What’s up sports fans? Welcome back to RotoGrinders’ sports betting picks article! Last week we gave you our thoughts on week 9 in the NFL – and went two for three!
For today, November 8, 2018, we’re taking a look at the NBA schedule and using lines from FanDuel’s online sportsbook. Here are our FanDuel Sportsbook NBA plays of the day:
Carmelo Anthony Under 14.5 Points (-116)
With James Ennis and P.J. Tucker both healthy, Carmelo Anthony is holding onto a bench role and his minutes have been fluctuating depending fairly heavily on the opponent and game situation. With the Thunder on deck, we’ll obviously see plenty of Paul George, and while Tucker will probably draw that assignment most often, I’d imagine we’ll see a little more time out of a more defensive-minded forward in Ennis rather than a heavier dose of Anthony. Eric Gordon’s presence would likely remove Gerald Green from the rotation, but his role as a lead bench scorer also eats into the upside of Anthony (and given that Gordon practiced Wednesday, I’d guess he’ll play). The under on Melo’s point prop is the play here. I don’t mind grouping the under 2.5 Made Threes prop with the U14.5.
James Harden Over 4.5 Rebounds (-142)
Harden went from averaging 7.0 rebounds per game in ’16-17 to 4.8 per game last season and sits at 4.3 to this point in the year. The roster has obviously changed considerably over that time, but against a jump-shooting Thunder team that are traveling on a back-to-back, I like the over on Harden’s rebound prop in what is still a revenge game in OKC. He’s due for a rebound (pun intended) after grabbing a combined five boards over the Rockets last two contests.
Bet on James Harden OVER 4.5 rebounds on FanDuel Sportsbook!
DeAndre Ayton Under 16.5 Points (-130)
The Suns have predictably started slow, but they’ve been giving Ayton and Booker big run even in games that do get a little out of hand late. That would seem to bode poorly for betting the under here, but with Al Horford and Aron Baynes likely to handle Ayton on Friday night, I don’t see him climbing above 15 points and would expect his already too low 20.1 usage rate to potentially fall in this matchup. Tip-ins and put-backs can create a flurry of quick points for bigs like Ayton, but I’m confidently betting the under here and expect the Celtics to make the Suns look as inexperienced as they are.
Devin Booker Over 24.5 Points (-110)
On the flip side, Booker has shot the ball well at home this year outside of a dismal outing against the Nets on Tuesday (6 of 21 from the field). Booker carries a massive 33.7% usage rate into this one, and while a matchup with the Celtics wings doesn’t look great on paper, I’m betting on volume here in a situation where he could very well shoot it 20 times.
Blazers -5 (-210)
Portland will take on a Clippers team that is missing one of the best defensive guards in the league in Avery Bradley, and I think that absence is going to create some big problems for Los Angeles. They started Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Tuesday, and figure to do so again here. and while he is long and athletic enough to give McCollum (or potentially Lillard) some trouble, he’s not Avery Bradley. Jusuf Nurkic also figures to fare well in this spot against a Clippers defense that has been torn apart by centers to start the year, although they have fooled with things lately, inserting Boban Marjanovic into the starting lineup and removing Marcin Gortat from the rotation. I’m still confidently targeting Portland here.
Take the Blazers to cover five points at FanDuel Sportsbook!
Stephen Curry Over 5.5 Rebounds (+106)
Draymond Green’s absence is going to led to a number of different GS bigs seeing extra time, but some of the starters also see their value spike with Dray out of action. With Green off the floor last year, Steph saw his rebounding numbers jump +1.39 REB/48min, second best with Kevin Durant right on his tail (+1.38), but Durant’s 9.5 total isn’t leaving me wanting to attack. While the rebounding boost isn’t huge for Curry, it’s enough for me to look to the over in a spot where we’re getting some juice and Curry is already sitting at 5.4 rebounds per game to this point, so we don’t need much of a bump to hit six boards.