NBA Player Prop Bets & Expert Picks for Christmas: Bet this LeBron James Over in Lakers vs. Mavericks (December 25)

NBA Player Prop Bet & Pick for Christmas Day

Lakers vs.

Mavericks

LeBron James Over 29.5 Points (-122)

Christmas Day is one of the biggest days on the NBA calendar. It often is a day where the stars come out and have big performances. In Dallas, two of the league's biggest stars will go head-to-head as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers take on Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks — and one of those two stars is our best NBA player prop bet and pick for the Christmas game between the Lakers and Mavericks.

That matchup will give Doncic the opportunity to go against his idol on Christmas. Though he does not have James' athleticism, Doncic has drawn comparisons to James for their big frames, high basketball IQ, and elite passing ability. Doncic is coming off a 50-point performance on Friday night against the Rockets and is the league's leading scorer. However, there may be more value on James in this matchup.

As one of the long-standing faces of the league, LeBron James has been a fixture on Christmas. James has played on Christmas Day 16 times in his career, averaging 26.4 points in those games. This season, James is averaging 27.4 points per game and is 11th in the league in scoring.

Over his last 10 games, James has scored 30 points six times and finished with 28 and 29 in two other games. However, he has really come on in the last six games with six consecutive 30-point game, averaging 32.6 points per game in that span. The last three games have come without Anthony Davis, who remains out indefinitely.

Without Davis, the burden falls more on James to score, and his volume goes up. He has taken over 20 shots in each of his last six games and in nine of 10 games this month. He has remained efficient, however, shooting 52.6% from the field on 23 attempts per game in December.

The Mavericks are sixth in the league in scoring defense, but that has a lot to do with their pace, which is 29th in the league. The Lakers, on the other hand, play at the fastest pace in the league. Dallas ranks 23rd in field goal percentage and is 29th defending small forwards according to props.cash. Dallas will be without forward Dorian Finney-Smith, the team's best perimeter defender, once again, which will make it tough to slow down James.

The stage is for James to have another big performance on Christmas.

Pick: LeBron James Over 29.5 Points

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