Wise n' Shine: NBA picks, college football predictions and NHL best bets for Friday, December 23

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Phil Agius

NFL

Show Bio

I've been writing about the NFL and a host of other sports for the UK's top daily betting paper the Racing Post for more than 20 years. An incurable Browns fan (1-31 survivor), I also specialise in all kinds of motorsport betting including F1, MotoGP, IndyCar and NASCAR. For Phil Agius media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.
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Good morning, Pickswise Nation and welcome to a fantastic Friday of sports. We have huge pre-holiday slates in the NBA and NHL plus college football bowl games and college basketball to enjoy today, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!

About Last Night

Jaguars roar past Jets
The Jacksonville Jaguars will head into Christmas happy after a 19-3 win over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football kept them in the hunt for the AFC South title. The Jets benched QB Zach Wilson for Chris Streveler during the loss, which left both teams at 7-8. Our props expert Bobby “Prop Holliday” Stanley went 2-0 on the game with his NFL prop picks and also recommended Trevor Lawrence, who was the game’s only TD scorer, at +500.

Perfect night in the NBA
There were only 2 NBA games on Thursday, but our handicappers went 4-0 with our picks on the spread and both totals as the Pelicans beat the Spurs 126-117 and the Jazz beat the Wizards 120-112. That also gave us a parlay win at +265 odds!

Kings extinguish Flames
There were some key matchups in the NHL last night, with the Bruins beating the Jets 3-2, the Hurricanes seeing off the Penguins 4-3 after overtime and the Kings beating the Flames, also in OT.

Air Force fly high against Baylor
Air Force beat Baylor 30-15 in the NCAAF Armed Forces Bowl with our picks on the spread and total both cashing, while in college basketball our only 3-star play of under 136.5 in George Washington vs Washington State was also a winner.

Today’s Slate

Huge slate in the NBA
There’s a 14-game slate in the NBA tonight, featuring Bucks vs Nets at 7:30 pm ET on NBA TV and Grizzlies vs Suns at 9:00 pm ET on ESPN. Read today’s NBA picks.

11 games in the NHL
There are still 11 NHL games today even though Lightning vs Sabres and Red Wings vs Senators have been postponed. The big game sees the Bruins taking on the Devils at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN+. Read today’s NHL picks.

Two bowl games today
The CFB bowl season continues with Louisiana vs Houston in the Independence Bowl on ESPN at 3:00 pm ET, with Wake Forest vs Missouri following on the same station at 6:30 pm ET. Read today’s NCAAF bowl predictions.

College hoops action
Indiana is the top college basketball team in action on Friday. Check out today’s college basketball picks.

Best Bet of the Day

NBA: Charlotte Hornets vs Los Angeles Lakers over 235.5 points
10:30pm ET

This should be a fun game for those who like scoring. Both the Lakers and Hornets play at a high tempo, with the Lakers ranking 2nd in the NBA and averaging 104.5 possessions per game while the Hornets are at 101.1 per game. Neither of them is all that efficient on offense, but they make up for it by playing a high pace. The meetings between the Lakers and Hornets last season finished with 231 and 249 points scored while Charlotte is 12-5 on the O/U in 17 road games this season. Read our full Hornets vs Lakers predictions.

Must-watch: Brian Scalabrine joins Let’s Bet It

Don’t forget to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It on our YouTube channel atyoutube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.

Lauren Jbara and Jared Smith are your hosts today, and they will be joined by two guests. First, Brian Scalabrine (@scalabrine) Celtics analyst for NBC Sports Boston and a former NBA champion, will talk all things hoops, before Tim Murray (@1TimMurray),  co-host of VSiN Primetime, provides his insight into today’s college football bowl games. They will also be looking ahead to the weekend NFL action and revealing their Plays of the Day.

You can also access the show at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).

The Week 16 edition of Pickswise Playbook, our weekly NFL preview show, is also available, featuring former NFL star Tank Williams, so be sure to check that out too!

Must-read

Our in-form college football expert Caleb Wilfinger has CFB best bets for today, while our NBA mega parlay is also ready to read, along with our NHL mega parlay and NHL player props. If the World Cup converted you into a soccer fan, you may also want to check out our EPL parlay for Monday’s holiday slate.

Read all of our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.

Stat of the Day

LeBron James has lost only 12 times to the Charlotte Hornets in 73 career games.

Quote of the Day

“I don’t blame them. We have a passionate fan base, and they’re here to watch us score touchdowns.”

Jets QB Zach Wilson was booed before being pulled from last night’s game.

Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news and best bets. Check out our expert NFL Picks, NBA Picks, Soccer Picks and NHL Picks pages for our latest game picks.

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