The Miami Heat will be without Jimmy Butler as they visit the Sacramento Kings.
The pregame narrative: I expect Tyler Herro to pick up the slack and have a big night on offence. Prop picks on Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk round out this +335 SGP.
Check out my Heat vs. Kings same-game parlay predictions for Jan. 6.
Heat vs. Kings predictions
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Parlay: Herro over 23.5 points + Sabonis over 5.5 assists + Monk over 2.5 threes (+380)
Herro over 23.5 points (-122): It was hard to pick a side here with the Kings playing on a back-to-back and the Heat airing out their dysfunction in public.
Butler was suspended seven games internally for multiple instances of violating team conduct. In other words, he wants out of Miami and made it known.
In Butler’s first game out, Herro struggled against the Utah Jazz. He scored 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting and went 1-for-8 from 3-point range.
Herro can be a streaky scorer, though, and this is a good matchup for him. Sacramento allows the third-most points to shooting guards per game (24.0), according to Fantasy Pros.
In the Heat and Kings’ first meeting of the season back on Nov. 3, Herro had 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting. He also canned five 3s on 11 attempts.
If Miami wants to hold onto its playoff spot, Herro will need to play well in Butler’s absence. This is a great spot for him against a worn-down side.
SGP legs
Sabonis over 5.5 rebounds (-129): Last night, I used this same wager as a leg in my parlay for the Kings vs. Golden State Warriors game.
Sabonis finished with seven assists and hardly played down the stretch as Sacramento ended up blowing out Golden State, 129-99.
The versatile big man played just 29 minutes but filled up the stat sheet.
Once again, De’Aaron Fox is questionable on Monday but missed the game last night, so there’s concern. It’s worth monitoring, but this is a number Sabonis can clear with or without Fox.
Sabonis has six-plus assists in five straight games and averages 6.2 per contest.
Monk over 2.5 threes (-159): For the final leg, I wanted to find another wager I feel good about regardless of Fox’s status.
Over the last two games, Monk has hit 11 of his 20 attempted threes. He’s on a tear right now and this is a modest total.
Since Nov. 27, he is 12-6 against this line. In that time, Monk is averaging 3.2 threes on 8.3 attempts.
Picks made at 12:14 p.m. ET 01/06/2025
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.