Saturday, December 30 NBA Parlay Picks

There are only six games on the NBA schedule for Saturday, December 30 so we better make them count as we strive for a winning NBA parlay. There are a couple of important Western Conference matchups on the docket with the LA Lakers paying a visit to the franchise’s original home to battle conference leading Minnesota. The teams met a few days before Christmas with the Timberwolves snatching a 118-111 home win, though they failed to cover the 8.5-point NBA betting line. The Lakers were without LeBron James in that matchup. Luka Doncic has had some big games against the Golden State Warriors during his career and he gets another chance when his Dallas Mavericks visit NorCal for the first of four meetings between the clubs this season.

Two weeks in a row I’ve been this close to hitting a three-team NBA parlay at BetRivers sportsbook, but we all know how the saying goes. It’s usually a good move to bet against the Detroit Pistons and it paid off last Saturday when Brooklyn was a winning NBA pick against the spread. The Nets covered the 8.5-point line in their 126-115. I figured the Pacers might cool off from their torrid pace with Orlando’s top 5 defense being able to quiet them. Sure enough, Indy scored just 110 points with the team’s playing below the closing total giving me another winning NBA pick. However, the ticket ended up a loser when OKC couldn’t beat the Lakers by more than three points. In fact they didn’t beat them at all instead losing by nine, so I guess the NBA parlay wasn’t really that close.

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NBA Schedule for Saturday, December 30

Miami at Utah, 5 p.m. ET

New York at Indiana, 7 p.m. ET

Dallas at Golden State, 8:30 p.m. ET

There’s just something about the Miami Heat that makes me want to be a fan. They are well-coached and they play the game the right way. There are no egos on the team at least it doesn’t appear that way. Their biggest star is a team player known for his defense. You can’t say that about any other big name. And most importantly they win a lot of games. When the Heat visit the Utah Jazz on Saturday they’ll likely have Jimmy Butler back in the lineup and they’ve had all kinds of success against the Salt Lake City-based team over the years. Miami has won the last five series meetings while going 4-1 as a NBA betting pick.

They don’t score a lot of points but the Heat are tough to defend. Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and Butler all average more than 21 points and they’ve developed a deep bench out of necessity with injuries forcing lineup adjustments almost nightly. Still, all the Heat does is win and I can see them as a NBA spread pick in this matchup.

As much as fans want to see points scored, three-pointers drained and alley-oops connecting it’s getting tough for the Pacers to continue their ridiculous scoring pace. The betting markets are catching up making it tougher to cash the OVER in their games. They went three straight games playing below the total on the NBA betting line. The Knicks want to avoid a shootout since it’s hard for them to keep up so I’m backing the UNDER as a NBA best bet in this parlay card wager.

My winning parlay card will be complete when the Mavericks cover the NBA point spread against the Warriors. Doncic has had monster games against the Dubs in duels with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and the Mavs enjoyed some success when Golden State was reaching and winning NBA Finals. It would help the Mavs chances if Kyrie Irving was back in the lineup and there’s an outside chance that happens. But the Mavs can win without him especially since the Warriors aren’t quite the championship caliber club from a few years ago. Right now they’re just about average splitting their first 30 games and the home court edge that was prevalent during their dynastic run has disappeared. Doncic can take over a game and he plays his best ball against the Warriors leading the Mavs as a NBA betting pick.

Miami Heat ATS

Knicks / Pacers UNDER

Mavericks ATS

Bet $100 to Win $599 On This NBA Parlay at BetRivers.