Wise n' Shine: What you need to know to bet better on Friday, January 7

Phil Agius

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.

@philagius

About Last Night

Pelicans’ big win was no surprise to Pickswise Nation
There were only 4 NBA games on Thursday night but our handicappers pinpointed the best value bet, with our sole 3-star pick of the Pelicans ML at +145 odds cashing as New Orleans upset the Golden State Warriors 101-96. The Grizzlies and Suns were also winning spread picks as they comfortably beat the Pistons and Clippers respectively.

Great night for our college basketball picks
The Pickswise NCAAB handicappers had a tremendous Thursday, going 6-2 on the sides, 5-3 on totals and hitting with our only 3-star pick of Wisconsin -2.5. Not only that, we also cashed our Thursday college basketball parlay (Indiana -2, USC -5.5, Colorado -1.5) at +596 odds!

Golden Knights record impressive win
The Vegas Golden Knights made a statement with a 5-1 win over the NY Rangers, and at the other end of the standings, the Arizona Coyotes recorded only their 7th win of the season by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4.

Today’s Slate

NBA dominates Friday schedule
It’s a big night in the NBA with 9 games, including Bucks vs Nets at 7:30pm ET on ESPN, and Hawks vs Lakers on the same station at 10pm ET. Read previews of all today’s NBA games.

Quality over quantity in the NHL
There are only 2 NHL games today, but all 4 teams have winning records as the 17-9-6 Flames visit the 23-7-1 Hurricanes (7pm ET, ESPN+) and the 20-6-8 Capitals go to the 19-10-5 Blues (8pm ET, ESPN+). Read today’s NHL game previews.

College hoops and soccer action
You can also check out our picks for today’s top college basketball games, and we have picks for the FA Cup soccer in England as the EPL takes a break. Check out our plays for the weekend FA Cup games, starting with fourth-tier Swindon taking on mighty Manchester City this afternoon (3pm ET, ESPN+).

Best Bet of the Day

Over 221 in Washington Wizards vs Chicago Bulls
8:10pm ET

An average of 232.8 points per game have been scored in the last 10 meetings between these teams and the 3 most recent games averaged 236 points. The total has gone over 13 times in the last 18 games between them at the United Center. The game played on New Year’s Day in Washington finished with 239 points, and with the Wizards getting a couple of players back from quarantine, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw a similar total tonight. The total has gone over in 5 of 6 for Washington and in 6 of 7 for Chicago when playing teams from the Southeast Division. Take the over. Read our full game preview for Wizards vs Bulls.

Must-watch

Don’t miss the Week 18 show of Pickswise Playbook with Ross Tucker, Chris Rose, and Jared Smith as they close out what has been a fantastic first regular-season together by pinpointing the best bets for all this week’s games.

You can also check out our daily show Let’s Bet It! on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise every day at 10am ET.

On today’s show, hosts Lauren Jbara and Jared Smith will be joined by Howard Bender, head of content for Fantasy Alarm, to go over the player props and picks for this weekend’s games in the NFL as well as Super Bowl sleepers in the futures markets.

Lauren and Jared will take a look at the line movement across the NBA slate and give out picks. They’ll also take a look at the golf odds for the Sentry Tournament of Champions and give their college basketball picks before ending with their Plays of the Day. Check it out!

Must-read

First of all, good morning to our audience in New York! After yesterday’s exciting news that online sports betting goes live in the state tomorrow, Andrew Ortenberg has answered all your questions on how best to get prepared to place bets from your cell phone or computer in New York!

Our lead betting analyst Jared Smith has provided his NFL Week 18 best bets and sportsbook insights, and this week’s millionaire parlay, our survivor pool picks, and our Dog House underdog picks are all available now, too.

We’ve got great content and plays for today’s action, including our NBA mega parlay (+1266 odds!). And our Saturday FA Cup soccer parlay starts early at 7:15 am ET, so you might want to check that one out today!

Read all our great NFL, NBA, NHL, and college sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.

Stat of the Day

The Atlanta Hawks have lost 8 of their last 10 games against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boost of the Day

LeBron James to record 40+ combined points/assists

Boosted to +160 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Hawks vs Lakers tops the bill on today’s ESPN broadcast at 10pm and DraftKings Sportsbook is offering enhanced odds of +160 (boosted from +145) on LA’s LeBron James having 40+ points and assists in the game.

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