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Follow along on Twitter (@julianedlow) for any potential updates — things can always change with lineup moves leading up to tipoff. Here’s what jumps out to me on DraftKings Sportsbook.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
Obviously, betting any sport right now is a moving target, making things really tough. It’s impossible to have any confidence in betting a side until minutes before tipoff. You don’t want to invest money in a side early and wind up on the wrong side of COVID news. Of course, on the flip side if you’re quick enough and can get the right side of a game before it goes off the board you take advantage of it. For the time being, if you’re betting early in the day, the player prop market is the safest.
Per usual, I’ll put everything official up on Twitter that I bet on personally. This is a betting guide for this NBA card, and anything I’ve actually bet will include a unit amount.
Potential Bets
Sacramento Kings at Golden State Warriors
Tyrese Haliburton OVER 14.5 Points (-125)
Like I mentioned above, I think player props not only hold more of an edge than betting sides right now, but also are the safer bet. If you’re on the wrong side of a game with COVID news you can really get screwed with the result. If you bet a player prop on a player that gets ruled out, the bet will simply void. The only thing that can happen when betting an over is that players on the same team can get ruled out, giving you even more of an edge than you already had on your prop.
In Haliburton’s case, he’s running the show with both De’Aaron Fox and Davion Mitchell sidelined. Both guards have missed the last two games, while Haliburton finished with a 21-10-6 line on Friday and a 27-11-4 line on Sunday. I think backing his points/rebounds/assist prop is also fine, but prefer simplifying it with points. He’s averaging 24 points over the past two, and doing so while attempting 17.5 field goals in nearly 38 minutes per. The volume should remain on Monday against the Warriors.
Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls
CHI -6.5 (-110)
So this one I would wait until tip, but do think the Bulls could be a good side to back this week. The Bulls were shutdown for all of last week, but that could put them at an advantage in the near future compared to the state of the rest of the league right now. They had the time to get healthy, and have all their key pieces in the lineup right now, besides Zach LaVine.
The Bulls were able to take down the Lakers in their return from pause, so rust doesn’t seem like an issue. The rest of the league is constantly in danger of going into protocols, but the Bulls don’t have nearly as much risk (most of their best players have recovered from COVID recently). With one of the more solid rosters in the league and some time off to get healthy, I like the Bulls to return strong against other teams that are fighting to field rosters. The Rockets have more bodies than most right now, but aren’t anything to worry about.
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