2024 NBA bets, lines and stats for Monday - ESPN

First of all, Merry New Year, my friends!

Second: this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Giannis Antetokounmpo has a game against the Indiana Pacers tonight! There are seven games on tap to start the New Year, and we'll dig into them below. But, based on what we've seen this season, there is only one place we can begin this article identifying interesting angles and matchups for the night...

Giannis Antetokounmpo over 35.5 points (-120). I didn't care where this line was set, I was taking the over. This will be the fourth time this season that Giannis has faced the Pacers. In the first three games, he is averaging 51.7 PPG on 72.2 FG%. You read that right. He has not scored less than 37 points in any of the games. The last time he faced the Pacers, Giannis dropped a franchise-record 64 points, then the Pacers angered him by refusing to let him have the game ball. Again, I'm not overthinking this one. I'm going over on Giannis points every time he faces the Pacers this season.

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Cavaliers +2.5 over Raptors (-115). The Cavaliers have won five of their last seven games, despite injury/illness absences from primary players Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley during that stretch. Mitchell returned last game with 34 points and 9 assists, and should be full speed on Monday. The Raptors have lost five of their last six games, including their most recent game when they became the first team in 29 contests to lose to the Pistons. The Raptors just made a big trade, and new additions R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are likely to make