NBA Multi bet of the Weekend | October 25-27

The first weekend of the NBA season is upon us. Both Saturday and Sunday will see ten games played over the course of the day, and it’s the first of those group of games that we will focus on for our first weekend parlay of the season. There are enthralling matchups all over the place on Saturday, Australia time, particularly at the back end of the day, which concludes with the Lakers hosting the Suns, and the performance of a particular big man in that game will make up one leg of our weekend multi. Exciting Rockets’ big man Alperen Sengun will be a feature of another leg, while rounding things out will be a line bet on the Pelicans vs Trail Blazers game at the end of the day. Check out all of the details below.

26th of October, 11.05am AEDT, Toyota Center

One of the games of the day will see two talented young teams square up when the Grizzlies head to Houston to take on the Rockets, and arguably the most talented player of them all will be the subject of this pick. Ja Morant might take umbridge at that and perhaps rightly so, but Alperen Sengun is a superstar in the making and, if his first game of the season is anything to go by, is set to take yet another significant step forward this season. Sengun averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists last season as he attempts to live up to the ‘Mini Jokic’ moniker with which he has been dubbed. That was just his third season in the league and saw his stats improve significantly on the season prior as they have each year he has played in the NBA, so there is good reason to believe he'll be putting up even better numbers in 2024-25. And that’s exactly what he did in the Rockets’ season opener. Sengun was dominant from the outset against the Hornets, recording a double-double in the opening quarter and ultimately finishing up with 25 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Those are some serious numbers, and up against rookie Zach Edey of the Grizzlies he should be able to score solidly once again in this game. Sengun already averaged 21.1 points last season and should put up more than that in this one, yet he is at even money with NBA betting sites just to get to 20 in this game. Edey was a solid college defender and that should translate to the NBA level, but in his first game in the big league he was fouled out in just 15 minutes. Sengun is one of the most difficult defensive assignments in the NBA, and up against the inexperienced Edey right at the beginning of his career, I’m backing Sengun to again tick past the 20-point mark at even money odds.

26th of October, 1.05pm AEDT, Crypto.com Arena

There is always a big ‘if’ given his penchant for injury, but Anthony Davis could just be in for a big season – if he can stay on the court. He actually had a terrific and uncharacteristically consistent season in 2023-24, playing 76 games, and on the back of that he looks primed for another potentially very good year. Davis had a really good pre-season, scoring heavily in virtually all of the Lakers’ pre-season games, and he started the season like a house on fire against Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves. Davis put up 36 points on 11-23 shooting to go with 16 boards, 4 assists and 3 blocks, and that against the team that was by far the best defensive side in the league last season. The Suns are not exactly that. They are a potential offensive juggernaut, but defense is always going to be a weakness and Davis, if he plays as aggressively as he did against a far more difficult team for big men to score against in the Timberwolves, should be able to take advantage of that. LeBron continues to defy Father Time and will probably manage to remain a top 15 player in the league this season – like Davis, if he is healthy, that is – but he is nearly 40 and Davis is the man who needs to step up if this team is to go further than they did last season. The early signs are promising, and up against a weak defensive outfit, I’m backing Davis to have another big game to add some value to our multi.

October 26th, 1.05pm AEDT, Moda Center

Sometimes a line just looks a little off, particularly early in the season, and this is one of those occasions. There is a huge gap between the abilities of these two teams. The Pelicans last season won 49 games in a very competitive Western Conference, and have potentially got better this year with the addition of Dejounte Murray. In the Pelicans first game of the season, they beat the Bulls by 12 points without Zion Williamson, who missed through illness and is expected to return for this game. Unfortunately they will be without Murray after he fractured his hand in that season-opener, but still, that leaves them with pretty much the team that won nearly 50 games last season. The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, will just be looking to be competitive in 2024-25 after finishing dead last in the Western Conference last season. They are a young team with some scope for growth – Scoot Henderson should take a step forward after an erratic first season, while Anfernee Simons still has plenty of room to get better. But the fact remains that this is a team that is a long, long way from even getting close to the playoffs. They will most likely find themselves in the bottom two or three in the Western Conference once again this season while the Pelicans should be right up around the edge of the playoffs, and yet the line for this game has been set at only 5.5 points by betting sites. Last season, these two teams played three times, and the Pelicans won on each of those occasions – first by 9 points, then by 19, and finally by 10. Those margins are all clear of this line pretty comfortably, and there is no reason to think that this game will be particularly different. It might be played at the Trail Blazers’ home court, but given they went 11-30 at the Moda Center last season, the Pelicans should still be able to win this one comfortably and cruise past the 5.5-point line.