Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – October 29th Edition

The top game in the NBA this week has to be Monday night’s matchup in Milwaukee as the Raptors and Bucks square off. They are the only two unbeaten teams in the NBA. But there are plenty of other good matchups this week. Here’s a look at two. Check back for NBA odds on gameday.

Top NBA Betting Picks of the Week – October 29th Edition

.@d_dedmon3 is back and we are here for it. 📊: 13 points/13 rebounds/5 blocks#TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/raaMFn3Wg2

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) 28 de octubre de 2018

 

Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers

• When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET

  This will be the first game the Cavs play since firing coach Ty Lue. Funny how things go south so quickly once LeBron James leaves town. Lue went 128-83 over three years as Cavaliers head coach guiding team to 2016 championship and three consecutive Finals trips. Cleveland obviously was going to take a step back this year without James, but it is the NBA’s worst team at 0-6. They have been outscored by 12.6 points per 100 possessions through six games, trailed by at least 16 in every game, and haven’t shown much competitive fire.

Several current players are unhappy with the move, and LeBron also seemed to be via a tweet. This was second time that James left Cleveland in free agency. The first time the Cavaliers went from 61 wins with James in 2009-10 to 19 wins without him the next season.

Lue reportedly recently had a disagreement with GM Koby Altman over playing veterans. Altman preferred that Kyle Korver and JR Smith be taken out of the rotation to give time to younger players. After one game in which they didn’t play, Lue put both back in the rotation without consulting Altman. Lue is still owed roughly $15 million on the contract he signed in 2016 after the team won the title.

The club has promoted Larry Drew to interim coach. Drew was 8-1 as the interim coach a year ago when Lue was sidelined with an illness. Drew is a long-time assistant who was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks for four seasons from 2010-14 plus the head coach in Milwaukee for a short time. The Cavs let go of other assistant coaches. Drew is willing to bridge the immediate coaching transition with Cavaliers, but so far is reluctant to commit to rest of season without an agreement of some kind that extends beyond 2018-19.

It looks as if the Cavs won’t have Kevin Love for this game. There will be no firm timetable on Love (foot) before Monday or Tuesday and there’s a chance he could sit a longer-term to rest his sore foot. Sam Dekker started for Love in Saturday vs. Indiana, scoring six points with five rebounds, one assist and two steals in 24 minutes.

This will be a nice matchup of rookie point guards in Atlanta’s Trae Young and Cleveland’s Collin Sexton. These teams played Oct. 21 and the Hawks won 133-111. Young scored 35 points with 11 assists — the best line by a first-year player since Steph Curry in 2010. The Hawks made a team-record 22 3-pointers, including 10 while scoring 41 in the fourth quarter, to blow open the game.  

Latest NBA Betting Trends

• Atlanta is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
• Atlanta is 6-17 SU in its last 23 games
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 7 games
• Cleveland is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games
• Cleveland is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland’s last 6 games

 

New Orleans Pelicans at Golden State Warriors

 

• When: Wednesday, 10:30 PM ET

  The Pelicans look like one of the Warriors’ top challengers in the West. That’s assuming Anthony Davis stays healthy. Davis sat out Saturday night’s 132-111 loss to the Utah Jazz because of a right elbow sprain. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Davis hurt his elbow during Friday night’s 117-115 victory over Brooklyn. He played with the injury for the rest of the game, making a victory-clinching steal of an inbound pass in the final seconds. Davis has averaged 27.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks.

The Dubs enter the week at 6-1. Steph Curry has made at least five 3s in all seven games, breaking George McCloud’s record of six games in a row during the 1995-96 season. Curry is currently in fifth place on the NBA all-time career 3-point field goals made list. On December 4, 2017, at New Orleans, Curry became the eighth player in NBA history to make 2,000 career 3-pointers. The Warriors are missing backup guard Shaun Livingston with a sore right foot.

Golden State beat New Orleans in the Western Conference semifinals last year in five games. The final score in Game 5 was 113-104. Curry had 28 points and Kevin Durant 24. Davis had 34 points and 19 rebounds.

Some around the NBA believe Durant is playing his last year with the Warriors and will sign as a free agent with the Knicks next summer. When Durant and the Warriors went to New York last week, and there was a billboard to recruit KD already up. Durant’s business manager, Rich Kleiman, is a New York-based Knicks fan with dreams of working in their front office one day. Royal Ivey, perhaps Durant’s best friend, is on Knicks coach David Fizdale’s coaching staff.  

Last 10 Matchups

• Record: Pelicans 2-8 / Warriors 82-
• ATS: Pelicans 5-5 / Warriors 5-5
• Over/Under: Pelicans 6-4 / Warriors 6-4
• Score: Pelicans 108.90 / Warriors 118.10
• Field Goal Percentage: Pelicans 46.51% / Warriors 48.11%
• Rebounds: Pelicans 44.40 / Warriors 47.30
• Steals: Pelicans 7.90 / Warriors 8.40

 

Expert NBA Betting Picks for the Week

Take the Hawks and Warriors.