NBA Best Bets For Tuesday, Dec. 31: A Big Night For Myles Turner
The NBA has six games on the schedule for Tuesday, December 31. Who will close out 2024 on a high note?
Keep reading for NBA best bets below, and bet with your favorite sportsbook apps.
Contents
NBA Best Bets For Tuesday, Dec. 31
Check out four bets below for Tuesday’s NBA games.
Myles Turner 2+ Made Threes (-120 DraftKings)
The Bucks mainly play drop coverage when defending high ball screens because Brook Lopez lacks the quickness to aggressively hedge. This strategy deters drivers and rollers, but Milwaukee is vulnerable to pull-up triples and pick-and-pops. As a result, they surrender the most 3-point attempts per game to pick-and-pop bigs in the NBA.
Myles Turner has the shooting chops to exploit them. He’s knocking down a career high 39.2% of his triples on nearly five attempts per game. The Pacers love to run their offense through high ball screens, so Turner should get plenty of shots here.
History is also on his side. In the last 15 matchups between Turner and Lopez, the Pacers center averaged 6.3 attempts per game from deep. He notched a pair of triples in 11 of those 15 games. That’s a 73.3% hit rate!
I recommend playing this line at one and a half units.
Mike Conley Over 1.5 Made Threes (-110 DraftKings)
Oklahoma City’s swarming defense neutralizes rim attempts and elite scorers. They have to sacrifice in other areas to maintain this philosophy since it’s not possible to take away everything. Therefore, the Thunder yield the second-most catch-and-shoot jumpers across the NBA, along with the second-largest 3-point attempt rate.
Mike Conley’s efficiency (35.5 3PT%) has taken a step back this season, but he is still getting decent 3-point volume at 5.1 attempts per game. The veteran will likely be an afterthought in Oklahoma City’s mind considering that they need to prioritize stopping Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, and Rudy Gobert, so he should receive more open chances than usual.
Since joining the Wolves in 2023, Conley has squared off four times versus the Thunder. He produced a considerable 7.5 attempts per game from behind the arc in those matchups. I expect similar volume here and advise playing this line at one unit.
Jaren Jackson Jr. First Points (+350 DraftKings) & Desmond Bane First Points (+550 DraftKings)
Memphis has secured the first shot in 81.8% of their games because Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey dominate tipoffs. They are heavily favored to win the tip over Mason Plumlee tonight.
Meanwhile, Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane have combined to take the first shot of the game in a massive 49.8% of their starts. That’s half of the time!
Phoenix lacks the perimeter defenders to throw at Bane, while Jackson Jr. can scorch a Suns defense that bleeds deep paint attempts.
I suggest playing each of these lines at half of a unit.
