Happy Halloween! It’s a great night to dress up and get some candy, but not to watch a full slate of NBA games since only 6 teams are in action. However, I’ve still put together a parlay a 14/1 odds for tonight’s small slate, so let’s get right into it, and make sure to check out all of our NBA picks.
New York Knicks -2.5 (-110) over Cleveland Cavaliers
It's a battle of 1-2 teams in Cleveland as the Knicks and Cavaliers meet for the first time this season. However, even though they have the same record, they haven't been playing the same basketball. The Knicks lost a hard-fought battle in their series opener against the Celtics and followed that up with an offensive-shootout win against the Pelicans. That's where the Knicks win streak ended though because a poor offensive performance against the Pelicans earned New York its second loss. And when I mean poor, I mean really, really poor. The Knicks shot just 36.7% from the field and 18.9% from three-point land as an off-shooting night from Jalen Brunson and the rest of the Knicks starting 5 came at a bad time. They take on a Cleveland team that hasn't been as impressive on the defensive side of the ball as many expected, so at just a few points, New York should be able to cover its small spread.
San Antonio Spurs ML (+230) over Phoenix Suns
The Suns have formed the newest superteam in the NBA, but the superteam won't be all that super on Halloween since 2/3 of the big 3 will be missing. Newcomer Bradley Beal has already been ruled out for Tuesday's contest as he continues to recover from a back injury that has held him back from making his Phoenix debut. Devin Booker has also been hit with the doubtful label for Tuesday with a foot injury, so the Suns offense could once again be made of Kevin Durant, Eric Gordan and the Phoenix bench. That could open the door for a young Spurs team to steal a game on the road. San Antonio has shown flashes of brilliance on offense around Victor Wembanyama, but sometimes the lack of experience has hurt them in crucial situations. Nevertheless, a good shooting night could let Wembanyama and the Spurs take down the latest super team in the Western Conference.