DraftKings. Ajay Mitchell should be in line for a solid workload tonight, as the Thunder will be without Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe. Mitchell popped in the ThunderтАЩs opener, scoring 16 points in just 15 minutes. With the Thunder so depleted in the backcourt, Mitchell should be in line for at least 20 minutes tonight. Coming off a game where he incurred an insane 39% usage rate, I like him to produce in the rare chance for him to get plenty of shots up in this offense.
Chet Holmgren scored 28 points over 38 minutes in the Thunder's season opener against the Rockets. While he was aided by the game going to double overtime, he did eventually foul out. The biggest reason he exploded in the scoring column was likely the absence of Jalen Williams (wrist), who will be out again Thursday. As the teamтАЩs second-best scoring option behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren is in a favorable spot to hit this over.
With Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) out for the season and Myles Turner now on the Bucks, someone else on the Pacers will need to step up and take some of the scoring pressure off Pascal Siakam. Expect that to be Bennedict Mathurin, who averaged 16.1 points per game last season. Mathurin has never averaged more than 12.2 shot attempts per game, but that number should increase this season. He is also a good free-throw shooter, making at least 82.1% of his attempts in all three seasons of his career. The Thunder will be without two of their best defenders in Jalen Williams (wrist) and Alex Caruso (concussion) on Thursday, which makes me like this over for Mathurin even more.
Without Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam's usage/shot attempts should go up. As it is, he averaged 20.2 PPG last season and topped this number three times in the Finals vs. OKC obviously when Turner and Haliburton were still around. Our model ranks this as the second-best Over points play from this game (after SGA, but his is too high for me) and has Siakam at 22.7 points.
Rematch time from the Finals last June only now the Pacers don't have Tyrese Haliburton, who went down in Game Seven with a ruptured Achilles and will miss this entire season. We don't, however, expect Indiana to completely disappear, as the Andrew Nembhard-Bennedict Mathurin backcourt remains potent, F Pascal Siakam continues to perform at an All-Star level, and Rick Carlisle can rotate three bigs (Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff, and James Wiseman) in the post. As for OKC, it wears a big target this season, as Houston reminded in the double OT on opening night. Play Pacers
Mara is not listed in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Trail Blazers, Brandon Rahbar of DailyThunder.com reports.
McCain will start Tuesday against the Trail Blazers, Brandon Rahbar of DailyThunder.com reports.
Nesmith tallied 18 points (5-14 FG, 4-10 3Pt, 4-6 FT), two rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block across 34 minutes in Monday's 125-122 loss to the Mavericks.
Zubac posted 16 points (5-7 FG, 6-8 FT) and three rebounds across 28 minutes in Monday's 125-122 loss to the Mavericks.
Nembhard registered 12 points (5-10 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 1-1 FT), three rebounds, 12 assists and a block across 34 minutes in Monday's 125-122 loss to the Mavericks.
McConnell is questionable for Monday's game against the Mavericks due to a right hamstring strain.
McConnell ended Saturday's 114-102 loss to the Nuggets with six points (3-5 FG), two rebounds, one assist and one block across nine minutes.
Oklahoma City acquired Clifford from Sacramento on Sunday in exchange for two second-round picks, Shams Charania of ESPN reports.
Stirtz ended Saturday's 114-75 victory over the Wizards with 11 points (3-12 FG, 2-8 3Pt, 3-3 FT), five rebounds, two assists and one block over 29 minutes.
Nembhard provided nine points (3-9 FG, 3-6 3Pt, 0-1 FT), eight assists and one rebound across 31 minutes during Saturday's 114-102 loss to Denver.
