NBA Multi bet of the Weekend| March 9

The weekend’s NBA action kicks off with an eight-game slate on Saturday, and while there are a couple that probably won’t attract too much attention, there are a handful of big games throughout the course of the day. The Timberwolves take on the Cavaliers in an intriguing battle between two talented and up and coming sides, before later the Heat take on the Thunder and then the day’s action concludes with the Lakers hosting the Bucks. The latter of those will hopefully bring home the multi with a bet on LeBron James to continue his hot form, while another player prop and a good old fashioned line bet round it out. 

Saturday 9th of March, 11.40am AEDT, Madison Square Garden 

Being out in Orlando, Paolo Banchero doesn’t always get spoken about all that much, but since entering the league last year as the number one pick he has hardly stepped a foot wrong. The versatile forward won Rookie of the Year last year, and in season 2023-24 he has taken a really solid step forward. He has gone from 20 points per game to 23, but importantly he’s done that while improving his shooting percentages both from the field and significantly from beyond the arc, while he’s also boosted his assist average from 3.7 to 5.2. He came out a little slow after the All-Star break with 12 and then 15 points in his first two games back, but he had been listed as questionable due to illness prior to those games and subsequently missed the next two. It seems that time off served him pretty well, because since his return he has scored at least 22 points in all four games and averaged over 26 per game while shooting nearly 56% from the field. The points line set for this game for him by NBA betting sites is already a little below his season average at 21.5, likely courtesy of the fact that this game looks likely to be reasonably low scoring, but given his recent form that number seems a little bit too low. Having scored 25.75 points per game over his last for, over 21.5 at close to even money looks like a good bet to start off our weekend multi. 

Saturday 9th of March, 2.10pm AEDT, Moda Center 

Sometimes there is a line that just appears a little off, and while there often does end up being a reason for that, the Rockets should really be shorter than 5-point favourites against the Blazers. They’ve had a pretty difficult fixture since the All-Star, and while they picked up a couple of disappointing losses against the Thunder, they’ve been pretty good since. After a tight loss to the Suns, they beat them the very next game before knocking off the Spurs easily, and then going close against the Clippers in a game in which they gave up a big lead. Alperen Sengun has been the catalyst for their strong performances in the last couple of games, putting in two of the best games of his career, and he should find it significantly easier to make an impact in this game than he did in those. The Trail Blazers are well and truly among the worst teams in the league, and though they have picked up a couple of wins since the All-Star break, both of those were against the Grizzlies. They’ve lost their last two – admittedly against good teams – and prior to those Grizzlies wins lost to the Heat and the Hornets. Each of those losses since the All-Star break has been by five points or more, and if the Hornets can do it then the Rockets should certainly be able to as well, particularly given they are playing quite well at the moment. With both games having had a day off the travel the Rockets have to undertake shouldn’t be too significant, and even on the Trail Blazers home court they should be able to cruise past the line set by betting sites. 

Saturday 9th of March, 2.10pm AEDT, Crypto.com Arena 

Hate him or love him, LeBron James’ season, at the age of 39, has been pretty damn impressive, and since the All-Star break he has taken it to another level entirely. Having averaged around 25 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists throughout the course of his 21st season, in the few games since returning from the break he has taken things up a pretty significant notch, in those seven games averaging 28.4 points and 9.7 assists. He’s also been incredibly consistent; in all but one of those games he has scored at least 26 points, while he's also dished out a minimum of eight assists per game. That makes both his points and assists lines, both of which are pretty close to his season average, pretty tempting, but the points in particular stand out as a good bet. Averaging 25.3 points for the season it’s little surprise to see LeBron’s points total set at 25.5, but given that he has surpassed that in six of his seven games since the All-Star break there is good reason to see his over as good value. Adding further to the value is the fact that the Bucks are a fast-paced team and there should be plenty of points in this one. LeBron has clearly come out of the break recognising the importance of each and every game in the run home as the Lakers jostle for a spot in the Play-In Tournament, or even in the top six of the Western Conference if they can get on a run. He will play a pivotal role in their fortunes and is evidently well aware of that, and based on his performances over the past few games he is going to be taking on a greater role on offence to try to guide his Lakers to the playoffs. He should be able to surpass this points total for the seventh time in eight games on Saturday afternoon.