Ricky Dimon
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There is a Friday night twin bill on ESPN, starting with the Charlotte Hornets at the New Orleans Pelicans and picking up steam in the form of the Los Angeles Clippers at the Golden State Warriors. Among those teams also in action as the weekend begins are the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Lakers. It is an intriguing lineup, and perhaps it can also be a lucrative one.
Here is our five-team parlay for Friday:
Knicks ML (-145)
Bucks -6 (-110)
Warriors ML (+167)
Bulls +9.5 (-110)
Raptors ML (-192)
Parlay odds: +2361
For this play we mix in one favorite against the spread, one underdog and the points, and a trio of money line winners (two favorites and one ‘dog). Let’s break down each of the five legs one by one.
New York Knicks ML over Oklahoma City Thunder (-145)
The Knicks are one of the NBA’s surprises in the early stages of this season. They are 5-3 and have won three games in a row. Most recently they beat the Jazz as eight-point underdogs. Julius Randle is averaging 23.1 ppg, 12.0 rpg, and 7.4 apg. He has been even better recently—scoring 28 and 30 points in the last two games with 16 and 17 rebounds, respectively. The Thunder, on the other hand, are struggling mightily. They are coming off a win over New Orleans but lost to that same team a by 33 points a week ago. OKCS ranks last in the NBA in points per game, mainly because it has no reliable options other than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (19.0 ppg).
Milwaukee Bucks -6 over Utah Jazz (-110)
The Bucks should have no problem extending their unbeaten home streak against a Utah squad that has struggled in its last two road games. Not only are the Jazz coming off losses to the Knicks and Nets, but they also lost those by a combined 46 points. Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, and Bojan Bogdanovic have all been off the mark of late. Without marked improvement, Utah is going to get steamrolled by the offensive juggernaut that is the Bucks. In fact, the visitors could actually play well and still lose this one by a lot. Milwaukee boasts the highest-scoring offense in the NBA at 125 points per game. Matchup-wise Giannis Antetokounmpo will cause the Jazz plenty of headaches—just as he does against basically any team in the league.
Golden State Warriors ML over Los Angeles Clippers (+167)
These two teams just went head-to-head on Wednesday, when Los Angeles pulled out a 108-101 road win. Still, the Warriors were basically competitive from start to finish and they are playing far better basketball than they were at the very start of the season. They are 4-2 in their last six outings—a stretch that includes Stephen Curry’s 62-point barrage during a victory over Portland this past Sunday. Curry scored a mere 13 points on 5-for-17 shooting (1-for-6 from deep) on Wednesday. Even with that performance, Golden State lost by only seven points… and you have to figure that the two-time NBA MVP will have a far better game this time around. The Clippers are a mediocre 4-3 in their last seven since beginning the 2020-21 campaign 2-0, including a 2-2 record in their last four.
Chicago Bulls +9.5 over Los Angeles Lakers (-110)
Chicago is coming off a 128-124 loss to Sacramento earlier this week, but Coby White continued to show signs of promise with 36 points and Zach LaVine went for 32. The Bulls also won their previous two games, so it’s not like they will suddenly be short on confidence heading into Friday’s meeting with the Los Angeles. They are averaging 115 points per game, so the Lakers will probably have to score a ton in order to win by double-digits. It must also be noted that L.A. is playing the second game of a back-to-back situation, which can only help the Bulls. LeBron James and company are coming off a 118-109 setback against San Antonio on Thursday.
Toronto Raptors ML over Sacramento Kings (-192)
It has to be said that the Raptors are struggling, and their most recent loss came at the hands of Phoenix via a 123-115 decision on Wednesday. The one bright spot in that contest was the performance of Pascal Siakam, who finally played like an all-star with 32 points while shooting 52 percent from the field. Now he looks to repeat that performance against a team Toronto has owned in recent years (six-game winning streak in the head-to-head series). Sacramento just beat the Bulls, but it had previously dropped three in a row. De’Aaron Fox left the most recent game with right hamstring tightness and is questionable for tonight.
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