Wednesday's Best NBA Bets
Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder (-6, 195)
Two of the NBA’s up-and-comers square off in Oklahoma City Wednesday.
The Chicago Bulls and OKC Thunder are expected to make waves in their respective conferences this year behind the play of two young superstars. The Thunder are leaning on small forward Kevin Durant, who led the NBA in scoring last season, while the Bulls will be on the back of point guard Derrick Rose.
Rose will be counted on even more with so much turnover and injuries to key players during the offseason. Chicago has plenty of new faces with Carlos Boozer (out until December), Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson and Kyle Korver all signing with the team. But only a few players were healthy in the preseason, leaving the Bulls to work out the kinks during the first few weeks of the regular season.
"It's not just going to come just like that," Rose told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's going to take a lot of practices for us to gel. But I think that the more we have good practices it should help us out."
Expect to see some growing pains from new-look Chicago on the road Wednesday night.
Pick: Oklahoma City -6
Charlotte Bobcats at Dallas Mavericks (-7, 185.5)
After years of coming up on the short end of shootouts, the Dallas Mavericks have slowly assembled a corps of stoppers to combat their defensive-minded Western Conference foes.
The most recent addition is center Tyson Chandler, who joined the Dallas bench to bolster the frontcourt but more importantly giving the Mavs some muscle down low. Chandler is a terrific shot blocker and defensive rebounder, playing alongside fellow defensive stalwarts Brendan Haywood, Shawn Marion, Brian Cardinal and Ian Mahinmi.
"I think our athleticism at center is going to help us," head coach Rick Carlisle told the Dallas Morning News. "I like our length. And I think we have the ability to be a very good rebounding team."
Last season, Dallas allowed 99.3 points per game, which ranked 15th in the NBA, and finished the season with a 43-39 over/under mark. With the recent trend towards defense, expect the Mavs to hold great value with the under while people still assume they are an offensive-minded team.
Pick: Under 185.5
NBA betting slate finds Bulls at Thunder
By: Joe Freda
The Oklahoma City Thunder open their season with Wednesday’s home matchup against the Chicago Bulls, who are 4-0 ATS in their last four trips to the Sooner State. Both squads return to the court after each was eliminated in the first round of last year’s postseason.
Pinnacle Sports opened the Thunder as 5 ½-point home favorites, with early NBA wagers lifting the number north a half-point. The Curacao shop first set the ‘total’ at 195, with its initial betting mixed.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant won last season’s scoring title, averaging 30.1 PPG. The 22-year-old drained 36.5 percent of his shots beyond the arc and hit 90 percent from the foul line.
Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook rejoins Durant in the starting lineup. Westbrook notched a team-high eight APG last season.
Shooting guard Morris Peterson was acquired by Oklahoma City in the offseason. The 11-year veteran hit a career-low of 38.5 percent from the field last year, playing for the New Orleans Hornets.
The Thunder went 27-14 ATS in 41 home dates of regular-season play last year, with the ‘under’ going 20-19-2.
Oklahoma City’s Nick Collison is out for at least three weeks due to a knee injury, according to DonBest.com. The power forward is second on the team’s depth chart, behind starter Jeff Green.
Chicago’s new head coach Tom Thibodeau joins the club after serving as the Boston Celtics’ associate skipper for the past three seasons. The 52-year-old replaces Vinny Del Negro, who is now head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Bulls’ duo of Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose return to the starting lineup at center and point guard, respectively. Noah grabbed 13 RPG last season, while Rose logged team-highs of 26.8 PPG and 7.2 APG.
Chicago’s Carlos Boozer was acquired by the team after leading the Utah Jazz in scoring (19.5 PPG) and boards (11.2 RPG) last year. However, the Duke alum is expected to miss the first eight weeks of the season due to a wrist injury.
Bulls power forward Taj Gibson is expected to start in Boozer’s place, according to ESPN.com. Gibson struggled in two games against the Thunder last year, hitting only 35.3 percent of his field buckets.
The Bulls were 22-19 ATS in their 41 road games during last year’s regular season, with the ‘under’ cashing at 24-16-1.
The ‘under’ is 3-0 in the last three meetings between Chicago and Oklahoma City. Both foes combined for an average of 188 points in that span, with the ‘total’ set as low as 192.
Wednesday’s tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. (PT), with ESPN providing the national television coverage.
Both clubs face the Detroit Pistons next on each of their respective slates. The Thunder will have one day off before visiting the Motor City as part of Friday’s league card, while Chicago is idle for two days before Saturday's home-opener against John Kuester’s crew.