The NBA season is officially upon us and with that of course comes picks to go with it. Opening night offers us a great couple of matchups to take a look at, with the New York Knicks taking on the Boston Celtics, and the Minnesota Timberwolves taking on the Los Angeles Lakers.
New York Knicks at Boston Celtics
Knicks +6 (-110) 1u
The Knicks are coming into this season with very high expectations after a big offseason reshaped the team. The additions of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges should hopefully be changes needed to help propel this team to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
In Boston tonight, a win against the defending World Champions is a tough task . However, with Brunson’s ability to score combined with their new defensive improvements, the Knicks should be able to keep this one close, at least to a two possession game.
Knicks Player Props:
Karl-Anthony Towns o21.5 Points (-105 BetMGM) 1u
The Knicks depth chart at the center position is suffering some injuries with both Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa out for tonight’s game. Due to the lack of depth, Towns will be heavily relied upon tonight in his Knicks regular season debut and is arguably more poised than ever to go over this line tonight.
Josh Hart o0.5 3PT (-185 BetMGM) 1u
In five games against Boston last season, Hart attempted 22 three pointers and made 10 of them. In four out of those five games, he’s made at least two threes, and with the over 1.5 line set at +190 consensus odds, taking Hart to simply make one is the safer pick.
Celtics Player Props:
Derrick White Over 3.5 Rebounds (-105 DraftKings) 1u
Last season for Boston, White averaged 4.2 rebounds per game and against the Knicks in his career, averaged 3.8 rebounds in 13 games. In four out five games against the Knicks last season, White recorded under this line but on opening night cleared it recording six.
On opening night again, it wouldn’t be surprising to see White go over this line again.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers
Timberwolves Moneyline (-115) 1u
Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves come into this season looking to possibly make a push to the NBA Finals after a Western Conference Finals loss last season. The new look of this Timberwolves roster without Karl-Anthony Towns will be interesting but the team should still take a step forward, and start the season on the right foot with a win tonight in Los Angeles.
Timberwolves Player Props:
Naz Reid Over 2.5 3PT (+225 DraftKings) 0.5u
This is a smaller play for this game but it’s worth taking with how good Naz Reid has been at Los Angeles against the Lakers. In his last three games in Los Angeles, Reid made 14 total three pointers, and in four out of the last five games against the Lakers has had at least a few three point field goals made.
Anthony Edwards Over 26.5 Points (-106 FanDuel) 1u
Without Karl-Anthony Towns on the Timberwolves, Edwards will be looked at to score much more frequently. That combined with the rush of opening night, we could see Edwards put on a special performance tonight to open the season. In the last four games played against Los Angeles, Edwards has hit the over on this line twice.
Lakers Player Props:
LeBron James Over 39.5 Points+Rebounds+Assists (-107) 1u
The over for this line has hit in three out of the last five games James has played against the Timberwolves. Putting up nearly 30 points in his last three games against Minnesota, James could be due for a big opening night with his son Bronny on the roster with him making his regular season debut.