NBA Betting Tips: 4/1 shot for Tuesday’s cup action

The second instalment of the NBA Cup starts on Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and there's plenty of action to follow. 

Klay Thompson returns to Golden State for the first time since joining the Dallas Mavericks in the off-season, while the New York Knicks take on the Philadelphia 76ers in a huge Eastern Conference showdown. My NBA betting tips for Tuesday focus on these two matches and one more in a 4.09/1 treble.

Philadelphia 76ers vs New York Knicks - Over 215.5 points @ 10/11

One of the marquee match-ups from Tuesday's NBA Cup fixtures is the contest between Philadelphia and New York (Wednesday 00:30, live on TNT Sports 1).

Both of these teams were expected to be among the league’s best after the moves they made in the off-season, but neither side is off to a great start through these first few weeks.

The new-look Knicks have been working through incorporating a number of new pieces and rotation players into their team, so it’s understandable that they haven’t been perfect through the first 10 games.

As for the Sixers, they currently sit at 2-7 and have struggled mightily without their star man Joel Embiid, however, he's expected to return on Tuesday night, which raises the ceiling for Philly, offensively.

The Knicks have had a lot of trouble protecting the paint this season, and rank 29th in the league when it comes to defending at the rim, which spells trouble for them here, given where Embiid's strengths lie.

However, the Sixers only rank 20th themselves defensively, and they're taking on a Knicks team that are taking their time to gel, but also rank second in offensive rating, which should create mismatches for the likes of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns to expose, and rack up the points.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Toronto Raptors - Bucks on moneyline @ 1/3

I'm incredibly surprised at how poor the Bucks have been this season - they currently have a record of 2-8 and sit in 14th in the Eastern Conference.

For the Raptors, coming off a 25-win season last year, it's not a surprise to see them where they are in the standings, but the struggles of the Bucks are one of the early talking points of the season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo remains one of the best players in the league, however, and Milwaukee wasted another stellar performance from him against the Celtics last time out - the 'Greek Freak' had 43 points and leads the NBA averaging 31.6 points a game, boosting that tally to 33.8 over his last five outings. Khris Middleton has been a notable absentee through injury, but results have to be better for the Bucks, starting here.

Injuries have also been a big theme for the Raptors, who have lost four straight on a five-game road trip that ends in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Surely, this is where the Bucks get back on track, so I'm taking them on the moneyline.

Golden State Warriors vs Dallas Mavericks - Warriors -3.5 @ 1/1

Finally, I'm ending my treble with one of the most highly anticipated games of the season, when Klay Thompson returns to San Francisco with the Dallas Mavericks to face his old pals, the Golden State Warriors (Wednesday 03:00, live on TNT Sports 1).

Thompson, a first-round pick by the Warriors in 2011, elected to leave Golden State in a sign-and-trade over the summer, ending a 13-year spell that included two missed seasons because of Achilles and knee injuries - and this game will have been marked on the calendar the day he landed in Dallas.

The Warriors don't look to be missing Thompson too much, mainly due to his replacement Buddy Hield, who ranks among the NBA leaders in three-pointers (40) and three-point field goal percentage (48.8).

Golden State have started the season 8-2, and are averaging 121.3 points per game, which is the second-best in the league. In addition, their defence has been excellent - allowing the seventh-lowest points per game at 109.4 points.

Dallas are fresh off an NBA Finals appearance last season, and have one of the best duos in the league in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but the Warriors look to have plenty of strength in depth this season, and should have prevail here.

Check out the rest of our NBA Betting Tips here.