NBA Multi bet of the Weekend| December 17

Sunday in Australia will play host to a solid slate of NBA games, with 18 of the league’s 30 teams set to take to the floor. It kicks off with what looms as an extremely one-sided affair at 10am AEDT between the Bucks and the Pistons, running all the way through to the Jazz vs the Kings tipping off at 2pm. Nestled in between we’ve found ourselves some value, so take a look at our best bets and the subsequent multi for Sunday’s action below.  

Sunday 17th December, 11.40am AEDT, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 

This season has not gone to plan so far for the Cavaliers, who find themselves in 9th place in the Eastern Conference with a record just a game over .500 in a season which they entered after finishing fourth in the East last season. Making matters worse, Evan Mobley is set to undergo knee surgery which will keep him out for a month or so – but despite those woes, there is plenty to like about their chances in this game. Though they’re side by side in the standings, the Cavs have a higher ceiling than the Hawks, who have proven by this point that this current roster is very much just a middling team. What’s more, this is a tough spot for the Hawks, who will be playing the second leg of a travelling back to back. The day prior they were in Toronto, for a game in which they were very impressive en route to a solid victory. But back to backs aren’t easy at the best of times, let alone when teams have to travel for them. Regardless of the circumstances the Cavs would be hoping to beat the Hawks on their home turf, so having enjoyed a couple of days rest and with the Hawks having played in a different city the night before, the Cavaliers should be able to cover the -2.5 line set by NBA betting sites. 

Sunday 17th December, 12.10pm AEDT, Target Center 

I’ve included it in this column multiple times already this season, but the Pacers’ over total match points bets are continuing to prove fruitful no matter how high betting agencies set the total. There was a period during which they slowed up, but as I mentioned a few days ago, that was during the In-Season Tournament finals in which there was a lot more on the line and the games invariably slowed up as a result. Since losing that IST final to the Lakers, normal programming has resumed for the Pacers, whose three games since have yielded 254, 266 and 260 points – well over the line of 240.5 set for this game. The Timberwolves, granted, have a league leading defence and have not been clearing this total much at all, but the Pacers have already demonstrated this season that regardless of who they play, the result is a high scoring game. So fast do they play that there are a significant number of extra shots for both teams per game, and there is no reason to believe that will not again be the case in this one. It will be harder work against the Timberwolves to put together a super high scoring game, but the Pacers just keep doing it, and the total set by bookies is one of the lower they have seen for a while. This game should be able to clear the 240.5 match point total set for it. 

Sunday 17th December, 1.10pm, Moda Center 

The Mavericks are not a particularly deep team to start with, with a huge drop off in talent beneath their supremely capable starting back court of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. With Irving absent the drop off after Doncic is even more stark, but they’ve been managing okay without him regardless. That’s thanks largely to Doncic playing extraordinarily well, while Dante Exum has also come in to play a major hand, Tim Hardaway Jr has been in good form, and Dereck Lively II is having a strong rookie season at the center position. They lost to the Timberwolves in their last outing but prior to that had one four on the trot, and they should have no problems continuing that trend here. The Trail Blazers are really struggling, having lost five games in a row, and in their latest they were comprehensively dismantled by a Jazz team which read like a G-League outfit heading into the game. They only lost that game by eight points but were down by nearly 30 after three quarters and only came back late when the game was over. If they are that uncompetitive against a team whose best offensive players were Collin Sexton and Simone Fontecchio, it’s hard to see them doing too much damage against the Mavericks – particularly if Irving returns. Even if he doesn’t, the line of 4.5 looks too low, and the Mavs should be able to cover the line reasonably comfortably.