Two of four bets were successful yesterday, but a positive return on investment was made. Thankfully Nicolas Claxton came through and the double unit bet hit. The Charlotte Hornets covered a large spread, the Knicks lost to the Magic, and Jamal Murray could not buy a bucket. A positive return yesterday and we are seeking another positive return today. There are six games, beginning in the afternoon and three teams playing the second of back-to-back games. The teams are the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers, they are all playing on the road too. The bet of the day takes advantage of one of those teams being on back-to-back games. There is also a straight bet on a Western Conference showdown between the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors. There is also a Lebron James birthday Same Game Parlay as the Lakers play the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.

 

BET OF THE DAY: JALEN DUREN OVER 11.5 REBOUNDS (-115 BetMGM - 2 Units)

The Detroit Pistons have their best chance in the next five games to end the record setting twenty-eight game losing streak. They are at home and playing the Toronto Raptors, who are playing the second of back-to-back games. The Raptors are a talented team and have twelve wins on the season, but have lost seven of their last ten games. They also have a -1.3 point differential and only won four home games on the road this season. If Detroit is going to win they will need excellent play from Jalen Duren. The 6’ 10” twenty year old will be asked to shoulder this big boulder, and help his team to a desperately needed win. They have been close since his return, and a large part of that is his rebounding. He has a combined twenty-nine rebounds in his two games back, and although the Raptors allow the ninth fewest rebounds per game with 50.6, Duren should earn over his average. Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, and Pascal Siakam are all great rebounders, but their lines dropped for this game. The Raptors allow the third fewest rebounds to opposing centers, but tonight there could be extended minutes from the bench. Duren is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game and he should go over his average for the third straight game, two units on this bet. * OG ANUNOBY BEING TRADED AWAY COULD MOVE THE LINE, TAKE IT REGARDLESS! 

STRAIGHT BET: DALLAS MAVERICKS ML (+142 DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Dallas Mavericks are on the second of three road games, and despite having a better record are underdogs against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are on a two game losing streak, and seem to have trouble finding rhythm, or more specifically roster management, with their current 2023-24 roster. Chris Paul has been a good addition, but making it work with what already is an all time back court has been difficult. Andrew Wiggins moving to an off the bench role seems to help their second unit, but leaves their first unit small without Draymond Green. Luka Doncic took off the last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves but is expected to play tonight. It is a battle of all-time point guards, but the play of Tim Hardaway Jr., Dereck Lively II, Grant Williams and Josh Green will be important in this match. If Dallas’ first unit can physically control the game, this should be a lopsided victory. The Golden State Warriors have a better home record, but Dallas has a better record on the road with ten victories already. This line will likely move once Luka Doncic is confirmed, jump on it early.

SAME GAME PARLAY: LEBRON JAMES 25+ POINTS & 8+ ASSIST (+134 DraftKings Sportsbook) 

Draftkings has a same game parlay (SGP) bonus of 39% to celebrate LeBron James 39th birthday. Happy Birthday to the King, who has impacted the game of basketball in a way no other has, and is still a top ten player in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers travel to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves with a 8:00 PM ET tip off. These two teams played each other nine days ago and the Timberwolves won that game 118-111. That was without LeBron James though. King James goes into a tough environment where the Timberwolves have lost just one game this season. For this bet to be successful L. James needs to have an average night. This bet has removed the hook on his line to finish with positive odds, +134. He averages 25.1 points per game and 7.4 assists, but he has eight or more assists in every game played but one this month. The LBJ SGP is capped off at $10.00, if your unit is more than this simply subtract 10 from the unit and place the remaining without the boost for a full unit bet. Love him or despise him, he is a remarkable player and should put on a show for basketball fans tonight.

Thank you for reading.

Bet Smart, Be Lucky - Iggy

*All Bets to be placed at 1 unit unless specified otherwise