The Most Important Matchups and Best Bets for Friday’s NBA Slate

Friday is quietly a nice sports night. We have day two of the NFL Draft and full slates for the NBA and MLB. There are eight basketball games to choose from, starting with the Hawks vs. the 76ers at 7 p.m. ET and wrapping up with the Kings vs. the Lakers at 10:30 p.m. ET.

There are some great matchups on today’s slate – including a heavyweight clash between the Jazz and Suns – but I want to focus on the game between the Trail Blazers and Nets. The Nets are the favorites to win the NBA title on FanDuel Sportsbook, but they have barely had any games this season with their team at full strength. That’s the case again on Friday, and they’re currently listed as two-point home underdogs. Can they cover the spread?

Let’s dive in.

KEY MATCHUPS

This is starting to feel like a pattern with the Nets. They rule out a few of their key players, and the lines end up getting overcorrected in the betting market. We saw it yesterday when they dropped from nine-point favorites vs. the Pacers to just 5.5-point favorites after ruling out Irving. Irving is obviously an important player, but they still had Kevin Durant against a Pacers’ squad that was also shorthanded. I felt that was an overcorrection, and the Nets cruised to a comfortable victory.

On Friday, it’s Durant’s turn to get a night off. He’ll join James Harden on the sidelines, along with Bruce Brown and Nicolas Claxton. That said, Irving will be back in the lineup, so it will be his turn to carry the offense.

Irving should be comfortable playing without his two star teammates at this point, and more importantly, the Nets have still been extremely productive in that situation. They’ve played 503 minutes with Irving on the floor and Harden and Durant off the floor, and they’ve still averaged an elite 116.8 points per 100 possessions. That’s in line with their regular-season average of 116.3, which is the top mark in the league, so expect them to rack up points against the Blazers’ 29th-ranked defense.

The Nets’ defense struggles with Durant off the court, but defense doesn’t figure to be very important in this matchup. The total currently sits at 241.5 points, so this is going to be a good old-fashioned shootout. I like Kyrie’s chances in that situation.

LINE MOVEMENT

There has already been some significant line movement on today’s slate.

The largest line move involves the Bucks. They opened as 4.5-point road favorites vs. the Bulls this morning, but the spread has dropped steadily since then. They’re down to just 0.5-point favorites on FanDuel Sportsbook currently.

Of course, the big reason for the line movement is the uncertainty surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo. He left yesterday’s matchup after just one minute, and his status is currently unknown. That said, I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to say that he’s highly questionable on the second leg of a back-to-back. There’s simply no reason for the Bucks to push Giannis in a meaningless regular-season game, so I expect them to exercise some caution. Make sure to follow along for updates, but don’t be surprised if Giannis is ultimately ruled out.

BETTING BREAKDOWNS

Jazz vs. Suns

Kings vs. Lakers

BEST BETS FROM THE SPORTSGRID BETTING MODEL

Find out who our betting model likes in each of tonight’s eight NBA contests.