The NBA season is finally here and we are looking at key angles and perspectives to make the most of betting basketball this season. Slamming things off in game 1 is the stacked out Brooklyn Nets taking on the defending Champs in the Milwaukee Bucks. It is pretty easy to see that both these teams have the potential to go all the way this year, but who takes games 1?
Dave Covers Spreads, NBA Preview and Breakdown
Key Trends:
- Under is 4-0 in Nets last 4 games playing on 3 or more days of rest
- Bucks are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall
- Under is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings in Milwaukee
- Under is 7-1-1 in last 9 meetings
The line for this game opened at even odds for both teams. Basically the bookmakers are letting us decided which team has the advantage in this matchup. As for the total the line opened up at 239.5 before moving down to 238.5. Either way this is a huge total and for good reason. Both teams are very capable of putting up big offensive numbers and the Nets aren’t exactly a defence first kind of team.
Star point guard Kyrie Irving will most likely be out for this game as he is yet to receive the vaccine. As for the Bucks Bobby Portis, Semi Ojeleye and Donte DiVincenzo are all out. Khris Middleton is still listed as a game time decision, so as of writing this we are unsure whether he will take to the court.
It is hard to bet so early in the season without any real statistics on what these teams look like, how they are playing, who is shooting well who is not… But we can still draw some conclusions.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has looked great in preseason and has seemed to really take a leap with a clean jump shot, so expect him to stack up a lot of points against this terrible Brooklyn Defence. The Nets best player, Kevin Durant was nearly unstoppable in the playoffs last year as he was half an inch away from securing the Nets into the Finals. With Kyrie out Kevin will receive majority of the shots, followed by the likes of James Harden and Joe Harris. Harden has taken much more to the point guard roll and with so many offensive weapons around him, expect his assist numbers to be high this season.
In saying all this, I expect both teams to struggle a little bit in this game. All signs point to the over, but we have to remember that it is the first game of the season. I expect the stars to put up big numbers but some of the role players to struggle. Follow the SHARP money in this one and lean under the total points.