Best NBA Bets Today: Opening Night Picks and Player Props

Best NBA Bets Today: Opening Night Picks and Player Props

This article is part of our NBA Picks series.

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Best NBA Bets Today

Mikal Bridges over 1.5 threes at Celtics

Sleeper, 2:42 PM CT

Alex Barutha: There's been concern about Bridges re-tuning his jumpshot to poor results in the preseason, shooting 2-for-19 from distance. I don't want to dismiss that, not to mention a tough matchup, but he averaged 2.7 makes from distance last season. New York's bench is also thin, so I think the starters will need to play heavy minutes. It's possible this is as low as we see Bridges' three-point prop all season, so I want to take advantage now.

Karl-Anthony Towns to record at least 35 points + rebounds (+135) versus Boston Celtics

DraftKings Sportsbook - 1:45 PM CT

Kirien Sprecher: I've fully bought into the big man's fit in New York. His career-best numbers came when Thibs was in Minnesota, and I expect the veteran coach to know what buttons to push to get the most out of KAT. While I'm high on Towns' season-long outlook, this matchup is specifically juicy. Boston doesn't have Porzingis yet, so the center rotation will consist mostly of Al Horford and Luke Kornet. On top of that, Boston will be riding high after the pre-game banner raising, and New York will be hungry to prove its new-look squad can compete with the best. I expect the Knicks to get Towns involved early and often, and he should have an impactful performance in his debut.

I'm taking the Knicks +6 over the Celtics

(FanDuel, 12:20 EST)

Ken Crites: I'm a diehard Celtics fan, but things are just too peachy keen in Beantown.  Tonight's banner ceremony will be fantastic and the whole arena will be filled with good vibes.  And thus the Celtics will be soft versus a New York squad that just ramped up with KAT and Bridges.  The Knicks will seize the opportunity to sneak a win versus the all-too-happy 2024-25 favorites.  Two months from now everyone will forget the Opening Night loss.  But short-term, expect a let down from the World Champions.  Remember, this squad had three Olympians.  Unusual off-seasons often lead to slow starts.  The K-Train was 36-29 last season, so feel free to fade!

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alex Barutha
Alex is RotoWire's Chief NBA Editor. He writes articles about daily fantasy, year-long fantasy and sports betting. You can hear him on the RotoWire NBA Podcast, Sirius XM, VSiN and other platforms. He firmly believes Robert Covington is the most underrated fantasy player of the past decade.
Ken
An early RotoWire contributor from the 90's, K-Train returns with the grace of Gheorghe Muresan and the wisdom of Joe Gibbs. Ken is a two-time FSWA award winner and a co-host on the RW NBA Podcast. Championships incude: 2016 RW Staff NBA Keeper, 2019 RW Staff NFL Ottoneu Keeper, 2022-23 SiriusXM NBA Experts, 2022-23 SiriusXM NBA Kamla Keeper and 2023-24 FSGA NBA Expert Champions. Ken still owns a RotoNews shirt.
Kirien Sprecher
Kirien Sprecher is a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate who has covered the NBA, NFL and MLB for RotoWire since early 2021. In his free time, Kirien is probably arguing a foul call during a pickup basketball game at a local rec center.
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