The final two spots of the NBA Playoffs will be determined on Friday night as the Charlotte Hornets take on the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors travel to Phoenix to play the Suns. Let's dive into both of these games for some NBA picks and best bets on the night.
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Friday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Charlotte Hornets at Orlando Magic
Charlotte is buzzing after a thrilling overtime win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday. It continued a hot run for the Hornets in the second half of the season and brings them just one win away from their first playoff appearance in 10 years. Friday night they will travel to Orlando to take on the Magic. Orlando is coming off a putrid offensive performance against the 76ers in which they shot just 40.7% from the floor and 25.9% from deep.
The eye test would tell you that Charlotte is likely the pick in this game, but have they been overpriced? Charlotte has been one of the hottest teams in the NBA in the second half of the season but they've feasted on some less than stellar opponents. They needed an injury to Miami's best player, Bam Adebayo, to eek out a win at home in overtime. However, this is a really good matchup for Charlotte.
In the last three games between these divisional foes, Charlotte has won and won easily. Their offense has averaged 124.7 PPG on 51.0% shooting and proven too much for Orlando. Defense was a calling card for the young Magic over the last few years but dropped off significantly this year. Although they continued to rebound the ball well defensively, they were below league average in eFG% defense and FTrt defense. This has allowed strong offenses to have their way against Orlando.
The way the Magic fell off down the stretch against Philadelphia on Wednesday encapsulated a lot of what we saw from them all season long. This is a team that relied on defense the last few years and made moves this offseason to improve the offense. Unfortunately the shooting didn't improve how they hoped and the defense took a step back. Charlotte is a scrappy, talented, and hungry team that has shown that they can beat this Magic team.
Pick: Hornets -3.5 (-105)
Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns
The Warriors pulled off some more postseason Steph Curry magic on Wednesday night. Golden State came back to eliminate the Clippers and live to fight another day. They'll get the scrappy young Suns team that is looking to make a name for themselves in the post-Kevin Durant era. They lost a tight back-and-forth game with the Trail Blazers on Tuesday but will get another shot at a home Play-In win on Friday night.
The Suns played some strong defense this year, especially their ability to turn their opponents over. This will be a strength versus weakness matchup against the Warriors. The Suns have the third best defensive TO% in the league while the Warriors sit third worst in committing turnovers. If the Warriors can't take care of the ball they're going to have a tough time against the Suns.
Those turnovers are going to take away possessions from a Warriors team that likes to play slow. This could help feed into an under. We shouldn't be surprised to see that considering these matchups between divisional foes have been low scoring all year. They've averaged 213.8 points in the previous four games with only one game eclipsing 230 points, going 3-1 to the Under.
With the final playoff spot on the line, expect these two teams to be meticulous on what they do on both sides of the ball. This should be a typical postseason game that sees minimal possessions and the team that executes the best offensively pulls out the win. That feeds into the Under and that's what I'll bet on Friday.
Pick: Under 219.5 Total Points (-110)
