Opening point spreads for November 18 NBA schedule

As is tradition, we’ll start this article off with a narrative. Paul George will be playing his first game against the Thunder since spurning them in the offseason and forcing a trade to the Clippers. I’m not one to call out PG-13, but would you be surprised if he opted to rest for this game with four contests on the schedule for this week? Nooooo, there’s no way he’ll sit out, especially with how he’s playing through two games. George is putting up ridiculous numbers in limited minutes: 70 points in 44 minutes through two games while shooting 58.5% from the field and 57.25% from distance. His minutes limit doesn’t seem to be holding back his production, but it may keep his point total low on DraftKings Sportsbook. Also keep an eye on Kawhi Leonard (knee) and his tag heading into Monday.

The other two late games at 9:00 p.m. ET include Celtics at Suns and Timberwolves at Jazz, two premier matchups. The Celtics remain first overall in the League at 10-1 and the Suns are a surprising 7-4 without Deandre Ayton (suspension). Boston and Phoenix are 2nd and 3rd in terms of winning percentage ATS this season; the Celtics are 6-3-2 and the Suns are 9-2.

Minnesota at Utah should be an exciting matchup of offense vs. defense. The Jazz enter Monday 6-0 at home this season and the T-Wolves have been solid on the road at 4-2. Minny is coming off back-to-back losses, allowing at least 125 points in each game, so we should see a higher pace and more offense from the Jazz in this one.

There isn’t much to look for after that, though we are tracking injuries for Malcolm Brogdon and Kyrie Irving. Brogdon is listed as questionable vs. the Nets and Kyrie was held out Saturday vs. the Bulls due to a shoulder injury. We’ve also got two teams on the second of a back-to-back: the Cavaliers and Celtics, which could impact whether they cover or not.

Below are point spreads and the over/under for each of the nine games on schedule for tonight:

Cavaliers @ Knicks (-2) 7:00 p.m. ET
Pacers @ Nets (-4.5) 7:30 p.m. ET
Hornets @ Raptors (-8.5, 216) 7:30 p.m. ET
Trail Blazers @ Rockets (-6.5, 231.5) 8:00 p.m. ET
Bucks @ Bulls (+7.5, 231.5) 8:00 p.m. ET
Spurs @ Mavericks (-4.5, 226.5) 8:30 p.m. ET
Celtics @ Suns (-3) 9:00 p.m. ET
Timberwolves @ Jazz (-10) 9:00 p.m. ET
Thunder @ Clippers (-8.5) 10:30 p.m. ET

Note: Bets and DFS players will lock at those specific game times.

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