2 NBA Monday Money-Making Bets: 1 Player Prop, Kings-Cavaliers
"Money-Making Bets" is a stretch considering how crappy my NBA performance has been over the past two weeks. I made a clerical error in Sunday's NBA betting record update. Nonetheless, I'm south -10.2 units (u) entering Super Bowl LVIII week. To tighten things up and "right the ship", I've decided to bet fewer NBA games per day. I have a heavy lean to the LA Clippers as -4 favorites in Atlanta but stayed away because I dropped 2.2u fading the Hawks Friday and Saturday. Instead, I'm hitting up a player prop and a side for my two …
NBA Monday Best Bets
- The odds chosen are the best available at the time of writing.
Los Angeles Lakers PG D'Angelo Russell OVER 17.5 points (-120) vs. Charlotte Hornets at FanDuel Sportsbook
The Lakers are coming off a hard-fought 113-105 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden Saturday. It was one of LAL's best defensive efforts all season. Lakers All-Star big Anthony Davis was a monster defensively and LeBron James was engaged on defense too.
AD had five blocks and steals with 18 rebounds and LeBron had three blocks and steals. As per usual, Davis and LeBron are "questionable" for Monday. If either one of them misses this game, Russell's usage rate increases.
Regardless, they might let Russell cook more Monday because they are still winded from Saturday's rock-fight with the Knicks. Also, the Lakers will be without forwards Cam Reddish and Jarred Vanderbilt Monday. While Reddish and Vando don't put up a lot of shots, it does free up some looks that could go to DLo.
Lakers PG D'Angelo Russell celebrates a 3-pointer against the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
Low-key, Russell has been pretty good for the Lakers lately. In his 12 starts since Jan. 13th, D'Angelo has scored at least 18 points in eight of those games. He's averaging 23.7 points per game (PPG) over that span on 47.1% shooting from behind the arc. Russell has scored 18+ points in six of his nine career games in Charlotte.
Finally, the Hornets have one of the worst defensive backcourts in the NBA. Charlotte is 28th in defensive shot quality, according to CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG), and dead-last in defensive 3-point shooting percentage.
Bet 0.6u on Los Angeles Lakers PG D'Angelo Russell OVER 17.5 points (-120) to win 0.5u
Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers (-3.5), 7 p.m. ET
The Cavs have come down from -5.5 favorites on the opener to -3.5 across the board because Cavaliers starting C Jarrett Allen is "questionable". But, I'd bet the Cavs up to -5 if Allen plays, and I'm willing to gamble on his availability without knowing.
Allen has played in every game since missing the 1st five this season. He was spotted in the morning shootaround. Allen is the anchor of Cleveland's defense, which ranks 1st in efficiency since the start of 2024. The Cavaliers can extend their perimeter defense because they know Allen is protecting the rim and paint.
Furthermore, Cleveland has the best shot quality in the NBA, per CTG, whereas Sacramento is 22nd. The Cavaliers attempt the 4th-highest volume of field goals at the rim and the Kings are 26th. Sacramento is 5-11 straight up (SU) vs. top-10 defenses with the worst spread differential (-12.3) in the NBA, according to CTG.
Sacramento Kings C Domantas Sabonis grabs a rebound over Cleveland Cavaliers C Jarrett Allen at the Golden 1 Center in California. (Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)
This is also a great "spot" for Cleveland. Whenever they are -3.5 to -7 favorites this season, the Cavaliers are 6-1 SU and against the spread (ATS) with a +9.6 scoring margin. Plus, Cleveland is 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS over the last 10 games.
Lastly, the Kings like to speed up the tempo, but the Cavs are better in transition. Per CTG, Cleveland is 2nd in fast-break offensive efficiency and 5th defensively. While Sacramento is 27th offensively and 22nd in defensive transition efficiency.