cleveland Cavaliers must have felt good for the franchise, not only because of the recent conference reign, but also as they own their first-round pick to them. Yet, the Brooklyn Nets were unable to gain momentum with the win and lost two games that followed. They were blown out by the then-winless Knicks and most recently lost to Denver 111-124.
Even without the usual starter Carroll, who was replaced by Crabbe due to injury, the Nets started the game a bit better and led by 14 couple of minutes in the second. It was more of a product of the Nuggets being out of sync as well, as the Nets played like with a hangover from the previous night loss in MSG. It was a 3-point Brooklyn lead at halftime but then it all began to slip away. D’Angelo Russell had an off night and committed his fourth foul at the nine-minute mark of the third quarter, forcing him to check out earlier than usual. The Nuggets took advantage of that and a lot of other sloppy play, outscoring the Nets 40-21 in the quarter, giving them a 16-point lead entering the fourth. The Nuggets led by as many as 26 in the third, highlighted by a 31-6 run. The offense had their lapses and the defense was just brutal. They forced only six turnovers and allowed Denver to shoot above 50 percent. Russell, LeVert, and Crabbe struggled with their shooting, and the frustration boiled over to trying to do too much, which then led to many live ball turnovers that got Nuggets going.
After hosting the Phoenix Suns, the Nets head out on a 5-game road trip beginning on Friday. Carroll is questionable to play in this one, as his ankles are just sore, but the Nets miss steady bench presence of Quincy Acy ever more, and he’ll not likely to dress on Tuesday night.
Phoenix Suns at Brooklyn Nets Game Trends & Prediction
After the terrible start, the books overreacted and faded the Suns it the last three games. This resulted in three consecutive covers and Phoenix are now 3-3 against the spread. They only played two games away from home so far, losing them both. A look at the recent total points outcomes won’t help us at all, as the Suns alternated unders and overs in each game since the opening day.
Brooklyn is 4-3 against the spread, but are trending in a bad direction, failing to cover in either of the last two games. In the total points market, the Nets have been successfully fighting some very high lines, putting up a 4-2-1 O/U record in the first two weeks of season.
Admi-Rank: There are few worse teams in the league than the Nets and the Suns. Even with Phoenix holding a slight uptrend, they are still far below the average, and the Nets currently don’t even have their value.
As much as the matchup between these two teams resembles a G-league encounter, the team that wins it will be back at .500 ball or close to it, which has to be considered as a success at any point of the season for either team. The game will be decided by field goal percentage. Not much separates two sides and each will look to outscore the opposition by playing quickly and firing a lot of three-pointers.
By setting a total points line to 231, the bookmakers are trying to scare you away from playing the over, but the actual value is on the other side. Yes, I’m going with the under bet here, believe it or not. Yes, these teams will play without any defensive consciousness, but there’s also a limit to their offensive potential. They are not very consistent and despite all the pace, they still tend to have up and down games when it comes to scoring. This is not all that surprising, as they have limited number of good shooters. Unless this turns into a foul fest, which I’m willing to risk, the unders is what you want to ride with.
The spread is set at -3 points, but I’m not going to touch it. The ‘value’ is with the away team, but the help is so tiny that it’s like playing to win, and it’s likely a coin toss.
My Pick: (no wager on the spread)
Total: Under 231 points (-110)
