The 2020-21 NBA season is officially underway, and with it starting late this year, we’re just jumping into the Christmas Day festivities. There are always five marquee games on schedule with exciting basketball .L all day long for league gift fans.
As this is the case, a team of NBA experts from CBS Sports has gathered on Friday to provide fans with their choice against the spread in each of the five games on the league docket. You can find below our picks for each of the five games scheduled for Christmas, as well as the logic behind those choices.
All lines by William Hill Sportsbook
This is a “ticket points” game, not necessarily because it will be as close as they are compelling, but because of the ambiguity on both sides here. Losing to Miami Orlando isn’t an exaggeration in itself, but it’s clearly circulating which seems a bit crowded. Meyers Leonard and Avery Bradley did not play in the opener, and the Heat took only 20 3-pointers, which would be their second lowest attempt last season.
The Pelicans looked great in the opener, but what is it like to make a team that did so little theoretical shooting in the 1930s against the Raptors, who are currently playing 1,300 miles away from home? The team that looked good with the Pelicans is a bonus here. In truth, this is just a dangerous game, and if you are betting on it, you should take issues.
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Bucks had the NBA’s best net rating last season plus -9. was, and as the playoffs show, they did not earn exactly that by beating the contenders. No, they put fat on the worst teams in the NBA, hitting hard against opponents who couldn’t keep up physically. Well, talking about warriors this way may be reprehensible, but here it is. For a completely explainable reason, Nate ran him off the floor the night of the opening.
They are missing their best defender (Dremond Green), starting an interest in the center (James Wiseman) and have no above average defenders left in their rotation. Of course, they will leave a bunch of points. Initially Curry is the only above average shooter in the top five. Naturally, it limits the distance. Maybe there’s a version of the Warriors that put it all together, but remember, they were also outsourced by 47 points in the first four games of last season. Even with Curry, this could be a bad team now.
Oddly enough, this line is an acknowledgment that Vegas doesn’t even care about fighters. The grille looked beautiful, but I still can’t find much love in the books. That’s probably due to Boston’s impressive opening win against the Bucks, but despite the Celtics playing in that game, big picture issues remain. They are still struggling to make shots without the camber vector. The rotation of the center is still in flow. Jason Tatum can’t be Superman every night.
That is the advantage of almost any opponent of the net. If Kevin Durant is off, Carrie Irving could turn on. Caris Lewert and Spencer Dinwiddy can choose both of their slicks. It’s hard to struggle to make a score on any Brooklyn night, as there are so many shot-t-creators in it. It’s not that luxurious in Boston except that Jeff Tigu isn’t really as good as he saw the opening night. With what seems unlikely, Brooklyn is a safe bet.
The Lakers should be able to beat the Mavericks comfortably at full strength without Christ ap Porzings. The Lakers don’t seem to be at full strength right now, and that’s by choice. LeBron James played 28 early night minutes. Anthony Davis played 31. If these teams meet in the playoffs, the two rotate in about 80 combined minutes. They didn’t even reach 60 against the Clippers, and that should be to be expected as the defending champions keep things simple after their short-term following fee ason.
So essentially, there are three ways to get to the game. Maybe the Lakers will blow up the Mavericks and the rest doesn’t matter. But if it’s close, even though James and Davis are more engaged, the six issues seem like a fair buffer. And then, of course, there’s the possibility that the Mavericks will jump to an early lead and snatch the game through the Lakers halftime. From a gambling standpoint, these scenarios favor Dallas.
Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Clippers: Clippers-1
We can’t talk about this game without mentioning the revenge factor, but let’s table for a moment and just talk about basketball. Denver’s Jeremy Grant and Torrey Craig didn’t lose this season, arguably his two best wing defenders. The Nuggets are set to play against Kavi Leonard and Paul George, who looked very good in the opener. When you lead Mason Plumley, age-related Paul Mills to decline declines and Michael Porter Jr. to increase minutes, Denver took a big step behind the overall frontcourt defense. Surprisingly, the Kings took advantage by getting 53 shots in the paint in the opener.
It’s a weak spot that the Clippers can take advantage of, and with Ser Ibaka, they now have Denver’s biggest advantage – the Nicola Jokic bully ball, at least to some extent. The direction of the matchup clippers has returned a bit, and yes, revenge is on their minds as well.
