Atlanta were well beaten by Miami on Thursday, losing 117-129 to make it three losses on the trot. After a pair of road wins to start the season, it’s been a tough run for Quin Snyder’s side, with a couple of defeats to Houston before Thursday’s home loss to the previously winless Miami. The visitors led for almost the entire duration of the game, as Atlanta’s defence kept giving up good looks from deep and at the rim, allowing Miami an easy avenue on offence. For the hosts, Nickeil Alexander-Walker got himself into some form with 23 points and Jalen Johnson finished a rebound shy of a triple-double, but his offence wasn’t all that efficient, with a 46.2% TS%, and his defensive effort was lacking. Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins also failed to add much off the bench, but rookie Kingston Flemings had an encouraging showing with 23 points and five assists in just 28 minutes.
Cleveland were made to dig deep against Washington on Thursday but they prevailed 121-111. An awful start to the night saw Alex Sarr run riot in the first quarter, as Cleveland quickly fell behind and trailed 34-42 at quarter-time. The hosts stayed in front until late in the third, before Cleveland used a 13-2 run midway through the fourth to surge into a double-digit lead to win the game. It was an impressive offensive showing from Evan Mobley, with the forward dropping 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Peyton Watson had his best game in Cleveland colours, with 22 points. Donovan Mitchell had 19 points and seven dimes and James Harden added 16 points and six assists to help close out the win.
With both teams on a back-to-back, neither has the rest advantage here but I fancy Atlanta as home underdogs. They have the perimeter defence to really throw Mitchell and Harden out of whack, and that will cause a ripple effect across the whole team’s offence. Additionally, Johnson is set to match up well against this rather shallow Cleveland wing defence and I will happily side with the hosts in this spot.
Best
Atlanta ($1.87)
New Orleans were well beaten by Denver on Thursday to make it a 0-4 start to the season. After taking Denver to overtime a few days earlier on the road, New Orleans would have been optimistic of causing an upset, but a 18-37 first quarter set the tone and while they got back within five points in the fourth quarter, the hosts always looked to be on the back foot. It was an impressive Zion Williamson performance, with 25 points and three steals, but nobody else came to the party offensively. That set up an awful 90.1 offensive rating from New Orleans, continuing what has been a flat start to the season. They looked okay when they got out in transition, but their halfcourt offence was awful, as the likes of Jeremiah Fears, Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy struggled to get anything going and DeAndre Jordan inexplicably got another start.
Sacramento’s losing run to start the season continued on Wednesday, falling to San Antonio 103-130. It wasn’t even close in the first quarter, as the hosts poured in 39 points for a 10-point buffer, and by halftime it was game over at 54-80. There was little for Sacramento to celebrate on either end of the floor, and that’s been the case in all of their games so far, with the third-worst offence and second-worst defence in the league. At the very least, there were some decent individual performances, as Domantas Sabonis had 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists and Zach LaVine barely looked like missing on his way to 22 points, but a poor shooting night from the team was exacerbated by a terrible performance at the rim, converting just 50% of their shot attempts there.
One of these teams is going to pick up their first win of the season, and New Orleans are deservedly the favourites to do so, but I will be going against them as 5.5-point favourites. Jamahl Mosley is still very much figuring out NO’s rotations and on night two of a back-to-back, presumably without Williamson, those rotations are going to get even weirder.
Best
Sacramento +5.5 ($1.94)
Portland and Memphis are two of the last three remaining unbeaten teams in the West, but only one of them is going to maintain that unblemished record after Friday’s showdown. After wins over Phoenix and Sacramento, Portland had a tougher showdown against the Lakers on Wednesday but came out on top 136-129 in a highly entertaining fight. It was a lights-out shooting performance from the hosts, finishing with a 70.5% eFG% and a 130.8 offensive rating to overcome what was also a hot offensive night from Los Angeles. Portland shot 50% from deep, hitting 18 threes, with Deni Avdija and Ja Morant equal-top scoring with 23 points apiece. Jrue Holiday followed closely behind with 22 points off the bench in a great display, while Damial Lillard had 21 points to cap off an impressive offensive barrage. The most important moments came in the final 2:30, as Portland finished the game on a 8-2 run, with Morant hitting a couple of tough buckets to ice the win.
Memphis’ unbeaten start has largely been fuelled by a Ty Jerome rampage, but he cooled off on Tuesday, resulting in a much more balanced offensive effort on their way to a 110-105 win in Utah. Jerome had just a 41.5% TS% in this contest, finishing with 15 points and eight assists, but a good defensive effort from Memphis, led by strong showings from Jerami Grant, Isaiah Stewart and Cedric Coward on that end, helped get Memphis the dub. Coward also led the scoring, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Grant had 13 points and Quinten Post had 12.
This is going to be a fascinating game to watch, with Portland’s red-hot offence going up against a Memphis side that has been rock-solid on both ends of the floor so far. A big part of Portland’s success has been their shooting and their transition prowess, but Memphis have shown that they have the tools to slow teams down and limit opportunities in transition, and I expect them to very much be in this fight. Zach Edey is going to be a tough matchup in the paint for the likes of Avdija, Clingan and Morant and that will force Portland into lots of hard looks, so I will be avoiding them as big favourites.
Best
Memphis +7.5 ($1.87)