Monday was a bit of a weird day in the NBA, but we have some good angles for tonight’s nine-game slate. Our first play is going to be taking a look at De’Andre Hunter of the Cleveland Cavaliers in a matchup with the Chicago Bulls. For our second play, we’re going late into the evening, where we’ll find Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Well, we ended the week with another split, but it was again a slight bit of profit. Chet Holmgren was shooting early with four 3-point attempts in the first half, but he failed to convert any of them before exiting the game early at halftime. In the Tyrese Haliburton world, he made us sweat it out, but he converted his 10th assist of the night in the fourth quarter with just under three minutes remaining in the game.
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- De’Andre Hunter O2.5 3s (+120) - 1 Unit Bet365
- Zion Williamson 6+ Assists (+136) - 1 Unit FanDuel
De’Andre Hunter O2.5 3s (+120) Bet365
The Cleveland Cavaliers landed Hunter at the trade deadline from the Atlanta Hawks, and it has looked like one of the best moves any team made this year so far. In eight games with the Cavs, Hunter is averaging 16 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor and 59.5 percent from 3-point range on 5.3 attempts per game. He’s cleared this line six times in those eight games, including four of his last five.
Tonight’s opponent is the Bulls, who are sitting in 10th place right now as they fight to hold onto a spot in the Play-In Tournament. Over their last 30 games, the Bulls are allowing small forwards to score the eighth-most points in the league, and, in his most recent game against the Bulls, Hunter poured in 25 points and three 3-pointers off of the bench. In Cleveland’s last game, Hunter got the start with Donovan Mitchell sidelined. Mitchell is back tonight, but Evan Mobley is now expected to miss tonight’s game, and there is still a spot for Hunter to start.
Even if he doesn’t, this game should have plenty of scoring opportunities for a shooter that’s finding the bottom of the night like Hunter has been.
Zion Williamson 6+ Assists (+136) FanDuel
The Pelicans have the second-worst record in the Western Conference, and they have the fourth-worst record overall. Despite that, if you aren’t watching Zion play for them right now, you are missing out. In 10 games since the start of February, he’s shooting 62.2 percent from the field while averaging 25.2 points per game and 5.2 assists per game. He’s also been tapping into his passing gene a lot recently. Over his last two games, he’s averaging 24 potential assists per game. Zion has only cleared this line eight times in 23 games this year, but six of those have come since he returned from injury.
In their lone game against the Pelicans this year, the Lakers faced a severely diminished squad. Despite that, they still gave up 32 points to Brandon Ingram, and Ingram also rolled up eight assists on the night. They’ve been one of the league’s best teams since the trade deadline with an 8-2 record over their last 10 games, and they’re carrying a six-game winning streak into tonight. They’re also allowing the second-fewest assists to small forwards over their last 30 games, but I’m riding with the volume here.
Zion has been getting the ball moving around, and I think the Lakers are going to do everything they can to keep him from being the one who beats them. As long as the guys around him can hit shots, I love this spot for Zion to shine.
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