Friday’s Best Bets: NBA, College Basketball & NHL (3/3)
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 all of our best bets across each major sport in action today.
Today’s Best Bets
Here are today’s best NBA bets.
NBA Best Bets
NBA Same Game Parlay Picks
Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets
- Leg 1: Jaylen Brown Over 2.5 Three Pointers (+106)
- Leg 2: Jayson Tatum Over 28.5 Points (-113)
- Leg 3: Mikal Bridges Over 21.5 Points (-108)
Brown sometimes gets overshadowed by Tatum, but the former averages 26.3 points per game. One reason his average is high is the number of three pointers he attempts per game. Brown attempts an average of 7.45 per game. Tonight, he will have additional opportunities against a struggling Nets team.
Tatum is one of the best scorers in the NBA. He averages 30.3 points per game and can score in bunches. Tatum is one of the highest volume shooters in the NBA too. That means he has plenty of chances to score.
Ever since the Nets traded away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they have needed a player to step up. Lately, that player has been Bridges. Since being traded to the Nets, he is averaging 23.4 points per game, becoming the team’s top scoring option. These three legs are a perfect combination for a parlay.
Parlay Odds: +629 (FanDuel)
- Cameron Lynch
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NBA Game Picks
Phoenix Suns vs. Chicago Bulls
While the Suns with Kevin Durant still have plenty of growing to do before they can be considered a lock in the Western Conference, game #1 on Wednesday showed me they’re further along than I thought. Beating the Hornets by 14 on the road, they’ll get a similar level of competition tonight in Chicago.
Despite winning three of their last four, the Bulls have beaten up the likes of Detroit in Brooklyn and, spanning back over their last 10, have won just three and covered two. With ground to make up in the West, the Suns roll tonight over a much weaker opponent, even by NBA standards.
Bet: Suns -5.5 (-110)
- Johnny Perun
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First Basket Scorer
New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat
An exciting Eastern Conference rivalry is renewed yet again on Friday night as the Knicks head to Miami to take on the Heat. It should be an exciting game, but I'm focused on the First Basket matchup. Miami remains one of the worst teams in the league at cashing First Basket props, while the red-hot Knicks are doing so at over a 50% rate.
Miami has a few deficiencies when it comes to positions they tend to give up their first field goals. Opposing centers and shooting guards have been most successful against Miami, combining for the first field goal in about half of their games. This leads to two Knicks that I'm targeting for Friday night.
Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson lead the Knicks in First Baskets on the season and are priced as such. Because of this, I'm not targeting either. I'm going to take Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett. They sit third and fourth on the team in First Baskets, and because of the matchup stats with Miami, I like one of them to score a longshot First Basket winner.
Pick: 0.25u on Mitchell Robinson (+750) & 0.25u on RJ Barrett (+850)
- Ryan Rodeman
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NBA Prop Bets
Chris Paul over 20.5 Pts + Ast (-125 DraftKings)
It is clear that Kevin Durant's presence is going to vastly help Paul's facilitating as he immediately records double-digit assists with Durant playing. Now you can't expect him to score at as high a clip, but the books have already baked that in. 20.5 for this combo prop is simply too low.
Chicago offers a small pace-up spot for Phoenix, and this Suns’ offense is so dynamic that Paul might break this combo prop with assists alone. I'll keep this short and sweet and am quite comfortable throwing a unit on this one.
- Ryan Coleman
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College Basketball Best Bets
Toledo vs. Ball State
How can I not write about two of the top four MAC teams going at it on a Friday night? Seriously though, don't sleep on the MAC.
To spoil this pick early, I'm taking the over. Toledo has been magnificent of late, with the third-ranked momentum metric in all of DI basketball right now. They boast a top-10 offense in the nation with a top-60 pace that should be electric to watch in the tournament if they can secure the auto-bid.
I've seen some books have this line set at 159.5 while KenPom projects it out at 164. I'm not the only one who thinks they will go over the point total tonight. Both teams rank outside the top 200 in defense and these offenses line up well for a lot of scoring to be had.
This should be a fantastic game tonight.
Play: Over 158.5 (-110 at DraftKings)
- Ryan Coleman
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NHL Best Bets
Carolina Hurricanes (-335) @ Arizona Coyotes (+255) | O/U 6 (-104/-118)
In perhaps the most lopsided affair on Friday’s slate, the Coyotes host the Hurricanes. Correctly priced as a massive favorite, Carolina should have no issue disposing of the lowly Yotes.
At 5-on-5, the Canes rank second in the league in expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60) and first in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60). Meanwhile, Arizona ranks 30th in the league in xGF/60 and 28th in xGA/60 at 5-on-5.
The one area where the Yotes can somewhat compete with Carolina is in net. The projected goaltending matchup is Frederik Andersen versus Karel Vejmelka. Both guys possesses similar stats.
The closeness in goaltending should not offset the massive disparity between these two teams’ offense and defense. The Canes have won five of the last six meetings between these two teams, with four of those five wins coming by at least a two-goal margin.
Best Bet: Hurricanes -1.5 (-130 via DraftKings)
- Tony Sartori
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