It is a wonderful Sunday, slated with fantastic NBA action. There are eleven games taking place today, and they begin at noon for those in the Eastern Time zone, and 9:00 AM for those in the Pacific Time zone. The Charlotte Hornets play in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks to begin today’s action. The focus of today’s NBA Best Bets are on the Western Conference though. The matches are the Denver Nuggets at Houston Rockets with Nikola Jokic leading the Nuggets without Jamal Murray against the surging Houston Rockets led by Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green. Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks travel to New Orleans to play Zion Williamson and the Pelicans. Both of those games have a 7:00 PM ET tip-off, and at 8:00 PM ET Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to The Valley to play Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. 

 

BET OF THE NIGHT

Nikola Jokic OVER 12.5 Rebounds (+100) MGM

NIkola Jokic is simply dominating his competition, and makes it look effortless. The Denver Nuggets are 8-1 despite the loss of Jamal Murray, and a large part of that is Nikola Jokic. In his last four games he is averaging over 35 minutes per game, and has 13 or more rebounds in all of those games as well. Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. have improved their rebounding from last year and the Houston Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr. is an aggressive rebounder. However N. Jokic will be lined up with Alperen Sengun who will have several offensive minutes outside of the three point line, this will help N. Jokic. The Rockets are in the top ten of rebounds allowed to the opponent, and Dillon Brooks defense could force a few inaccurate shots that will allow N. Jokic to grab offensive boards. N. Jokic is averaging 12.9 rebounds per game, and a prop under average on a three time MVP is rare.

PROP BET: Jonas Valanciunas UNDER 0.5 Three-Pointers Made (-190) MGM

Jonas Valanciunas has actually made a few threes this season. The Pelicans are hosting the Dallas Mavericks who have been utilizing a rotation at the center position. This allows them to play with intensity and they all earn statistics. The Pelicans have injuries mounting up like pancakes at a cafe, but Zion Williamson and Brandom Ingram are expected to play. They both excel with the ball in their hands as opposed to passing. The Pelicans have managed to stay healthy at center with back ups Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller playing meaningful minutes, Nance Jr. has played 14:30 minutes in every game this season. Allowing the long time veteran J. Valanciunas to exceed over 30 minutes only once this month. Valanciunas has attempted four three-point attempts in his past four games, and made only one. Probability is a friend of this bet, which still returns half a unit should it be successful.

PROP BET: Jusuf Nurkic OVER 9.5 Rebounds (-140) MGM 

Jusuf Nurkic is fitting in well with the Phoenix Suns, and is used to his role alongside superstars with years as Damian Lillard’s teammate. He has gone over this line only three times this season, but has a favorable matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. Chet Holmgren is tall, but does not have the size that Jusuf Nurkic does at 7’ 1” and 290 pounds. He is a force when he chooses to be and should be able to command the middle of the paint. The Thunder also have the eighth most points (116.4) this season, with several  shot attempts per game. This too favors J. Nurkic with more defensive rebound opportunities. The Suns let their in-season tournament game against the LA Lakers get away from them, and lost a game they should have won. Expect a better defensive performance that begins with J. Nurkic grabbing rebounds.

There it is, three bets on three big men from three different eastern European countries.

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Thank you for reading.

Bet Smart, Be Lucky - Iggy

 

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