NBA best bet: Jump on this Pacers-Lakers SGP

Tonight turns to the hardwood in Indiana as we have two teams with a particular positional vulnerability that plays in just beautifully to a prop play this evening. 

When we begin our NBA research, we tend to go look at how positions have done in various stats over the past month against a team. For example, we look at which teams have allowed the most points to point guards over the last 30 days. As we poked around, we found ourselves a heck of a play.

+149 SGP for Lakers-Pacers

The news of note for this game is that tonight will be the expected return of Indiana's best player, Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton has averaged 20.2 points and 10.2 assists per game this season, and since his injury on Jan. 11, the Pacers have dropped nine of 10. His return to the starting lineup will be a welcome sight for a team that was right in the mix in the Eastern Conference prior to his elbow injury.

Haliburton has been ramping up his practice and appears set to regain his role, and he couldn't have found himself a better opponent to get back on the court against.

Over the last 30 days, the Lakers have allowed the most points per game to point guards. You may remember we targeted them on Tuesday with Jalen Brunson, and we were almost embarrassed to have only recommended him to score 20+ points after seeing the Knicks guard finish with 37.

We'll be taking another conservative approach here with Haliburton's points given it is his first game back. Haliburton dropped 24 on Los Angeles at the end of November, but for tonight, we're asking for just 15+. The Pacers PG has hit that number in 83% of games this season, including 13 of his last 14 prior to getting injured.

Leg No. 1: Haliburton 15+ points

We'll be pairing Haliburton's points with LeBron James's rebounds. Once we found this line we actually had to do a double-take that it was really available to us. At reasonable odds, we can bet LeBron to haul in eight rebounds, a mark he has reached in 11 straight games. 

Over the past 30 days, no team is allowing more rebounds/game to SFs than Indiana. We saw that first, then we saw how consistent LeBron has been on the glass. With the highest over/under of the night (240) the pace feels likely to stay high, which should yield plenty of rebounding chances for LeBron. 

Leg No. 2: LeBron 8+ rebounds

Together, this Same Game Parlay comes in at +149 on FanDuel. Count us in.

In the news ...

Relocation rumors ramp up for Athletics to Vegas — With Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher headed to Vegas this week, rumors are once again heating up that the A's will be moving their team to Sin City. The Athletics have been vying for a new stadium from the city of Oakland for quite some time, and with those talks stalling out, a move to a new city feels almost inevitable at this point. It appears Las Vegas is the only city in play for the A's if they choose to relocate, so we may very well see how our third professional team in Vegas sooner before later.

Super Bowl bets and odds to keep your eye on — Super Bowl LVII between Kansas City and Philadelphia is still nine days away, but that hasn't stopped us from gathering intel on the betting markets and the props to keep an eye on. The odds have settled now and give the Eagles a 55% chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in five years. If you're looking for some player prop looks, we have you covered there with some early thoughts on both quarterbacks.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown make history as Celtics continue to cruise — During a 139-96 blowout win over the Nets, the Celtics' two stars set a unique scoring record. Tatum and Brown have both scored 25+ in the same game 27 times this season, which is the most by any duo prior to the All-Star break in NBA history. The 1-2 punch by Boston's "Jays" is a massive reason they top the NBA this year, and it's hard to imagine we'll ever be getting better odds on the Celtics to win the East than we're getting right now at +185.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll