NBA

NBA Games Preview and Betting Tips

Barely 5 games into the new NBA season and the surprises, drama and inevitable shocks are back. While it might still be some ways away before the conferences start to take shape, it is pleasing to see most players who missed playing time due to injury get back on the hardwood.

If you are looking to bet on some early Wednesday games, here are some betting tips for you.

Detroit Pistons @ Washington Wizards

The Pistons travel to the capital to play a Wizards team that lost their last game, falling to 117-107 to the Cleveland Cavaliers despite Bradley Beal’s 27 points and 5 assists. This should be a bounce-back game for the Wizards, the Pistons are 1-2 this season, beating only the winless Orlando Magic on the opening night of the season.

Bradley Beal leads the Wizards on offense, he is averaging 23.0 points and 6.3 points this season, while Kristaps Porzingis has been solid on defense, averaging 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

The Pistons haven’t had a bright start this season, winning 1 of the 3 games they have played, while still a small sample size, what is ominous is their points differential this season, which at -9.7 is only better than the Grizzlies and the Magic.

Bojan Bogdanovic has continued to get buckets but the Pistons will need some offense from someone else because the Wizards’ defense plan will be to limit his touches.

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Dallas Mavericks @ New Orleans Pelicans

Luka Doncic heads to New Orleans to play a Pelicans team that might be missing Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Williamson suffered a posterior hip contusion after he landed on his backside following a block by Utah Jazz’ Jordan Clarkson.

The loss of these two players could be quite significant as Ingram and Williamson have both averaged 22.0 points in the three games they have played this season. The scoring burden will have to shift to CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas if their two leading men cannot play. Luckily for the Pelicans, McCollum leads the Pelicans in scoring and assists, averaging 23.3 and 6.7 respectively.

Missing their 1st and 2nd options means this game will be difficult for the Pelicans as the Mavericks currently average 121.0 points per game and have the league’s highest points differential at +19.5.

Not only do they have to contend with Luka Doncic’s offensive prowess, but the Pelicans frontcourt will also have their hands full with stopping Christian Wood who has scored at least 25 points in his first two games. This could be a long night for the Pelicans

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LA Clippers @ Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC, who are yet to win a game this season, welcome the new-look Los Angeles Clippers to the Paycom Center. The return of Kawhi Leonard, the acquisition of a rejuvenated John Wall and Paul George getting back to his vintage form all mean the Clippers are title contenders once again.

Things are progressing nicely for the Clippers; Kawhi is still being eased back into the team, with his minutes expected to increase as the season progresses while John Wall looks fresh, with an average of 16.0 points across the first three games of the season.

OKC, on the other hand, have been rather poor so far. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is listed as day-to-day with a hip injury and so is Josh Giddey. Rookie Jalen Williams is also out after having surgery for an orbital fracture.

To illustrate how little offense OKC are producing, most of their points have come from Luguentz Dort who is more famous for his defense.

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Golden State Warriors @ Phoenix Suns

This match-up was poised to be last season’s blockbuster Western Conference finals, but that didn’t materialize as the Suns were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks.

Last time out Chris Paul was back in Los Angeles and became only the third player in NBA history to reach 11,000 assists when he dished out 11 assists to propel the Phoenix Suns to a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.

The Warriors were also back to winning ways, although they nearly let a 26-point lead slip after scoring 89 points in the first half of their game with the Sacramento Kings. Steph Curry has continued his Finals MVP form, scoring 21 points in just the second quarter of the Kings’ game, and finishing with a game-high 33 points.

Phoenix and Golden State have identical records going into this game with 2 wins and one loss each so far. Devin Booker has been pouring in the buckets for the Suns, averaging 32.0 points over those three games while Steph just had his third 30-point game of the season putting his season average at 33.3 points.

This could be anyone’s game, the Warriors have increased size in the paint with the return of James Wiseman, who should match up well against Deandre Ayton’s length. The decider could be how well each team takes care of the ball in the game. The Phoenix Suns average 13.3 turnovers per game compared to the Warriors’ 16.3 turnovers per game this season, which means the Suns could punish the Warriors if they’re characteristically loose with their passes again here.

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