Cross Sport Special (15th & 16th April)

For the first time in NBA history, all four California teams (the Sacramento Kings, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors and LA Lakers) have made the playoffs with the Warriors and Kings facing each other. We look at these teams and more as the NBA playoff kicks off this weekend and a few football games. Before that, you can head to our Cross Sport Specials page to check out some of the special offers we have.

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Real Madrid (v. Cadiz) & Boston Celtics (v. Atlanta Hawks) to win @1.95

This Saturday, Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla will host the match between Cadiz and Real Madrid. The home side fancies their chances, having avoided defeat in three of their last five meetings with Real Madrid (W1, D2, L2). However, with only 23 goals scored this season in LaLiga, only rock-bottom Elche (20) have scored fewer goals than Cadiz and it’s hard to see them outscoring Los Blancos. Real Madrid looked good last time out against Chelsea in the Champions League, making up for their weekend loss to Villarreal. Although they’ll have one eye on the return leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, they’ll want to avoid consecutive defeats in the league, something they haven’t suffered since the 2018/19 season..

The Boston Celtics begin their quest to return to the NBA finals with a home game against the Atlanta Hawks. The two teams met three times in the regular season, with the Celtics winning all three games, including a dead rubber clash on the last day of the season in which three Celtics players – Sam Hauser, Mike Muscala, and Payton Pritchard – recorded career-highs in points scored. While there isn’t much separating the two teams on offense, the Celtics are the better side. They rank second in Offensive Rating, while the Hawks rank seventh. The Celtics rank fourth in PPG, while the Hawks rank third. However, the Celtics rank sixth and seventh in 3PT% and Assists, respectively, while the Hawks rank 21st and 18th in those categories. On the defensive side of the ball, the Celtics have a significant edge.

They rank second in Defensive Rating, while the Hawks are 22nd, and they rank fifth in opposition PPG, while the Hawks are 26th. This has been key to the Celtics’ dominance in their recent meetings (5-0) stretching back to last season, and we expect the reigning Eastern Conference champions to heavily rely on this once more.

Golden State Warriors (v. Sacramento Kings) & Max Holloway (v. Arnold Allen) to win @3.45

These two North Carolina teams are meeting for the first time in playoff history. The Sacramento Kings ended their 16-year playoff drought in style by finishing with the highest Offensive Rating in NBA history (118.6) and a league-high 120.7 PPG. The Golden State Warriors were not far behind with 118.9 PPG (2nd in the league) and led the league in both 3-pointers attempted (43.2) and made (16.6). The Warriors won three of their four meetings in the regular season, which should give them a psychological boost, especially after a poor season by their lofty standards.

While the Warriors’ duo of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and the Kings’ duo of Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox are expected to play huge parts in the series, Steph Curry will once again be the key to the outcome. The reigning finals MVP played in three of the four regular season meetings between the two teams and averaged 35.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists on 58.7% shooting and 51.5% from 3pt in those games. Despite the Warriors’ well-documented struggles on the road this season, it’s tough to bet against Curry when he has a point to prove.

Former Featherweight Champion Max Holloway will have to put the disappointment of his July loss aside when he faces Arnold Allen in the UFC on Sunday. Holloway suffered his third career loss to Alexander Volkanovski, against whom he lost his Featherweight title in their first meeting at UFC 245 in 2019, and has been tagged as “washed up” ever since. He’ll get a shot at redemption against Arnold Allen (19-1), who is currently on a 12-fight winning streak dating back to 2014.

Allen is a better grappler with a 21% win rate from submission and averages 1.35 takedowns per 15 minutes, while Holloway averages 0.29 takedowns per 15 minutes. However, Holloway is a better striker and will likely rely on his striking skills. He lands 7.24 strikes per minute, compared to Allen’s 3.4, but also absorbs more strikes per minute (4.89 compared to Allen’s 2.25). Additionally, Holloway has an 84% takedown defense, which could be significant if Allen tries to take the fight to the ground.

Manchester United (v. Nottingham Forest) & LA Lakers (v. Memphis Grizzlies) to win @4.40

The Red Devils return to Nottingham Forest’s City Ground for a Premier League for the first time since February 1999 when a certain substitute named Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the bench in the 80th minute to score an EPL record 4 goals in 10 minutes in their now famous 8-1 win. It’s hard to imagine a repeat scoreline, especially with Marcus Rashford still expected to be absent following a groin injury, but Erik ten Hag will still aim for a win. Both sides have met thrice this season already – once in the Premier League and twice in the semis of the League Cup – and Manchester United have won all three games with an aggregate scoreline of 8-0. In fact, Manchester United have won each of their last 9 games against Sunday’s host in all competitions while scoring at least 3 goals in each of their last 6 league meetings with them. Nottingham Forest, on the other hand, are winless and without a clean sheet in their last 9 games, and it’s hard to see them turning this around against a Red Devils side that will welcome Casemiro back into the fold.

In the NBA, the Lakers return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. In Game 1, they’ll be on the road in Memphis to face the young and exciting Grizzlies side that clearly do not lack confidence in their abilities. According to Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks in an interview on Tuesday: “I wouldn’t mind playing LeBron in a seven-game series. [It’s his] first time back in the playoffs [since 2021].

Knock him out right away. They’ll test us good. They’ve got good pieces, good players. That’ll be a good first-round matchup for us.” Words you can expect LeBron James to take personal. While the Grizzlies should pose a bigger threat than the Timberwolves did against the Lakers in the play-in game on Tuesday, there is a significant match up problem that could prove costly for the Grizzlies. Both Centers, Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke are both out for the season and guarding Anthony Davis – Lakers’ best player this season – could be very difficult. Jaren Jackson Jr, one of the leading candidates for Defensive Player of the Year, might seem like an obvious choice to guard Anthony Davis, but he has a knack for picking up fouls. Jaren Jackson Jr averages 3.6 fouls a game which has limited him to just 28.4 minutes per game. Having the Grizzlies’ best defender in early foul trouble could be one way for the Lakers to take this first game and an experienced LeBron James and his teammates are bound to exploit this little advantage.

Monterrey (v. Santos Laguna) & Phoenix Suns (v. LA Clippers) to win @2.28

In Mexico, table toppers Monterrey welcome 11th place Santos Laguna to the Estadio BBVA Bancomer needing just 1 more win to secure the Liga MX Clausura. Monterrey suffered a loss to Club America last weekend despite taking an early lead and would be eager to return to winning ways. At home, they’ve won 6 straight games with their last loss coming on the 8th of January. Santos Laguna will be weary on this trip as they’ve struggled on the road for most of the season. They have just one away win since September, losing 5 games and drawing 5 in that period. However, they’ll feel a bit of confidence in themselves having beaten Monterrey earlier this season in a 7-goal thriller. Twice Monterrey held the lead and twice Santos Laguna mounted a comeback which they completed with a 91st minute winning goal, thanks to Brian Lozano. That said, Monterrey, well within reach of yet another title, would want to wrap this up at home in front of their fans.

In what we expect to be the most exciting matchup of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Suns and Clippers face off in Phoenix in Game 1 on Sunday. It’ll be a chance to see former teammates Kevin Durant face off against old teammate Russell Westbrook with other superstars like Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul & Devin Booker around them. Both sides met four times this season, evenly splitting the wins with 2 apiece. However, it is important to point out that Kevin Durant was not available in any of those games having been on another team in the first two meetings and being rested for the other two. The 2-time finals MVP is expected to be the deciding factor in this series despite his recent battles with injuries. Dating back to November 27th, Kevin Durant’s record in games he’s played is 25-2, including an unbeaten record (8-0) with the Suns. The last time Durant played in a loss was Jan. 4 vs. Chicago in which he scored 44 points that night on 15 of 22 shooting. Durant also has a better head-to-head record over Kawhi Leonard (12-8) and averages 27.4/6.9/4 on 50.4% shooting while Kawhi is averaging 15.8/7.1/2.5 on 45.9% shooting. With Kawhi having scored 30 points or more in just one occasion against Durant in 20 games, and with Paul George expected to miss the start of this series with an injury, it’s hard to see Clippers’ offense keeping up with Suns’ scoring and the Suns should take Game 1.