The NBA season is two weeks old heading into a busy weekend of basketball betting action. If you’re taking to the hardwood with your wagers, here are news, notes, and betting trends for top handicappers of NBA odds.
Not-so Golden
The Golden State Warriors knew the 2019-20 season was going to be a challenge, losing sharp-shooting guard Klay Thompson to a knee injury in the NBA Finals in the spring and watching Kevin Durant abandon the Bay Area for Brooklyn during free agency.
Now, with Stephen Curry breaking his hand and missing an estimated three months of action, the Warriors are a shell of their former championship selves. Golden State was off to a rough start to begin with before Curry went down and enter the weekend 1-4 SU and ATS, including a 17-point loss to San Antonio on Friday night.
The Warriors have a daunting schedule ahead and things could get much worse before they get better. The team has a home date versus Portland on Monday – a revenge game for the Trail Blazers after being ousted by Golden State in the Western Conference finals – then hits the road for matchups at Houston, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City before a brief home stand versus Utah and a trip to L.A. to play the Lakers.
Embiid out
After mixing it up with fellow big man Karl-Anthony Towns in Philadelphia’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday, 76ers star center Joel Embiid will miss two games due to suspension: at Portland Saturday and at Phoenix on Monday.
Philadelphia is a much different team without their All-Star center in the middle – on both sides of the floor. Embiid was averaging 23.3 points and 10.3 rebounds before the fight with Towns, as well as blocking 1.7 shots an outing.
The Sixers were able to win and cover without Embiid in their second game of the schedule but finished 7-8 SU and 5-10 against the NBA pointspreads without him in the lineup last season. Philadelphia struggled on the road last year as well, with a 21-26 ATS record as a visitor.
Pelican points
The New Orleans Pelicans started the season on a down note, losing No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson to a knee injury for the first two months of the season. That was a crushing loss for a franchise trying to rebuild after trading away star center Anthony Davis to the Lakers this summer.
The Pelicans have struggled out of the blocks, going 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS but they’ve made Over bettors very happy with a perfect 5-0 Over/Under start to the schedule. New Orleans was one of the better Over plays during the 2018-19 NBA campaign, finishing with a 44-37-1 O/U count, thanks in larger part of head coach Alvin Gentry and his up-tempo attack.
The Pelicans have plenty of new faces running the offense, which is tied for the seventh fastest pace in the NBA and averaging 121.2 points per game – second in the NBA. Defensively, the Big Easy has lived up to that nickname by allowing opponents to net 124 points against. That’s a perfect storm for those taking Over on the Pelicans’ totals most nights.
