NBA Best Bets for October 30: Can New York Tame Miami?
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Spread Astaire
- October 30, 2024
Top NBA Pick: New York Knicks -2 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
The NBA is back tonight with a fun 11-game slate full of exciting matchups.
Let’s find the best ways to approach these games, break down the matchups, and find winning NBA picks at our top-rated sportsbooks.
New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 – 07:30 PM ET at Kaseya Center
The Miami Heat opened their season by getting blown out by the Orlando Magic. They followed up that disappointing loss with two wins, albeit against inferior competition such as the Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons. Now they face another playoff team when they host the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
From Defense to Firepower
The Miami Heat are an excellent organization and boast one of the best coaching staffs in the league, led by Erik Spoelstra. However, the Heat are a veteran team that is getting away from their defense-first identity.
The Heat now feature three guards who are excellent scorers yet inadequate defenders like Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, and Duncan Robinson. The Knicks will look to exploit the Heat’s lack of perimeter defense when they take the floor in Miami tonight.
Revenge Games & Roster Shifts
The New York Knicks are a disappointing 1-2 this season, although their schedule has been much tougher than what the Heat have faced.
The Knicks opened the season against the best team in the league, the Boston Celtics, and suffered a blowout loss. They followed that up with a revenge win over the Indiana Pacers, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Then they were the victims of a revenge game themselves when the Cleveland Cavaliers avenged their playoff loss to the Knicks by getting a 6-point win in New York.
The Knicks upended their roster by trading long-time power forward Julius Randle for Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns is an excellent shooter and should space the floor, although he leaves a lot to be desired defensively.
The Knicks are chock full of excellent defenders though and hope they can work around Towns’ defensive deficiencies.
The Knicks are led by Jalen Brunson, who has emerged as a true star in the league. Brunson is averaging 23 points a game and is definitely an excellent shot-maker. Even against the very best defense, Brunson can get his shot to fall and he has a much easier assignment against the Heat backcourt tonight.
The Pick
The Knicks have been playing a tough schedule to start the season and tonight isn’t that much easier. However, I expect them to make a statement and get the win over a Miami team that is not nearly as good as they used to be.
Miami is getting older and has yet to replenish some of the depth it has lost over the last couple of seasons. Also, they do not take the regular season seriously, which has been a fatal flaw for this Heat team in the last couple of seasons.
Take the New York Knicks to bounce back and get a win on the road over the Miami Heat.
NBA Pick: New York Knicks -2 (-110) at BetOnline
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 – 09:30 PM ET at Paycom Center
The Oklahoma City Thunder have emerged as the best team in the Western Conference this season. The Thunder are 3-0 and have won each game by a huge margin. The Thunder have the second best net rating in the league right now behind the Golden State Warriors. However, the Thunder have played a much tougher level of competition than the Warriors.
Veteran Meets Potential
The San Antonio Spurs are an up and coming team with one of the most exciting players in the game, Victor Wembanyama. The French basketball player has the chance to be the best player in the league if he continues to develop. However, he is only in his second year and has a lot of learning to do. That is why the Spurs brought in veteran point guard Chris Paul to accelerate his development and to teach Wembanyama the game of basketball at the NBA level.
The Spurs have a chance to make waves in a Western Conference that feels to be wide open this year. The Spurs are only 1-2 this season but, just like the Thunder, the Spurs have played a pretty tough schedule. The Spurs split a series with the Rockets and lost to last year’s Western Conference Champion, the Dallas Mavericks.
Now, they face an even tougher task going against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Pick
Because of the Thunder’s dominating wins so far we have a huge point spread for this game. The Spurs are catching 13 points.
I believe the Spurs have an opportunity to keep this game close and do better than what the books expect. Take the underdog to make this a fun, close game and cover the 13 point spread.
NBA Pick: San Antonio Spurs +13 (-110) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
