On Friday, December 10, the NBA has a nine-game slate that features the Atlanta Hawks hosting the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns taking on the Boston Celtics in an ESPN doubleheader. As usual, we have three best bets that you aren't going to want to miss. Check them out below:
1. Nets at Hawks - This series has been dominated by the Nets in recent years, with Brooklyn being 11-2 straight-up and 8-5 against the spread versus Atlanta in the last 13 meetings between these teams. The Nets also won by nine when these teams met on November 3. That was a game in which the Hawks had both De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who are out for tonight's contest. Sure, Atlanta will get a boost from playing at home, but this is a team that struggles defensively and it's hard to envision the group changing that in a meeting with Brooklyn. The Hawks do not have a point-of-attack defender that is capable of slowing James Harden down, and they certainly have no match for Kevin Durant. Durant had 32 points, seven boards and five assists in the last meeting between these two. He's the reason Brooklyn is the play in this game, despite the sharp money seemingly being on Atlanta. Look for this one to be a lot like the Nets game against the Dallas Mavericks earlier in the week, with Brooklyn hanging around long enough to give Durant a chance to take over late.
THE PICK: Nets +2.5
2. Knicks at Raptors - The Raptors beat up on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden earlier in the season, when Toronto came away with a 113-104 victory. OG Anunoby had 36 points in that game and his absence is definitely going to hurt the Raptors in this one. Toronto is losing a massive advantage on the wing with Anunoby sidelined, but the team should still be fine here. Fred VanVleet will easily be the best guard on the court in this game. Look for him to turn in a big performance in this one, as he is capable of scoring at least 20 while also playing excellent defense on New York's guards. Meanwhile, while Anunoby is out, the Raptors will have Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam, who both missed that last meeting with the Knicks. Like Anunoby, Barnes and Siakam are game-wrecking forwards that can guard multiple positions and give their team at least 18 points on any given night. It's worth mentioning that New York is 0-6 against the spread in games with a total between 200 and 209.5 this season. The Knicks are also 0-3 against the spread when coming off back-to-back road games this year.
THE PICK: Raptors -1.5
3. Cavaliers at Timberwolves - The Cavaliers are a preposterous 18-6-2 against the spread this season, and they're also 9-3-2 against the spread in road games. Not many expected much out of Cleveland this year, but the interior duo of rookie Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen has been an absolute force — a lot of people thought that combination would fail. They will be especially important in this meeting, as they'll be tasked with stopping Karl-Anthony Towns. Look for them to do a decent job on Minnesota's star, leaving the Timberwolves in a tough position in this game. Minnesota won't have much of a chance if it is simply relying on D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards to win this game, as the two of them can be somewhat inefficient. The Cavaliers also have good answers for both on the defensive end, where they can throw Ricky Rubio on Russell and Isaac Okoro on Edwards. Russell also happens to be questionable with a sore ankle in this game, so he might not be at 100% health even if he plays. Offensively, Darius Garland could shred this Minnesota defense tonight. He's emerging as one of the best point guards in basketball.
THE PICK: Cavs -1
