Andrew Ortenberg
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The NBA season is approaching the home stretch, and the stakes are higher than ever with teams jockeying for playoff positioning. We’ve got a small slate on Thursday with only four games, but a couple of them are great. One of the best is this TNT nightcap between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. No Anthony David or LeBron James yet, but still plenty of excitement.
What better way to make this nationally televised showdown even more entertaining than by betting a same game parlay? We’ve also got thoughts on the side and total, which you can find out in our full game preview.
Boston Celtics -6 (-110)
Kyle Kuzma to score 25+ points (+920)
Parlay odds: +2774
We’ve got a simple two-leg parlay here, one which pays out north of 25/1 with FanDuel Sportsbook. We get a huge odds boost by combining a Celtics cover with a big Kuzma scoring night, when I don’t think it conflicts at all. Let me explain:
Boston Celtics -6 (-110)
The Celtics are starting to pick things up after a slow start. Now that Jayson Tatum has re-acclimated himself everything is going according to plan, and they’ve won six of their past seven. The only loss in that span came to the 76ers. Five of those six wins came by at least nine points. In seven April contests, Tatum is averaging 29.4 points while shooting better than 41 percent from the arc.
When he’s on like this, not even Los Angeles’ stout defense is going to be able to slow him down. The Lakers have been middling, to put it kindly, since James went down with his severe ankle injury. They’re just 6-8 in their last 14 games, but it’s been even worse than that figure suggests. That’s because five of those six wins came against the Hornets, Raptors, Kings, Magic, and Cavaliers. Not exactly a murderer’s row. They mostly haven’t been able to hang with top teams, and the Celtics are too talented for them to topple without James and Davis.
Kyle Kuzma to score 25+ points (+920)
We get a big odds boost for combining this with the Celtics covering, when I really don’t think it conflicts much at all. In fact, Kuzma is actually averaging a full 2.5 points per game more in losses than in wins this season. As for his odds of getting to 25 in general, I think oddsmakers aren’t accounting for the recent change in circumstances. Without Davis and James in the lineup Kuzma gets a lot more looks.
He’s often taking around 20 shots per game now, and in the Lakers’ most recent game against Charlotte he attempted 12 threes. He scored 24 in that game. Kuzma has scored at least 24 points in three of his last nine games, so I think getting +920 presents a lot of standalone value.
What is a Same Game Parlay?
Check out our guide on what is a same game parlay and where can I bet it?
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