Heartbreak for yesterdays play where the Hawks kicked out to as much as 24 points ahead with 7:43 remaining and failed to cover the -9 start. Hoping todays plays will get back on the winning side and see out the 2020 year with a handy profit.
Current Bank: 103.5 Units (+3.5 U) Max outlay on any event is 3 units.
Boston Celtics v Indiana Pacers
11:05 am 30 December AEST
A direct replay of the match up we saw on Monday Melbourne time which saw the Pacers still victory from the jaws of defeat with a layup from star player Sabonis with 8 seconds left to clinch the win. On that occasion the Celtics were a -2 point favourite and here we see a direct pick em odds line between these two.
Now that the Celtics have had a first hand look at the Pacers I expect them to scheme a plan of attack better this time in and will desperately want to avoid a 3 game losing streak. Indiana shot well above themselves in the match up just gone, so am expecting a slight regression back to the mean and defensively a tighter ship run by the Celtics. Am also hoping to see extra minutes for Theis who is a far better matchup for Sabonis and Thompson is. Will be siding with the Celtics to turn the tables from a day ago to avoid that losing streak against an undefeated team in a comfortable position at 3-0. The price on offer definitely overvalues the Celtics based off one very close loss.
BACK: Boston Celtics Win at $1.90 for 1 unit
Milwaukee Bucks v Miami Heat
11:30 am 30 December AEST
A small play here on the Bucks at -5.5 with star Heat player Jimmy Butler all but ruled out of this one. The Heat are a fantastic team, however without their main man on board and a Bucks team that is starting to work it all out they look to have a nightmare matchup here against arguably the best team in the Eastern conference. Adebayo will have his hands full trying to contain Giannis and the Heat now are down such an important defender for the likes of Middleton and Holiday. The Heat are super well rounded, so Im not prepared to take them on hard especially as a 5.5 point underdog at home, but the Bucks will be looking to make a statement against an Eastern rival and should be winning relatively comfortable against a slightly depleted Heat team
BACK: Milwaukee Bucks -5.5 at $1.91 for 0.5 units
New Orleans Pelicans v Phoenix Suns
2:05 pm 30 December AEST
I personally haven’t been impressed whatsoever by the Pelicans as a team unit to the start of this season. Brandon Ingram has been sensational but this is a team whose role players are absolutely lacking any form of consistency so far. They are heavily reliant on Ingram and Zion playing out of their skin to get wins on the board and long term that’s not a successful play.
The Suns after a slightly shock loss against an over achieving Sacramento Kings team, steadied the ship with a dominating 16 point win over the kings in their rematch on Monday, and now return home to face the erratic Pelicans. The Suns have overall looked like a nice unit that isn’t relying on their star Booker putting up crazy stats to get them across the line, sharing the ball around and if there is a criticism they may need more out of their big man Ayton, who looks to have defensive duties over one of New Orleans stars in Zion.
On pure match ups alone, the Suns simply bat far deeper throughout their whole team including bench than the Pelicans do. The Pelicans do have the star power at the top but the Suns do look to have Zion at least attempted covered and Ingram cannot do it all himself. Veteran Chris Paul running the floor for the Suns has been a godsend this year, already averaging about 10 assists through 3 games and Mikal Bridges has been impressive in the Power forward position. The Suns are a -3 flat favourite here, and I expect with just enough defensive pressure on Zion and Ingram they should be able to cover that start
Back: Phoenix Suns -3.5 at $1.92 for 1 unit.