I’m sure there will be plenty of odds boosts over the weekend as the season kicks off for the rest of the NFL, but there are some great ones already on the board. We’ll look at two specific odds boosts from Week 1 in the NFL as well as two from tonight’s NBA action between the Clippers and Nuggets. All of these odds boosts can be found on OddsShopper, so let’s dive into what we found on Awesemo’s odds comparison tool today.
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NBA Odds Boosts
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray Score 50+ Points (+140 PointsBet)
Let’s start off with a risky pick because Murray has been ice cold from the field against the Clippers in this series. In four games against Los Angeles, Murray is averaging just 17.8 points per game on 38.2% shooting, including 34.6% from behind the arc. It looks like Murray has just run out of gas since his magical three-game stretch against Utah, but Denver’s season is on the line, so I expect he’ll try to exhaust every ounce of energy he has to earn the Nuggets another game. That won’t necessarily mean a 40-point game, but he can certainly replicate the 27 points he scored in Game 2.
As for Jokic, Los Angeles hasn’t seemed to find an answer for how to slow down his offense in this series. Over the last three games, Jokic has averaged 28 points, made 53.1% of his shots and sunk three 3-pointers per game. At that pace, it won’t take a monster effort from Murray to hit the 50-point threshold, and I don’t expect the Clippers to be too interested in Jokic’s performance. Los Angeles should be more concerned with preventing Murray from getting rolling than Jokic, so if the Clippers continue to put an emphasis on the guard, Jokic can have yet another strong game to aid in the race to 50 combined points.
Kawhi Leonard Scores 30+ Points AND Clippers Win (+175 BetMGM)
Leonard has been the most consistent member of the Clippers during this postseason, and he’s averaging 29.2 points per game so far in the playoffs. He’s already had six 30-point performances in 10 games, and he’s the go-to guy for Los Angeles when it needs a bucket. This is a chance to close out the series, so you know Leonard will be at his best. Denver has presented a different complication to Leonard, but he did score 30 points in Game 4 and didn’t have the best shooting night, so a crisper performance from Leonard should take him above 30 points.
As for the Clippers winning the game, it’s hard to envision Denver winning without Jokic and Murray having bigger than normal games. They can combine for 50 or more points without the Nuggets coming within 10 points of the Clippers, especially if no one else is scoring for Denver. That has been the dynamic over the last two games with Jokic and Murray being complemented by Michael Porter Jr., but that trio is not enough to take Denver over the top against Los Angeles.
NFL Odds Boosts
Tom Brady and Drew Brees Throw 4.5+ Touchdowns (+200 DraftKings)
These are two future Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks dueling in the controlled environment of a dome with offenses that are expected to be among the best in the league. It seems crazy to think you can bet on these two quarterbacks combining for five touchdown passes at such great odds. The issue likely lies with Brady and trying to assess how he’s acclimated himself to Tampa Bay given we haven’t seen him in game action with the Buccaneers. Brady’s 24 touchdown passes last year were his fewest since 2006, but he has far better weapons in Tampa with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Rob Gronkowski.
All we really need from Brady to likely win this bet is two touchdown passes because Brees is a machine at the Superdome. Brees threw for at least three touchdowns in the final four games of the regular season last season and has done so 85 times as a member of the Saints. He averages 2.2 passing touchdowns per game at the helm of the New Orleans offense, and he’s thrown more touchdowns against Tampa Bay than any other team in the league over the course of his career. While the Buccaneers loaded up on offensive weapons, they didn’t address much on a defense that ranked 30th in the league in passing yards allowed and 25th in passing touchdowns allowed.
Miles Sanders Scores Rushing Touchdown (+145 PointsBet)
Philadelphia opens the season with Washington, which was the second-worst run defense in the league last season. Sanders ran for 122 yards and a touchdown when these two teams met in December at the end of his rookie campaign, and Washington’s defense hasn’t gotten much better in the offseason. If the Eagles are able to run out to an early lead, as I expect they will, there will be plenty of carries for Sanders in the third and fourth quarter for him to score his touchdown.
There is a concern about Sanders’ hamstring, but all the reporting points to him being active and ready to go for the opener. The Eagles were just outside the top-10 in rushing last season and Sanders improved as the season went along and he started getting more touches. He didn’t reach the end zone a lot last season, but he’s playing Washington this week, which is adjusting to a new defensive scheme that might allow some openings for him to exploit with his speed for a long touchdown, especially late in the game.
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