Tough week at the NBA betting tips office last week as our friend SmitsTips had some really unlucky results to finish just 1-8 on the week! We can guarantee we’ll be bouncing back from that result this week starting with this Tuesday, the 19th of December. We take a look at some of the key matchups in the massive 10 game slate and give our betting tips below.
2017-18 NBA Preview & Betting Tips for Tuesday, 19th December
Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers (11am AEDT)
After a 16 game winning streak at the start of the season, the Celtics have now lost four of their last six games. While they still lead the Eastern Conference, Cleveland are hot on their tail, just two games back in the win column. Celtics star Kyrie Irving is being asked to do more and more with the steady drop off of talented youngsters Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who both had stellar starts to the year.
Indiana remain one of the highest scoring teams in the league on the back of some outstanding performances by shooting guard Victor Oladipo. The former Thunder player is averaging 24.4 points per game so far this season and had a monster 47 point performance in a win against Denver just last week.
Oladipo will have a tough time of it on Tuesday, however. Jaylen Brown, already rated as one of the premier perimeter defenders in the league will get the job on him for the majority of the game, and when he isn’t hounding him, Marcus Smart will be just as tough. The Celtics allow the fifth least production to shooting guards of any team in the league so we like Oladipo to have a rare miss here.
TIP: Victor Oladipo total points UNDER 24.5 - $1.93 at Sportsbet
Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs (12.30pm AEDT)
What was once a hotly contested rivalry in the Western Conference has somewhat fizzed out this year with the demise of the Clippers. With an 11-17 record LA now sit 10th in the West while the Spurs have continued to go about their business, currently in 3rd place with a 20-10 record. To make matters worse for Clippers, Spurs star Kawhi Leonard returned from injury last week, making what was already a top line defence even better.
The Clippers have a host of injuries at the moment, headlined by Blake Griffin, who is out with a sprained MCL. Griffin will likely be out until late January, leaving the bulk of the scoring load to livewire shooting guard Lou Williams.
Since Griffin’s injury, Williams has really stepped up for the Clippers and stopped them from getting blown out in a heap of games already. He is averaging over 22 points per game and has had a couple of big games over 30 points including a massive 42-point performance against the Lakers a few weeks ago. We like him to be over the low-ish point total of 21.5 here.
TIP: Lou Williams OVER 21.5 points - $1.85 at Sportsbet
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers (2.30pm AEDT)
The last time these two teams met, the Lakers pushed the Warriors all the way to a thrilling overtime as Brandon Ingram exploded for 32 points in a breakout game. The young laker side will get another chance to prove themselves at home as they take on the Warriors who will be without starters Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia through injury.
The Lakers have no injury concerns to speak of, but will have to deal with an absolutely rampant Kevin Durant, who has been dominating in the absence of Curry. Durant has scored 35, 36, 28 and 36 points in his last four games, adding a ridiculous 3 blocks and over 10 rebounds per game in that time.
Durant will get all of the posessions he can handle against the Lakers on Tuesday with Curry and Green out. Back him to the hills in his point market.
TIP: Kevin Durant OVER 32.5 points - $1.78 at Sportsbet
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