Friday Night Basketball: Previews & Picks

Sacramento Kings host Orlando Magic

• 10:00 p.m. @ Golden 1 Center

The Sacramento Kings are hosting the Orlando Magic for an exhibition match this Friday night, The Kings are currently at a record of twelve and twelve. They’ve won seven of their last nine games going into this game. This Sacramento team have been playing surprisingly well this season while going into this one as three-point favorites, and beating big-name teams like the Raptors and the Celtics. A key player for the Kings would have to be De’Aaron Fox who is always putting up numbers for them. Fox is easily putting up twenty-five points per game and is the main guy for The Kings and is All-Star quality. He is truly making an impact for Sacramento and has made them an exciting team to watch and worth betting on. If the Kings keep playing the way they are, and De’Aaron Fox has a day they could win this game and possibly make it into the playoffs. The Orlando Magic are at an underwhelming record of nine and seventeen and they are very injury prone this season. Aaron Gordon is expected to be out for a while and this a huge hit to the Magic. With a big chunk of their starting lineup listed as not cleared for play, Nikola Vucevic is the only hope for The Orlando Magic. Vucevic is leading the team in points and rebounds with a guaranteed twenty plus points, but he cannot do it all on his own and carry this team to victory. With all of the injuries and losing thirteen out of sixteen games recently their season is looking dead. At only twenty-eight in the NBA for scoring their poor offensive game is killing them. Sadly, I don’t expect anything to get better for The Magic until they’re 100% healthy. The last time the Magic played the Kings, Sacramento ended up running away with the victory by fifteen plus points. Our pick would be to take The Kings and you could get into the action here with our great NBA Lines that are updated and monitored daily, our service is the best sportsbook software.

Cleveland heads to Portland to battle the Trail Blazers

• 10:00 p.m. @ Moda Center

The Trail Blazers are home this Friday night and they are hosting the Cavaliers. Damian Lillard and The Trail Blazers are thirteen and eleven and are trying to keep their head above water with McCollum out, but they have been doing alright despite the handicap. In the last five games they’ve played, they have won three and the most recent is a 106-97 victory over the Magic Tuesday night. A key player to look out for on the Trail Blazers is Gary Trent Jr. he has filled C.J. McCollum’s shoes and is putting up at least twenty points per game. He’s a versatile player who can make a great impact on the game, whether it’s off the bench or starting his presence is felt on the scoreboard. Portland’s offense is strong and their defense can hold a team from running up the score in the final minutes. The Cleveland Cavaliers are ten and sixteen so far this season and are coming off an embarrassing loss to The Nuggets by more than thirty points. In their last game, The Cavs looked low energy, lacking life. Their stats were brutal as well with seventeen turnovers and terrible shooting percentages. It looks like it’s time for a new line up and the Andre Drummond/ Jarret Allen pairing isn’t working that well after getting blown out twice in a row. I’m a fan of the Cavaliers and this season is a nightmare to watch they have lost five straight and are in danger of another L to a low-quality team. They have no playoff hopes for this team at all and all there is hope for is a Kevin Love trade. The last time The Cavaliers and Trail Blazers met up, Cleveland was victorious, but our pick at Ace Per Head would have to go to The Portland Trail Blazers to take this won against the spread. Not only do they have a better track record than the Cavaliers, but they are also the favorites by six points.

OKC Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets

• 9:00 p.m. @ Ball Arena

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their road trip as they face The Denver Nuggets for some Friday night Basketball. The 2021 Denver Nuggets are currently playing with a record of thirteen and eleven and are going into this game as six-point favorites. Denver was recently on a losing streak, but they were able to break it in their recent matchup with The Cleveland Cavaliers beating them by thirty points which is a hell of a way to bounce back. The Nuggets were dominant most of the game and they need to continue this energy in order to keep winning. They have the potential to win this game, but they also had an abundance of bad games that might hold them back. The only thing that held Denver back in the past was their Defensive strategy, but in their most recent game, their defense carried them. The Nuggets were able to force seventeen turnovers and make the Cavs unable to make baskets. If Denver shows up like they did last game, then they could have a chance against this struggling OKC team. The Oklahoma City Thunder are ten and fourteen in the 2021 NBA season and have lost five games coming into this matchup and are trying to get out of this slump. Though they lost a two-game series to the Lakers, they were able to bring them to overtime twice, which is quite the feat. It’s heart-wrenching that they couldn’t seal the deal in their last two games they are lacking the finishing touch and being clutch when it matters. Players to watch out for in this game are Hamidou Diallo and Kenrich Williams, both putting up huge stats for The Thunder and Williams putting up twenty-four points. The only thing hurting this OKC team right now is that they are without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander due to knee issues, now it may not be major they are still going to struggle without their number one guy out there in the paint. In their last ten matchups, The Denver Nuggets were victorious nine times over OKC, and in their last meeting in January Denver took home the W. Our pick to win the game against the spread would have to go to The Oklahoma City Thunder, this game is going to be played February 12^th, 2021 @ Ball Arena Denver Colorado 9 p.m. ET.

Memphis Grizzlies take on Los Angeles Lakers

• 10:00 p.m. @ Staples Center

The Los Angeles Lakers square up against the Memphis Grizzlies for an East vs West showdown. The Memphis Grizzlies are on a road trip to the west coast for two games and they currently have a record of ten and ten. They are coming off of a win to the Charlotte Hornets and are trying to keep that momentum up to try and break the Lakers’ home win streak and keep their road victory record alive. A star on the Grizzlies would have to be Ja Morant, he leads the team in points and assists with eighteen PPG and seven assists per game. A strong point in the Grizzlies’ offense is their ability to share the ball, they lead the league with assists per game, which is proof of their skills and hard work. The Grizzlies are also good on defense averaging about nine steals per game which is top in the league. Other players to keep an eye on this game are Kyle Anderson and Jonas Valanciunas. Off the court, they are struggling with DeAnthony Melton and Brandon Clarke who are listed as questionable for this match-up because they are assets to The Grizzlies. If the Memphis Grizzlies are consistent, keep moving the ball efficiently, play with basketball IQ, and strong fundamentals, they will run up buckets on LeBron because the Lakers are a high-scoring team. The Los Angeles Lakers are going into this contest as 5.5-point favorites. This is the fifth home game in a row for The Lakers who are the best team in the Western Conference. No, the best team in the NBA with a record of twenty and six. In this series at home, the Lakers are undefeated and are trying to defeat the Grizzlies to keep the hot streak alive and add to their impressive home record of eight and four. Los Angeles has the best winning streak in the league so far this season with six games so far. LeBron James is the star for this Lakers team with an average of twenty-five PPG, eight rebounds, eight assists, and 2 steals. Another hotshot for the Lakers is Anthony Davis who played a big role in their Championship victory in the bubble last season. Davis has been complementing LeBron’s stats with twenty-two points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks per game. The Lakers are shooting third-best from the field in the NBA, average high scores every game, and they are great on defense holding other teams to the second-lowest scores in the final minutes of play. Even though the Lakers are one of the most dominating forces in the NBA, our pick is going to the Memphis Grizzlies to win this game against the spread. If you’re an agent looking to maximize your profits during the NBA Regular Season and Playoffs look no further because, at www.AcePerHead.com, we as agents, dream with the most high-quality lines, easy-to-use software, and great customer service. We keep proving the haters wrong and provide our clients nothing but the best.