Good morning, Pickswise Nation and welcome to a fantastic Friday of sports. We have NBA, NHL, college football, college basketball and World Cup soccer to enjoy today, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!
About Last Night
TNF Best Bet cashes
Pickswise began NFL Week 13 the right way with a winning 3-star play of Bills -4.5 on Thursday Night Football, as they beat the Patriots 24-10. The Bills moved to 9-3 and DraftKings Sportsbook now has them as +450 joint-favorites for the Super Bowl with the Chiefs.
Mavs and Pistons put on a show
There was only 1 NBA game on Thursday, but the Mavericks and Pistons decided to give fans some extra entertainment as their game went to overtime before the Pistons pulled off the upset 131-125.
Awesome day for our NHL parlays
We cashed both of our NHL parlays yesterday, with the regular parlay coming in at +436 odds and the NHL mega parlay cashing at +870 odds — our second straight mega parlay win!
Huge drama in World Cup
It was another crazy day in the World Cup as Germany and Belgium went out of the competition and Spain just survived, with Morocco and Japan becoming shock group winners. Pickswise followers enjoyed Hakim Ziyech’s opening goal for Morocco against Canada as he was our +850 first-scorer pick.
Great day of college hoops
Our NCAAB picks went 5-2 on Thursday, with both of our 3-star plays (UConn -9.5, Kansas -7.5) cashing, along with a +596 parlay win!
Today’s Slate
Busy night in the NBA
There’s an 11-game slate in the NBA tonight, featuring Lakers vs Bucks at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN.
3 games in the NHL
There are just 3 NHL games today with Predators vs Islanders being shown on Hulu at 7:30 pm ET.
Final group games at the World Cup
Portugal and Uruguay feature in the 10:00 am ET games at the World Cup today with Brazil in action at 2:00 pm ET.
Friday night lights are on
North Texas vs UTSA (7:30 pm ET, CBSSN) and Utah vs USC (8:00 pm ET, FOX) are the featured college football games tonight as Championship Weekend gets started.
Baylor vs Gonzaga on the hardwood
There are some great college hoops matchups tonight, not least Baylor vs Gonzaga at 8:00 pm ET on Peacock.
Best Bet of the Day
NBA: New Orleans Pelicans -7 over San Antonio Spurs
8:00pm ET
After a somewhat tougher schedule in their last 5 games, the Pelicans get to face their favorite opponent, the San Antonio Spurs. They beat them by 19 points on the road little over a week ago, with Zion Williamson dominating, scoring 32 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Spurs also didn’t have an answer for big man Jonas Valanciunas as he shot 9-for-11 from the field and finished with 22 points and 10 boards. The Pels have been fairly consistent in covering the spread, doing so 6 times in their last 9 games and 5 times in their last 6 against Southwest Division teams.
Must-watch
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.
Mark Zinno and Jared Smith are your hosts today, and they will be joined by Howard Bender (@rotobuzzguy), head of content at Fantasy Alarm, to discuss NFL Week 13 picks and props. The team will also be finding the best bets for today’s college football 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 13 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!
Stat of the Day
The Hornets have lost 13 of the 16 games for which they have been underdogs this season.
Quote of the Day
“It wasn’t directed at anybody. Just emotion coming out. We kind of needed a spark.”
Patriots QB Mac Jones let his emotions get the better of him on the sideline during the loss to the Bills.