The Friday night slate this week features nine games, all of which involving teams playing their second game of the season. Some will be looking to carry positive momentum forward, while others are in desperate need of a bounceback. The marquee matchups for Friday are Celtics-Raptors and Warriors-Jazz in possible conference final previews. Hawks-Grizzlies is your worst game of the night on paper, as both teams got rocked on Wednesday.
Before we get to all the lines and trends this week, let’s check last night’s winners.
10/18/18 Winners:
Sixers -12, OVER 220
Heat +5.5, OVER 214.5
Blazers -3, OVER 223.5
As always, lines come from Westgate SuperBook and trends from TeamRankings.com.
Charlotte Hornets (-2.5) at Orlando Magic, O/U 216 (OPEN: Hornets -2, O/U 217)
The Hornets and Magic both covered as home ‘dogs in their openers, with Orlando winning outright, and now face off in a divisional matchup. Charlotte was 7-6 ATS as a road favorite last year, while Orlando went 14-14 ATS as a home dog.
The Hornets went Over in their opener, while the Magic stayed just Under the total against Miami. The Magic went 18-10 on Unders as a home dog last year, and are 1-0 in that role this season. The Hornets went Over in 9 of 13 games as a road favorite, however.
New York Knicks (+4) at Brooklyn Nets, O/U 220 (OPEN: Nets -2.5, O/U 218.5)
The Knicks and Nets both covered in their openers, with the Knicks crushing the Hawks and the Nets losing a close one in Detroit. Last season the Nets went 7-7 ATS as a home favorite last season, while the Knicks were 16-20 ATS as a road underdog.
The Knicks went way Over the total against Atlanta, while Brooklyn and Detroit stayed comfortably Under the number. The Nets went Over in 7-of-14 games as a home favorite (with two pushes), while New York was 17-17-2 on totals as a road dog.
Sacramento Kings (+10.5) at New Orleans Pelicans, O/U 232 (OPEN: Pelicans -11, O/U 228)
The Kings and Pelicans also both covered in their openers, Sacramento in a loss to Utah and New Orleans blowing out Houston on the road. New Orleans returns home where it was 16-15-1 ATS last year as a home favorite. The Kings were 20-15-3 as a road dog ATS a year ago.
Sacramento’s offensive output against Utah surprised many and helped that game go way Over the number, while New Orleans likewise smoked the Over against Houston (hence the massive number in this matchup). The Pelicans went Over in 71.9 percent of the games they were home favorites last year, while the Kings were 20-17 on Unders as a road underdog.
Boston Celtics (+3) at Toronto Raptors, O/U 208 (OPEN: Raptors -3, O/U 207)
The Celtics dominated the Sixers to cover in their opener, while the Raptors had a comfortable win over Cleveland, but failed to cover by one point. The Raptors, now 0-1 this season as a home favorite ATS, went 21-21-1 a year ago in that role. The Celtics were 13-11 a year ago ATS when catching points on the road.
Boston kept things well Under against Philly, while Toronto and Cleveland went Over in their opener. The Raptors were just an Under team a year ago as a home favorite, going 21-20-2 on Unders, while the Celtics went Under 13-of-24 times as a road Underdog.
Cleveland Cavaliers (+8.5) at Minnesota Timberwolves, O/U 223.5 (OPEN: Timberwolves -8, O/U 223.5)
The Cavs snuck in a cover in Toronto, while Minnesota lost and failed to cover in its opener in San Antonio. The Timberwolves were 16-15-2 a year ago as a home favorite. The Cavs are 1-0 as a road dog this year, building off last season’s 15-8 record in that role.
Both Cleveland and Minnesota went Over the total in their openers. The Wolves went 17-15-1 on Overs as a home favorite a year ago, and the Cavs had a 12-11 Over record as a road dog.
Atlanta Hawks (+6) at Memphis Grizzlies, O/U 215.5 (OPEN: Grizzlies -7.5, O/U 208.5)
Both the Hawks and Grizzlies got blown out in their openers, with two of the three worst early performances of the season (along with the Bulls) and are 0-1 ATS. The Grizzlies went 6-10-1 as a home favorite a year ago, struggling to cover when laying points. Atlanta was a road underdog a lot last year, and fared well in that role going 20-17-3 ATS, but will still be without John Collins for this game.
The Hawks went way Over against New York, while Memphis came in well Under against Indiana. The Grizzlies were 11-6 on Unders as a home favorite a year ago, while Atlanta was 23-16-1 on Unders as a road dog.
Indiana Pacers (+3.5) at Milwaukee Bucks, O/U 216 (OPEN: Bucks -3.5, O/U 214.5)
The Pacers covered in a beatdown of the Grizzlies, while the Bucks won but didn’t cover on the road in Charlotte. Back home, Milwaukee opens up its new arena, where they hope this year they’ll be better at home ATS after a miserable 10-24-4 record ATS as a home favorite in 2017-18. Indiana was excellent as a road dog a year ago, going 20-13 ATS in that role.
The Pacers went Under holding Memphis to 83 points, while Milwaukee went Over with Charlotte. The Bucks went Over in 57.9 percent of their games as a home favorite, while the Pacers went 18-14-1 on Unders as a road dog.
Golden State Warriors (-3) at Utah Jazz, O/U 217.5 (OPEN: Warriors -3, O/U 218)
Both Golden State and Utah won but did not cover in their openers against the Thunder and Kings respectively. The Warriors were 22-22 as a road favorite last year, while Utah went 7-5 ATS as a home dog.
The Warriors stayed well Under in their opener, while Utah went way Over against the Kings. The Jazz kept things under in eight of 12 games as a home dog a year ago. The Warriors stayed Under in 24 of 44 games as a road favorite.
Oklahoma City Thunder (+1) at Clippers, O/U 213.5 (OPEN: Clippers -1.5, O/U 215.5)
The Thunder covered in Golden State on ring night, while the Clippers lost and failed to cover at home against the Nuggets on Wednesday. The Clippers went 13-15 ATS as a home favorite a year ago, and will be in that position for the first time on Friday. Russell Westbrook may return for OKC, who were 7-7 as a road dog a year ago.
The Thunder and Clippers both stayed comfortably Under the total in their openers. L.A. went over as home favorites 63 percent of the time a year ago, while OKC went 9-5 on Unders as a road dog.
