Friday night's NBA betting action includes 11 games, many of which are going to have playoff implications in both conferences.
We'll start with the Utah Jazz, who are one of the four teams on the wrong side of the playoffs as of Thursday night that are within three games of getting back into the fold. Utah is hot, winning four in a row SU and going 3-1 ATS in that streak. On Friday night, it runs into the Denver Nuggets.
Denver did pick up the 116-115 win over the Detroit Pistons to wrap up a nine-game home stand, but it wasn't a stretch at Pepsi Arena to be overly proud of. The Nuggets went just 5-4 SU and 2-7 ATS in those nine games.
The good news for the Nuggets is that they are 36-16 ATS in their last 52 road games. The bad news is that the Jazz are 6-2 ATS in their last eight against the Northwest Division.
We expect the scoreboard operators to be busy in this one. The 'over' is 9-4-1 in the last 14 clashes between these two Northwest Division foes and it is 6-2 in Utah's last eight games. Now, the Jazz get to take on the highest scoring team in the league, as the Nuggets are averaging 103.7 PPG.
This is the last tip of the night at 10:30 p.m. (ET), and it is the second half of the ESPN doubleheader.
In the first clash on ESPN, the Philadelphia 76ers will host the Boston Celtics. The C's definitely have a bone to pick, knowing that they were beaten in this very building 103-71 just two weeks ago, and they are probably planning on getting some payback.
Boston has been a modest 4-3 SU and ATS since that point, but the Sixers have dropped four out of five both SU and ATS. Their only win came against the lowly Charlotte Bobcats on the road.
There hasn't been much luck for the Celtics in this series in recent years. They are a respectable 3-2 SU, but they are also just 1-4 ATS in their last five games against their division foes. Four straight have stayed 'under' the total as well, and that becomes all the more notable knowing that 24 of Philadelphia's last 32 home games have also gone 'under'.
Most of the tips on Friday night go off between 7:00 p.m. (ET) and 8:30 p.m. (ET). The only exceptions to that are the Denver/Utah game and the clash at Staples Center between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.
Even with a new look and some new players at their disposal, the Lakers still don't feel like a team that is going to win the NBA Championship this year. That being said, they are 19-3 SU and 13-9 ATS here at Staples Center, and they are going against a Portland crew on Friday night that looks lost, especially on the road, where it is just 7-17 SU and 8-16 ATS this year.
Four games tip at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, the best of which pits the Phoenix Suns up against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Orlando Magic host the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors entertain the New York Knicks, who have won five in a row, and the Milwaukee Bucks look to inch closer to .500 when they take on the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Miami Heat are going to hit the road in one of the 7:30 p.m. (ET) starts on Friday night, as they have to go to the Palace of Auburn Hills to meet the Detroit Pistons. The New Jersey Nets also take their show on the road to the Atlanta Hawks.
Derek Fisher will play his second game for the Oklahoma City Thunder when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Sooner State at 8:00 p.m. (ET). Finally, at 8:30 p.m. (ET), the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs continue their Lone Star State rivalry.