After hitting both of our picks last night and moving to 4-0 on the season, we are going to get creative with the Mavericks-Pelicans matchup tonight. With the Pelicans’ injury situation up in the air, I focused in on the Mavericks’ side in this one. Stay tuned to OddsShopper throughout the day to find the best lines when locking in your same game parlay.
NBA Same Game Parlay: Mavericks-Pelicans Picks – DraftKings (+250)
Leg 1: Luka Doncic 3+ Threes Made (-230)
As mentioned above, the Pelicans will be without Brandon Ingram and potentially Zion Williamson in this one. The way the line has been moving, I expect Zion to be ruled out at some point today and because of the uncertainty, most books have removed all Pelicans player prop options. With no Pelicans options, I was more than happy to focus on the Mavericks here, and with that, we will start with their star, Luka Doncic.
Doncic is averaging 9.5 three-point attempts through two games this season. After going two-for-ten in the opener, he followed that up with four-for-nine in game two. Coming into this spot tonight, I expect him to get up plenty of shots and take advantage of a Pelicans team that will be shorthanded. Doncic has an astounding 39.2 usage percentage through the first two games and if he stays anywhere close to that tonight, I like his chances of surpassing this number. Looking back to last season, he hit at least three threes in 60% of games, and with a point total sitting at 30.5 tonight, I think this is a good place to start on this same game parlay.
Leg 2: Dorian Finney-Smith Rebounds (-130)
For leg two, we jump into the rebounding market and target a guy who will play close to 40-minutes. Dorian Finney-Smith and his over 3.5 rebounds fit well into this Mavericks-heavy SGP for various reasons. Dating back to last season, Finney-Smith has surpassed this number in 17-of-20 games and is a primary defender against what could be some depth guys in the starting lineup for the Pelicans. With the spread hovering between five and six points, I do expect the Pelicans to be able to hang around long enough, which should allow for a full workload for Finney-Smith. Four rebounds is not a crazy ask and with our SGP being Mavericks only, Finney-Smith will play a huge role. When building same game parlays, I really focus on guys who are expected to play a lot of minutes and with Doncic and Finney-Smith leading the Mavericks in minutes per game, our first SGP of the season was formed with that in mind.
Leg 3: Mavericks on the Moneyline (-260)
If we’re going to be rooting for the Mavericks tonight, why not go all in? The Mavs are on the road here, but I expect them to move to even heavier favorites come game time. Adding in their -260 moneyline brings us to +250 on this SGP and at +250, I like our chances. The spread was obviously tempting to add over the moneyline but because we are still early in the season, I wanted to focus on a parlay that would have better chances at cashing.
I understand that some people aim for +1000 or greater odds in these parlays but that is no way to win long-term. Same game parlays are something you should bet on occasion and when you do want to have a little fun in the SGP market, why not give yourself a better chance at cashing the ticket?
