NBA Multi bet of the Weekend | Mar 29

We hit just one of our three bets once again yesterday, but with that solitary win being a $4 pick for Josh Giddey to record a triple-double, it was a winning day nonetheless as our Aussie star promptly put up 25-14-11, with a half-court game-winner to go with it. We’ll lean heavily on player props again for our weekend multi, with a couple of bets on former MVPs to round out the day, but we start off in Detroit where the Cunningham-less Pistons will host the Cavaliers. Take a look at all of our bets below.

Saturday 29th of March, 10.00am AEDT, Little Caesars Arena

The Pistons rise over the past couple of months has been fun to watch, but they might be getting a little too much respect from betting agencies here. They have turned into a legitimately good side in the Eastern Conference and won’t be an easy out in the first round of the playoffs, but without their best player they will likely struggle against one of the best teams in the NBA. Cade Cunningham has been brilliant this season, but a calf injury will see him miss his third consecutive game. So far, Detroit have managed pretty well without him, picking up two wins, but those have come against two teams out of the playoff race in the Pelicans and the Spurs. The Cavaliers are a different story entirely. Sitting five games clear at the top of the Eastern Conference, they had a rare dip in form recently, losing four games in a row last week. But they bounced back with a 29-point win over the lowly Jazz, and since then have knocked off both the Trail Blazers and the Spurs to give them a much-needed injection of confidence. They head into this game as a 5.5-point favourite, which would probably be about right if the Pistons had Cunningham running the show. Without him, however, they are significantly hampered, and will not be nearly as able to cover his loss against the Cavs as they have been against the Pelicans and the Spurs. Performances like what Marcus Sasser has managed over the past couple of games, during which time he has shot 15-21 from the field and 8-11 from three, are not sustainable and can’t be relied upon to be replicated, and barring another out-of-the-box performance from a lesser light, the might of the Cavaliers should see them overpower the Pistons pretty comfortably.

Saturday 29th of March, 10.30am AEDT, Barclays Center

Kawhi Leonard has now been back on the floor for nearly three months, and that continuity which has evaded him for so long is beginning to pay dividends. The former MVP is playing consistently well for the Clippers and has taken it up another notch in the past couple of weeks, but the betting sites have not yet adjusted. His points line is set at 22.5, which is right around where it’s been for a few games in a row now, despite the fact that he keeps going past it. We hit on that the other day, albeit only just as he crept to 23, but that marked his lowest scoring total in his last seven games. Leonard has not been flying past the number by any means, but he is very consistently scoring in the mid to high 20s and his average in those past seven games 26.4. This is not expected to be a particularly high scoring game against the Nets, but in large part that is due to the opposition’s complete lack of ability to score. The Clippers should still be able to put up a decent number in a slow-paced game, and Leonard will likely play a major part in that once again. Kawhi may never be as robotically dominant as he once was again, but that almost mechanical ability to score at will has been very evident in the past few games, and he should be able to pass this line for the eighth time in a row.

Saturday 29th of March, 11.00am AEDT, Target Center

We’re going to ride the hot hand here. That hand belongs to Kevin Durant, who is doing everything he can to secure a spot in the Play-In Tournament for his perennially disappointing Phoenix Suns. They’ve come into some good form of late, their latest showing against the Celtics notwithstanding, and over the past couple of games KD has played a major role in their fortunes. Three games ago, the reigning MVP put up 42 points on the Cavaliers, before backing that up with 38 more against the Bucks. Then last game, he had 30 in just 30 minutes against the Celtics, but with the Suns getting an absolute roasting he didn’t play any more minutes in the final quarter. In those games he has scored 110 points in just 106 minutes, and against three good teams at that. This is a pivotal game, with the Timberwolves sitting just a game ahead of Phoenix in the Western Conference, so expect Durant to come out looking to dominate as he has in the past three games. NBA betting sites have set KD’s points line at around 26, which is already about a point lower than what he is averaging throughout the course of the season. Factor in his brilliant recent form, and that line looks way too low. This looks like a great opportunity to add a little bit of value to our weekend NBA multi, so given that Durant has scored close to 40 points in two of his last three games and was on track for the same if he played the last quarter in his most recent, nearly $3 for him to scorer just 30 points in this one is hard to pass up.