The first Sunday of the NBA is about to begin. There are six NBA basketball games today and only the Philadelphia 76ers are in back to back games. Sunday games generally begin earlier, but today there is only one early afternoon game. A battle of undefeated teams begin the day at 3:40 ET PM in the Denver Nuggets vs the Oklahoma Thunder, and two playoff teams from last year, the LA Lakers vs Sacramento Kings will tip off at 9:10 PM ET. That Atlanta Hawks travel to the Miluawakee Bucks in the only pure Eastern Conference game. Several matchups do not have any player props available as of 10:30 ET, but if you see an angle once they are out, do not hesitate to take it. Today we look at a same game parlay, and a couple of props. 

 

BET OF THE NIGHT

SGP2 Milwaukee Bucks -2.5 & G. Antetokounmpo 10+ Rebounds -110 MGM

The Bucks have their second straight home game, and are playing an 0-2 team in the Atlanta Hawks. The spread is set at -6.5 for the Bucks, but that seems a little high. Were it not for the great performance of Damian Lillard then the Bucks would have lost to Philadelphia 76ers on opening night, and they did not cover the spread. However, the Atlanta Hawks are 0-2 and have looked awful this season. No defense in their two losses, the team does not have a good offensive rhythm, and are essentially on an eight man rotation… that means only three people coming off the bench. The Bucks have a complete team, and use their bench players in chunks of minutes. 

The second part of this same game parlay features Giannis Antekoounmpo getting 10+ rebounds. His line is at 11.5 on draftkings (no player props available on MGM), while Clint Capela’s rebounding line is at 10.5. Both are elite rebounders in the NBA, but Giannis is more athletic, which should help him in one on one battles with Capela. Also the Bucks starting center, Brook Lopez, plays a great deal of time outside the three point line. This should allow Giannis more room in the paint for offensive rebounds. In addition to that, Atlanta Hawks players Dejounte Murray, Trae Young, and De’Andre Hunter take a large volume of shots. They accounted for over half of the 120 points scored against the New York Knicks. This should help Giannis with defensive rebounds. 

Put simply this is a teased down spread of 4 points, and a teased down rebound line for ‘The Greek Freak’. Both could hit without teasing the line down, but -120 is worth a full unit on the same game parlay. 

PROP OF THE NIGHT

Michael Porter Jr. OVER 7.5 Rebounds -105

MPJ is in the process of changing the identity of his game. He has always had an impressive three point shot, at one point covering the over in 15 straight games last year, but he has started using his size to be aggressive in the pursuit of rebounds. He has 25 rebounds on the year, the same as Nikola Jokic, and MPJ’s rebounding line has only moved from 5.5 to 7.5, and with near even odds. The Oklahoma Thunder are a team with great size; Josh Giddy, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, are all capable of big rebounding nights.. Denver Nuggets’ Head Coach M. Malone is aware of this and so is MPJ. They will utilize the size of MPJ to help control defensive boards, and it will likely be the hardest match for the Denver Nuggets so far this season. MPJ just has to get 66% of his yearly average for this prop to cash. Trust it.

Anthony Davis OVER 0.5 Threes Made -135

The complete change of the center position over the past decade is really something to marvel. Culture dictates every aspect of anything it can link to, and the NBA is no different. For example if Dennis Rodman, David Robinson, Hakeem Olujawan, or Shaq O’Neal would have shot a three point shot in a close game head coaches Pop, Phil. or Rudy would have been cursing them up the court, during the time out, and probably one more remark when they were going back on the court. Now-a-days it’s almost weird for a center to not shoot a three point attempt. Lakers Head Coach D. Hamm said that Anthony Davis will be taking 5-6 threes a game… while that might have been the usual exaggerated talk from a coach, he has taken two in each game this season. He has made one in every game this season, and the odds have only slightly adjusted. Anthony Davis may have trouble with the more athletic Domantas Sabonis, and push his game to the perimeter. This will help this prop cover, and after all, one shot and this prop hits. A fun prop to root for in the late game tonight.

*All Bets to be placed at 1 unit unless specified otherwise.