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Football x NBA CrossSport Special Preview with Bet Tips
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 here. For this week’s Cross Sports Specials, we cover the return of the NBA after its All-Star weekend and also take a look at various Friday night football games across 4 of Europe’s Top 5 Leagues.
BetKing also offers Daily Specials with boosted odds which you can find here. You can bookmark this page and visit every morning for new and enhanced specials.
Lille (vs Brest) & Denver Nuggets (vs Cleveland Cavaliers) to Both Win @3.15
Lille host 16th place Brest at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Friday night as they look to bounce back from last weekend’s late defeat at PSG. The 2021 Ligue 1 champions were 2-0 down after 17 mins played but impressively turned things around to lead 3-2 by the 70th min. It took two moments of brilliance by Kylian Mbappé (87th min) and Lionel Messi (95th min) to, again, turn the game around and, I believe I speak for millions when I say, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourselves when it takes the geniuses of those two players to beat you.
Led by Jonathan David – the joint top scorer (15) in Ligue 1 – Lille have enjoyed their best home run in almost 4 years. They’ve won 6 and drawn 3 of their last 9 games in front of their fans and, to make it even more worrying for the traveling fans, the Stade Pierre-Mauroy is the stadium in which Brest have lost their most Ligue 1 away games (12) with their last victory on this ground coming all the way back in November 1989. Brest has also scored just once in 5 away games and have suffered 6 defeats (and 3 draws) in their last 10 on the road. With just 4 wins from 24 games and with 4 teams (not 3) facing relegation from Ligue 1 this year, the visitors find themselves in a world of trouble and could be in for a long night.
Following the NBA All-Star break, the Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokić, will face Donovan Mitchell’s Cleveland Cavaliers. This game is particularly exciting as both teams have performed well in the first half of the season, with Denver currently sitting on top of a stacked Western Conference while Cleveland’s 8-2 run to going into the break lifted them up to 4th in the Eastern conference. The positive aspect of this game is that both teams will be in good health after the extended break and so, an exciting match up is expected.
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Donovan Mitchell’s 27.3 PPG makes him one of the most dangerous scorers on the planet, and his 71 pts against the Chicago Bulls last month – the most points scored by an NBA player in 17 years – is proof of that. However, in Nikola Jokić, he faces arguably his toughest opponent yet. The reigning back-to-back MVP is the heavy favorite to pick up the award this season and is currently averaging a triple-double – 24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 10.2 assists. The Serbian Center has 21 triple-doubles this season and the Nuggets are unbeaten in each of these games.
They’ve won 25 consecutive games when Jokic records a triple-double, the longest such streak in NBA history, passing Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers from 1984-87. This game also has all the making of a high scoring affair, and if you care to bet on that specifically, you can visit here to bet on Over 221.5 total points.
Mainz (vs Gladbach) & Boston Celtics (Indiana Pacers) to Both Win @2.82
Mainz and Gladbach are leveled on points and sit 9th and 8th on the Bundesliga table, respectively. While Glabach are the flashier of the two teams with more outstanding performers in Marcus Thuram (11 goals) Alassane Pléa (8 assists) and Jonas Hofmann (7 assists), Mainz are a team that thrives on everyone chipping in. Their 3-2 win away at Bayer Leverkusen was the 2nd of a back to back and 3rd in 4 league games. It must also be said that Gladbach are a tough opponent and did enjoy a memorable 3-2 win of their own against league leaders, Bayern Munich, to blow the title race wider than it’s been in ages.
Karim Onisiwo is Mainz’s top scorer, with 8 goals, but new strike partner Ajorque is yet to score for the club in 5 Bundesliga outings and one DFB Cup appearance. Despite their misfiring new acquisition, they’ve won 3 of their last 4 league games as mentioned earlier (9 points total) and only Dortmund (12) and Union Berlin (10) have picked up more points in that time. The 05ers are unbeaten in their last 4 meetings with Gladbach, but they haven’t beaten the Foals at home since January 2016 and will be hoping their good form can propel them to a win against a Gladbach side who have won just one of their ten away games this season.
In the NBA, #1 Eastern Conference team, the Boston Celtics travel to Indiana to face the Pacers. Not to be deceived by their 12th position in the standings, the Pacers have had a very positive season, though their 2-8 record in their last 10 games coupled with the Celtics having the best record on the road this season (18-10) could spell trouble. Tyrese Haliburton (4th in assists per game) made his first All-Star while Buddy Hield (1st in 3pts made) and Myles Turner (4th in blocks per game) have been the stars of the show in Indiana, though the Pacers’ management would be hoping this translates to more wins.
The Celtics on the other hand have bullied almost everyone that has stood in their way this season. Boston leads the league in Net Rating (6.2) and is the only team in the league ranked Top 4 in both Offensive (116.9) and Defensive Ratings (110.6). But, perhaps, the most impressive thing about the league win-leaders is the depth of their roster and how they’ve utilized it. Their next-man-up attitude has seen them maintain their lead at the top of the East despite multiple injuries to key players. Against the Milwaukee Bucks days before the All-Star break, they were without all 5 of their starters, but still took a healthy Bucks side to Over Time. This game would also feature the home coming of 2017 Rookie of the Year, Malcolm Brogdon. Since being traded to the Celtics in the summer and accepting a reduced playing role, Brogdon has been a major influence on and off the court and the 30-year-old Guard – who currently leads the league in 3pt percentage – is the heavy favorite to win the 6th Man of the Year award. He’ll be eager to put on a show.
Fulham (vs Wolves) & Dallas Mavericks (San Antonio Spurs) to Both Win @2.70
This season, it feels like everyone has been so carried away by Arsenal’s incredible title challenge, they’ve failed to mentioned their fellow Londoners, Fulham, lying in 6th position with 14 games to go. The newly promoted side have more wins (11) than Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool and have a chance to move level on points with the Magpies if they win on Friday night. Led by Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 11 goals and Andreas Pereira’s 6 assists, Marco Silva’s side are on course to have their best ever Premier League season.
They face a Wolves team that may have turned a corner with 3 of their 6 wins this league season coming in their last 5 games, but still has glaring weaknesses, especially up top. In one of the most fascinating stats in the Premier League, Wolves are closing in on one year without a goal from a striker. Diego Costa, Hwang Hee-chan and Raúl Jiménez are yet to score this season, while Sasa Kalajdzic is still out with a torn ACL. Wolves have also struggled with Friday night games with 3 of their last 4 games on this day ending in a loss, though, their only win came against Fulham back in April 2021. Still, this will be a tough task against a Fulham side that has picked up the 2nd most wins (6) in the EPL since the World Cup finished. Only Man Utd (7 wins) boast a better record.
In basketball, the Dallas Mavericks host the Spurs in what should be the easiest win in their schedule. The Spurs have clearly thrown in the towel for this season and their 14 wins is the 2nd lowest, while their 5 wins away from home is the joint worst. The Spurs are focused on one-thing and one-thing only; losing the even more games to increase their chances of drafting the much talked about Victor Wembanyama.
The Dallas Mavericks have the phenom, Luka Dončić, who leads the league in 1st Quarter scoring while newly acquired Kyrie Irving leads the league in 4th Quarter scoring. Barring a miracle as impressive as water being turned to wine at a wedding somewhere in Cana about 2000 years ago, this should be a proper Spurs beat down.
Real Betis (vs Elche) & Los Angeles Lakers (vs Golden State Warriors) to Both Win @3.60
Real Betis travel to face Elche on Friday night in what many believe should be a straightforward win for the visitors. Elche have won just one of their last 6 games against Betis (D2, L3) and are winless at home in their last 4 against them (D3, L1). Elche have also lost each of their last 6 Friday night games, while Real Betis are unbeaten in 9 Friday games (W4, D5). Led by Borja Iglesias’ 9 league goals, the visitors are currently 5th in LaLiga and will be aiming to finish the season on a high and, perhaps, pip an underwhelming Atlético to that 4th and final Champions League spot. Elche, meanwhile, are bottom of the table with just one win all season. Unsurprisingly, they’ve scored the lowest number of goals (15) and conceded the most (45).
These two teams have also struggled with being disciplined on the pitch with Real Betis’ Luiz Felipe (3) and German Pezella (2) combining for 5 Red Cards while Elche’s Gonzalo Verdu (2), Jose Angel Carmona (2) and Pedro Bigas (2) have 6 between them. If you would like to bet on a player getting sent off in this game, that is available @3.50 on the BetKing website here.
In the NBA, the Lakers host the reigning Champions, Golden State Warriors, but Steph Curry is still expected to be out. Regardless, it’s going to be an intense matchup between two sides whose playoff aspirations are anything but certain. The Lakers are 20th in Offensive Rating and 18th in Defensive Rating while the Warriors are 12th and 20th, respectively and newly crowned all-time leading scorer, LeBron James has stressed the importance of this last stretch of the season, calling the final 23 games left “23 of the most important games of my career”. He has also hinted at his displeasure at the unavailability of co-star, Anthony Davis, whose unwanted nickname “Street Clothes” was born out of him spending more time on the sidelines than on the court.
Prior to his injury, Anthony Davis was on an MVP-worthy run and, though he’s still putting up good numbers since his return (22.5 points & 12.9 rebounds per game), the Lakers have not dominated the win-loss column as they boast just 4 wins in their last 10. However, given the new players the Lakers traded for who provide a better balance for the team, as well as the unavailability of Steph Curry, the Lakers should take this at home.
