This article is part of our NBA Picks series.
NBA Wednesdays are back!
Few people get as excited about hump day as me. However, the overwhelming excitement that courses through my veins is entirely because twenty...TWENTY...teams play on Wednesdays. The middle of the week has never been better, and it's not like there is a Westworld, Game of Thrones or Walking Dead to poach viewers away.
This weekly column will break down my three favorite bets, against the spread, for Wednesday's slate of (normally) 10 games.
Timberwolves at Grizzlies (-2)
Many great things happened to the Timberwolves over the past year: Karl-Anthony Towns, Tom Thibodeau coming on as head coach and Kris Dunn being the most impressive rookie in the NBA Summer League, just to name a few. In the meantime, the Grizzlies made Mike Conley the highest-paid player in the NBA (until LeBron James re-signed) and welcomed back Marc Gasol. Normally on opening night, with so much "potential" floating around all these teams heading into a brand new season, I would conservatively take the home team; however, Big KAT is about to be unleashed on the NBA.
A quick look into Andre Snellings' analysis of KAT ahead of the 2016-2017 season will show that the sophomore big man is ahead of where Anthony Davis was heading into his third year in the league. Yes, that Anthony Davis -- the Anthony Davis who was pegged to be MVP and who more than 80 percent of GM's pick edas the player they would start their franchise around
NBA Wednesdays are back!
Few people get as excited about hump day as me. However, the overwhelming excitement that courses through my veins is entirely because twenty...TWENTY...teams play on Wednesdays. The middle of the week has never been better, and it's not like there is a Westworld, Game of Thrones or Walking Dead to poach viewers away.
This weekly column will break down my three favorite bets, against the spread, for Wednesday's slate of (normally) 10 games.
Timberwolves at Grizzlies (-2)
Many great things happened to the Timberwolves over the past year: Karl-Anthony Towns, Tom Thibodeau coming on as head coach and Kris Dunn being the most impressive rookie in the NBA Summer League, just to name a few. In the meantime, the Grizzlies made Mike Conley the highest-paid player in the NBA (until LeBron James re-signed) and welcomed back Marc Gasol. Normally on opening night, with so much "potential" floating around all these teams heading into a brand new season, I would conservatively take the home team; however, Big KAT is about to be unleashed on the NBA.
A quick look into Andre Snellings' analysis of KAT ahead of the 2016-2017 season will show that the sophomore big man is ahead of where Anthony Davis was heading into his third year in the league. Yes, that Anthony Davis -- the Anthony Davis who was pegged to be MVP and who more than 80 percent of GM's pick edas the player they would start their franchise around TODAY. The point here is that the Wolves are sitting on a potential All-NBA player, who is arguably going to be the best player on the floor for either team Wednesday evening. A lot of capitalization for emphasis in that paragraph, which will likely continue throughout these columns. Can't say I didn't warn you.
BACK THE WOLVES.
The Pick: Timberwolves +2
Thunder at 76ers (+8.5)
All those great things that happened to the Timberwolves over the past season did not happen to the 76ers. The No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Ben Simmons, suffered a Jones Fracture and likely won't play until January, and Nerlens Noel needs knee surgery. This leaves us with social media rockstar Joel Embiid and minutes-restricted Jahlil Okafor for the Wednesday opener and...that's about it. A backcourt of Sergio Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson matched up against Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo produced a spread less than 10 points? Something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania.
In case this is your first ever time watching basketball, the Thunder lost the league's most prolific scorer and secret seven footer, Kevin Durant, to the Warriors, yet somehow they are not the unluckiest group in the NBA. One of the oldest meccas in basketball, Philadelphia, can't seem to escape tragedy. The backcourt matchup is a Halloween-esque horror fest for the 76ers on almost every level, while Steven Adams' experience in the postseason should carry over nicely against a rookie playing in his first ever regular season NBA game.
The Pick: Thunder -8.5
Nets at Celtics (-13.5)
Last season, the Celtics were 18-11 ATS (Against the Spread) at home, and although the 13.5 points that Boston will be laying in the home opener against the Nets is the largest spread you will find across the 10-game slate, the bottom line is that the Celtics got much better this offseason, while the Nets have plummeted to the bottom of the NBA's preseason rankings. Jeremy Lin did improve his defense with Charlotte last season, but Isaiah Thomas is a matchup nightmare for even the best two-way guards in the league. The addition of Al Horford will pose problems for Brooklyn down low, as the versatile PF/C will be able to avoid the Brook Lopez matchup if need be.
One note of importance is rooted in last season's 2-2 series split between these two teams. The Celtics man-handled the Nets in their first meeting of the season, blowing out Brooklyn by more than 20 points. The following three meetings were much closer and included two that went the Nets' way -- one at the TD Garden too. If history is to repeat itself, this first meeting should mock that of last season's.
The Pick: Celtics -13.5
