NBA Picks

Last season, the Orlando Magic came out like gangbusters for the first couple of weeks of the season. Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic were making threes like a jumbo version of the Splash Brothers, and their 6-2 start to the 2017-18 season is probably, like, the 5th best Orlando Magic moment in team history. Which version of the Magic should you expect versus the Celts? Kyle Cash has his NBA pick.

We are still waiting to hear from the league about possible suspensions for last night’s altercation, but I think it is safe to assume that Houston will be without Chris Paul for tonight’s affair. So both the Clippers and the Rockets are without Chris Paul! Who has the advantage in this Paul-less game?

the Lakers are a mess. Lonzo and Rondo are repetitive and not helpful, Ingram and Kuzma still look a year away, and LeBron’s Tonto to his Lone Ranger is a 24-year old sophomore in Josh Hart. It might take a while to iron out the wrinkles of their scheme, but for now, we can at least expect the Lakers to not shoot 7-for-30 from behind the arc. The Lakers want to have a good game at home but can they handle Houston? Kyle Cash gives his prediction.

On the Friday night NBA betting board we have a great match-up between the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors north of the border in the Big Smoke. The Beantown Boys were impressive in their opener taking it to the 76ers, but can they duplicate that performance against the Raptors on the road? The host is a -2.5 point favorite on most boards with the total at 209.

Realistically, it is impossible to determine the identity of the team that the Lakers are going to trot out Thursday night. Are they Showtime reincarnate? Will they be the plodding, calculating type of team that LeBron has coveted for the last few seasons? Is LeBron going to play center? What we do know is new teams take a while the gel. On the other side, Portland has had this core for years. Kyle Cash looks at that and other aspects of this match-up to make his NBA pick.

Run and gun. Those are the words that the New Orleans Pelicans live and die by. The pace-and-space style of NBA offenses has neared a crescendo with the system that coach Alvin Gentry has created to orbit his super-duper-star Anthony Davis, and last year, they briefly took the league by storm. But can the Pels run the same game without Rondo and Boogie? We take a look in our daily NBA pick!