Germantas Kneita
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The Los Angeles Lakers face another tough challenge tonight as they visit the Miami Heat. The Lakers find themselves in the play-in positions once again, a game behind the Denver Nuggets. With the Nuggets facing a fairly easy game against the Pistons tonight, the Lakers are at risk of falling further behind.
You can find our full game previews here as always. But for now, let’s check out my same game parlay below.
Miami Heat -2.5 (-110)
Jimmy Butler to record 10+ assists (+240)
Jimmy Butler to record 10+ rebounds (+250)
Parlay odds: +1419
Miami Heat -2.5 (-110)
Miami suffered an unexpected road loss at Atlanta the other night as they allowed the Hawks to shoot almost 56% from the field. The Heat came back from 18 points down and were close to taking the lead in the final minute, but Jimmy Butler blew an open lay-up late and the Heat missed a chance to go top of the Eastern Conference. They get another opportunity tonight, though, with a healthy Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on their team. Kyle Lowry will miss another game for personal reasons, while the status of PJ Tucker is unknown as he injured his knee in the last game and is questionable. It’s a tricky game to predict, especially since we don’t know the status of AD at the time of writing. The Lakers will be vastly different once AD is back and settled into the rotation. Miami has been dominant at home with a 15-5 record, so they should get the benefit of the doubt, even if Davis plays. Take the home side to cover.
Jimmy Butler to record 10+ assists (+240)
I will be going with a Butler triple double tonight as Lowry has once again been ruled out. Since Lowry has gone down Butler has managed to record a triple double against the Toronto Raptors and had an 8-rebound, 8-assist game against the Atlanta Hawks. In between those games he also had an outing against the Portland Trail Blazers in which he was ejected early. Butler should also benefit from the fact that he is playing at home, where his assists per game jump from 5.1 per game on the road to 6.6 in Miami. With no natural point guard stepping in to replace Lowry, Butler should get plenty of playmaking opportunities. The Los Angeles Lakers are 28th in the league in opponent assists per game. Butler is likely going to rack up a large portion of the 26 assists that they give up per game.
Jimmy Butler to record 10+ rebounds (+250)
The Lakers are hardly better on the rebounding front. They are 26th in opponent rebounds per game. Butler will have to compete against Bam Adebayo for boards. However, the Heat center has managed to record 10 or more rebounds in just 1 of the 3 games he has played this month. That also happened to be the game Butler was ejected in. The Lakers have Dwight Howard in the paint, but he has not played for more than 22 minutes in a game this month. The visitors tend to go small when he is off the court. When that happens tonight, Adebayo will be pulled away from the paint, creating rebounding opportunities for other members of the Heat. The Lakers are vulnerable in transition, allowing the 25th-most fast-break points in the league. The hosts are likely to try to exploit that with Butler being the team’s main playmaker. Look for him to crash the glass so that he can push the Heat up the floor straight from rebounds.
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