The 2024 NBA Cup begins Tuesday night with eight games, as everyone looks to get off to a quick start as a group.

Klay Thompson returns to the Bay Area tonight, as the Dallas Mavericks hit the road as underdogs to take on Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors 8-2. There’s one prop I love about this match.

In the Eastern Conference, Joel Embiid is BACK for the Philadelphia 76ers, and he will make his season debut against the New York Knicks in a rematch of last season’s first round of the playoffs.

Fresh off a Monday night sweep (could we be back?), I’m considering six different plays, including four props, for Tuesday’s NBA Cup action.

The picks for Embiid, Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and more should keep us locked in for the entire roster on Tuesday night. Let’s break them down.

Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily games on BetStamp here.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Joel Embiid OVER 24.5 points (-125) – 0.5 unit

Embiid could end up being limited in minutes on Tuesday, but let’s not forget that he was averaging around a point per minute during the 2023-24 season before injuring his knee.

So, at 24.5 points on Tuesday, Embiid looks like a great value, especially considering the matchup.

The Knicks rank 21st in the league in defensive rating, and Karl-Anthony Towns has been the worst player defending in the restricted area this season.

Embiid could have a field day against a Knicks team averaging 33.0 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 44.4% from the field in the first round of the playoffs playoffs.

The Sixers are going to attack Embiid every time he’s on the floor, and there should be more shots for him with Tyrese Maxey (hamstring).

Giannis Antetokounmpo OVER 32.5 points (-115) – 0.5 unit

Damian Lillard is out Tuesday with a concussion, setting the stage for a massive game for Giannis Antetokounmpo against the Toronto Raptors.

Giannis should get all the shots he can handle, and Toronto (30th in defensive rating) is one of the best matchups he could have tonight.

So far this season, Giannis has four games with over 32.5 points, and he could hit a season high in shot attempts on Tuesday with Dame out. Overall, Giannis averages 21.2 shots per game, and he attempted 29 (!!) during a 43-point performance against the Celtics on Sunday.

Toronto hasn’t defended the paint well — 25th in opponents’ points in the paint per game — and not having Scottie Barnes takes away a player who could potentially go toe-to-toe with Giannis tonight.

Expect the Milwaukee Bucks star to have a massive game to try and get his team on the right track.

Steph Curry OVER 9.5 rebounds and assists (-142) – 0.5 unit

Steph Curry is averaging 4.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game this season, managing 9.5 rebounds and assists in four of his seven games.

Since returning from his ankle injury, Curry is 2-for-2 on this prop when playing more than 30 minutes, and I expect him to have a significant workload against Dallas with the Warriors set as three-point favorites.

Prior to last season, Curry averaged over 10.0 rebounds and assists in 11 consecutive seasons. He is a value at this number on Tuesday.

Charlotte Hornets +8 (-115) vs. Orlando Magic – 0.5 units

Even with their two-game winning streak, the Orlando Magic are just 4-7 ATS this season, and I can’t root for this team when they’re so heavily favored without Paolo Banchero.

The Magic enter this game ranked 25th in the NBA in offensive rating, scoring 115 points or fewer in all but one game (the win over Washington) since Banchero went down. In fact, the Magic have two games where they’ve failed to reach 100 points during this stretch, and they’ve lost four of six games without Paolo.

The only victories? Against the lowly Wizards and the New Orleans Pelicans.

I think Charlotte could be alive to pull the upset in this game with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller both in the lineup – and yet we get eight points tonight?

Charlotte is 6-4 ATS this season, including an impressive 3-1 ATS as a road dog.

Although the Hornets have their own flaws – 21st in offensive rating, 20th in net rating – they are not significantly worse than this Orlando team when Paolo is out.

Mikal Bridges OVER 13.5 points (-115) – 0.5 unit

I’m buying low on Mikal Bridges after scoring just eight points in 42 minutes in a loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

Bridges plays an awful lot of minutes for the Knicks – 37.8 per game – and he will likely play a major role again in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

In his nine games this season, Bridges has 14 or more points in seven of them, averaging 15.3 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Mikal is making 13.6 shots and 7.0 3s per game, and he just came off a bad shooting game (0-for-6 from 3) in the loss to Indiana.

Philly ranks 20th in the league in defensive rating, so I’m going to buy low on Bridges to get back to his season average in this game.

Minnesota Timberwolves -8.5 (-110) vs. Portland Trail Blazers – 0.5 units

Portland is 28th in the NBA in net scoring this season, and it was beaten by 25 points by the Timberwolves (in Minnesota) earlier this month.

The Blazers are just 5-5-1 ATS despite being considered major underdogs in many of their games. They’ve been particularly bad of late, losing by 45 to a struggling Memphis team, 25 to Minnesota and 13 to the San Antonio Spurs in their last three games.

The Wolves rank sixth in the league in net rating and in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating so far this season.

The last time these teams played, Portland couldn’t handle Anthony Edwards (37 points), and I expect Minnesota to be similarly dominant in this one. Even on the road, I expect the Wolves to win this one in resounding fashion.

Ratings are updated periodically and are subject to change.

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