The NBA continues with a fantastic 10 game slate this Saturday, the 21st of December. The headline game sees the 20-9 Philadelphia 76ers host the 18-9 Dallas Mavericks from 12pm!
As usual, we have a full preview and betting tips for some of the key games of the day below.
NBA Betting Tips Saturday 21st December
Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics (11.30am AEDT)
The Pistons currently sit in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with a 11-17 record. They have really struggled to find their feet offensively this season, mainly due to the inconsistent fitness of go to power-forward Blake Griffin. Griffin will be out on Saturday against the Celtics, leaving the Pistons in dire straits offensively.
Detroit are already one of the lowest scoring teams in the competition, averaging just 108.9 points per game and come up against one of the best defences in the league on Saturday. The Celtics have allowed just 104.0 points per game through their 18-7 start to the season, the third fewest of any team in the league behind only Denver and the Lakers.
On the road, the pistons should struggle to score here. They average just 99.3 points in their last six games against Boston and most of those were with Griffin in the line-up. Back the under for the Pistons line here.
Detroit UNDER 103.5 points
$1.88
Dallas Mavericks at Philadelphia 76ers (12pm AEDT)
The 76ers will be at full strength for their home clash against the Mavericks on Saturday. The Mavericks on the other hand will be without star point guard Luka Doncic, who sprained his ankle in the loss to the Heat last week.
The Mavericks caused a big upset in Milwaukee in their first game without Doncic, but failed to back it up as they went down to the Celtics by six points in Dallas in their last game. They have been getting plenty of offence from Seth Curry and Kristaps Porzingiz in the absence of Doncic, but we are not sure if that will continue against one of the better defences in the league in Philadelphia on Saturday.
The 76ers allow just 104.2 points per game, which is the fifth lowest mark in the league and at home, that number drops to a league best 99.5. At full strength, they should be far too good for a Doncic-less Mavs.
New Orleans Pelicans at Golden State Warriors (2.40pm AEDT)
If you’re a fan of defence, then you should probably steer clear of this game. The Pelicans allow the second most points in the league per game behind only Washington while the Golden State Warriors sit only a little further down the list in 9th place.
The Warriors generally don’t have the scoring ability to match it with the best teams in the league, hence their league worst 5-24 record. However, when they come up against another bad team, they have no problem finding the bottom of the basket. They put up 112 against the Blazers in their last game and 122 against the Knicks last week.
With both teams really not interested in playing defence, we expect this to be a bit of a track meet with plenty of scoring. The last five times these teams have met, they have combined for an average of 243.8 points.
