Friday’s Best NBA, NHL & MLB Bets (3/1)
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)
Charlotte Hornets @ Philadelphia 76ers
The Hornets will travel to Philadelphia on the second night of a back-to-back. They’ll take on a Philadelphia team that has been falling down the standings since Joel Embiid went out with an injury. In his place, Paul Reed has filled in at the starting center spot, and although he can’t match Embiid’s production, he’s filled the role of big man well.
Well enough, in fact, that I like him for First Basket in this matchup. Charlotte struggles mightily against big men in these early-game situations. Centers, in particular, are a huge weak spot. The 76ers should be able to exploit that matchup and look to Reed early here.
Reed has only made 22 starts on the season, but in those games, he has four first-team scores and has cashed this prop twice. Neither of those numbers is eye-popping, even with his limited chances, but the matchup is too good to pass up the value of Reed in this game.
Check out our other NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions:
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NHL Best Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
New Jersey Devils @ Anaheim Ducks
Both the Devils and Ducks are coming off victories over the lowly San Jose Sharks. But it’s the Devils who desperately need two points to stick around in the competitive Eastern Conference wild-card race.
From a side perspective, I have no real interest in either team. The Devils are far superior, ranking fourth in XGF%, and should take care of business against a lousy Anaheim bunch. But at -258, those odds are just a bit too lofty for a Devils team I don’t fully trust, especially in-net.
That leads me to my recommended play on the over. Nico Daws has been fine in-net for New Jersey since taking over as the de facto starter, but he’s vulnerable against a Ducks team with some scoring punch. Conversely, we should see Anaheim backup Lukas Dostal in-net. Dostal ranks 80th in goals saved above expected and could get lit up by a talented group of Devils scorers.
Bet: Over 6.5 (-120)
Check out our other NHL Odds, Picks & Predictions:
MLB Best Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Baltimore Orioles To Miss the Playoffs (+185)
No team exceeded expectations last season more than the Orioles, who finished with an AL-best 101 wins compared to a preseason projection of 77. However, we are not as high on their addition of Corbin Burnes as most are. We have already cited his declining strikeout potential, and we expect Baltimore to crash down and play much closer to last year’s preseason projections than how they finished.
The AL East is a bear and housed three of the top-five teams (Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays) in the entire American League last season. That does not consider that the Yankees are due for a massive rebound. New York finished with 82 wins, the franchise’s lowest amount since 1992, and they just added the biggest bat in the offseason (Juan Soto) not named Shohei Ohtani.
Pythagorean win differential pegged the Orioles as a 94-win team, not a 101-win team last season. While that still would have been plenty of wins to nab one of the AL’s wild cards last season, it also speaks to the fact that Baltimore going an AL-best 51-39 against teams over .500 last season will be difficult to replicate. The Orioles also had the second-best record in the Majors in one-run games (30-16), and they are unlikely to finish 12 games over .500 against a gauntlet of a division again.
Oddsmakers have seemingly tipped their hands by not making Baltimore the favorite in the AL East following a 101-win season. That honor goes to the Yankees. There is not much better value out there backing any team to miss the playoffs than the +185 odds attached to the Orioles.
Check out our other MLB Odds, Picks & Predictions: