It’s another busy Friday night in the NBA, with nine games on the schedule, including several between potential playoff opponents. There are several games between clubs with winning ratings, as well as an interesting Jazz-Pelicans which bettors expect to be much closer than one would assume by the teams’ respective places in the standings.
NBA odds for Friday, March 4
Here are the NBA odds for Friday, March 4 with point spreads, moneylines and totals.
Things to watch today
The Cavaliers aim to slow down the 76ers juggernaut: The Cavaliers have hit a bit of a wall lately after beating expectations for most of the season, losing five of their last six while dealing with several key absences. However, one of those players, Darius Garland, came back from his back injury with a vengeance on Wednesday, racking up 33 minutes in a loss to the Hornets on Wednesday. Cleveland still faces an uphill battle Friday night at Philadelphia, however; the 76ers climbed to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a push fueled in part by newcomer James Harden and his averages of 27.3 points, 12.3 assists, 9.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals in his first three games for the Sixers.
The Hawks are trying to build on Thursday’s resounding victory: The Hawks are one of many teams on the outside edges of the playoff field, as they climbed to the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference with four wins in their last six games. Atlanta’s most recent win was particularly notable, with the Bulls falling to Nate McMillan’s club 130-124 on Thursday night. The Hawks will look to build on that victory on Friday when they visit the Wizards, with whom they shared the first two games of the regular-season series and who are just 16-16 at home.
The bulls are looking to stop skidding in a tough road mission: Thursday’s loss to the Hawks was the Bulls’ third straight, part of an ill-timed slip that not only knocked Chicago off the top seed in the East, but also allows the 76ers to jump over them to the Place n°2. Billy Donovan’s side also have a tough job on Friday, as the defending champion Bucks travel to the United Center. Milwaukee won the teams’ first meeting by a score of 94-90 and are notably three-point favorites on the road as of Friday morning.
Resurgent Pels passes a tough test compared to visiting Jazz: The Pelicans were hoping for a significant increase in offense and rating with the acquisition of CJ McCollum from the Trail Blazers, and they are currently reaping handsome dividends on both counts. McCollum started with his new team, but that didn’t immediately show up in the standings thanks to a particularly difficult schedule. However, New Orleans won its first three games after the All-Star break, although two of those wins came against the lowly Lakers and Kings. Nonetheless, the Pels notched a 15-point win over the Suns to start that streak, and they’ll likely have to summon a similar caliber of effort when the Jazz — winners in nine of their last 10 — visit.
Suns strive to keep winning despite key absences: Nothing seems to deflect the defending Western Conference champions, not even the multiple injuries to star players. Phoenix just turned 50and winning by 30 points over the Trail Blazers on Wednesday night and accomplishing it without the starting backcourt of Chris Paul (thumb) and Devin Booker (COVID-19 protocols). While things can naturally be a lot tougher against better competition, it won’t be a problem for the Suns on Friday night when they host a Knicks team that has lost 10 of its last 11 games and has a record of 12-18 on the road.
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