Happy Friday, basketball fans! Nick Marro here, providing you with my best bets for today’s (10/27) NBA slate. I plan to provide these ‘Nick’s Picks’ articles about twice a week for the remainder of the 2022-2023season. I don’t like playing heavy juice, so all of my picks will be priced at line of (-150) or better. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter with any questions.
We turned in a 2-1 in MLB the last time out, so we improved to a 57-51 record on the year. As the seasons change, so will be the sport that I target for coverage. Now that the MLB is all but over, we shift our focus to the NBA.
MLB Season Record: (57-51)
NBA Season Record (0-0)
Atlanta Hawks @ Detroit Pistons @ 7:00 EST
Nick’s Pick: Atlanta Hawks, Spread -6 (-110).
The Atlanta Hawks have started the season strong, with three wins and one loss. The Pistons come in with a 1-4 record, including a loss to this same Hawks team their last time out, falling 118-113 at Home.
The Hawks rank 3rd in the NBA with an 11.0 Turnover Ratio. Detroit ranks 25th in offensive efficiency, 28th in defensive efficiency and all signs point to this young team struggling for the bulk of this season. The Pistons kept things close in an identical match-up on Wednesday, but that took a ridiculous 33-point performance from Bojan Bogdanovic and a 43% 3-point rate from the team as a whole.
I like the Hawks to cover the 6-point spread on the road here. I expect they’ll make the more effective adjustments and it will be tough for Detroit to maintain such a ridiculous scoring efficiency from beyond the arc.
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics @ 7:30 EST
Nick’s Pick: Game Total, Under 219 Points (-110)
We’re dealing with small sample sizes here, but the Celtics rank 25th in the NBA in pace and the Cavaliers rank 27th. Cleveland also ranks 2nd in defensive efficiency. The Celtics and Cavaliers have seen the game total stay Under in each of their last three meetings.
I like the Under on the 219-point game total here, even though it’s one of the lowest game totals on the entire slate. The Celtics have been hitting shots at unsustainable rates, and the Cavaliers offense isn’t as effective as long as Darius Garland remains sidelined.
Philadelphia 76ers @ Toronto Raptors @ 7:30 EST
Nick’s Pick: Game Total, Under 213.5 Points (-110)
The 76ers and Raptors rank 30th and 29th in the NBA in pace respectively. The Raptors have gone Under in three of their four games played to start the season, as have the 76ers. Both of these teams have been much stronger on the defensive end, so I’ll back the game total to stay Under here at 213.5.
-Nick Marro
Twitter: @NickMarroDFS