NBA Opening Week

Last night's NBA record: 3-2

B. Catz Picks

It's finally here. The day has come where no longer are my weekdays filled with working out and video games during free time. No for the next 6 months I will be firmly planted in front of the TV most evenings watching one of the most beautiful experiences unfold across the U.S. every night. We ain't talkin about your ice lacrosse either, we talkin good ole fashioned roundball!! This season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive affairs in recent memory and should make correct picks that much more difficult. Luckily for you, you have the dream team of Catz and Bjones here to guide you along the way. Happy hunting out there fellow basketball diehards.

Memphis Grizzlies (-7) vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Sure the Wolves could be a surprising team later on in the season when they figure out their rotations and which one of their fifteen small forwards should get the most playing time. In the mean time the Grizzlies know who they are, and what they do, and after a solid off-season and the return of a healthy Gasol you have a team that should contend for the title out west. Grindhouse packs the paint and forces Minnesota to jack up threes all night in this one, and if you take the Wolves you are basically betting on Ricky Rubio being able to shoot, have fun with that.

Detroit Pistons (+6.5) vs. Denver Nuggets

The only thing that concerns me about this game is that one of Dirtiest Picks favorite players Josh Smith spent all night last night getting baked out of his mind in Denver and shows up three hours late and misses the game tonight. Besides that I think this is a pretty safe bet. Get the points now while Vegas still wants to bet against the guy who turned Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkey Glue into legitimate NBA players.


BJones' (3-2) Picks

Golden State Warriors (-5) vs Sacramento Kings

This game should actually be more competitive than you would think off first glance, but giving five points is still way too low for the Warriors offense, this could be tight all the way until the final thirty seconds when Steph Curry drops two threes in a row on Sac Town securing the win and the cover.

Milwaukee Bucks at Charlotte Hornets (-8) 

After completely rebranding themselves this offseason, the Hornets are looking to make another playoff appearance with an upgraded roster and a somewhat more active owner in Michael Jordan. The Hornets, who just signed PG Kemba Walker to a nice extension, return Al Jefferson, MKG (Not Machine Gun Kelly) and a solid bench with some exciting additions. 2014 Bust of the Year Noah Vonleh should be pretty terrible, but he will play limited minutes along with Cody Zeller to mask the PF deficiency. Last but not least, Lance a make em' Dance! LANCE STEPHENSON! BORN READY! One of the more polarizing NBA players of the last decade landed in Charlotte on a very favorable contract, and I have to say, this signing is huge for the Purp Bees. Lance is the exact player they need to put them in contention for a 5 or 6 seed this year while also possibly completely destroying the chemistry of this team. The Bucks on the other hand aren't great....or good. Jabari Parker is a good player, but he'll have to do too much, and can we stop building up the Greek Freak?! He's not exactly an all-star yet. Other than that, they have some pieces, but I think Charlotte's fans will be pumped to support their team and new All-Star, Lance Stephenson. 

Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers (UNDER 189)

Atlanta Hawks at Toronto Raptors (OVER 200)

4 interesting teams if anything. The Sixers are just straight trash right now and shouldn't be on TV ever. Nerlens Noel is a very intriguing player, but everyone else can suck it. The Pacers don't have Paul George who struggled to score last year, imagine how Nap Town will do without him! That game has to go under as the Sixers probably struggle to shoot 50% in a lay up line, let alone score on the Pacers.

Meanwhile, the Hawks and Raptors will be the basketball nerdgasm of the night. The Hawks are Spurs-lite as Mike Budenholzer has turned the Hawks into a 3 point shooting, ball moving, fast paced squad. The Raps made a nice impact in the playoffs last year and returned most of the same players. Towards the end of the year the Raps were a great over team, and I think that will continue this year as the team is a little more mature and added another scorer in Lou Williams. This will start slow, but go over in the second half.

Washington Wizards (+4) at Miami Heat

Chicago (-4.5) at New York Knicks

I find both of these lines hilarious!! The Wizards, a very good team last year with a below average coach, had a solid season last year and should be fine when Bradley Beal comes back. They added Paul Pierce, which isn't exactly monumental, but it helps. The Heat?! Are favored?! Yeah, broken down, not very good Dwyane Wade will hobble his ass out there and get torched by Glenn Rice Jr. Norris Cole has to guard John Wall, Chris Bosh hasn't had more than 5 rebounds in like 2 years and he's playing center against Nene and Gortat. Oh and some guy named S. Williams is starting at PF for them. I don't know if that's Shawne or Sheldon, but it doesn't fuckin matter. Give me the points.

The Bulls line is also dumb as fuck! Everyone wants to put the Bulls in the finals and say they are one of the best teams in the league, but let's give it a second alright? Tonight they should take care of the Knicks who are trotting out one of the nastiest lineups I've seen in a while! Melo' starts with a Jose Calderon who is probably wondering what he did to deserve this shit, Iman Shumpert at the 2 (can't shoot), JASON SMITH!!!!!, and Sam Dalembert!!! Terrible, terrible team. Don't watch this bullshit.