NBA Picks and Predictions, Election Day: Raptors at Thunder, 11/5

We’ve predicted the winners of four consecutive games now on our features. The Bears won a blowout for the spread and moneyline Sunday, while the Saints convincingly covered the spread last night capping off an incredibly successful weekend of NFL picks. The Boston Celtics hit our moneyline bet for us, and the Knicks blew out the Heat to open the season with a huge underdog upset pick. As we try to protect our unbeaten record since the NBA season opened, we must choose between heavy favorites and bad spreads. After losing power in the hurricane, we’ve got some heat since returning to daily posts.

We are looking at some parlay options in the VIP Club today, but it is important to recognize that no parlays have Baromir’s support (Baromir is our proven parlay system for guaranteed profits, but it is too early in the season). Z-Code suggests that there is a high likelihood for all favorites to win their games, but the experts have chimed in with some minor hesitations. Additionally, pointing to recent trends to open the season, Z-Code notes that heavy favorites with medium confidence have really struggled. They aren’t covering, and there have been a lot of upsets so far this season. As a result, we are low confidence on all games today. For fun, I’ve got 1 unit parlaying all the big favorites to win by moneyline bets.

A quick breakdown:

The Chicago Bulls offense has been uninspired at times, but their suffocating defense should be enough to control the game against the Orlando Magic. That said, Orlando is burning hot and blowing out weak competition. This game could be another high-volatility, early season matchup. The Denver Nuggets are winless and in the midst of a lengthy skid that extends back to the preseason. They play the Detroit Pistons, who have looked just as bad. The Nuggets are the better team, but the spread is brutal. With two bad teams, we’re low confidence on the Nuggets at best. As a result, we look at one of the most enigmatic teams of the early NBA season: The Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder had contract issues with sixth-man and Olympian James Harden and they traded him as the year began. Chemistry issues continue to plague the defending Western Conference champs. They’re fresh off a disappointing loss to an injury-riddled and weaker Atlanta Hawks club, looking to rebound. In short, we think the Thunder are simply too good to fall to another weak opponent in the Toronto Raptors – particularly at home.

I think the Oklahoma City Thunder are simply too good to lose another game to a weak opponent. They’ll put their chemistry issues aside and win in front of one of the best basketball crowds in the NBA.

Z-Code gives the moneyline a 76% chance to hit. Still, with just 3.5 stars and extremely limited value in the line, we tread with extreme caution today. We’re dabbling with a parlay, I’m on the spread personally, and the featured pick is a moneyline bet for the talented-but-slumping Oklahoma City Thunder.

It’s not a great day for aggressive betting. Be cautious, but let’s have a little fun with some lopsided NBA matchups.

Thunder 112 – Raptors 90