First of all, Merry Christmas to all our fantastic followers! The highly anticipated NBA Christmas Day (Boxing Day in AUS) slate is here and there are five huge contests set to play out, with action beginning at 4am AEDT on Saturday, 26th of December.
We started off the season in good form with three winners from four plays and expect to continue our winning ways on Boxing Day. Good luck to everyone following and may you all have a safe and happy Christmas!
NBA Betting Picks: Saturday, 26th of December
Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics
TD Garden, 9am AEDT
What an opening day performance it was from the Nets. No one was quite sure what to expect from KD and Kyrie in their first game together, but if that’s a sign of things to come, then we’re certainly in for a treat. Irving top scored with 26, Durant chimed in with 22, while LeVert was dynamic off the bench with 20.
The Celtics were victorious in arguably the best game in the first two days of action, defeating the Bucks by a single point in dramatic fashion. Tatum and Brown combined for 63 points and Jeff Teague made a classy debut for his new club with 19.
Both teams are coming off wins which sets up a juicy Boxing Day matchup. Without Kemba Walker however, we have to give the edge to the Nets here. They have the deepest roster in the league and are spearheaded by two of the most gifted scorers the game has ever seen. The chemistry looked great despite it being their first game together, so we’re more than happy to back the Nets in to claim an early scalp this campaign.
If you’re looking for a player prop in this contest, then look no further than Jaylen Brown’s points overs. Brown has improved his game year on year and looks set for a monster 2020-21. He put up 33 points on 24 shots in game one, and as long as he gets a similar amount of looks, which we think he will as the clear second option on the team, then he should be able to score 25+.
Prop: Brown O23.5 Points ($1.93)
Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers
Staples Center, 12pm AEDT
The Mavericks opening game of the season was somewhat lacklustre in their four-point loss to the Suns. Yes, Luka Doncic put up his numbers, but he couldn’t hit a jump shot to save his life and it was the difference in the end.
The Lakers received their championship rings on opening night against the Clippers, but that was where the fun finished. They were outplayed by their crosstown rivals for the majority of the game despite impressive team debut performances from Schroder and Harrell.
Neither team would be happy with their respective opening games, so we can expect a higher intensity second time out, especially on Christmas Day in the US. With that said, we’re far more optimistic about the champs returning to winning ways considering how poor the Mavs were against the Suns. On the big stage, expect the big names to make their mark in a solid Laker win.
We’ve gone with an interesting player prop here with Dennis Schroder over 3.5 rebounds. He was great on the glass in limited preseason minutes and notched 12 boards in his Laker debut. Loving the 3.5 line here.
Prop: Schroder O3.5 Rebs ($1.76)
Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets
Pepsi Center, 2:30pm AEDT
The Clippers came out of the blocks firing against the Lakers on opening day and were able to negotiate a pretty comfortable win in the end. Paul George silenced a lot of critics with his fantastic performance (33 points, 13-18FG), while Ibaka was handy in his Clipper debut with 15 points and six boards.
Denver looked nothing close to last season’s playoff form when they lost a nail-biter to a rebuilding Kings unit in their first game this campaign. Nikola Jokic certainly played his part with a monster triple-double, but Jamal Murray was extremely poor, fouling out on 1-9 shooting.
There’s no doubting that this is the juiciest matchup on the Christmas slate considering the dramatic Western Conference semi-finals series these two played out last season. The Nuggets ended up pulling off the upset, but we’re expected a highly motivated Clippers performance as a result of that. With Paul George looking like his superstar self and a determined cast around him, we’re expecting an emphatic Clipper win to close out the day.
While we expect the Clippers to triumph, we do see value in Gary Harris of the Nuggets eclipsing his points line. He’s their best perimeter defender with Torrey Craig leaving and is a lock to play 32+ minutes. The shot attempts should be there, so providing he makes a couple, we can see this being a comfortable line cover.
Prop: Harris O9.5 Points ($1.90)
