Wednesday October 23rd Best Sports Betting Picks & Predictions for NBA, NHL

We can tell it’s basketball season—Joel Embiid and Paul George are out with injuries. 

They may be newlyweds as teammates with the Philadelphia 76ers, but they are in midseason form on the injury front as the season opener with the Milwaukee Bucks arrives and neither will be available.

The Golden State Warriors are divorced from Klay Thompson (off to Dallas) after he was part of a trio that reached six NBA Finals and won four championship rings. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are looking for new sidekicks as the Warriors start the regular season with a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers.

There’s just one NHL game on the calendar, and it involves teams going in different directions. The Washington Capitals have won four straight games as they host a Philadelphia Flyers’ squad that is winless in their past five matches.

As Embiid and George nurse their knee injuries, we’re using our scope to get a closer look at three games: 

MILWAUKEE BUCKS AT PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Milwaukee will tip off with their two biggest stars on the floor in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, while the 76ers won’t have their top duo. The Bucks won all three of last season’s meetings, and they have been anointed road favorites with Embiid and George sidelined.

The first season of the Giannis/Dame era was an underachieving one as Milwaukee was bounced in the first round by the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee was 18 games above .500 when Doc Rivers became coach, and it went 19-23 the rest of the way, counting the stunning six-game postseason dismissal.

Embiid was limited to just 39 games last season and underwent surgery on his left knee in February, but he is still experiencing issues. George is always banged up too and played in 56 or fewer games in four of his five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.

All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey will lead the Philadelphia charge as he looks to build on a career season in which he averaged 25.9 points. But Maxey will likely need more help for the 76ers to slay the Bucks.

Bucks -3.5 points, -108 (DraftKings)

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS AT PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

Golden State is down to one “Splash Brother” with the departure of Thompson, but Stephen Curry is still on top of his game at 36 years old. Curry will need a younger teammate like Jonathan Kuminga to emerge as a 20-point scorer to take some of the pressure off him, or perhaps newcomer Buddy Hield can make a difference on those nights when he’s hot from 3-point range.

Green and Andrew Wiggins are still around as the Warriors try to reinvent themselves after missing the playoffs last season. Seeing Portland is always good, as Golden State went 4-0 against the Trail Blazers last season and has won 10 of the past 11 meetings.

The Trail Blazers were a dismal 21-61 last season to match the second-most setbacks in franchise history, so they have a lot of work to do to become respectable. The rebuild after trading club icon Damian Lillard is not off to a great start.

Moving Lillard came after the drafting of Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 overall pick, and he was up and down as a rookie. It’s really hard to see Portland taking down the Warriors.

Warriors -5.5 spread, -112 (DraftKings)

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS AT WASHINGTON CAPITALS

This contest is a rematch after Washington beat the Flyers 4-1 on Tuesday in Philadelphia in the first part of a home-and-home set. The Flyers are 0-4-1 during their slump after being outplayed by the Capitals.

In fact, somebody needs to alert Philadelphia that having the man advantage is supposed to boost its chances of scoring a goal and not the opponents. Washington received shorthanded goals by Nic Dowd and Andrew Mangiapane in the first period to fuel its latest victory.

The Capitals have a chance to continue their strong start with Wednesday’s game being the first of a stretch in which six of eight are at home. The Flyers prevailed in their season opener against the Vancouver Canucks in a shootout before the current rough span.

Philadelphia went scoreless in five straight periods before Travis Sanheim scored in the third period on Tuesday. Goals could be tough to come by again in the rematch.

Under 6 total goals, -125 (DraftKings)