The NBA's first-week rollercoaster continues with a five-game slate Saturday night, following Friday's busy 12-game ledger. We already have some notable names on the injury report despite it being early in the season, but out 10-team player pool still affords plenty of options.
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Slate Overview
For the latest spreads and over/unders, visit RotoWire's NBA Odds page. There, you can also find player props, futures, picks articles and sportsbook bonus codes.
Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Saturday, Oct. 25 @12:00 p.m. ET:
Chicago Bulls at *Orlando Magic (-6) (O/U: 232.5)
Oklahoma City Thunder (-6.5) at *Atlanta Hawks (-3.5) (O/U: 238.5)
Charlotte Hornets at Philadelphia 76ers (-5) (O/U: 236.5)
Indiana Pacers at *Memphis Grizzlies (-1) (O/U: 237.5)
*Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets (-13.5) (O/U: 233.5)
* - Denotes second game of back-to-back
We have a night of what are projected to be mostly close games, with the one outlier being the Suns-Nuggets nightcap that sees Phoenix playing its third game in four nights to open the season. Projected totals are all encouraging, considering we have the rare instance of lines of 230 points or more across the board, even with stout defensive teams like the Magic and Thunder on the ledger.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
Jalen Williams, OKC (wrist): OUT
In Williams' ongoing absence, Aaron Wiggins should be a primary beneficiary and draw another start at small forward.
Chet Holmgren, OKC (back): QUESTIONABLE
If Holmgren can't play Saturday, the Thunder could turn to Jaylin Williams for a start at power forward, while the usage of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the remainder of the starting five will see a bump.
Kristaps Porzingis, ATL (illness): QUESTIONABLE
If Porzingis sits out a second straight night, Onyeka Okongwu is likely to draw another start at center.
Paul George, PHI (knee): OUT
In George's ongoing absence, Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker are likely to absorb the majority of power forward minutes.
Other notable injuries:
Jalen Green, PHO (hamstring): OUT
Coby White, CHI (calf): OUT
Andrew Nembhard, IND (shoulder): OUT
Alex Caruso, OKC (concussion): OUT
Jalen Suggs, ORL (rest): DOUBTFUL
Cason Wallace, OKC (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
We have two players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate: Nikola Jokic ($12,000) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,600).
Jokic opened the season with 55.6 FD points across 40 minutes against the Warriors on Thursday, and that was on a night where his shot was below its usual efficiency.
SGA has now played back-to-back double-OT games to open the season and provided 57.5 and 79.1 FD points in those games. He's had a day off between games, and with Jalen Williams still out Saturday, the reigning MVP should once again be primed for significant usage.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Joel Embiid, PHI ($9,300)
Embiid managed just 17.2 FD points in 20 minutes during Wednesday's opener against the Celtics, but he should remain very popular due to his name value, salary and the fact it's a relatively small slate.
Pascal Siakam, IND ($9,000)
Siakam opened the season with a 32-point, 15-rebound double-double in a double-OT loss to the Thunder and is expected to continue shouldering a massive workload in the absence of Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles).
LaMelo Ball, CHA ($8,900)
Ball provided 31.4 FD points against the Nets to open the season and should be a lot more active in what could be a highly competitive game against the 76ers.
Devin Booker, PHO ($8,900)
Booker was held down by the Clippers on Friday night, but his name value and the fact he's the focal point of the Suns' attack should keep him highly rostered Saturday.
Trae Young, ATL ($8,700)
Young has averaged 37.5 FD points over his first two games and will be a central figure in the game with the highest projected total of the slate.
Key Values
Bennedict Mathurin, IND at MEM ($6,800)
Mathurin delivered a performance for the ages in the season-opening double-OT loss to the Thunder, posting 46.7 FD points across 45 minutes. Andrew Nembhard's early exit from that game helped boost Mathurin's usage, and the former is already ruled out for Saturday's contest. Mathurin should therefore be in line for significant opportunity again, and it'll come against a Grizzlies team that's already allowed 50.0 percent shooting and an average of 134 points over the first two games of the season. Memphis is also surrendering a Western Conference-high 57.4 FD points per contest to shooting guards in that two-game sample, furthering Mathurin's case.
VJ Edgecombe, PHI vs. CHA ($5,500)
Edgecombe put together a memorable NBA debut in Wednesday's win over the Celtics, providing 47.9 FD points across 42 minutes while draining half of his 26 shot attempts. The efficiency and usage were highly encouraging, and given those results and Edgebcombe's extremely reasonable salary, he should be very highly rostered Saturday. Nevertheless, the combination of savings and upside is difficult to resist, and the fact his game features the second-highest total of the night does nothing to discourage clicking on his name.
Dillon Brooks, PHO at DEN ($5,200)
While Devin Booker will pace the Suns in usage on most nights this season, Brooks is essentially the Robin to his Batman and is expected to provide a lot more offense than he was tasked with at his first two NBA stops in Memphis and Houston. The talented wing has encouraging averaged 21.5 points on 20.5 shot attempts over his first two games, and the latter figure is partly comprised of 9.0 tries per contest from behind the arc. With Brooks' aggressiveness off the chart and the veteran also providing multiple steals in each of those first two contests, he's an excellent fantasy-point-per-dollar asset to consider versus a Nuggets team that surrendered 56 total FD points to the small forward position in the opener against the Warriors.
ALSO CONSIDER: Aaron Gordon, DEN vs. PHO ($6,300); Tre Jones, CHI at ORL ($5,600)
