Against The Spread: Brooklyn Nets (+1) at Milwaukee Bucks (-1)
| Team |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Nets | +1 (-110) | +1 (-110) |
| Milwaukee Bucks | -1 (-110) | -1 (-110) |
The reigning, defending champion Bucks play the NBA’s first game against the league’s title favorite Nets (+220 to win on the line of the future per top online sportsbooks). It’s a rematch of their conference semi-finals battle that went into overtime of a Game 7.
Like that see-saw series, Brooklyn will be without Kyrie Irving in the season opener, too. In another “Kyrie being Kyrie” moment, he’s refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Consequently, the Nets are not allowing him to play or practice due to the city’s vaccine mandates. We have a feeling this fiasco will be resolved — whether that’s via a trade or Irving just taking the vaccine — but not anytime soon.
Even minus Irving, we still believe Brooklyn wins this game outright. Our belief stems from Milwaukee letting PJ Tucker go over the offseason. Tucker, while not a guy that jumps out in the box score, made the Bucks extremely versatile on the defensive and offensive end. The space Tucker creates on the floor will be severely missed and we’ll see hints of that in game one of the Bucks' title defense.
The Nets duo of Kevin Durant and James Harden always feast, but that’ll especially be the case on Tuesday night. As Milwaukee grapples with replacing Tucker in the lineup, the Nets will exploit them — both offensively and defensively. We’re betting Brooklyn plays spoilers on the road here.
Over/Under 226.5 points: Philadelphia 76ers at New Orleans Pelicans
| Outcome | | |
|---|---|---|
| Over 226.5 points | Over (-110) | Over (-110) |
| Under 226.5 points | Under (-110) | Under (-110) |
Is it just us or is this point total a tad too high given the huge problems facing both teams? And the keyword in the last sentence is “huge.”
For the home team, they’ll be without their franchise player in Zion Williamson. He’ll likely be out for a prolonged time due to a foot injury, which should affect them more so early on as they toy with a starting lineup that can best fill his void. Not only that, but Lonzo Ball will be dearly missed. Ball turned around his career in New Orleans and was a huge force behind its top-10 offense a year ago but is now in Chicago.
The Sixers have even deeper issues. Ben Simmons barely showed up to practice a few days ago after failing to force a trade out. Not even Doc Rivers knows whether Simmons will suit up in the team's opener. The injury and drama, on both teams, has us thinking this one underwhelms in the scoring department, hence why we're betting under.
Against The Spread: Milwaukee Bucks (-1.5) at Miami Heat (+1.5)
| Team | | |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Heat | +1.5 (-110) | +1.5 (-110) |
| Milwaukee Bucks | -1.5 (-110) | -1.5 (-110) |
Another Milwaukee regular-season game, another one we’re betting against them to lose. And no, we don’t have anything against the Bucks, we just think they were dealt a bad slate to open the year. A really bad slate, in fact.
Two days after opening at home against the championship favorites, Milwaukee has to fly down to South Beach to face the Heat, who will be completely fresh as this is their first game of the season. Not only is the one-day rest an issue, but we love what Miami did over the offseason. Two years removed from their own NBA Finals appearance, the Heat got significantly better during the summer.
Earlier we mentioned how instrumental Tucker was to the Bucks title run. Welp, Milwaukee's loss is Miami’s gain cause that’s where Tucker finds himself now. Tucker will space the floor to allow Miami’s shooters to flourish. One of those new shooters happens to be Kyle Lowry.
Lowry, even at 35 years old, is still an offensive playmaker. He’ll take the burden off Jimmy Butler’s shoulders — as will Tucker on the defensive end — which should help Butler conserve energy and strike more efficiently when needed. Not only will Lowry help Butler out, but the rest of the Heat’s offense as well thanks to his passing ability.
While Lowry and Tucker are getting up there in age, that won’t matter early in the season when their bodies aren’t worn down quite yet. We’ll be betting Miami plenty throughout 2021-2022 and this is just our first opportunity.
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