NBA Gambling Daily Double For Sunday, December 11

None of the NBA games Sunday will get a screen on my three-TV living room wall. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to bet on the NBA. I've got a couple of gambling looks in Sunday's seven-game slate such as the Kings-Knicks and Raptors-Magic.

Sacramento Kings (14-10) at New York Knicks (13-13)

Both teams are playing well entering Sunday. The Kings have won and covered four of their last five and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 Friday without leading scorer De'Aaron Fox. Fox is "questionable" to play.

The Knicks have won and covered three straight, all three by double digits including a 92-81 win vs. the Cavs at full strength in NY on Dec. 4. New York's defense in particular has stepped up recently.

Over the past two weeks, the Knicks have the third-best non-garbage time defensive rating, per CleaningTheGlass.com (CTG). NY also defends what Sacramento does frequently -- chuck 3s.

The Kings are sixth in 3-point-attempt rate whereas the Knicks are second in defensive effective field goal shooting (eFG%) and contest the third-most 3-point attempts per game.

Not only that but New York All-Star Julius Randle has been ballin' lately and he's the best player on the floor Sunday. This month Randle is averaging 27.3 points per game on 62.5% true shooting (.459/.378/.900) with a +30.0 net rating in four games.

Randle's eFG% this season is higher than in the 2020-21 season when Randle made his only All-Star game and won NBA's Most Improved Player. The reason for this is obvious: Jalen Brunson.

The Knicks finally have a point guard and Brunson takes a lot of pressure off of Randle. Brunson allows Randle to stick to what he does best: Get buckets.

Also, Randle lit up Sacramento big Domantas Sabonis last season for 46 points on 58.1% shooting (8-of-16 from behind the arc) in a 131-115 NY win.

NBA Best Bet #1: Knicks -2 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook, up to -2.5


Toronto Raptors (13-13) at Orlando Magic (7-20)

Let's take the Raptors in a good, ole Zig-Zag Theory play. This is where you bet the losing team in the second of a back-to-back (B2B). Orlando beat Toronto 113-109 at home in the first of their B2B Friday.

Coaching staffs make adjustments and it's tough to beat the same team twice in consecutive games. Toronto is a good Zig-Zag bet because Raptors coach Nick Nurse is one of the best X's and O's guys in the Association.

Toronto did a lot of things right against Orlando Friday. The Raptors outperformed the Magic in three of the "four factors" but Orlando just sunk a ton of buckets.

Furthermore, Toronto All-Star Pascal Siakam cooked the Magic for 36 points and was +12 in +/-. If Siakam's teammates pulled their weight, Raptors-Magic Friday would've had a different outcome.

The sportsbooks didn't adjust much from that game and these teams have pretty much the same injury reports. Toronto went from an 8-point favorite Friday to Raptors -7 for this matchup.

These teams are tied 1-1 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) since Toronto won the first meeting with Orlando 121-108 at home on Dec. 3, covering as an 11.5-point favorite.

But, the Raptors usually play well in Orlando. In fact, the Magic's win Friday snapped Toronto's five-game ATS winning streak in Orlando. The Raptors are 4-2 ATS since 2021 as road favorites of -6 or greater.

Also, there's been line movement in the betting market toward Toronto. The public is almost split on who to bet at DraftKings (per VSIN) but nearly two-thirds of the money is on the Raptors at the time of writing.

NBA Best Bet #2: Raptors -7 (-110) at DraftKings Sportsbook, up to -8


Written by
Geoff Clark serves as OutKick’s sports betting guru. As a writer and host of OutKick Bets with Geoff Clark, he dives deep into the sports betting landscape and welcomes an array of sports betting personalities on his show to handicap America’s biggest sporting events. Previously, Clark was a writer/podcaster for USA TODAY's Sportsbook Wire website, handicapping all the major sports tentpoles with a major focus on the NFL, NBA and MLB. Clark graduated from St. John University.