Filip Tomic
A new week begins in the NBA and we have an action packed Monday night with 16 teams hitting the hardwood. Check out our NBA Picks page for predictions on the side and total, I’ve picked out my 3 best bets and combined them into a +826 odds NBA Mega Parlay. Let’s dive into my bet!
IND Pacers ML (+152)
PHI 76ers -3 (-110)
LA Lakers -7 (-108)
NBA Parlay odds: +826
IND Pacers ML over Denver Nuggets (+152)
With 15 wins in 20 games the Pacers have been one of the most consistent teams in the entire NBA over the past month or so. Last night’s win over the Clippers was a huge confidence boost ahead of tonight’s clash with the Denver Nuggets. Tyrese Haliburton had 29 points and 12 assists, with 6 other Pacers scoring in double figures for a total team effort. They’ll need a similar performance tonight to get one of the Nuggets, Denver has been the better team in head-to-head meetings lately, but with this recent run of form the Pacers shouldn’t be underestimated here. Indy has won 11 of 15 vs Western Conference opponents, plus their home form speaks for itself – they’ve won 16 of 25 games at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Denver just suffered a surprising 123-100 loss to the Lakers at home which ended a 9-game win streak. Tonight’s game will be their first on a 4-game East coast road trip where they’ll face some stiff competition, including the Boston Celtics next weekend. Although they’ve been playing well prior to that Lakers game, the Nuggets have issues of their own mainly on the injury front. Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray are both questionable here with calf and knee injuries. It all starts and finishes with Nikola Jokic though, if the Pacers can find a way to limit him like the Lakers did on Saturday then anything is possible. I think it’s time Indy finally gets one over the Nuggets at home.
PHI 76ers -3 over Chicago Bulls (-110)
Neither the Bulls nor the 76ers have impressed over the past couple of weeks. Chicago has dropped 6 in a row; their lead has been trimmed to just 0.5 games ahead of the Nets for that 10th seed. Going into Monday’s game expectations are not high as Philadelphia has won both meetings this season, holding the high scoring Bulls to just 100 and 97 points. In fact, Philly is 16-4 SU in the last 20 meetings, with the Bulls covering ths spread only 5 times during this stretch.
This game could determine the direction in which the final two months of the regular season go for the 76ers. If they lose the 10th seed is pretty much out of the question, but a win keeps the Sixers alive. This is why it makes way more sense to back the home team here. They’ve dominated the head-to-head meetings for a while now, plus I believe there’s still a lot of fight left in this team. Especially in Tyrese Maxey who is averaging close to 30 points over his last 10 games. He might take it upon himself and carry the 76ers to a win here. I’ll give the home team the benefit of the doubt and back them to win and cover.
Read our full Chicago Bulls vs Philadelphia 76ers Predictions
LA Lakers -7 over Dallas Mavericks (-108)
The current state of the Dallas Mavericks just isn’t good, there’s no other way around it. The injury bug has hit this team hard and they’ll once again be without their front line of Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford in tonight’s game against the Lakers. We saw just how much they’re vulnerable on the inside in Sunday’s 126-102 loss at Golden State. Even against a team that doesn’t really have a big inside presence they allowed 60 points inside the paint, that’s bad news going into a game vs a Lakers squad that puts up the 9th highest amount of points per game from that area.
Luka Doncic finally got the monkey off his back and just had his best game as a Laker dropping 32 points and collecting 10 rebounds in the blowout win at Denver. The Lakers also have the rest advantage here as Dallas just played on Sunday in Golden State, they also had to travel right after the game. Revenge will be on the mind of the Lakers players here as they lost the first meeting by 21 points back in January, plus you just know Doncic will want to get one over his former team to send out a message that trading him away was a huge mistake. I’ll take the Lakers to cover at home.
