After a few overtime thrillers yesterday, 6 exciting fixtures await us on this NBA Friday slate. Giannis leads the Bucks into Boston, whilst Anthony Davis and the Pelicans play a visit to the Trail Blazers in the TNT double-header. With plenty of value on offer today, let’s take a look at our 3 best bets and a 2-fold daily multi.
Charlotte Hornets
The 4-4 Hornets enter this matchup off the back of a comfortable home win over Miami. PG Kemba Walker has gotten off to a very strong start to the season, averaging 30 points and 6 assists, whilst also shooting 41% from deep. Point Guard Tony Parker dropped 24 points off the bench in Wednesday’s victory, reminiscent of old times. Another exciting development for Charlotte this season has been the development of Shooting Guard Malik Monk. He dropped an efficient 20 points against the Heat, as he continues to earn the trust of Coach James Borrego.
Oklahoma City Thunder
After a shock 0-4 start to the season, the Thunder have rebounded strongly with consecutive home victories. Russell Westbrook dropped an efficient 32 points and 8 assists in another instalment of his rivalry with Patrick Beverley. Paul George continued his strong start to the campaign with 32 points and 12 boards, whilst Center Steven Adams rounded out the ‘big 3’ with a double-double of his own. Dennis Schroder has averaged an impressive 13 and 6 so far in this campaign and will look to contain the effective backup Hornets Guards in this one.
Prediction: Thunder +1.5
After their slow start, I think the Thunder are about to go on a run here. They have the two best players on the floor, whilst Steven Adams can handle anything the Charlotte bigs throw at him. OKC have too much star power here as they take the outright victory in Charlotte.
Philadelphia 76ers
The 4-4 Sixers have had an inconsistent start to the season and enter this one off a 17-point defeat in Toronto. Aussie Ben Simmons has still started the season strongly, averaging a well-rounded 13.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 8 assists per game. Center Joel Embiid has enjoyed averages of 27 and 12 so far, dropping an impressive 31 against the Raptors on Wednesday. Aside from J.J. Redick, the rest of the Sixers supporting cast just hasn’t been there this season. None of their wins have been to impressive this season and I can see them struggling against this deep Clippers side.
Los Angeles Clippers
The 4-3 Clippers travel to Philadelphia after a disappointing loss to OKC on Wednesday. A dreadful 3rd quarter that saw them score only 10 points was the catalyst for defeat there. That said, they do boast 2 impressive wins over Houston as well as wins over OKC and Washington in their first 7. Small Forward Danilo Gallinari is averaging 20 points and 6 boards so far, whilst Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley have both started the year strongly. A bench unit featuring Lou Williams, Boban, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Montrezl Harrell has performed very well so far and should dominate the matchup with Philly’s shaky bench.
Prediction: Clippers +5
None of the 76ers wins so far have come against anyone of note. I think the deep and versatile roster of the Clippers can give them problems here. Especially with the key number of 5, I’m fairly confident in a Clippers cover in this one.
Atlanta Hawks
The 2-5 Hawks return home after back-to-back 20-point defeats on the road. Center Alex Len put in a fine display against the Cavaliers on Wednesday, going 9-9 for the field as he went off for 22 points and 9 boards. Trae Young also had an efficient display, going 9-13 from the field as he put up 24 points and 4 assists. It was defensively where Atlanta lost this one. They gave up 50% from the field and a further 50% from 3 to the previously winless Cavaliers side, getting comfortably outrebounded as well.
Sacramento Kings
Sacramento continue their East-coast road trip at 5-3 after 4 consecutive wins. Point Guard De’Aaron Fox has led the way with impressive averages of 17.5 points and 6.9 assists, shooting 48% from the field in the process. Second overall pick Marvin Bagley has also started the season strongly, averaging 12 points and 7 boards off the bench. Willie Cauley-Stein, Nemanja Bjelica and Buddy Hield have all been strong components of an offensively dominant Kings starting five.
Prediction: Atlanta Hawks +1.5
Almost every possible metric in this one points to taking the Kings, so I’m doing the exact opposite. Whilst they’ve surprised everyone so far, this number places a ton of line value on the Atlanta Hawks. Sacramento were just 5-point underdogs to Orlando and now they’re road favourites? This is definitely a contrarian play, but I see Trae Young leading Atlanta to victory here.
There are only 2 teams that really fit the criteria of what I’m after with a daily multi here. I expect the 6-1 Nuggets to continue their very strong start as they travel to Cleveland to face the hapless Cavaliers. Similarly, I think the strong defense of Boston will cause Milwaukee problems in a rematch of last year’s playoff series. At $1.91, this represents solid value to me.