Top NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions: Saturday (10/28)
It’s the first Saturday of the 2023-24 National Basketball Association regular season, and we have a total of seven games to choose from, starting at 7 p.m. ET, with the action wrapping up at 10 p.m. ET in the Valley of the Sun.
Two of the games (New York at New Orleans and Utah at Phoenix) are televised on NBA TV, too. Let’s get started with our best bets for the action.
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Saturday’s Best NBA Bets
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All wagers are for 1 unit
Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers
The Pacers opened their season with an impressive 143-120 victory at home against the Washington Wizards. Indiana absolutely shot lights out, connecting on 52.3% (56-of-107) of its field-goal attempts, including 46.5% (20-of-43) from behind the arc. It was even blistering from the free-throw line, going 91.7% (11-of-12).
SF Bruce Brown was on fire, going for 24 points, including six triples, and Indiana boasted eight different players to hit double digits in points. PG Tyrese Haliburton ended up with a double-double, as did PG Andrew Nembhard, giving the Pacers tremendous production from the one spot. Indiana also had eight different players hit at least one three-pointer. It’s hard to envision Indiana being able to top that performance.
However, the Pacers have always had a tremendous amount of success over the Cavaliers, even in the LeBron James years. While Cleveland has won seven of the previous eight meetings, Indiana went 3-1 against the spread (ATS) in four regular-season meetings in 2022-23.
The Cavaliers have split their first two games, winning a nail-biter in Brooklyn on Wednesday, 114-113, while falling to Oklahoma City in the home opener last night. The Cavaliers have failed to cover the number in either game, both as a favorite.
Play the underdog catching a couple of buckets, and keep fading the Cavs until they start ticking off regular covers.
Bet: Pacers +4.5 (-110)
Chicago Bulls at Detroit Pistons
It’s hard to believe, but the Bulls are laying just a single point on the road in this battle Saturday evening.
Chicago opened the season with a 20-point loss against Oklahoma City, but it quickly rectified the situation with a 104-103 victory in overtime last night. While the Bulls have failed to cover in either game, facing the Pistons will be the elixir to cure their ills.
Detroit is coming off a 111-99 victory in Charlotte on Friday night, covering two in a row. But the books all might be overvaluing the victory against the Hornets, who will not be a great team. In addition, the Pistons just haven’t had any modicum of success against the Bulls in recent seasons.
Chicago has won 15 consecutive games in this series while going 13-2 ATS during the span. The last win for Detroit in this series came on March 10, 2019, at home. And for an added bonus, play the Under, too, which is 11-3 across the past 14 encounters between these teams. The Under has cashed in both games for the Pistons so far, while the total went low for the Bulls in Friday’s game against the Raptors, despite OT after an Over result in the opener.
Bets: Bulls -1.0 (-110) & Under 217.5 (-110)
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Saturday:
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