Good morning, Pickswise Nation and welcome to a fantastic Friday of sports. We have huge pre-holiday slates in the NBA and NHL plus college football bowl games and college basketball to enjoy today, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!
About Last Night
Jaguars roar past Jets
The Jacksonville Jaguars will head into Christmas happy after a 19-3 win over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football kept them in the hunt for the AFC South title. The Jets benched QB Zach Wilson for Chris Streveler during the loss, which left both teams at 7-8. Our props expert Bobby “Prop Holliday” Stanley went 2-0 on the game with his NFL prop picks and also recommended Trevor Lawrence, who was the game’s only TD scorer, at +500.
Perfect night in the NBA
There were only 2 NBA games on Thursday, but our handicappers went 4-0 with our picks on the spread and both totals as the Pelicans beat the Spurs 126-117 and the Jazz beat the Wizards 120-112. That also gave us a parlay win at +265 odds!
Kings extinguish Flames
There were some key matchups in the NHL last night, with the Bruins beating the Jets 3-2, the Hurricanes seeing off the Penguins 4-3 after overtime and the Kings beating the Flames, also in OT.
Air Force fly high against Baylor
Air Force beat Baylor 30-15 in the NCAAF Armed Forces Bowl with our picks on the spread and total both cashing, while in college basketball our only 3-star play of under 136.5 in George Washington vs Washington State was also a winner.
Today’s Slate
Huge slate in the NBA
There’s a 14-game slate in the NBA tonight, featuring Bucks vs Nets at 7:30 pm ET on NBA TV and Grizzlies vs Suns at 9:00 pm ET on ESPN.
11 games in the NHL
There are still 11 NHL games today even though Lightning vs Sabres and Red Wings vs Senators have been postponed. The big game sees the Bruins taking on the Devils at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN+.
Two bowl games today
The CFB bowl season continues with Louisiana vs Houston in the Independence Bowl on ESPN at 3:00 pm ET, with Wake Forest vs Missouri following on the same station at 6:30 pm ET.
College hoops action
Indiana is the top college basketball team in action on Friday.
Best Bet of the Day
NBA: Charlotte Hornets vs Los Angeles Lakers over 235.5 points
10:30pm ET
This should be a fun game for those who like scoring. Both the Lakers and Hornets play at a high tempo, with the Lakers ranking 2nd in the NBA and averaging 104.5 possessions per game while the Hornets are at 101.1 per game. Neither of them is all that efficient on offense, but they make up for it by playing a high pace. The meetings between the Lakers and Hornets last season finished with 231 and 249 points scored while Charlotte is 12-5 on the O/U in 17 road games this season.
Must-watch: Brian Scalabrine joins Let’s Bet It
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.
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 16 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
LeBron James has lost only 12 times to the Charlotte Hornets in 73 career games.