Halloween NBA Picks: O'Sullivan teases the Kings at Mavericks with the Pistons at Nets
Step One: Pick the New Orleans Pelicans +6 against the New York Knicks in the morning.
Step Two: Go about your day.
Step Three: At some point during the evening, check the Knicks/Pelicans score.
Step Four: Grow frustrated.
Step Five: Study the Knicks/Pelicans boxscore in real-time. Mutter aloud, “Wait. Where’s Brandon Ingram?”
Step Six: Google “Brandon Ingram.”
Step Seven: Learn from the internet that Brandon Ingram was scratched from the game with a hip contusion…an hour before tipoff.
Step Eight: Grow more frustrated. Mutter expletives, frequently.
Step Nine: Follow the Knicks/Pelicans fourth quarter with a mixture of rage and despair. Continually mutter the rhetorical, “What, am I supposed to be glued to Twitter all day?!”
Step Ten: Consider yourself blessed with a push when the Pelicans lose only by six.
Seattle O’Sullivan 2021-2022 NBA Season so far: 27-33-2, -$127.05
Teaser
Sacramento Kings at Dallas Mavericks
Detroit Pistons at Brooklyn Nets
The Pick: Sacramento +10 w/ Brooklyn -7, teaser price -110, bet $16.50 to win $15
With a light NBA schedule on an NFL Sunday, I need to hunt a little bit to find something I like. Of course, teasers are a dumb play, yes, I say this all the time. But most of today’s Halloween matchups are tricks so I have to get inventive to find myself a treat . . . I’m really sorry I just did that . . . Sacramento has really been impressive on their recent road trip. They play hard, shoot threes well, and have a great mix of veteran leadership (Harrison Barnes is playing lights-out) with youth (rookie Davion Mitchell’s energy and defense are exciting to watch). Meanwhile, Dallas just got lit up in Denver, and forward Kristaps Porzingis is day-to-day with lower back tightness. Teaming the upstart Kings with the Brooklyn Nets seems like a logical move. Brooklyn is at home playing a Detroit Pistons team on a back-to-back, and Nets star James Harden, playing through hamstring tightness, is in the middle of trying to prove he can still score points without drawing ridiculous foul calls from the NBA refs. Hey, a mission’s a mission. Harden and teammate Kevin Durant will take care of business tonight.