So I will just post my views of these first games in the season and we can go from there.. My Picks will be posted either in the comment later on and/or Instagram..
Bucks -4 vs Celtics – I think Celtics will take some time to adjust to play without Kemba and they lost Hayward 2 of their playmakers. Offense is going to be run through Brown and Tatum and both of them are great and if Thompson is out I think they will have very hard time stopping Giannis tonight. Jrue and rest of the team should be able to feed of Giannis and after losing all their games in preseason I really expect full 48 minute effort from the Bucks and I don’t think Celtics will have enough to cover here. Celtics will move Teague most likely in starting lineup and they will have bunch of young guys on the bench. Lost even Wannamaker to Warriors as their backup pg so its no surprise to me if their start to season is not so great.
Mavs vs Suns – I already have say 2 units play on Mavs here.. Mavs are team that has been together and they just replaced great shooter Curry with Josh R and got back from injuries Powell, Brunson and they also lost Wright who didnt play significant minutes.. They let Luka run the offense, they spot up extremely well and have some great individual defenders on the team. If hey improve their defense as a team they will be lethal come playoff time since they are very hard to stop on offense. They are deep with role players and trust each other. Suns will be good no doubt about that. I think they lost some depth in Oubre, Baynes, Rubio etc.. They got CP3 and Crowder, Cam will lose some minutes and I don’t like that but overall can be really good team with Book leading them but at this point and in close game I would take more “gelled” team..
Heat -4.5 vs Magic – I usually like to play underdogs and at home..yes please, but I think Magic are outmatched here and their offense always gives me headaches when I play them..This could be public bet or “trap” and Heat might not show up here but they just have more quality, they know each other, look very cohesive on the court so yeah. For me would be Heat or nothing here..
Kings +8 vs Nuggets – Nuggets are great versatile team but losing Grant, Plumlee, Beasley from last year might hurt their depth a bit but Campazzo is great addition imo. They have decent pieces to replace them but 8 is not so easy to cover. Kings are young team, new season expectations will want to start on good note and I don’t think Nuggets will put them away easy. They did shot ball great vs Blazers and blew them out but I can see Fox, Bagley and some other guys giving problem Nuggets and their defense and keeping this game within single digits and covering spread..
Cavs +2.5 – I see a lot of love for Hornets so I would and will stay away but I am leaning Cavs here.. They are without Love and dela tonight and Exum but they showed some fight in game vs Pacers and got trashed vs Knicks last game.. I dont think Hornets are that much better at least at this point, Hayward is ? and he could play but in pretty even matchup I would rather take 2.5 points.. Again staying away most likely from this one
Grizzlies – 2.5 – Spurs well coached with some young pieces and you expect them to play hard but not sure they have enough talent.. They shot ball awful vs Rockets and that will improve for sure but I remember backing them on a lot of occasions last season where they just fell apart. They did play very good in the bubble though..Memphis is just young team and plays very inspired ball, have some decent shooters and Jonas under the basket and I think they should cover here..
I probably can give you opinion on every single game and my lean but these are for now.. Will select picks and plays a bit later… Good luck
