The start of the 2024-25 NBA season is officially here. Make sure you check out the fantastic work of Jonathan Von Tobel, who writes up his best bets daily. Also, try and listen to A Numbers Game every morning, as Kelley Bydlon often dishes out his favorite NBA picks. But I’ll be giving out NBA best bets and player props here as often as possible, and I’ll also occasionally write up features on big news that shakes up the league. So, make sure you check out my work throughout the season. With that out of the way, let’s get into some NBA best bets and NBA player props for Thursday, October 31st.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on October 30th
NBA Best Bets Today – October 31st
San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz – 9:00 pm ET
This is a bad spot for the Spurs, who are playing the second leg of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights. On top of that, San Antonio hasn’t lived up to expectations early in the season. The Spurs are just 1-3 and currently sit outside the top 20 in both adjusted offensive (110.6) and defensive rating (113.2). With that in mind, I’m not sure they should be expected to go into Salt Lake City and beat the Jazz. I know Utah is 0-4 and has looked terrible this season, but this is a team that we know can be competitive — especially at home. And head coach Will Hardy will be on his guys tonight, as he knows this is a great opportunity for his team to get in the win column.
Speaking of Hardy, the Jazz are 23-17 straight-up as home favorites under his watch. They’re also 15-9 under him in home games with lines of +3 to -3. If that’s not enough, Utah is 14-4 SU when facing teams with winning percentages between 25.0% and 40.0% under Hardy.
For as bad as this Jazz team has been in recent years, they can be counted on to beat opponents that are at their level or worse. So, we just have to hope that Lauri Markkanen will be out there tonight. He’s listed as questionable as he deals with discomfort in his back. But if he plays, the Jazz should have enough juice offensively to win this game.
I should also note that I love that Walker Kessler is a big part of this rotation again. The big man is an awesome interior defender, and his length and ability to get vertical should make things tough on Victor Wembanyama around the rim.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Jazz are 8-4 SU when facing the Spurs in Utah since 2018.
Bet: Jazz ML (-125 – 1.5 units)
NBA Player Props Today – October 31st
Milwaukee Bucks at Memphis Grizzlies – 8:00 pm ET
With the Grizzlies now 2-3 on the year and 18th in the NBA in adjusted offensive rating (111.3), something has to change very quickly. That something might be the play of Ja Morant. The star guard has done a great job of getting his teammates involved this season, as he’s averaging 8.3 assists per game and has had at least 10 dimes in three of the four games he has played. However, Morant is shooting only 14.3 shots per game, which is way too low for a player with his talent. Sure, some of that comes with the fact that Morant has been on something of a minutes restriction. After missing time in the preseason, Morant has played just 26.5 minutes per game this year. But he is not being as aggressive as a scorer. I can’t see that continuing against this Bucks team.
Milwaukee is in the bottom half of the league in adjusted defensive rating this year, and this is once again a team that struggles to defend at the point of attack. That said, this is a matchup in which Morant should be able to get to the basket at will. The Bucks are also giving up more made 3s per game (15.8) than all but three teams this season. So, Morant should also knock down some triples here.
Realistically, I can see this being a game in which Morant flirts with 25 points alone. And when you combine that with the work he’s doing as a passer, I love him to go Over his combined points and assists player prop.
Bet: Morant Over 27.5 Points + Assists (-110 – 1.5 units)
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2024-25 NBA Record: 25-16 (+9.46 units)
