Winners Club: Finals Frontrunners in Action for NBA Season Tip-Off Tonight

Plus, Yankees-Guardians Game 5, Phillies-Padres Game 1 and waiver wire pickups.

Add another entry into the packed fall sports calendar, folks: Basketball is back.

The NBA season begins this evening with a doubleheader. Last season’s Finals competitors, the Warriors and Celtics, take the court, but the rematch won’t happen until much later this season—Golden State hosts the Lakers, and Boston gets the 76ers at home.

Get ready for the start of the season with a full-fledged NBA betting preview below.

In today’s Winners Club, you’ll find:

• NBA Opening Night bets
• Over/under win total predictions
• Awards betting breakdowns
• Championship odds and picks
• ALDS, NLCS breakdown and bets
• Fantasy waiver wire help

Warriors Begin Title Defense Tonight as Finals Favorites

Offseason theatrics give way to on-court dramatics when the NBA season tips off tonight with a doubleheader.

The summer news cycle was dominated by free-agent moves, marquee trades and one particularly notable unsuccessful trade demand. Finally, there are real games and results to digest for the first time since June, and the two teams we last saw duking it out for the title are in action.

The Celtics host the 76ers, and the Warriors welcome the Lakers, which begs the question: Who should you bet on in the opener? Well, I’m glad you asked! NBA SO/UP (Spread, Over/Under, Prop) bets are back, and I have six selections for tonight’s games.

NBA Opening Night Slate and SO/UP Bets

7:30 p.m. ET (TNT): 76ers vs. Celtics (-2.5) | Total: 215.5

10 p.m. ET (TNT): Lakers vs. Warriors (-6.5) | Total: 224.5

Where NBA Championship Odds Stand

The Celtics owned the best title odds all summer long at SI Sportsbook, but they fell behind the Warriors at the last minute. Golden State (+600) begins the year as a slight favorite to win it all once again, just ahead of Boston (+650) and Milwaukee (+650) and in front of Brooklyn (+700), the L.A. Clippers (+700) and Phoenix (+900).

For now, those six teams make up the top tier of Finals contenders. I broke down the field and made my Finals pick in the championship betting primer.

Over/Under Win Total Bets for All 30 Teams

There’s a group of teams projected to win more than 50 games that also have their eyes on the Larry O’Brien Trophy this year, and there’s the bottom tier with projections down in the 20s that could be in line for a lottery pick and a shot at Victor Wembanyama. And then there’s everyone in between!

See what the win total projection for each team is and which side I landed on.

Eastern Conference | Western Conference

Season-Long Awards Betting Breakdown

MVP: Luka Dončić is the favorite once again, though a few former winners are close behind him. Will a new MVP be crowned this season?

Rookie of the Year: No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero is a runaway favorite to win the award—can he live up to that status?

Most Improved Player: Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton enter the year as co-favorites. Which young star is going to make the largest leap?

Sixth Man of the Year: Armed with a new contract, Jordan Poole is the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner. Can anyone beat out Golden State’s golden boy?

Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert’s defensive reputation traveled with him to Minnesota, and he’s the favorite to win the award for the fourth time. Will he do it?

Coach of the Year: Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is just ahead of the pack in his second full season at the helm. Does value lie elsewhere in the pack?

CLE-NYY Game 5 Delayed, PHI-SD NLCS Begins Tonight

The Astros are still awaiting their ALCS opponent. The decisive Game 5 of the ALDS between the Guardians and Yankees was postponed from Monday night to this afternoon. New York won 4-2 on Sunday to even the best-of-five series at two games apiece and is favored at home.

Houston punched its ticket to the championship series on Saturday in extra innings when it completed a sweep of the Mariners. The Astros will host the winner of the ALDS on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the championship series gets underway tonight, and Jen Piacenti has the series betting breakdown as well as a Game 1 bet for you to tail:

“How are we going to bet this one? We’re going to bet on the bats. I don’t trust either bullpen to remain this dominant, and the Phillies have scored the most runs per game in the postseason, with the Padres scoring the next most of the remaining postseason teams. Darvish’s average exit velocity allowed is in the bottom half of the league, so the Phillies could get a few knocks, and the Philadelphia bullpen that managed only a 4.27 regular season ERA is bound to regress. It’s hard to bet against the home team, so let’s take the over, despite two aces being on the mound.”

The Pick: Over 6.5 (-118)

Gregory Bull/AP

Tuesday

4:07 p.m. ET (TBS): Guardians vs. Yankees (-175) | ALDS Game 5

8:03 p.m. ET (FS1): Phillies vs. Padres (-125) | NLCS Game 1

Wednesday

4:35 p.m. ET (FOX): Phillies vs. Padres | NLCS Game 2

7:37 p.m. ET (TBS): Guardians/Yankees vs. Astros | ALCS Game 1

SI Sportsbook World Series Odds

Astros +130
Padres +300
Phillies +320
Yankees +400
Guardians +1300

How to Survive Week 7 with the Bills and Eagles on Bye

Buffalo and Philadelphia, two of the best teams in football and fantasy, are off this week, and managers who rely on the stars on both offenses (and the defenses, for that matter) must find stopgap free-agent replacements. The Vikings and Rams are also idle this week, meaning two of the top receivers in the sport won’t be suiting up for your fantasy team either.

This is a tough week to survive if you have one or a handful of players on those four teams. Luckily, Piacenti is here to help. Her Week 7 waiver wire recommendations include players at each position to place a claim for this week and beyond. And Matt De Lima highlighted a few stud linebackers to add in his IDP waiver report.

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

Michael Fabiano also has fantasy takeaways from the week that was, Craig Ellenport touched on the shortage of reliable running backs in fantasy football, and the MMQB has updated NFL power rankings with the Bills now even further ingrained as the No. 1 team.

More news of note: Rams coach Sean McVay confirmed reports that the team is looking to trade running back Cam Akers, Cardinals receiver Marquise Brown is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured foot, Arizona traded for Panthers receiver Robbie Anderson to get quarterback Kyler Murray another weapon, Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is out 4-6 weeks due to a fractured finger and the team may put him on injured reserve and Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate was diagnosed with a sprained neck after he was carted off the field Sunday.

In Other News

UNC No. 1 in Preseason AP Top 25: The Tar Heels were voted the best team in the land ahead of the 2022-23 season after their surprise run to the national championship game last year. Gonzaga, Houston and Kentucky all received first-place votes as well.

The Most Entertaining NBA Teams to Watch: Can bad basketball be entertaining? Yes. Is good basketball generally more entertaining? That’s the case in this ranking of the teams worth tuning in to see this season.

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Thanks for reading Winners Club! I’ll be back in your inbox Thursday morning. Enjoy another loaded day of sports.