After the Celtics vs Magic game concludes, one of the most anticipated match-ups of the season will take place from the STAPLES Center as "The Big 3" of the Miami Heat travel to take on the reigning NBA champion Los Angles Lakers. Heat vs Lakers odds have a scheduled tip-off at 5:00pm EST and can be seen on ABC television. Online sportsbooks have opened with the Lakers as a 3-point favorite at home in NBA betting picks vs the Heat with an over/under betting total of 193. Sportsbooks also favor Los Angeles -150 in money line NBA odds vs Miami +130 for Christmas Day basketball on ABC.
LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade will look to win their second game in a row on Saturday after defeating the Phoenix Suns 95-83 on Thursday as 5-point favorites in NBA betting picks to go 14-16-1 ATS for the season. Miami had sputtered throughout the season with the big name acquisitions during the off-season but began to find their rhythm at the end of November and pulled off twelve consecutive wins before falling 96-98 to the Dallas Mavericks on December 20th. Miami is slowly picking up their scoring average but are still just 12th overall (100.6) with James averaging 24.7-ppg and Wade right behind with 23.5-ppg. Wade is listed as doubtfult to play in NBA odds on Saturday suffering from a injured knee but some Vegas sources think he will not miss the opportunity to play in the Christmas Day special vs the Lakers.
The Lakers had won five straight games before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks 79-98 on Tuesday as 11.5-point favorites in NBA betting picks at the STAPLES Center to go 14-15 ATS for the season. Kobe Bryant leads the offense (25.7) of the 5th ranked Lakers (105.4) as they will try to make a statement vs the Eastern Conference favorite Heat on Christmas Day. Pau Gasol has been cleaning the boards for Los Angles averaging 11.1-pg while Bryant also leads in assists (4.6) with Ron Artest averaging 1.6-steals per game. The Lakers have the betting trends in their favor for today's Christmas Day match-up having gone 21-4 at the STAPLES Centers this year and 5-0 when playing at home vs the Heat.
NBA Betting Picks - December 25, 2010: Miami Heat +3