NBA Best Bets & Player Props December 23: Victor Wembanyama To Crash The Boards
The Sacramento Kings absolutely destroyed the Phoenix Suns yesterday and in doing so, Domantas Sabonis only recorded three rebounds in the second half. Not to worry, as the column once again ‘Meat Loafed’ it, winning two of three. When the winners are double unit wagers, the earnings are twice as nice. Almost two units were gained yesterday, and the goal is to keep the betting momentum going with a loaded NBA Saturday lineup of thirteen games. The first game today is a nationally televised game on NBATV with a 12:30 PM ET tipoff as Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks host Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks. The best bet features a double unit wager on this matchup. At 7:10 PM ET the Orlando Magic play the Indiana Pacers in a battle of top eight Eastern Conference teams. Fantasy Alarm takes a look at a Tyrese Haliburton line that seems off the mark. There are also several teams playing in back-to-back games tonight, the Dallas Mavericks are one of them. Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs play against the Mavericks, and there is a prop bet that receives a double unit wager in this game.
BET OF THE NIGHT: MILWAUKEE BUCKS ML; TWO UNITS (-130 DraftKings Sportsbook)
As mentioned in this column before, the great Hubie Brown stated, ‘The most difficult game in a stretch of road games is the first home game’. The New York Knicks are finishing up a tough road stretch in which they won three of five games, and granted their last road game was at Brooklynn and similar to a home game… except it was not against the Milwaukee Bucks and it was not at Madison Square Garden. Giannis Antetokounmpo is probable for the match and will be a problem for the New York Knicks. The Bucks will have all of their starters active and rested for this match, and score 124.4 points per game, almost ten more than the Knicks. Oddly enough these two will play again on Christmas Day, which is the NBA’s longest standing tradition. It will be the 76th year the NBA has played a Christmas game, and it has been an unofficial ‘beginning of the season’ prior to this year and the In-Season Tournament. Tonight look for Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Giannis the Great, Brook Lopez, and Malik Beasley to be too much offense for the New York Knicks to keep up with. Double unit afternoon delight.
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA OVER 11.5 REBOUNDS; TWO UNITS (-130 BetMGM)
The Dallas Mavericks are playing in back-to-back games, will be without starters, and are a continual bankroll builder for Fantasy Alarm NBA Best Bets. They are simply an awful rebounding team, allowing the third most rebounds to opposing teams in the Association. The San Antonio Spurs allow the fourth most, but the Mavericks currently have six players still listed as out or day-to-day. Even with that, they still have a large spread in their favor, -7. Dereck Lively is the Mavericks only good rebounder, and although Victor Wembanyama only had five rebounds against the Chicago Bulls in his last game, he has recorded double-digit totals in every other game this month. He has gone over this line in all but two games this month, and the Mavericks will not have an ability to keep Victor Webanyama away from the defensive glass. This game could be really close, and V. Wembanyama could play more minutes to help earn the twelve needed rebounds. Put two units on the rookie to rebound against their Southwest Division rival.
TYRESE HALIBURTON - UNDER 27.5 POINTS (-115 DraftKings Sportsbook)
Tyrese Haliburton could be the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game, he is playing that great this season. However since the In Season Tournament, his points have been on a drastic decline. He is also questionable to play tonight with an ankle sprain, but he did play over thirty-seven minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies two days ago. Should he play tonight he could be on limited minutes or taken out in a blowout. Since beating Milwaukee in the In-Season Tournament, he has one game over twenty points and zero above twenty-three. The Orlando Magic allow the seventh fewest points to point guards, and have the length to give T. Haliburton difficulties scoring. The assumption is that he plays tonight, and if he does this line seems like a done deal. If he does not play we will get our money back, so no loss.
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Thank you for reading.
Bet Smart, Be Lucky - Iggy
*All Bets to be placed at 1 unit unless specified otherwise
Player News
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports Damian Lillard is finalizing a three-year, $42 million contract with the Trail Blazers.
The contract includes a player option in 2027. Lillard now will have a 2025-26 set salary of $70M between his Portland and Milwaukee deals, and a salary of $141M over the next two years, according to Charania. The 35-year-old point guard is heading back to where his career began when the Trail Blazers selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Lillard is unlikely to play much if at all this season as he recovers from Achilles surgery, but is now set up to potentially finish his career right where he started it.
Danny Wolf had 18 points (6-of-12 FGs), six rebounds, four assists, one block and two three-pointers in the Nets’ 94-90 victory over the Magic on Wednesday.
Wolf’s ceiling was on display Wednesday against the Magic. The 21-year-old power forward spaced the floor with two three-pointers and had a role as a playmaker with four assists. Wolf also pulled down six rebounds in 27 minutes. As one of the Nets’ four 2025 first-round picks, he will have plenty of opportunities for playing time this season.
Tyrese Proctor had 35 points (11-of-24 FGs), three rebounds, four assists, two steals and four three-pointers in the 94-86 loss to the Kings on Wednesday.
Proctor was 4-of-14 from behind the three-point line, but a perfect 9-of-9 on free throws. The 21-year-old shooting guard dropped a game-high 35 points after debuting in Summer League last week. After a productive three-year career at Duke, Proctor will be in the mix for a bench role with the Cavaliers next season.
Josh Hart had finger surgery and will resume basketball activities later this summer.
Hart underwent a procedure to his right ring finger due to an injury sustained in the playoffs. The 30-year-old shooting guard is expected to resume basketball activities later this summer and be ready for the regular season. It appears that Hart has avoided a significant injury here.
Bucks re-signed Chris Livingston to a one-year, $2.3 million deal.
Milwaukee waived Livingston early this month, and now they’ll bring him back on a fully-guaranteed deal. The 2023 second-round pick hasn’t carved out a role with Milwaukee through his first two seasons, but he has been producing at a high level during summer league.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reports Dylan Harper is being shut down for the remainder of summer league.
Harper only appeared in two games after dealing with a groin injury, and he played a total of 42 minutes across his appearances. He clearly didn’t need to be out there, and the Spurs decided it wasn’t worth risking further injury. David Jones-Garcia should return to the starting lineup as he continued to make a case of Summer League MVP.