Tonight’s TNT matchups might feature the league’s top two MVP candidates. Per Draft Kings current odds, Luka Doncic leads the pack a +275. Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, is currently sitting at +425 and trails behind Doncic, Giannis and Tatum. However, if you’ve been watching the games closely, the two-time reigning MVP is coming on strong and people are now starting to wonder about the possibility of a 3-peat.
Tonight, the TNT crew is serving up the best 8 p.m. matchup we’ve had in quite a while as Luka takes on the aforementioned Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. Boston, despite two losses in a row including an absolute shellacking by the OKC Thunder that saw them give up 150 points, is No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. Dallas is No. 4 in the West, but is also playing its best ball of the season and has won seven games in a row.
The night cap is decidedly less exciting, if only because the Los Angeles Clippers refuse to be anything but a sad mix of intriguing and disappointing. The Clips have lost three straight, and this being the first game of a back-to-back might be without both Kawhi Leonard (dealing with a non-Covid illness) and Paul George (tweaked his hamstring in Monday’s loss to the Heat). The Clippers without their two stars on national TV? Where have I seen that before?
Denver is the top team in the Western Conference and has won 10 of its past 13 games. In that 13-game stretch, Jokic is averaging a triple double. That’s 29.8 points, 12.1 rebounds and 10.6 assists. And he’s doing it while shooting almost 60% overall and 40% from three. The dude is a monster.
Game Vitals
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: American Airlines Arena, Dallas, Texas
Watch: TNT
Odds: Mavericks +3
Projected Lineups
Boston Celtics (26-12)
Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford
Dallas Mavericks (22-16)
Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Tim Hardaway, Reggie Bullock, Christian Wood
Game Vitals
When: 10 p.m. ET
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Watch: TNT
Odds: Clippers +6
Projected Lineups
Los Angeles Clippers (21-18)
Reggie Jackson, Paul George(?), Kawhi Leonard(?), Marcus Morris, Ivica Zubac
Denver Nuggets (18-11)
Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
DraftKings Odds
Per DraftKings, You can currently get Jayson Tatum as the leading scorer of the Mavs-Celtics game at +215, which makes sense when he’s going against Luka on national TV, but it is also pretty enticing. You can also get a single game parlay of the Celtics moneyline, Jayson Tatum at 30 points and Jaylen Brown at 20 points for +185. Even with Dallas’ seven-game win streak, they are still a subpar defense over that span. It seems like the Celtics will get their points even if they don’t pull off the upset.
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