Filip Tomic
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A new trophy will be handed out in the NBA this weekend as we have the In-Season Tournament final taking place in Las Vegas. Tip-off between the Indiana Pacers and LA Lakers is at 8.30 pm ET, live on ABC. I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay, which is available below.
The NBA regular season continues on Monday, for picks on the side and total for every single upcoming game visit our NBA Predictions page.
Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
LA Lakers Money Line (-188)
Myles Turner Over 1.5 Made Threes (-180)
LeBron James Over 7.5 Assists (-130)
Anthony Davis to Record 2+ Blocks (-270)
Same Game Parlay odds: +395
Los Angeles Lakers ML (-188)
The Lakers have had their eyes set on winning this trophy as soon as the first game started. They are a perfect 6-0 when playing In-Season Tournament games, while in “normal” regular season games they’re just 8-9 SU. After watching them destroy the young and talented New Orleans Pelicans in the semi-final by 44 points, it’s quite obvious why they are 3.5-point favorites heading into Saturday’s final. Indiana has played well too lately, so it’ll be anything but easy for the Lakers here. However, with them going 4-2 SU in the last 6 meetings vs Indy and winning their last 7 games when playing as the favorite, I’m giving them a slight edge here. In their last 5 outings the Lakers are 4-1 SU/ATS, a final like this will come down to whoever executes better on defense. LA ranks 7th in defensive efficiency, while the Pacers are 3rd worst in the entire NBA. Roll with the King and his Lakers in this one.
Myles Turner over 1.5 made threes (-180)
For a player who is listed at 6-foot-11, Turner relies quite a lot on his three-point shooting. He isn’t the most efficient one from deep, but we’ve seen him take 6 and 8 threes in the last two In-Season Tournament games vs Boston and Milwaukee. He cleared this line in both of those games and with the style of play the Pacers are going with, I’m sure he will get plenty of looks from distance in the final as well. Back in February against the Lakers he had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while also connected on 2 threes from 4 attempts. LA’s three-point defense hasn’t been anything special this season, they rank only 12th allowing opponents to shoot 36% from distance. Tyrese Haliburton will be the main threat for LA in this game, with him getting double teamed, players like Turner and Hield should get plenty of looks.
LeBron James over 7.5 assists (-130)
The soon-to-be 39-year old has an opportunity to add another trophy to his storied career and the way he has played recently, there’s no doubt in my mind he will show up in the final. He had one of his best scoring games ever in the semis against the Pelicans, racking up 30 points in just 23 minutes played. He also finished with 8 assists in that game, in his last 3 games he’s at 8, 11 and 7 dimes. There should be a ton of points scored in Saturday’s game, as that’s just how Indiana plays, LeBron’s stats should reflect that. He’s averaging 7.1 assists per game in the last 10 meetings, pushing that to 8 in the final shouldn’t be an issue. Indiana ranks 28th in three-point defense with teams shooting almost 39% against them on a nightly basis, so look for players like Hachimura, Reaves, Russell and others to have solid shooting nights, with James providing them with great looks here.
Anthony Davis to record 2+ blocks (-270)
Both the Lakers and Pacers have relied quite a lot on paint scoring to get to where they are. Indiana is averaging 58.7 points per game from the inside in six In-Season Tournament games, they actually lead the NBA in paint scoring at 59.7 per game. That’s music to the ears of Anthony Davis who is in charge of defending the basket. AD is averaging 1.8 blocks per game in his last 10 outings, while in head-to-head meetings he has recorded 2, 4 and 2 blocks in 3 of the last 4 games. He’s also cleared this line in 3 games in a row and in 4 of his last 5, so I’m confident his good run will continue here. After all, in order to win the final the Lakers will have to step it up on defense against one of the highest scoring and most efficient offenses in NBA history.
