NBA Best Bets: Lakers-Clippers Highlights Christmas Day Slate

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Happy Holidays to all and welcome to one of the high holy days in sports. Major League Baseball has Opening Day, the NFL has Super Bowl Sunday and the NBA has Christmas Day. Today will be the most heavily bet day in the NBA regular season. There are five games on the slate and I have best bets for three of them. I will not wager the Rockets and Warriors but I think Houston is the side to lean. There will be a lot of fans getting their first real look at the NBA today so Houston should take this chance to hammer the Dubs in their new building. But there is also a side of me that says that Draymond Green and Steve Kerr don't want to be embarrassed today and Golden State could put up a fight. In the nightcap, the Pelicans are only playing in this game because of the thought that Zion Willaims would be playing. But that not the case and unfortunately the Pelicans are one of the worst teams in the league. I think they can hang with the Nuggets though but not enough to place a wager on it. Here are our NBA Christmas Day best bets.

Boston Celtics vs Toronto Raptors: Raptors +3.5

The Celtics opened up as 2.5-point favorites in this Christmas Day showdown with the defending NBA champions. Both teams are dealing with injuries but Toronto will have a lot of key players missing. In the past week those missing players have not been a problem for the champs, they have won six of their last 10 with the losses coming on the road to the 76ers and Pacers and home losses to the Clippers and Rockets. Toronto is a contender in the East yet again. Boston is better this year than they were last year. Kemba Walker has been great for them, the Celtics are on a three-game winning streak and have won seven of their last 10. This is a very big spot for Toronto and I love catching points with them today versus the very public Celtics. This will be the first time Toronto has hosted a Christmas Day game, and I expect them to cover the number and win the contest.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Philadelphia 76ers: 76ers +3

Through the first part of the NBA season, the Milwaukee Bucks have been the best team in the league. Milwaukee has won nine of their last 10 and 22 of their last 24. The Bucks are not only good straight up but they are also very good against the spread, posting an 18-13 record ATS thus far. The Clippers and Lakers may be title favorites but Milwaukee is currently the class of the league. The Sixers come into this game as 3-point underdogs but Philly has been no slouch this season. They are especially good at home where they are 15-2 straight up. This game opened up with the Bucks as a 4-point favorite and has since been bet down to Milwaukee -3, at its likely to move to Milwaukee -2.5, eight out of 10 bets on this game favor the Bucks, but the spread says the sharp money is on the 76ers. Milwaukee is great and they will be there in the end but I will be more than willing to take points with a home dog that's 15-2 straight up in their building.

Los Angeles Clippers vs Los Anges: Lakers ML -109

This will be the most wagered on regular-season game of the year. When the NBA schedule was announced months ago everyone knew we would be treated to this Los Angles Civil War on Christmas Day, and both teams have lived up to the lofty expectations thus far. The Clippers are 22-10 straight up on the season and have shown flashes of brilliance on more than one occasion. The Lakers are 24-6 straight up, LeBron is once again an MVP candidate and the Laker faithful have tile dreams. When these teams played on opening night the Clippers looked like the better team and Paul George didn't even play in that game. I think that opening night lost still stings the Lakers, and they are in a good revenge spot today. The Clippers opened up this game as 1.5-point favorites and surprisingly the majority of bets have backed the Clippers, yet the Lakers have moved to 2-point favorites. I'm betting the Lakers on the money line to be safe. I trust my betting systems, one of my more popular NBA systems is to fade trendy underdogs and that's exactly what the Clippers are in the game of the year, a trendy dog. 

Season Record: 42-41