The NCAA Tournament is on break so there’s no distractions for NBA bettors tonight. TNT has a double header beginning at 7:30pm ET with the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans so it makes sense to start there. The Lakers will be without LeBron James for this one as he is joining Anthony Davis in the injury room. Still the Lake Show goes on with a next man up approach and as a result it sets up a perfect same game parlay situation. Let’s take a look at the best options for this showdown and don’t forget to check out our full game preview for picks on the side and total.
Lakers/Pelicans Over 221 (-110)
Dennis Schroder to record 20+ points (+108)
Kyle Kuzma to record 15+ points (-270)
Kyle Kuzma to record 4+ made threes (+162)
Parlay odds: +1037
© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Lakers/Pelicans Over 221 (-110)
Without LeBron James both the Lakers’ offense and defense should take a hit but defense should be the most obvious aspect is defense. Los Angeles sports the number defensive efficiency rating in the NBA this season so there really is no place to go but down. The thing is, there are only two teams in the entire association that are worse in the defensive efficiency metric than the Pelicans so the offensive hit the Lakers are taking shouldn’t be that bad. They were able to get into the 90’s against a very good Suns team last time out so the 105-110 range isn’t out of the question tonight. The Pelicans are 5th best in the NBA averaging 115 points per game so this has a great chance at turning into a track meet.
Dennis Schroder to record 20+ points (+108)
If this game is going to go over then we need to find things that correlate with that hypothesis. One such occurrence would be Dennis Schroder scoring 20 or more points. In the only game the Lakers have played so far without LeBron James, Schroder led the team in scoring with 22 points. His usage spiked to 26.9% from 22% and would have been higher had he played more than 29 minutes. If this game goes over it is likely that Schroder scores 20+ points.
Kyle Kuzma to record 4+ made threes (+162)
Only two teams in the league are worse at covering the three-point line than the Pelicans which could help us tonight. Coming into last game against the Suns, Kuzma was averaging five three-point attempts per game. But with LeBron not in the lineup, he ended up taking eight attempts from downtown. Against a team like the Pelicans who like to let guys get free releases from beyond the arc, that could lead to Kuzma taking and making more three-point shots. If Kuzma hits 4+ three-pointers tonight, it will go a long way in taking this game over 221.
Kyle Kuzma to record 15+ points (-270)
Since we’ve bet that Kyle Kuzma hits 4+ three-pointers then it is reasonable to think he scores 15+ points. He’s not just a guy who hangs out behind the three-point line so fifteen points should come easily with 12 in the bag already from the threes. Even though he only scored 13 points last game, he took 16 shots from the field so if he would have made his threes, he would have gone way over 15 points. This is a great addition to our same game parlay.
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