NBA action is heating up in the first weekend of the season. Sunday provides a schedule jammed-packed with strong matchups. Let’s take a look at some of the best sides and totals for the Sunday slate.
Sunday’s Best NBA Picks
NBA odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers
It’s been a rough start to the season for the 76ers. With Joel Embiid and Paul George out, the team has dropped each of their first two games to the Bucks and Raptors. They’ll be without both stars again on Sunday as they travel to Indianapolis to take on the Pacers.
Indiana is coming off of an ugly loss to the Knicks 123-98. Even their win over the Pistons wasn’t impressive, needing a late fourth quarter comeback. Their 3PT shooting has been atrocious. They’re just 19.7% from deep on 61 attempts in the early season. Going up against Philadelphia that could be an issue as they were fifth in the league at defensive 3P% last year and although they’re missing Embiid, their wing defenders are still largely intact.
Last year Indiana relied on an elite offense, ranked 2nd in ORtg, to flank a below average defense. Out of the gate, the offense hasn’t been as good but the defense has still been below average. This is a great spot for a short-handed, but still talented 76ers team to make some noise against an Indiana team that is slightly overvalued.
Pick: 76ers +7.5 (+100)
New Orleans Pelicans at Portland Trail Blazers
This will be the second game in three days between these two teams. Friday night’s game saw the Pelicans win by just two points. In that contest, the Pelicans came in as 6.5-point favorites but a poor first quarter required them to play from behind most of the game until they were able to overcome Portland in the fourth quarter.
The box score indicates it was a pretty even matchup. Both teams shot around the same from the field and from deep while the assist and rebound numbers were nearly identical as well. With the line moving toward Portland, this indicates some value in New Orleans.
Last year, Portland was one of the worst offenses in the league. They ranked 29th in ORtg and were the worst shooting team in terms of eFG%. Meanwhile, New Orleans was one of the best shooting teams in the league, especially from deep.
We should expect some regression back to the mean from Portland who performed pretty well offensively on Friday. New Orleans is the better team and there’s no reason they should be one less point favorites on Sunday.
Pick: Pelicans -5.5 (-110)
Atlanta Hawks at Oklahoma City Thunder
The Hawks travel to OKC to take on the Thunder with both teams undefeated on the early season. This will be a great opportunity for the Hawks to really see how they stack up in the NBA hierarchy after beating up on Brooklyn and Charlotte.
Atlanta looks to be improved on their about league-average offense last year with Trae Young no longer trading point guard duties with Dejounte Murray. This showed up in their first two games as they managed 122.5 PPG. Oklahoma City was one of the best defenses in the league last year per DRtg, but when they were able to get out and run on teams, they still gave up points on the defensive end.
This was apparent in the two matchups between these teams last year. The meetings averaged 261 PPG and neither side scored less than 117 in either matchup. We should see a similar fast-paced game here with the efficient Thunder offense lighting up the scoreboard and the Atlanta offense doing their best to keep up. This should be an early season Over play.
Pick: Over 232.5 Total Points (-110)
