You’d be hard pressed to find a day where I’m not all in on watching the NBA action, but the schedule makers certainly made things tough today with the two matchups on Dec. 22.
The New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs kick things off in New Orleans, but Zion Williamson (healthy safety protocols) and Brandon Ingram (toe) are both out for this game. Spurs star Keldon Johnson (hamstring) is listed as doubtful.
So, who wants to watch C.J. McCollum battle it out with Devin Vassell? If you guessed myself, you’d be exactly correct, because we have a prop play for Vassell in tonight’s slate!
The second and final game of the night is in Utah with the Utah Jazz hosting the Washington Wizards, who snapped a 10-game losing streak on Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns.
This may be a tougher matchup for Washington, especially if Kristaps Porzingis (illness, questionable) sits out.
We’re eyeing a play on a side in that game, so let’s get into the breakdowns for one of the smallest NBA slates of the season:
NBA best bets record to date
NBA best bets today
- Devin Vassell OVER 21.5 Points (-115)
- Utah Jazz -6.5 vs. Washington Wizards (-110)
Devin Vassell OVER 21.5 Points (-115)
There’s some value on Vassell on Thursday, especially with Johnson likely missing this game.
Vassell dropped 26 points in 28:41 of playing time without Johnson against Houston, and he’s averaging 27.5 points per game when Johnson is out of the lineup (two games) this season.
The Spurs wing has also played well against the Pelicans, dropping 26 points on Nov. 23 and 25 points on Dec. 2 against them. The Spurs didn’t win either game, in fact they lost by over 15 points in each matchup, but Vassell still saw 31+ minutes in each contest.
The volume should be there for Vassell, and he’s shot the ball from 3 this season (41.2 percent) while averaging 20.0 points per game. With so many key players out on each side, he could be the guy who steps up to make this game interesting.
Utah Jazz -6.5 vs. Washington Wizards (-110)
I could go on and on about how the Wizards were fraudulent earlier this season, but their 10-game winning streak did that for me.
This team is terrible, especially on the road where it has gone 4-13 straight up this season. The Wizards are 25th in the NBA in net rating, and they absolutely tanked over the last few weeks before finally upsetting Phoenix.
The Suns didn’t have Devin Booker in that game, so I’m not too worried about laying the points with Utah here. The Jazz are 11-5 straight up at home, and they are a far superior offensive team, ranking fourth in the league in offensive rating this season.
If Porzingis sits, the line could move even further towards Utah. Regardless the Jazz are the play against a middling Wizards squad that has laid egg after egg on the road this season.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.