BetKing Guide

Cross Sport Special NBA & NFL

Christmas Day Special Cross Sports Betting: NBA and NFL

Christmas Cross Special:

A Cross Sports Special is a pre-packaged accumulator/parlay that features at least two different sports. You don’t need to browse multiple sport or event-specific pages on the BetKing website to manually build this accumulator, as we already have that in place for you. Our Cross Sports Special for Christmas Day features the Miami Dolphins (NFL) & the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and these three outcomes:

Philadelphia 76ers to win (they’re currently on a 6-game winning streak)
76ers’ Joel Embiid to score 30+ points (he currently leads the league in points scored per game, 32.5)
Miami Dolphins to Win (they play at home, where they have an 83.3% win rate this season)

This Cross Sport Special was available @4.25, but has been boosted @4.70 by BetKing. So, go ahead and take advantage of this wonderful offer!

NBA

Boston Celtics (22-10) v Milwaukee Bucks (22-9)

The Boston Celtics have had a worrying 14-days, and that’s putting it lightly. Interim Head Coach, Joe Mazzulla has preached patience and urged fans to not panic, but it’s hard not to. The reigning Eastern Conference champions were on a roll to start the season and had the (statically) best offense in NBA history in the first few months of this campaign. Things have gone very sour for them lately, and they’ve lost 5 of their last 8 games, including the last 3 (all at home). They’ve gone from having the best offense in the league to the worst in that 8-game period, which is jaw dropping for the wrong reasons.

The Bucks visit the Celtics on Christmas Day, having taken their spot on top of the Eastern Conference. The Bucks have the 3rd ranked defense in the league for the season, and they’ll be hoping to further suppress an already struggling Boston team. The one thing the Bucks has over the Celtics is their size and, as the Orlando Magic showed in their back to back victories at the TD Garden, the reigning Eastern Champions still struggle with it.

Two MVP hopefuls, Jayson Tatum (Boston) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) will of course be on the court and are set to go head-to-head. Both players are in the top 5 for scoring this season, and are equally impressive on the other end of the court. When these two met in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Celtics eliminated the Bucks in 7-games. Giannis and his teammates will be looking to exact a revenge and a wounded low-scoring Celtics team are at a disadvantage.

Prediction:

Dallas Mavericks (16-16) v Los Angeles Lakers (13-18)

The Mavericks’ plan to run every single thing through Luka Dončić clearly isn’t working, and they find themselves 9th in the West. Though he still ranks top five in points per game (32.2) and assists per game (8.7), the overall performance of the team has left a lot to be desired.

The Lakers, meanwhile, have continued to struggle in Anthony Davis’ absence. While he scored 40/15 for fun when fit, the 18 time NBA champions have lost 2 out of 3 in without him and are just 2nd from bottom in the Western Conference. There’s been a significant drop in defense in AD’s absence, and they rank #29 in that short period.

Prediction

Denver Nuggets (19-11) v Phoenix Suns (19-13)

These two teams have showed true grit to stay competitive all season despite the injuries they’ve had to put up with. This game has a lot of points written all over it as both teams are reliant on the offensive stars; Devin Booker (Suns) and the reigning back to back MVP, Nikola Jokić (Nuggets). The suns rank #1 in offensive rating this season, and the Nuggets are not so far off in 3rd. It’ll be hard to separate these two sides seeing as they’re evenly matched, so we’ll make this quick and easy by going for the over on points.

Prediction:

Golden State Warriors (15-18) v Memphis Grizzlies (19-11)

This fixture is the most anticipated of the day and one both players have longing for since the off-season. It first started in the aftermath of the Warriors beating the Celtics in the NBA finals last season, which promoted an emotional Klay Thompson to call Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. a “freaking bum” in his postgame interview over an old tweet. Jaren Jackson Jr’s teammate and All-Star, Ja Morant wasted no time in jumping into his defense by claiming the Grizzlies had “a lot of real estate” in Warriors’ minds – a slight dig. To no one’s surprise, Warriors’ Draymond Green got in on the trolling and went back and forth on Twitter with Ja Morant before they publicly stated their intentions to face each other on Christmas Day. Of course, the NBA obliged; it’s good television.

The Warriors are having a terrible season and are currently 3 games under .500. They’ve lost 7 of their last 10 games and will be without Steph Curry, who is still out with a shoulder injury. They rank 25th in Defensive Rating and 13th in offense.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, are tied for first in the Western Conference, which is even more impressive when you consider they’ve not had all five of their starters healthy at the same time this season. Desmond Bane, who had been absent for the past 17 games with a sprained toe, looks set to return for Memphis, which could further boost the chances of this young side against the Warriors. In the last 10 games, Memphis have had the best defensive rating in the league, while the Warriors rank #28; a mismatch heading into Christmas day.

New York Knicks (18-14) v Philadelphia 76ers (18-12)

No one saw the Knicks’ turnaround coming, but they look like a completely different team from the one that started the season. Prior to their 113-106 to the Raptors, they had won 8 games straight, which was the longest for that period. In the past 9 games, they have the #3 offense in the league and the number #1 defense.

The 76ers aren’t so far off. They’ve overcome their early season challenges and seem to be in a steady rhythm at the moment. They’ve won 6 games in a row, with Joel Embiid leading the league in scoring (32.5) while De’Anthony Melton is 2nd in steals per game (2.1).

These are two teams who are also well-matched especially in terms of size, and it could turn out to be a low scoring affair with the more talented Sixers slowly edging it out.

Prediction:

American Football NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-8) v Las Vegas Raiders (6-8)

The Raiders looked set to blow their 5th double-digit lead of the season when they hosted the Patriots last weekend before they got bailed out by what was undoubtedly the most ridiculous play in NFL history. It did feel like luck was beginning to shine on Josh McDaniels and his team, but the Steelers present a tougher test for them this Christmas.

The one worry the Raiders had against the Patriots was the nullifying of star Wide Receiver, Devante Adams, who was held to just 4 catches for 28 yards. Thankfully, they face a Steelers defense that might be second in interceptions (14) but rank #31 vs. WR1s, which could mean a good day for Davante Adams.

The passing of Steelers’ legend, Franco Harris, could, however, be an extra motivation for the home side as they fight for a spot in the playoffs. This weekend (23rd December, to be precise) marked the 50th anniversary of Franco Harris’s famous catch in the Steelers’ 13-7 win over the then Oakland Raiders in the AFC Divisional Playoff game- the Immaculate Reception. His death was sudden as he had been very active a day before and the 4-time Super Bowl winner was scheduled to have his number retired on Christmas day during this game. It will be an emotional day for the home side, and they’ll be playing for him.

Prediction:

Miami Dolphins (8–6) v Green Bay Packers (6-8)

This game will have some of the most accurate passers in the league go head-to-head as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive. Tua Tagovailoa is expected to play like a man who has a point to prove to the league after he got snubbed in the Pro Bowl selection despite leading the league in votes by fans. Tua leads the league in Passer Rating (107.8), second in QBR (71.8) and seemed like a lock for a spot before missing out. Per the NFL, in the three games in which Tua has missed this year (Weeks 4-6), the Dolphins are 0-3 with 2.3 turnovers per game. In games, he’s started and finished, Miami is 8-3 with just 0.7 turnovers per game. They, of course, have Tyreek Hill (2nd in Receiving Yards with 1,529) and Jaylen Waddle (7th in Receiving Yards with 1,117) both of whom will be a handful for the Packers’ secondary – though an argument can be made for the visitors who have allowed the 2nd least amount of Passing Yards this season.

Aaron Rodgers isn’t having the best of seasons, despite winning the last two games. His 220.9 yards/game has him ranked at #13 while his 10 interceptions thrown is the 4th most by any player this season – two rather unusual stats for the reigning back to back MVP.

Dolphins are the better team but have lost 3 games in a row, though, all three losses are to objectively better teams. They are, however, a much better side than the Packers and this game has both “high scoring” and “bounce back” written all over it for the Dolphins.

Prediction:

Arizona Cardinals (4-10) v Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8)

Tom Brady is having one of the worst seasons of his legendary career due to the failing pieces around him. Individually, he’s not been that bad; he’s third in passing yards (3,897) and his 20 touchdowns thrown is just 4 behind Kirk Cousins, who has been selected for the Pro Bowl. However, his 89.1 Passer rating has him ranked #19 in the league while his QBR of 50.5 has him at #22 which speaks to the ineffectiveness of his hard work. The Buccaneers have struggled to score points all season; they’ve scored more than 23 points on just one occasion, and have finished with single digit points twice. They looked like they turned a corner when they put up 17 points on the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half last weekend but reverted to their old ways in the second half and allowed 34 unanswered points, which saw the game slip away from their grasp.

Against the Cardinals, they face a team which is ranked 27th in defensive DVOA which is terrible considering the amount invested in the team. The Cardinals are also without QB Kyler Murray who is out for the season and backup QB, Colt McCoy, is expected to be under Center. In the 2 games since Kyler Murray went down against the Patriots, they’ve scored 13 and 15 points and it is expected that their struggles on offense continues.

Cardinals’ poor defense and low scoring offense facing Bucs’ poor offense but, good defense (Tampa Bay’s defense ranks 9th in DVOA) means we should have a very low scoring game with the Bucs slightly edging it.

Prediction: