NBA Season 2023/24
Slam Dunk
The NBA Games will come thick and fast so check back daily for our predictions.
Were well into the season now and with lots of competitive balls thrown now we will go for value until with some solid stats to go by, BOL
Our Picks:
Boston Celtics -4.5 @10/11 vs Indiana Pacers
The 15-4 Celtics take on the 10-8 Pacers, and while players can have good and bad games, we cannot overlook the quality of this Celtics team. The Celtics rank #1 in Net Rating this season (by a good margin too) while the Pacers rank #7. Both teams should be sufficiently motivated here, so it’s a question of which is the better team and which team plays better on the night. Let’s get into why this match up favors the Celtics.
Both these teams LOVE shooting 3s, The Celtics attempt the highest 3PA, and the Pacers attempt the 6th highest 3PA. So this game will be decided by who shoots the 3 better, and this is where I think Celtics have a few key advantages. First, rebounding. The Celtics have the 5th best DREB% meaning second chance opportunities for the Pacers will be limited. The Pacers are 27th in DREB%, and that is a huge disparity. Second, defense. The Pacers have done extremely well based on their offensive power (1st in Off Rtg), but their defense is very poor (29th Def Rtg). The Pacers give up the highest FG% to opponents from Above the Break 3’s, so defending 3s is not their forte and against a Celtics team built to shoot 3s that could hurt. And finally, quality. The Celtics have multiple All-Star caliber players, essentially their entire starting 5. The Pacers have Haliburton, but man for man are worse than Celtics in all other positions. This gives Celtics many more avenues to victory, whereas for the Pacers to cover they need everything to go their way on the night.
Brandon Ingram Over 20.5 Points @4/6 Pelicans vs Kings
Not a lot of props to choose from with just two in-season tourney games today but we feel really good about Ingram over 20.5 points against the Kings. BI is up against a team that gives up a ton of points and rank 21st in opponent PPG. He also never went below 22 points the last four matchups against the Kings. CJ is back and the Pelicans are healthy again but we wouldn’t be worried about BI getting less FGA’s. He’s also over this line last 8/10 games. This is also the first in-season tourney elimination game so it might have a playoff atmosphere which Ingram thrives in (averages 27ppg in the playoffs).
The National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams and is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.
Follow our bets on NBA, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Hawks, Hornets, Magic, Boston Celtics, NY Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bull, Spurs and Houston Rockets to name but a few.
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