4 Friday Best Bets for Nuggets vs. Grizzlies, Lakers vs. Timberwolves, More

Friday’s NBA list is anything but small.

There are ten games scheduled tonight at 7:00pm ET, and our staff have best bets on four of them: Trail Blazers vs. Hawks, Jazz vs. Thunder, Grizzlies vs. Nuggets, and Timberwolves vs. Lakers.

Whether you’re looking for an early player prop or an easy late night spread pick, we’ve got you covered.

Check out all four of our best bets for Friday night’s NBA games below.

NBA Odds & Tips

Andrew O’Connor-Watts: The Portland Trail Blazers are in their third city in four nights out of a bad place tonight, traveling across the country from Portland to Atlanta.

They will also likely be without their second-best scorer in Anfernee Simons (doubtful), who suffered another ankle injury in a 121-110 loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday night.

The blazers were a mess, especially on the street. They’ve lost four of their last five games, with all four losses in double digits, and they’ve only led 2-11 straight and against the spread in their last 13 away games.

The Hawks also have the revenge factor in their favor. They lost the last meeting that season, 129-1295, in Portland. Now the Hawks have won their last three games in Atlanta by 30 points combined.

Trae Young is likely for Atlanta and participated in the shoot-around – a good sign he’s playing.

I like Atlanta to win big tonight. I set this at -7 and would play it at -8.

Munaf Manji: The Utah Jazz travel to Oklahoma City tonight to take on the Thunder. In this game, I focus on beginning rookie center for the Jazz, Walker Kessler, to have a big night of basketball rebounds.

It’s no secret that the Thunder have struggled to recover this season. In fact, according to NBA stats, the Thunder rank last in opposing rebounds per game and allow nearly 47 boards. The Thunder, in particular, allow 16 rebounds per game to center position, and that number has increased slightly to 16.8 over the past seven days.

In a matchup earlier this season against the Thunder, Kessler grabbed 18 rebounds. Additionally, Kessler has averaged 12.8 rebounds in his last five games and has surpassed that 11.5 tally in four straight games.

At even odds, I love that Kessler is breaking that projection, and this is a great ladder-up opportunity for 14+ rebounds at +195 and 16+ at +420.

Choose: Walker Kessler over 11.5 rebounds

Matt Moore: The Grizzlies are terrible on the road: 4-14-1 ATS. Denver is great at home: 19-10-1 ATS.

Memphis played its final matchup last Saturday as Denver was at the end of a road trip after a big win over Cleveland. Now the Nuggets have a place of revenge against a team fighting on the streets where Denver is almost unbeatable.

Memphis ranks 25th on semi-court offense and 22nd on the road in that category. It takes turnovers and errors to fuel its fastbreak offense, but Denver’s turnover rate is lower at home. At home, too, the Nuggets Defense is seven points better.

I’m also leaning heavily here as this will be more of a slugfest than a shootout as the number 233.5 suggests.

The Nuggets can win the tiebreaker over the Grizzlies and put them back by five in the loss column; a win here essentially secures the 1 seed for Denver.

In a big game at home with a superior team, I support the Nuggets.

Chris Baker: This is a great matchup for the Timberwolves as the Lakers rely heavily on offensive rim attempts when Anthony Davis is in the lineup.

With LeBron off the floor and Davis on the floor, the Lakers make a remarkable 39.5% of their shots to the rim (94th percentile). This is a big problem when dealing with a long team like the T-Wolves. The Timberwolves, anchored by Rudy Gobert, do a terrific job of limiting color accents and looks, so expect Davis to struggle tonight.

Where the Timberwolves are vulnerable is in defending the 3-point line as they rank 18th in 3-point attempt rate and 22nd in 3-point allowable percentage. Luckily for the Wolves, the Lakers rank 26th in offensive 3-point attempt rate and percentage.

That Lakers offense doesn’t pair well with that sharp Wolves defense.

On offense, expect the Timberwolves to be efficient against a Lakers defense that’s struggling to force turnovers. Wolves have been an overwhelming offense all season, and they’ve particularly struggled to pay attention to the ball. They rank 28th in turnover for the year, but they should do a better job against the Lakers, who rank third-worst in turnover in the NBA.

Minnesota’s defense should carry it tonight while its offense is efficient enough to secure a needed win in Los Angeles. Trust the Timberwolves to be underdogs on the streets tonight.

This page contains commercial content. We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. The content of this page is for informational purposes only. Action Network makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of any information provided or the outcome of any game or event.