NBA 2021: Best bets for all the biggest games on Friday
Yuck. A bad day yesterday, so let’s get back into it and try to correct on an NBA day with a lot of potential blowouts.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers will not have LeBron James, so that already changes things around quite a bit.
The Lakers are still 10.5 point favourites. That seems too much for a team that defeated the Lakers just a week ago.
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So OKC +10.5 looks nice. But without LeBron, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook things become more interesting with their individual player props.
Davis’ points are set at 26.5 on Sportsbet at $1.91. That looks good.
Best bet: Handicap betting - Thunder +10.5
Best bet: Player points - Anthony Davis over 26.5 Points
Houston Rockets @ Phoenix Suns
Backing a double-digit favourite can be tough, but the Suns popped up and ruined our Pelicans +11.5 bet a couple of days ago and now they are favoured by less against a worse team.
Daniel Theis is out for Houston, so they will be going with Alperen Şengün in the frontcourt, although we don’t know if Deandre Ayton will suit up for Phoenix.
I like Phoenix to cover this spread.
Best bet: Handicap betting - Suns -10.5
Utah Jazz @ Atlanta Hawks
I think there is a small chance of an upset here, but given the home team is getting two points (at $1.93 on Sportsbet), I like the spread here for the Hawks.
But Atlanta has lost to Brooklyn and Philadelphia comfortably recently, and they may be without John Collins, who is battling a foot issue.
Best bet: Handicap betting - Hawks +2
Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat
Miami is a buzzsaw.
They’ve won five straight, all by double digits. All six of their wins have been by at least 13 points.
Boston did beat Orlando yesterday, but it wasn’t without some shakiness late.
Factoring in the back-to-back, on the road, it’s surprising to see Miami favoured by only 6.5 points.
Best bet: Handicap betting - Heat -6.5
Season results to date
26-20 (57%)
+4.28 units
ROI 9.3%
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