Happy New Year to all of our followers! What better way to kick things off in 2022 with a huge 10-game slate! Catch all of our best spread and player prop bets right here.
NBA Betting Tips: Saturday, 1st of January
Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers
Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, 11:30am AEDT
The Hawks have found themselves in a tough run of form having lost each of their last three games by at least a dozen points, also making it nine losses from their last 12 games. Admittedly, they’ve had a really tough run with injuries and health and safety protocols during this run, but so have a lot of teams in the NBA. The Hawks are now 15-19 and sit in 12th spot in the East.
The Cavaliers have been one of the surprise packets this season and enter the New Year in fifth spot in the East with a healthy 20-15 record. Unfortunately, they struggled on their recent two-game road trip with losses against both the Wizards and the Pelicans, but they will return home for this clash where they’ve won each of their last five games.
The Hawks have a ton of outs for this clash and while the Cavs aren’t in the best of form with losses in their last two, they have a relatively healthy roster and should be far shorter in the head-to-head market in our opinion. With that said, we’re more than happy to back them into get the job done in what’s probably our best bet of the day.
Cleveland Cavaliers H2H
$1.87
Minnesota Timberwolves at Utah Jazz
Vivint Arena, 1pm AEDT
The Timberwolves have had no luck once again when it comes to getting a full complement of players fit to take to the court. It continues to plague them and continues to rob us of seeing what they’re really capable of. They come into this slate having lost three of their last four games including an eight-point defeat last start where they tallied just 88 points.
The Jazz continue to secure win after win without adulation and have now secured five on the trot, improving their record to 25-9, which is the third best in both the West and the NBA. They’ve had a good run with injuries and health and safety protocols comparative to the league and will be confident they can secure another high seed in the playoffs when the time comes.
The Timberwolves will be without both D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, arguably their two best players, when they travel to Utah to face the Jazz on Saturday. It makes arguably the toughest trip in basketball almost impossible in our view and as such, we’re happy to be with the Jazz to win this game by 11 or more points.
Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers
Crypto.com Arena, 2:30pm AEDT
The Trail Blazers continue to live life without a full complement of players and it continues to hurt them. They enter this fixture having lost each of their last three games by 14+ points despite some big numbers by their superstar point guard in Damian Lillard. The Trail Blazers are now a dismal 13-21 on the season, which has them sitting in 12th spot in the West.
The Lakers also continue to battle on without their full roster including key piece Anthony Davis. LeBron James has tried his best to keep his team afloat with 31+ points in each of his last six outings, but the Lakers have managed to win just one of those games. The 2020 NBA Champions now have a record of 17-19, which luckily still has them in seventh spot in the West.
Neither team would be proud of their form heading into this clash, but the Lakers will be the one starting as pretty heavy favourites. In our view, this should be priced at about an even money contest considering the woes of the two sides, which makes the Trail Blazers line the way to play this one.
Portland Trail Blazers +5.5
$1.95
Player Props
5am Suns at Celtics – Mikal Bridges 11+ Points $1.80 Sportsbet
7am Bulls at Pacers – Nikola Vucevic 18+ Points $1.92 Sportsbet
11am Heat at Rockets – Christian Wood 19+ Points $1.96 Sportsbet
12pm Spurs at Grizzlies – Ja Morant 26+ Points $1.87 Sportsbet
1pm Timberwolves at Jazz – Rudy Gobert 36+ PRA $1.90 Sportsbet
2:30pm Trail Blazers at Lakers – Damian Lillard 31+ Points $1.87 TAB
