NBA Multi bet of the Weekend| Dec 29

Sunday’s NBA action begins bright and early, with the Hawks hosting the Heat at 7am AEDT. That kicks off a day which will see nine games take place, highlights including the Warriors vs the Suns in Golden State, and the Lakers vs the Kings to round out the action. We think we have snuffed out a bit of value throughout the course of the day, so take a look below at our three-leg multi for the weekend.

Sunday 29th of December, 10.10am AEDT, Spectrum Center

The Thunder are just about the best team in the business, and so far this season they have had no problem flexing their collective muscle against the teams at the other end of the spectrum. Charlotte is one of those teams. As it stands, there four other teams with equal to or fewer wins than the Hornets; the Pelicans, the Jazz, the Raptors and the Wizards. The Thunder have had quite a few games against those four cellar dwellers as well as the Hornets, and their record against them speaks for itself. So far this season, they have played won of those teams on five occasions. Unsurprisingly they have won them all, and won them all well. Each of those wins has been by a double figure margin, and only one of them has been by less than 18 points. Their average winning margin so far against those teams this season is a whopping 22 points. None of them have yet come against the Hornets, but Charlotte is not exactly a stranger to hefty defeats and it seems likely that they are in for another one of them here. The line is set at a pretty solid 11.5 points by betting agencies, but the Thunder should be able to cover that and then some. For a little bit of extra value, we are backing them to win by 16+ at a juicy $2.55.

Sunday 29th of December, 2.05pm AEDT, Moda Center

There is a hell of a lot more separating these two sides than the 4.5-point line set by NBA betting sites, but there is good reason for it to be so low. Star Maverick Luka Doncic suffered an injury which will keep him out for at least a few games on Christmas, meaning the Mavs will head into this one without their best player. But despite that, this feels like an overadjustment. The Blazers suck – they are coming off a win, but that was against the Jazz and took their record to 10-20. Just the game prior, they played the Mavericks and lost by 24. Of course, that was with Luka playing, but the Mavs have actually been surprisingly good without the Slovenian marvel so far this season. He has missed eight games on the year to date, with the Mavericks winning six of them, and they weren’t exactly all against subpar teams like the Blazers. They’ve beaten the Thunder without him, the Nuggets without him, the Knicks by 15 points without him and the Clippers by 16 without him. All of those teams are a hell of a lot better than the Blazers. The Mavericks are obviously a better team with Doncic on the floor even if he is criticised for his game style at times, but with Kyrie Irving on the floor and the likes of Klay Thompson, PJ Washington and the improving Dereck Lively II running around, they are still a decent enough side, and clearly substantially better than the Blazers. They should be able to breeze past the line set for this game.

Sunday 29th of December, 2.40pm AEDT, Crypto.com Arena

There arguably is not all that much separating these two teams. Each of them is in or around the hefty logjam in the middle of the Western Conference, but while the Lakers have put themselves towards the top of it with a pretty good recent run of form, the Kings have done the exact opposite. A meltdown against the Pistons which had to be seen to be believed saw them fall to their fifth straight loss a couple of days ago, and in typical NBA fashion, they went and sacked coach Mike Brown despite him being Coach of the Year just a couple of seasons ago. Suddenly, this team is in freefall, and has fallen 13-18 and 4.5 games behind the Lakers. The Lakers, meanwhile, are flying. They have won four of their last five games, the only loss of which came surprisingly against the Pistons, and included in that five-game stretch have been a couple of wins against the Kings. Their most recent win saw Austin Reaves hit a game-winning layup in a thrilling Christmas Day clash against the Warriors, though unfortunately Anthony Davis, who has been uncharacteristically durable for some time now, suffer an ankle injury early in the piece. Initially feared to be somewhat serious, it’s turned out to be a lot better than expected, but he remains questionable for this game. Clearly, his presence or absence will have a significant impact on this game, but the Lakers still played really well without him against the Warriors. LeBron might not have the capacity to play a whole season with the aggression he once did, but on an individual night he still can, just as he did in that Christmas Day game. He enters this game in excellent form, while all the surrounding pieces are suddenly working reasonably well together for the league’s most talked about team. If Davis plays this game then the Lakers should really be winning it, but even without him they are the form team and look like decent value. It’s pegged as a close one by betting sites, but the Lakers should be able to get the job done to round out our multi.