The first rematch of last season’s NBA Finals takes place tonight, as the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Indiana Pacers. The home side will be opening its season and will be determined to take down a Thunder team that scraped past the Houston Rockets in its first game of the season. In the other matchup, the Golden State Warriors look to follow up their impressive win over the Lakers on Tuesday when they host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
You can find all of our NBA picks for every game tonight and throughout the season. But for now, let’s break down my best NBA player prop bets for today’s 2-game slate.
Jimmy Butler (GSW) Over 1.5 steals (-110)
Odds available at Fanatics Sportsbook at time of publishing
In his last game against the Nuggets, Jimmy Butler managed 5 steals in what was a great defensive performance. There is no one on the roster who can straight up guard Jokic, which will make the Warriors send help his way. This is where Butler can thrive, using his defensive awareness to timely rush the Serb and help force turnovers. Last season the visitors were also in the bottom 10 of the league in opponent steals per game. It makes this a favorable matchup for the Warriors’ forward, who averaged 1.4 steals per game last season. This will be a great chance for him to exceed that tonight. Butler has a great ability to read the court so do not be surprised to see him pick off a pass or 2.
Andrew Nembhard (IND) Over 1.5 made threes (+125)
Odds available at Fanatics Sportsbook at time of publishing
Canadian guard Andrew Nembhard started to emerge as a key player for the Indiana Pacers last postseason. Now with Tyrese Haliburton being out for the season, Nembhard will get the chance to showcase himself in a key role for the Pacers. In the postseason he shot 46.5% from deep — that will be a major weapon for him this year, too. During the last 4 games of the NBA Finals, the guard was able to punish the Thunder from deep, too, with 2 or more 3-pointers in 3 of the last 4 games. There are signs that he that he could also be upping his output from deep. In his last preseason game he put up 5 attempts in just 18 minutes of action. With the efficiency he showed to end last season, it should be enough for the over to hit.
Lock in our Thunder vs Pacers Same Game Parlay for tonight matchup on ESPN
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