VCU went 28-8 last season, scoring 80.8 points a game and allowing 71.8 for a margin of 9.1, counting its two NCAA Tournament games. Little Rock went 12-20, scoring 70.5 and allowing 74.1, and was outscored by 3.6 a game. The Trojans won 5 of their 18 regular-season road games, scoring 65.8 points and allowing 74.9 in them. VCU went 15-2 in its 17 regular-season home games, scoring 86.4 and allowing 70.4. Tonight is the season opener for both teams. Terrence Hill Jr., VCU’s top scorer at 15 points a game, transferred to Tennessee, and Travis Ford is Little Rock’s new head coach. Little Rock’s road offense scored fewer points than VCU’s home defense gave up, and VCU takes it.
Brooklyn has allowed 110 or more points in five of its six games and gives up 116 a game. I had Brooklyn with the points at Indiana on Sunday, and the Nets won 98-90. It was the only game of the six where Brooklyn held an opponent under 110, and Indiana played it without Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac. New York allows 107.7 points a game, sixth-best in the league, against a Brooklyn offense that scores 108.2, sixth-worst. The Knicks are 2-4 and score 107 a game, fourth-worst, and all four losses came by nine points or fewer. Brooklyn plays tonight after Sunday’s game, and its only other back-to-back this season ended in a 136-109 loss to Indiana. The Nets are 1-2 on the road, and both losses, at Cleveland and Boston, came with 125 points allowed. New York has held four of its six opponents under 110, so this game goes to the Knicks.
San Antonio beat Utah 117-111 in overtime last Wednesday, with the teams tied at 105 after regulation and Victor Wembanyama scoring 36 points in 39 minutes. Utah then lost 112-90 at home to Portland on Saturday. Jaren Jackson Jr. has a torn right MCL and missed both of those games. The Jazz are 1-5 and have lost four straight, scoring 108.7 points a game, seventh-worst in the league, and getting outscored by 10.2 a game, fifth-worst. Utah’s one road game was a 123-103 loss at Memphis. San Antonio is 4-2 and outscores opponents by 7.2 a game, eighth-best. Its two losses came at home to Oklahoma City, now 4-2, and Houston, now 6-1. Utah allows 118.8 points a game, sixth-worst, and San Antonio scores 117.3, 12th-best, so San Antonio wins.
Combine VCU (-2400 moneyline), New York (-809 moneyline), and San Antonio (-900 moneyline) into a three-team parlay at -333.
