Top 3 NBA Betting Picks for Friday, October 29th (2021)
Right now is the best time of the year. The World Series is going on, football is in the middle of the season, hockey is in full swing, and NBA teams are starting to show spectators who will be good and who will… not. Golden State is back to their former glory with a hot 4-1 start, but some teams have started painfully slow, like the Phoenix Suns (1-3) and the Los Angeles Clippers (1-3). Eventually, these teams will heat up, but predicting when will be the trick for bettors. Let’s look into our top plays for today.
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Cleveland Cavaliers +9 -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook
Cleveland has been a pleasant surprise this season. They have a lot of youth in their starting lineup and have proven they can win against good teams. In their last three games, they beat the Clippers, Nuggets, and Hawks. All three of those teams have a ton of talent. The Cavs are scoring an average of 105 points per game and play with a tall lineup in Markkanen, Allen, Love, and Mobley. Their massive height advantage creates issues on defense for other teams.
The Lakers have been struggling this year as they figure out how to play together. Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard got into a fight, which shows how off their chemistry is right now. Offensively, the Lakers have been great, scoring an average of 115 points per game, but defensively, they have been awful. They are giving up almost 120 points a game and to teams that are not great on offense. The Lakers do not have the chemistry or the defense to cover a nine-point spread against this consistent Cleveland team. There might even be value with the Cleveland Moneyline at +320.
James Harden Over 20.5 -110 at DraftKings Sportsbook
James Harden has not scored over 20 points this year. He has been working his way back slowly. Over the last couple of games, he has taken more shot attempts. That means it is only a matter of time before the 3x NBA Scoring Leader breaks the 20-point barrier. Tonight is the perfect game for it. They play a 1-4 Pacers team that gives up 117 points per game. With Harden’s slow start, they are going to focus the defense on Kevin Durant. That will free up Harden up so he can break the 20-point barrier in this game. Tonight is the time for the scoring champ to do what he does best.
Denver Nuggets -1 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook
Denver is 2-2, and both of their losses are against great teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Utah Jazz. Both of these teams have been fantastic this year. Denver has had the last couple of days to rest and has depth going into this gam. Denver has too much of an advantage going into this game.
But this play is more about the Mavs than it is about the Nuggets. The combined record of the teams that the Mavs have won against is 4-11. All the wins against these teams were close. Their one loss was against the only team they played with a winning record, and they lost 113-87. The Mavs played a late-night game last night, and now they are facing the best team they have played all year.
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Cameron Lynch is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Cameron, check out his archive and follow him @captron26.