Expert NBA Best Bets and Player Props Today – Friday, October 27th
The 2023-24 NBA season is finally here and we’re excited over here at VSiN. As always, Jonathan Von Tobel will be providing you with his exceptional coverage of the greatest league in the world. Just click here for all of his content. However, all of my picks will be featured in this daily column, which will combine my best bets and player props. I’ll be doing this every single day of the week — although it’ll be a little shorter on the weekends. So, keep reading to find out how I’m playing the NBA slate on Friday, October 27. Also, check out our NBA Odds page for the latest line movement.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on October 27
2023 Record: 8-3 (+4.65 units)
NBA Best Bets Today – October 27
New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks – 7:30 pm ET
The Knicks played an elite Boston Celtics team rather well on Wednesday, while the Hawks went on the road and lost to the Charlotte Hornets. That makes it pretty easy to understand why the majority of the bets and handle are on New York in this game. But Atlanta is a better team than it showed the other night. And I think it’s tough to ask the Knicks to go out and beat the Hawks in their home opener. At the very least, Atlanta is on the same level as New York this season. And overall, I think the Hawks are a tough matchup for the Knicks.
Jalen Brunson will have a lot more success scoring the basketball in this game, as he’s working against Trae Young and Dejounte Murray and not Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. But the Hawks will attack Brunson to no end on the other end of the floor. And Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu should be able to do a good job of keeping the Knicks, one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league, off the glass. But where I’m really expecting Atlanta to give New York some trouble is on the wing. Whether it’s the floor spacing of Saddiq Bey and De’Andre Hunter or the grab-and-go juice of Jalen Johnson, I think the Hawks will win the battle at the forward spots in this game. Also, after shooting 5 for 29 from 3 the other night, I think the Hawks are due for a hot night from beyond the arc. That’s where playing at home comes in. Atlanta was 25-19 straight-up when playing at home last year.
Bet: Hawks -1.5 (-110 – Play to -2)
Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs – 8:00 pm ET
The Spurs put up a fight in their loss to the Mavericks the other night, but that was mostly because of a few stretches in which the team simply couldn’t miss. San Antonio clearly got a big boost from a really fired up home crowd, which was loving the debut of Victor Wembanyama. It’ll be interesting to see if Spurs fans bring that same energy throughout the season. At the very least, I’d expect it to be a hard place to play early in the year. However, I still think taking the points with the road team is the right call in this game.
After getting destroyed by the Orlando Magic in the season opener, Houston should come out with a lot more focus here. And overall, I do think that the Rockets have the ability to give the Spurs a lot of trouble on the perimeter in this game. San Antonio likes to play a very big lineup, but that makes it hard to keep quicker guards in front defensively. And Houston has plenty of those, with Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green both being capable of getting to the basket. In fact, I’m expecting a heavy dose of the latter here, as he took only 10 shots in the season opener.
I also think that Jabari Smith Jr.’s ability to hit the 3-ball will be meaningful in this game, as Wembanyama will likely be covering the second-year forward. So, if Smith is hot with the jumper tonight, he can do his part in pulling Wembanyama away from the basket and opening up driving lanes for his teammates.
I also think it’s hard to ignore the fact that Ime Udoka is now on the sideline for the Rockets. He’s a brilliant defensive coach and he is very familiar with what the Spurs want to do offensively from all the years he spent in San Antonio.
Bet: Rockets +3.5 (-115 – Play to +3)
Los Angeles Clippers at Utah Jazz – 9:30 pm ET
The Clippers absolutely dominated the Portland Trail Blazers in their season opener, while the Jazz got their butts kicked by the Sacramento Kings. That likely has people overreacting a bit heading into this matchup, with nearly three-quarters of the tickets in this game coming in on Los Angeles. But let’s not forget that Utah was 23-18 SU and 20-18-3 ATS when playing at home last year. And overall, this is a Jazz team that can be trusted to be competitive on a nightly basis.
Last year, Utah actually won and covered in three of the four meetings between these two teams. And that’s not surprising given the Jazz always got up for big matchups last season. Under Will Hardy, Utah is 33-14 ATS when playing as an underdog. The team is also 30-12 ATS when playing teams with winning records in that span. With that in mind, I wouldn’t worry too much about a perceived talent mismatch in this game. Instead, I’d simply be looking to take the points.
Utah also happens to benefit from Los Angeles not having Terance Mann (ankle) in this game. Mann is a very good defender and he’s a good offensive player, which is big considering he’s not a player that needs the ball very often. His absence will help the Jazz backcourt quite a bit. And I’d keep an eye on Lauri Markkanen in this game. Last year, he averaged 25.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on 54.1% shooting in four meetings with the Clippers. He likes this matchup a lot.
Bet: Jazz +4.5 (-110 – Play to +3.5)
NBA Player Props Today – October 27
Miami Heat at Boston Celtics – 7:30 pm ET
What Kyle Lowry did in the Heat season opener was honestly impressive. In 32 minutes of action, Lowry had no points, two rebounds and two assists. He also took just one shot. Offensively, he was completely invisible. But the more important thing to recognize is that Lowry played 32 minutes as the team’s starting point guard. So, his role on this team is clearly solidified. That means that better days are ahead for the veteran, who happened to average 5.1 assists per game last year — and 10.1 potential assists per game. With that in mind, I like the value of Lowry to come up with five assists tonight. I don’t think this should be available at plus-money odds, even in a tough matchup.
Bet: Lowry Over 4.5 Assists (+108)
Orlando Magic at Portland Trail Blazers – 10:30 pm ET
Markelle Fultz had three steals in Orlando’s win over Houston the other night. Now, Fultz will be facing a Portland team with a very young backcourt. In Portland’s season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers, Scoot Henderson had four turnovers. And while I don’t expect him to do that every night, I do think that the duo of him and Shaedon Sharpe — with each playing nearly 30 minutes per night — is fully capable of coughing the ball up against a good defensive team. And Orlando should be good on that end of the floor this season. Fultz, who has active hands at the point of attack and knows how to play passing lanes, could be the beneficiary. So, I’m taking a shot on him to have two steals in this one. He averaged 1.5 steals per game last year and he had 26 games in which he had multiple steals.
Bet: Fultz Over 1.5 Steals (+150)
DraftKings Sportsbook Boosts & Offers
DraftKings Sportsbook is offering a "Superstar Super Boost" on Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum to combine for 50+ points tonight. It’s boosted up to +175 odds, so it’s not a bad option if you’re looking for an exciting bet on tonight’s featured ESPN game.
DraftKings also happens to be offering a $10 bonus bet for NBA bettors to start the season. So, you should pounce on that. Perhaps use it to parlay some of these picks together.
There’s also a "No Sweat Every Day" offer on a Same Game Parlay for any sport. So, you can take a risk-free shot on an NBA parlay tonight.
Did you know that you can parlay my picks together? Try out our VSiN Parlay Calculator HERE!
VSiN NBA Links
