After landing 3/3 suggested bets yesterday the BetDeluxe NBA Daily Preview is in money making form.
Our team has nailed down the best bets for today and are expecting the Boston Celtics to bounce back after a disappointing loss to Washington.
denver @ boston
february 17th 11:00am
The Boston Celtics will be looking to put behind a disappointing week and a half when it faces the Denver Nuggets fresh off an impressive victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boston has let go of a positive win loss ledger to sit at 0.500 on the back of dropping four of its last five games with the most recent defeat a 104-91 humbling from the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Heading into this game with a three-game winning streak, the Nuggets meet the Celtics for the first time this season as point scoring aficionados NIkola Jokic and Jaylen Brown are set to lock horns.
Brown – who is ranked tenth in the league for points scored with 26 points per game – and Jokic – who is ranked ninth in the league for points scored with 26.5 points per game – both represent the pillars for their respective teams but it’s Jokic who is more relied upon to produce offensively.
The Nuggets centre has nearly averaged a triple double this season with his point scoring efforts being accompanied by 11.5 rebounds per game and 8.7 assists per game.
The Serbian centre was at his dominant best against the Lakers on Monday as he registered a triple double with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to lead his Nuggets to a commanding 122-105 win.
Much like Jokic has done with the Nuggets all season, Brown, too, tried to haul his side over the line against the Wizards but were left to lament regular go-to man Jayson Tatum being completely shut down by a resolute Wizards defence.
It might be a tactic Nuggets coach Michael Malone attempts to deploy today with the evidence suggesting if Tatum doesn’t turn up neither do the Celtics.
Tatum has rarely had a poor game at all this year and the saying form is temporary class is permanent should come to the fore here.
With the Celtics getting an extra day to rest up and recharge it should be enough for them to hold off the Nuggets.
Suggested Bet: Boston Celtics to cover the point spread -1.5 at $1.89
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Boston Celtics head to head
Leg 2: Jayson Tatum over 23.5 points
Leg 3: Nikola Jokic over 9.5 rebounds
Combined odds = $4.6
TORONTO @ MILWAUKEE
february 17th 12:00pm
The Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors meet for the second time this season with the Bucks seeking to arrest a three-game slide after the end of a five-game road trip.
It was Milwaukee who came up victorious when these sides met on January 28 this year with Giannis Antetokounmpo producing a match-winning performance.
His 24 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists led the Bucks to a 115-108 triumph.
More recently, having run the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns – the two inform teams of the league – to within a point and a handful of baskets, the Bucks were expected to beat up on an underwhelming Oklahoma City but were left to deal with a shock 114-109 loss.
The Raptors are also wishing to make amends as they face a three-game winless run if they drop this game.
A 116-112 defeat to the then 6-20 Memphis Grizzlies in its most recent fixture highlighted a season of inconsistency for the Raptors who sit eighth placed in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto coach Nick Nurse would have circled three big areas which need to be addressed if it wants to flip the results in their favour: fast break points, points in the paint and rebounds.
The 17 fast-break points it conceded against the Bucks earlier this season combined with being smashed in the rebounds 67 to 51 showed how much harder this Raptors team needs to work defensively.
Conceding 40 points in the paint and only managing 26 themselves, the Raptors were bullied by Giannis not only on the offensive post but on the boards too.
Giannis tallied up more rebounds on his own than Raptors centre Aaron Baynes and power forward Pascal Siakim combined.
The Raptors were able to hang in there despite Giannis’ dominance but given this is a home clash for the Bucks, we expect them to cover the -5.5 line.
Suggested Bet: Milwaukee Bucks to cover the point spread -5.5 at $1.92
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Milwaukee Bucks head to head
Leg 2: Giannis Antetokounmpo over 11.5 rebounds
Leg 3: Total points under 234.5
Combined odds = $3.3
MINNESOTA V LA LAKERS
february 17th 12:00PM
The 21-7 Los Angeles Lakers do battle with the 7-20 Minnesota Timberwolves from the Target Centre in an all Western Conference battle today.
There were unexpected results for both the Lakers and the Timberwolves on Monday with Los Angeles suffering a 122-105 defeat against the Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota producing an upset 116-112 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Having already duelled on 28 December last year, the Lakers should carry supreme confidence here having crushed the Timberwolves 127-91 on that occasion.
LeBron James was fairly well held that night with 18 points and nine rebounds and five assists but was well assisted by Kyle Kuzma (20 points, three assist and three blocks) who replaced the injured Anthony Davis.
Without Davis, Lakers coach Frank Vogel manufactured an even contribution from his squad in the win and he will have to conjure up something similar today with Davis likely to miss the next 2-3 weeks with that achilles/calf issue.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves, who have struggled all season, will be looking to shoot far more efficiently than it did the last time these two teams met.
It is a non-argument the Lakers are one of, if not, the best defensive franchise in the league which contributed to the poor offensive output from the Timberwolve seeing them convert only 38 of 103 attempted field goals.
The three point conversion for the Timberwolves that night was also horrific. They went at 17.1% from the perimeter and would no doubt need that figure to double if they stand any hope of getting close to the reigning NBA champion..
The Timberwolves backcourt never looked as penetrable as it did against the Lakers early last year and allowed the reigning champion to score at 55.6% on the field which is a feat the Lakers have not achieved since that opening week of the season.
A defensive tighten up will be much needed by the Timberwolves who rank 26th in the league for points allowed from opposition
Los Angeles will make it win 22 for the season but expect a low-scoring affair as the Timberwolves are likely to put the defensive clamps on this game.
Suggested bet: Los Angeles Lakers head to head $1.38
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Los Angeles head to head
Leg 2: Total points scored under 222.5
Leg 3: LeBron James under 25.5 points scored
Combined odds = $5.25
