🏀 KD vs. Wemby

Wemby faces off against KD in Phoenix, while the Knicks take on the Cavs in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference first round. We're due for a spooky night of hoops, let's take a look at some of the top storylines 🎃 (3 min read)

Author

Will Gendron
October 31, 2023

Photo by Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images

NBA Halloween Edition

The best part about the beginning of the NBA season are the overreactions. Every win confirms a team’s status in the upper echelons of their conference, and with every loss, a look into this summer’s top draft prospects. Until there are enough games played to build out a sample size, anything is possible! Unless of course, it’s Joker and the Nuggets, who remain one of the favorites (+550) until proven otherwise 😬

As things stand, Denver is tied with Phoenix with the third best odds to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy. Now that we’re a week into the season, check out this far too early preview of this season’s championship odds 👇

  • Boston Celtics: +370

  • Milwaukee Bucks: +410

  • Denver Nuggets: +550

  • Phoenix Suns: +550

  • LA Lakers: +1300

  • Golden State Warriors: +1400

Funny enough, I find the Nuggets and Suns as having the best value as things currently stand, which will look completely different by the time April rolls around. Honestly Denver would be my de facto favorite if it wasn’t so difficult to repeat - only three teams have done so since 2000 (Lakers, Heat and Warriors) 🏆

But instead of looking too far in advance, let’s tackle an NBA TNT Tuesday — expect the costumes to be out in full force as tunnel and pre-game photos start to trickle onto social media 🎃

📍 Knicks @ Cavs

Last year, New York unexpectedly took care of Cleveland in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were slowed down by physical, and more athletic Knick perimeter defenders. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen failed to outrebound Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart 👀

  • Expect this game to be another grind-it-out effort, considering the Knicks slow down pace to a crawl and will look to crash the offensive glass

  • Mitchell has been without his back court mate in Garland over Cleveland’s last two games, which both resulted in Ls. He’ll have to do so once again tonight

  • Speaking of injury — Mitchell himself is listed as questionable, but if he does manage to play, I would look into betting on him and Brunson’s point props. The two will certainly get a big chunk of their respective team’s shot attempts

  • Spread: Knicks -2.5

  • Moneyline: Knicks -142, Cavs +118

  • Over/Under: 214

  • When: 7:30PM EST on TNT

📍 Spurs @ Suns

Anytime Wemby is on national TV this season, expect some kind of spectacle. Tonight he’ll go up against what is an archetype for his kind playing style: Absurdly tall, do-it-all, shot creator with elite perimeter skill. Oh, but Wemby is also an elite rim protector and all-around defender, although KD himself is no slouch on that end 🐍

  • I just don’t think the Spurs are a very good team. The Sochan at the point experiment was interesting, but it doesn’t really translate to winning hoops — he’s essentially a non-factor offensively as someone with the ball in his hands

  • I’d like to see Wemby get over 10 shots this game — in the only game where he exceeded that figure (he shot 19 times against the Rockets in a win) it was evident the additional reps allowed him to get comfortable

  • The Suns are still a formidable team, even without Booker and Beal. Vogel is getting them to buy in, with everyone around KD willing to do the dirty work, regardless of their offensive role. I expect Phoenix to cruise

  • Spread: Suns -6.5

  • Moneyline: Suns -270, Spurs +220

  • Over/Under: 226.5

  • When: 10:00PM EST on TNT

Trivia Question: What rookie is averaging the most blocks?

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

For My Parlay Gurus

Whenever the Knicks play I tend to look closely at the over/under. In this case, the total seems too high, despite Cleveland’s offense. New York’s only game to hit the over so far was against Atlanta, and that was because the Hawks tend to get into shootouts with their opponent. Meanwhile, I trust KD and co to cover the spread against what looks like a lackluster Spurs team outside of Wemby and Vassell. Check out my parlay 👇

  • Suns -6.5 vs. Spurs: -110

  • Knicks vs. Cavs Under 214 Total Points: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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Trivia Answer: Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson lead this year’s crop of rookies at 2.3 BPG. Victor Wembanyama trails them and his former teammate, Bilal Coulibaly (2.0 BPG), at 1.7 per game

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