Dan Costanza is on fire having landed all of his last four tips. Be sure to check out his best bets from across tonight's action.
Basketball betting tips: NBA
2pts Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks) Over 36.5 Points and Assists combined at 10/13 (bet365)
2pts Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls) Over 30.5 Points and Rebounds at 10/11 (Sky Bet)
Atlanta Hawks @ New York Knicks
- Tip-off time: 23:30 GMT, Wednesday
- Moneyline: Atlanta Hawks 11/10 @ New York Knicks 8/11
- Points Spread: Atlanta Hawks (+2.5) 10/11 @ New York Knicks (-2.5) 10/11
Wednesday evening should give us a taste of one of the newest and more bitter rivalries in the NBA. The Atlanta Hawks will travel to New York and face off against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, a game that certainly carries more significance than just any old regular-season showdown.
The growing feud between Trae Young and New York Knick fans will make its first appearance of the 2022 NBA season tonight.
The disdain for Young by Knick fans started back in 2020, when he led the charge and ousted the Knicks from the playoffs in just 5 games. Trae played phenomenally in those 5 games, averaging 29 points and just shy of 10 assists per game while scoring 30 or more points in each of the games in New York.
Fresh off that new rivalry, Young only played 1 game at Madison Square Garden last season where the fans let him know what they thought throughout the game. The focal point of their attention with chants directed towards him the entire game, Young rose to the occasion and poured in a 45-point performance, and led the Hawks to a 117-111 win.
I believe that some players naturally rise to the occasion and I think this is the case for Trae Young, without question. Already off to a phenomenal start to the season, the addition of Dejounte Murray as his backcourt running mate has seemed to propel his game even further forward. On the season, Young is averaging a very healthy 29 points per game to go along with his 9.7 assists per game which is good enough for 3rd best in the entire league.
Last time out Young had his first poor game of the season, turning the ball over a whopping 10 times against Toronto, and only managing 14 points. The best players move on from poor performances quickly and I expect Young to be locked in and rise to the occasion inside Madison Square Garden tonight where he is sure to be the focal point of the Knicks home crowd.
I'll back Young to get right back on track tonight and give the Knicks all they can handle. My play for this game is on TRAE YOUNG to have OVER 36.5 COMBINED POINTS AND ASSISTS.
Charlotte Hornets @ Chicago Bulls
- Tip-off time: 00:00 GMT, Thursday
- Moneyline: Charlotte Hornets 13/8 @ Chicago Bulls 1/2
- Points Spread: Charlotte Hornets (+5.5) 10/11 @ Chicago Bulls (-5.5) 10/11
The second play I'll take a look at tonight is Nikola Vucevic as his Bulls play host to the Charlotte Hornets.
The Bulls pulled off a tremendous come-from-behind win against the Brooklyn Nets last night as Zach LaVine erupted for 20 points in the 4th quarter as the Bulls completed the comeback in Brooklyn.
Vucevic was held to just 7 points in 32 minutes last night but grabbed 15 of the Bulls 44 total rebounds.
There is some uncertainty with the status of LaVine tonight as he may not take the court as the Bulls manage his return from a knee injury and could potentially rest him on this 2nd game of a back-to-back.
If LaVine is out, Vucevic should see an uptick in his usage and could put a strong effort in against a Hornets team who have had their struggles against opposing centres.
Vucevic played 31 minutes last night, so he should be more than capable of playing into the 30-40 minute range this evening once again.
He comes into this game 3rd in the NBA in rebounds per game, and I think he should bounce back nicely from his 10-point performance last night with a very favourable matchup tonight against Charlotte centre Mason Plumelee.
These two are no strangers to each other, having faced off 16 times since 2013, with Vucevic averaging a healthy 20.7 points and 10.1 rebounds across those games.
I like VUCEVIC OVER 30.5 COMBINED POINTS AND REBOUNDS this evening as I expect a strong performance from him with or without Bulls star Zach LaVine taking the court.
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