NBA weekend betting preview: Trust Rockets' small-ball lineup vs. Jazz
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Each week of the NBA season, we'll highlight some of the top betting angles and plays on the schedule. Here are some tips heading into this weekend's slate.
Note: Lines for Saturday and beyond are released later over the weekend.
Friday
Toronto Raptors (-1, 218) at Indiana Pacers
If you thought Toronto couldn't match last year's pace, its current 12-game winning streak - including an 8-4 mark against the spread (ATS) - suggests otherwise. The Raptors have the NBA's second-highest defensive rating (106.9) during their winning streak and have won nine straight on the road by an average of 8.2 points.
They pose a tough matchup for the Pacers, who have gone 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven home games and have struggled to reintegrate star Victor Oladipo into the fold. Indiana blew a 19-point lead to Toronto on Wednesday and should struggle to build such a cushion Friday.
Detroit Pistons at Oklahoma City Thunder (-12.5, 216.5)
Questions abound regarding the Pistons, but none of them are about whether they're any good. (Hint: They aren't.) Detroit has lost six of its last eight games ATS, and that was before the team traded Andre Drummond, who was the only healthy Piston above replacement level on the entire roster.
The Thunder haven't laid this many points all year, but they boast the best ATS record (33-17-1) in the league and are better than Detroit at practically every position. The Pistons' lousy defense could mean a nice scoring night for OKC, which has gone over in eight of its last 10 as home chalk.
Saturday
Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves
There's an outside chance that D'Angelo Russell will make his Minnesota debut Saturday, but is he enough to matter? The Timberwolves have lost 13 straight games (1-12 ATS), including Wednesday's embarrassing home loss to a Hawks team that was missing half of its regular rotation.
The Clippers are 6-1 ATS as road favorites when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play, which will likely be the case Saturday. They can't afford to mess around in a game like this with the top of the Western Conference still up for grabs.
Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors
It's unclear whether Andrew Wiggins will start for the Warriors in this one, but Golden State will be seriously outmatched either way. The Warriors are 1-20 straight up (SU) against teams with a winning record, and have allowed an average of 122.4 points in those games with a 14-7 record to the over.
The Lakers are 23-1 SU against teams with losing records when LeBron James and Anthony Davis are active. They've covered three of their last four in that spot, all in over affairs. Expect a high-scoring blowout Saturday.
Sunday
Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets
This is exactly the type of matchup that many Rockets skeptics say will expose the team's lack of size, but that goes two ways - Houston has famously rendered Jazz center Rudy Gobert unplayable in the playoffs with its five-out approach, and the Rockets' trades this week have further committed them to a small-ball lineup.
Utah's usually stout defense could struggle to defend Houston's new-look offense. Dating back to their last meeting with the Rockets on Jan. 27, the Jazz are 0-5 ATS with the seventh-worst defensive rating (116.7) in the NBA, and they're 6-12-1 ATS against Houston since 2017. This isn't a great spot to correct either mark for the road 'dogs.
C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.