Filip Tomic
NBA
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The Lakers continue their annual tradition of playing on Christmas Day as they host James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena.
Tipoff is set for 8pm ET, and I’ve come up with a few of my favorite bets and put them together in a same game parlay which you can find below.
Be sure to check our predictions on the side and total for all 5 games
Let’s get into it!
LeBron James Over 2.5 Made Threes (+100)
Russell Westbrook Over 7.5 Assists (+100)
Nicolas Claxton Over 10.5 Points (+105)
Parlay odds: +1120
LeBron James Over 2.5 Made Threes (+100)
How many times have you heard the phrase “age is just a number”? Well, in LeBron’s case that is exactly right. The King has been playing well over his last 10 games averaging almost 28 points per game on 54% from the field and just a tad under 35% from 3-point land. Despite his team being in a slump, he has scored 30+ in 3 games straight and his shot attempts have also gone up. LeBron is at a point in his career where he settles a lot, this season he is averaging 7.6 shots from deep which is the highest mark in any season of his career. Against the Nets, he has scored 3 or more in 2 of his last 3 games, so hopefully, he can add up to that here.
Check out our NBA Christmas Day parlay (+571 odds!)
Russell Westbrook Over 7.5 Assists (+100)
It’s been a while since Russ has had a triple-double. His scoring has gone up significantly since AD went down, but the team isn’t winning any games. Something has to change in his approach and I think he will realize that very soon. The Lakers will be at their best once Russ becomes a distributor of the ball, similar to what he was at Washington. We all know he can get 8 assists in his sleep, the question with Russ is can he cut down on his turnovers? What gives me optimism ahead of this game is his assist record in the last 3 games he’s played vs the Nets – 13, 8 and 10 assists. Going up against his good friend James Harden could also be beneficial as he doesn’t really put a lot of pressure on the opposing point guards. Hopefully Russ can take advantage of that.
Nicolas Claxton Over 10.5 Points (+105)
The one player who will benefit the most from the return of James Harden here is Nic Claxton. In his last 2 games he’s scored 16 and 17 points, and his role has increased significantly with the absences of LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin. We’ve seen how Harden operates with centers over the years, Clint Capella built his entire career around catching lobs from the Beard. I think that will be the recipe for the Nets in this game, especially when we know Davis is out and the Lakers will be lacking size on the inside. Claxton isn’t really a household name, but I’m sure he can get to at least 11 points here.
Check out the rest of our same game parlays for the NBA Christmas games!
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