Trey Ball Tuesdays — Expert Picks in the NBA Today (10/27)
Written by: Varun Sharma
Published: Tue Oct 27, 2026, 12:01 pm ET
Read Time: 5 minutes
nba
Taco Tuesday and NBA hoops, does it get any better than this? I've got 3 plays locked in and yes; it's Dame Time in Los Angeles.
For additional information on picks, props, moneylines, and more on today's slate, take a look at our NBA Picks Page or our NBA Odds Page.
Best Bets for October 27th
- Damian Lillard o19.5 Points (-120)
- Jayson Tatum o6.5 Assists (-130)
- Ausar Thompson o3.5 Assists (-110)
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Damian Lillard o19.5 Points (-120) | Lucky Rebel
Damian Lillard is back playing basketball in a Portland Trailblazers uniform and all is right with the world. The Blazers have won both of their first 2 games, they've scored 124 and 128 points in the two games and Dame's looked good too.
Lillard's scored 25 and 19 points in the Blazers' 2 games this year, with the 25-point outburst coming in a 40-point win over the Suns in which he played just 24 minutes.
Tonight the Blazers head to the City of Angels to take on the Los Angeles Lakers. Everyone loves playing the Lakers, especially Dame Time.
Lillard hasn't played here at Crypto since March of 2024, back when he was still with the Bucks. Dame scored 28 points, dished out 12 assists and the Bucks lost by 1.
Dame averages 28.2 points per game in this building, he's shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc in these games and taking an average of 20.2 shot attempts per game. He's taken 10+ 3-point attempts in both games so far this year and tonight against the Lakers I'm expecting that number to go up.
Jayson Tatum o6.5 Assists (-114) | Lucky Rebel
After getting hooked last night, I'm going right back to Jayson Tatum tonight. The Brooklyn Nets have given up the most wide open 3-point attempts in the league, so far this year. The Celtics rank 5th in 3-point attempts this year, 1st in 3-point percentage and 1st in 3s made.
Tatum finished with 6 assists last night in a blowout win over the Chicago Bulls. Tatum sat most of the 4th quarter with 4 fouls and that's really what cost us last night. The Celtics shot nearly 50% from the field in that game and 47% from beyond the arc.
The offense is rolling and Tatum's been at the center of it. He's top 10 in the NBA in assist points created per game, he's had double digit potential assists in every game this year and the Brooklyn Nets are currently playing at a top-5 pace in the NBA.
The Nets are giving up 123.7 PPG through their first 3 games and tonight on the road in Boston, it doesn't get any easier. The Celtics are averaging 118.0 PPG this year, the team's shooting 42% from beyond the arc and it feels like we still haven't seen their best yet.
Ausar Thompson o3.5 Assists (-110) | Lucky Rebel
Ausar Thompson was a full participant at shootaround this morning and it's looking like he's trending towards suiting up tonight. Thompson's had 5+ assists in both games he's played in this year and he played just 19 minutes in their 2nd game due to injury.
Thompson had 9 potential assists in their 1st game, 5 in the in just 19 minutes of their 2nd game and tonight they face off with a Knicks team they swept last year (regular season).
Ausar's taken on a bigger ball handling role with the team this year and it's why he's seeing the increased assist opportunities. The Pistons also force a ton of turnovers, leading to points off turnovers and points on the fast break.
Thompson's been great in the open court, running the fast break and finding his big men in transition. This game's going to be incredibly slow, but if the Pistons can force a few turnovers and get out in transition, I think Ausar can stuff the stat sheet.
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