The 2024-25 NBA regular season begins on Wednesday with a couple of juicy matchups to get things underway. First up is the Knicks at Celtics, followed by the Timberwolves at Lakers. We bring you our preview and best bet for both games below!
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NBA Betting Tips: Wednesday, October 23rd 2024
New York Knicks at Boston Celtics (10:30am AEDT)
The Knicks weren’t satisfied with their second round exit in last season’s playoffs and have opted for substantial change to their starting lineup. Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo were both recently moved on, while Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges are the new pieces to their puzzle. In lineup news for their opening game, Mitchell Robinson will miss with an ankle injury while Precious Achiuwa is also out with a hamstring injury.
The Celtics enter this campaign as the defending champions after securing the Larry O’Brien trophy with a 4-1 win against the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. The Celtics were dominant all regular season as well as in the playoffs, so it’s no surprise to see them bring back an almost identical roster as they attempt to go back-to-back. The injury-prone Kristaps Porzingis will miss their season opener with a foot injury, which means Al Horford is a likely starter.
Both teams are without their starting centre here which means there isn’t going to be a whole lot of rim protection. The Knicks also now have KAT playing at the 5 and he certainly isn’t known for his defensive prowess. Achiuwa also on the sidelines means the Knicks will have to dig deep into their big man stocks or play a lot more small-ball.
I’m not usually inclined to take the overs in the total points market first up in a season as team can be a touch rusty. However, there was an average of 225 points scored across the five meetings between these sides last season, and both are without their best rim protectors here, so there could be a lot of easy points on offer in the paint. With that said, I’m happy to play one unit on the overs.
Over 222 Points
$1.90 (1 Unit)
Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers (1:00pm AEDT)
The Timberwolves had a much-improved 2023-24 season and made it to the Western Conference Finals where they came up short against the Mavericks. There’s now a lot more expectation surrounding this team who opted for a big shake-up to their roster in recent weeks. The Timberwolves traded away former #1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns and brought in Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo from the Knicks. They have an entirely healthy roster heading into their first game.
The Lakers worked their way out of the Play-In tournament last season but were comprehensively beaten by the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. Despite this, the Lakers have brought back a very similar squad with Bronny James being the most high-profile recruit. The Lakers are dealing with some injuries to some of their role players, and will be without Christian Wood, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Christian Koloko on Wednesday.
There’s always a lot of hype and optimism surrounding the Lakers at the beginning of each season, but perhaps none more than this season. It’s going to be a wild ride in 2024-25 with LeBron and Bronny set to become the first ever father-son duo to play together in the NBA. It remains to be seen whether or not Bronny will get any court time in their season opener.
The Timberwolves were the far superior outfit last season and I fully expect that to be the case again. They won the season series 3-1 which included a win in LA in their most recent game in April. The Timberwolves have a lot greater depth, and I think it will take some time for JJ Redick and his coaching staff to work out the best rotations for this group. That leads me to believe that there’s solid value backing in the Timberwolves first up.
Timberwolves to Win
$1.87 (1 Unit)
