It’s a small slate of games in the NBA on Friday night with just five on the schedule. Despite the minimal action, there are still plenty of great betting opportunities. Here are a few of my favorite picks for best bets of the night.
Friday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
This is the third matchup of the season between these two divisional rivals. They’ve split both of the first two straight up but Chicago has taken both ATS. This includes a Chicago win on Wednesday at home. The Bulls shot the leather off the ball, as 56% from the floor and 39% from deep was more than enough to put 127 points on the board and run the Cavaliers off the floor.
Defensively, Cleveland has been atrocious in the month of December. They’ve allowed 118.4 PPG en route to a 2-5 ATS record and 3-4 SU. Chicago sits about average in shotmaking, but at the rim they’re one of the worst in the league from a FG% standpoint, which is why the 68 paint points on Wednesday stick out like a sore thumb. Cleveland has some injuries, particularly Evan Mobley, who is a key piece of this defense but the effort shown on Wednesday was not up to their capabilities.
Cleveland should knock some rust off and start to turn things around soon. Against a team they just played on Wednesday and shot well over their season average, they should have the adjustment advantage. I’ll be looking to back the Cavaliers.
Pick: Cavaliers -6.5 (-110)
Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
Miami will be coming off of a back-to-back after a win over the Nets on Thursday. For Boston, this is their first game since Monday when they lost to Detroit. It was back-to-back poor shooting performances by the Celtics particularly from three. Boston combined to make just 26.1% 3P% on 88 attempts in the two games. Although they’re only about average this season at 36.1%, that’s still well below their typical performance.
Miami has been battling some injuries, including Tyler Herro who has missed two straight games for the Heat. He is possible to return in this game, but expect some other players to get limited minutes after six players got 29+ minutes on Thursday in their win.
Miami needs to turn things around quickly. They’ve gone just 2-5 SU and 2-4-1 ATS in the month of December. However, Boston is a real player in the Eastern conference. They aren’t the type of team to lose three in a row like this, especially shooting this poorly from deep. I expect the Celtics to improve on that shooting and take care of business against a tired Miami team on Friday.
Pick: Celtics -6.5 (-110)