Filip Tomic
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A new week begins in the NBA as we head toward the end of January. After 3 NBA parlay winners last week, I’m hoping to keep the momentum going tonight with a massive 12-game slate coming our way. A total of 3 teams made it into my bet, and you can head over to our NBA picks for our individual game predictions. But for now, let’s kickstart the new week with today’s NBA mega parlay!
Clippers -2.5 (-108)
Mavericks -5 (-108)
Bucks ML (+162)
NBA parlay odds: +871
Los Angeles Clippers -2.5 over Cleveland Cavaliers (-108)
No team in the NBA has impressed me more than the LA Clippers have over the past 2 months or so. The mid-January road loss in Minnesota hasn’t caused too much damage, as LA responded by winning 5 games in a row by double-digits, culminating with Saturday’s 115-96 win at Boston. They are now on a 27-7 run after their 0-5 start following the James Harden trade. That doesn’t mean they can relax though, especially tonight against a formidable Cavs team that has gone 9-1 in their last 10 games.
However, the Clippers have had the Cavaliers’ number in the last 14 meetings, covering the spread 10 times. They’ve also won 8 of the last 11 head-to-head, outscoring Cleveland by almost 10 points during that stretch. The Cavs are just 7-10 SU in games played when they’re the underdog this season. The Clippers have figured things out and after 5 consecutive double-digit wins, it’s hard to bet against them until someone takes them down. I’ll back the road team against the spread here.
Check out our full LA Clippers vs Cleveland Cavaliers predictions
Dallas Mavericks -5 over Orlando Magic (-108)
I’m expecting more Luka magic tonight as the Mavericks take on the Orlando Magic. Doncic followed up his 73-point explosion against Atlanta with a 28-point, 17-assist and 10-rebound triple-double, but unfortunately for him, his teammates didn’t follow his leadership and the Mavs fell at home to the Kings 120-115. That was to be expected though as they played on a 2nd night of a back-to-back, but after a full day of rest, I believe they’ll bounce back here.
Orlando just played last night against the Suns, and although they won, they had to travel to Dallas straight after the game which doesn’t leave much room to rest. They’re currently on a 6-game losing streak in games played with no rest. Dallas has had the upper hand in head-to-head meetings, winning 7 of the last 10 and outscoring the Magic by almost 7 points per game. As favorites, Luka and company are 17-8 this season and they’ve won 11 straight games against the Magic at the American Airlines Center. All signs are pointing to Dallas here, so let’s take the Mavs to cover as 5-point favorites.
Milwaukee Bucks ML over Denver Nuggets (+162)
In the biggest game of the night, we have Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks taking on Nikola Jokic and his Denver Nuggets. This will be only the 3rd time this season that the Bucks enter a game as underdogs, but that shouldn’t discourage people from betting on them in my opinion. They embark on a 5-game road trip with this game and teams usually get up for the first game of a long road trip, wanting to start things off with a win. Doc Rivers also makes his head coaching debut, and can you imagine the storylines if the Bucks beat the defending champs on the road in his first game in charge?
It certainly won’t be easy, as the Nuggets are one of the elite home teams in the league. However, they have struggled a bit defending the paint in their last 3 games, with opponents scoring 59.3 points per game against them. That’s music to the ears of Antetokounmpo, who spends most of his time on offense down low and attacking the basket. The Bucks have no weaknesses when it comes to scoring, so if they can put together a strong performance on the other end they should be fine here. Let’s back them as road underdogs on the money line.
Tail our best NBA player prop bets for tonight — our expert is 30-18 with his picks this season
