Friday’s sports schedule features a night of NHL action paired with a compelling NBA card, as teams settle into the grind of the new year and bettors look to capitalize on early-January trends.
Friday’s sports schedule features a night of NHL action paired with a compelling NBA card, as teams settle into the grind of the new year and bettors look to capitalize on early-January trends. Tonight’s slate offers no shortage of opportunity and offers bettors a chance to take advantage as the weekend arrives. Here are tonight’s best bets brought to you by BetOnline.ag. Click here to join. All new players get a 50% welcome bonus and up to $250 in free bets.
First Pick: Wild Moneyline
Rundown: The Anaheim Ducks (21-16-3) wrap up a three-game homestand as they host the Minnesota Wild in a Friday night clash at the Honda Center.
Anaheim concludes the first half of the season looking to snap a four-game losing skid that has seen them tumble out of first place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks’ season-long defensive issues have been magnified during the slide, allowing 18 goals (4.5 per game) and cementing their status as the NHL’s worst defensive team at 3.53 goals allowed per contest. Anaheim’s seventh-ranked offense will need to shoulder the load to halt the skid, but the task becomes significantly more difficult against a disciplined Minnesota defense.
Minnesota enters game four of a seven-game road trip boasting the league’s second-best defense, trailing only Colorado for fewest goals allowed per game (2.59). The Wild look to rebound after a narrow 4-3 loss to San Jose on New Year’s Eve. While Minnesota’s offense sits in the middle of the league (16th in goals per game), it should find ample scoring opportunities against an Anaheim defense that has struggled to contain sustained pressure.
Until Anaheim finds consistency on the defensive end, the downward trend is likely to continue. Expect Minnesota to neutralize Anaheim’s offensive strengths and generate quality chances of its own, leading to a road victory for the Wild.
Second Pick: Lakers -4.5
Rundown: The Memphis Grizzlies (15-18) head to Southern California for the first of a back-to-back set against the Los Angeles Lakers (20-11) at Crypto.com Arena.
The first-place Lakers look to steady the ship after dropping four of their last five games, including a 22-point blowout loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Los Angeles will again be without standout guard Austin Reaves and will lean heavily on NBA scoring leader Luka Dončić. The Slovenian superstar poured in 44 points when these teams met on Halloween, leading the Lakers to a 117-112 victory.
Memphis also enters searching for traction after narrow losses to the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards. Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. anchor a Grizzlies offense that ranks 18th in the NBA in points per game. From a betting perspective, Memphis mirrors its 15-18 straight-up record against the spread, but struggles emerge in this role—covering just four of 15 games as an underdog of four or more points and going 8-9 ATS on the road.
Los Angeles’ recent slide has bled into the betting market, with the Lakers covering just three of their last 10 contests. Even so, they still hold a solid 17-14 ATS mark on the season and have covered seven of 13 games when favored by 3.5 points or more. Memphis’ average defense, which allows 116.5 points per game, opens the door for a Lakers team that is 14-3 ATS when scoring above that threshold.
Expect Los Angeles to take advantage of home court and begin the weekend with a focused, complete performance.
Category: General Sports
