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Saturday’s Best NBA, NASCAR & UFC Bets (2/17)

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No matter your sport of choice, there’s always sports betting action to be had. We’ll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are our best bets across each major sport in action today.

Today’s Best Bets

NBA Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

2024 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest

It’s no secret that Mac McClung is favored in this four-man contest.

McClung won the competition last year after earning multiple 50s. However, the competition wasn’t so high last year. McClung put on a show and didn’t have a single dunk that wasn’t a 50.

You’d like to think he’ll put more effort into this contest than a player like Jaylen Brown, who is likely just doing this for fun. McClung could likely use the sponsors and the income from this contest. Brown doesn’t need any of that.

I thought McClung was more original than we’ve seen in the past. In his first dunk last year, he jumped over two people on top of each other. In the next dunk, he did a kick-it, twist-it, 360-dunk.

Then, with his third dunk, McClung grabbed the ball on top of a person’s head, double-clutched it, put it between his legs and then slammed it down behind his head.

By his fourth dunk, it was basically over when McClung had another spectacular dunk. McClung added three 50s in four attempts.

Even the commentators admitted that he saved the dunk contest. So whatever he has in store is probably super original and fun.

Bet: Mac McClung (-170)

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NASCAR Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

2024 Daytona 500

Prior to his pole-winning qualifying run on Wednesday, I was able to use a DraftKings boost to take Joey Logano’s already-undervalued 14-1 outrights odds all the way to 21-1. Logano won comp track Atlanta and finished second in the Daytona 500 last year.

This comes as no surprise. The Conneticut native spent 68.9% of his laps inside the top 15 (sixth-most). He also had the sixth-best average running position (11.3) and the third-best driver rating (102.7), behind only the Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Fords. In fact, Logano ranked second in combined driver ratings across all superspeedways in 2023. That’s behind only Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, who will go to a backup car after wrecking in the Duels.

Although it hasn’t happened in quite some time, the winner of the Dyaotna 500 has come from the front row in 24.6% of races. Seemingly being there at the end more often than not, Logano is very much live to win his second Harley J. Earl Trophy on Sunday. He’s still hanging out there at 13-1 at some books, a price I’m willing to pay to invest in the No. 22 car.

Bet: Joey Logano Outright (13-1)

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UFC Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

UFC 298: Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro

The prelims open up with a banger in the Light Heavyweight division as Zhang Mingyang squares off against Brendson Ribeiro. Mingyang is the slightest of favorites at -122 on the moneyline. His Brazilian counterpart comes back at +102 to get his hand raised. 

Someone’s going to sleep in this fight. The oddsmakers agree, pricing the under 1.5 rounds at -298. You get a +220 payout if you’re brave enough to take the over. Mingyang enters at 16-6-0, with 10 wins by knockout and six coming via submission. Also, of his six losses, three have been knockouts, and two have been by tapping. As for Ribeiro, he’s 15-5-0 (1NC), with nine wins coming by knockout and six coming by submission. Four-fifths of his losses have ended prior to the judges’ scorecards. 

So, being that this fight is so evenly matched, I will ride with Ribeiro with the plus-money payout. The Brazilian has the edge in both height (6-foot-3 vs. 6-foot-2) and reach (81 inches vs. 75 inches), and his opponents are landing less often than Mingyang’s (36% vs. 41%). While it sounds obvious, not absorbing massive blows will likely determine the winner in this one. Let’s take a flier on Ribeiro. 

Bet: Brendson Ribeiro Moneyline (+102)

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