Tag: Charlotte Hornets

Charlotte Hornets at Washington Wizards odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Friday’s Charlotte Hornets at Washington Wizards sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.

The Washington Wizards (4-8) host the Charlotte Hornets (6-9) Friday at Capital One Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. We analyze the Hornets-Wizards odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Place a legal sports bet on this NBA action or other games at BetMGM.

Hornets at Wizards: Key injuries

Wizards

  • C Ian Mahinmi (Achilles) out

Hornets at Wizards: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

Prediction

Wizards 123, Hornets 114

Moneyline (ML)

The WIZARDS (-278) are a safe choice Friday with both teams largely unaffected by injury and able to use their full lineups. Washington is coming off a 138-132 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday and is 2-3 at home. Charlotte is 3-5 on the road and is coming off consecutive losses to the Toronto Raptors (132-96) and Brooklyn Nets (101-91), both of which were on the road.

Both teams enter off a rest day, further allowing them to use their best players as much as possible. The Hornets’ average point differential of minus-7.9 ranks second-worst in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards are minus-1.4, but they score nearly 15 more points than the Hornets on average.

New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Wizards to win outright returns a profit of $3.60.

Against the Spread (ATS)

Save yourself some money on the required investment and back the WIZARDS (-5.5, -129) with the points. They’ll need to win by six or more for the same $10 bet to fetch a reward of $7.75.

Washington is 8-3 ATS overall and 3-2 on home court. The Hornets are 8-7 overall and 5-3 on the road. The Wizards rank fifth in the NBA with a pace of 105.08 possessions per game while the Hornets are just 23rd at 100.17 average possessions. Washington will be able to pull away late to cover comfortably.

Over/Under (O/U)

The total of 232.5 is the highest on Friday’s slate, but we’re still taking the OVER (-129). The Wizards are the only team in the Association allowing more than 120 points per game (121.1) and only the Milwaukee Bucks are scoring more than Washington’s 119.7 PPG. The Wiz are 7-4-1 against the O/U and top the projections by an average of 12.5 points per game.

Charlotte is 7-8 against the O/U while falling an average of 1.7 points shy of the number, but the Hornets are far from a defensive juggernaut (112.8 PPG allowed) and will need to play up to Washington’s pace.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Esten’s NBA betting record: 34-38

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Nets taking ‘next man up’ approach with Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert injured

Spencer Dinwiddie took over for the Nets in the win over the Bulls. Jarrett Allen did the same on Wednesday against the Hornets.

Every win is important in the NBA, but with Brooklyn’s slow start to the 2019-20 season, there’s an extra sense of urgency for the Nets.

Things didn’t get easier when they lost Caris LeVert due to the damaged ligaments in his right thumb, which led to surgery. Then pull Kyrie Irving out of the lineup for three games (right shoulder impingement) and the Nets have all hands on deck.

Spencer Dinwiddie has been the one constant for the Nets during this stretch, which was part of the problem for Brooklyn on Monday. In the two wins — Chicago Bulls on Saturday and Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday — multiple Nets have stepped up.

On Wednesday, Taurean Prince (20 points and eight rebounds), DeAndre Jordan (14 points and seven rebounds) and, most of all, Jarrett Allen (22 points and 17 rebounds) played well, in addition to Dinwiddie (20 points, eight assists).

Following the win, Allen expressed Brooklyn’s approach without Irving and LeVert to YES Network’s Michael Grady:

It’s been a slow process. Ya know, having Caris and Kyrie out, it’s a little tough. But at the end of the day, it’s next man up and we’ show that tonight.

Additionally, the Nets have talked about both their chemistry and energy as being problems to start the season. Allen told Grady the Nets were able to address one of those issues.

Consistent energy. We came out in the third quarter, playing hard, and we took it to the fourth.

WATCH: Nets will be without Kyrie Irving on road vs. Hornets

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it plays the Hornets.

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it plays the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

Irving was initially listed as questionable ahead of the Nets (5-8) game versus the Nuggets on Nov. 15 because of right shoulder impingement. The 27-year-old played through the pain in Denver but did not take the court for the team’s next game Saturday versus the Bulls. The Nets still managed to pick up and eight-point win in Chicago without Irving, but did not fair as well versus the Pacers Monday and fell 115-86.

Spencer Dinwiddie is starting at point guard with Irving out. Dinwiddie scored 24 points in Saturday’s win on 5-for-11 shooting (0-for-4 from three). He added 28 points in Monday’s loss with 9-for-21 shooting (4-for-8 from three).

Nets will be without Irving on road vs. Hornets (Hoopshype)

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

Nets will be without Irving on road vs. Hornets (Netswire)

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

Nets will be without Irving on road vs. Hornets

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).

Kyrie Irving to miss third consecutive game for Nets

The Nets welcome the Charlotte Hornets to Barclays Center on Wednesday, but Brooklyn will be without Kyrie Irving, once again.

[jwplayer KlWOg6lq-ThvAeFxT]

The Nets have gone 1-1 without superstar point guard Kyrie Irving over the last two games. Brooklyn is going to be tested again on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets with Irving being ruled out again.

Irving was originally ruled questionable for Brooklyn’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets on November 15 due to a right shoulder impingement, but he still played. He was then questionable, again, leading up to Saturday’s game in Chicago and sat out, missing the following game against the Indiana Pacers.

In Irving’s absence, Spencer Dinwiddie has taken over as Brooklyn’s starting point guard.

In the win over the Bulls, Dinwiddie scored 24 points on 5-for-11 shooting (0-for-4 from three) while going 14-for-15 from the free-throw line. In Monday’s loss at Barclays Center, Dinwiddie scored 28 points on 9-for-21 shooting (4-for-8 from three), knocking down six of his seven free-throw attempts.

RELATED: Kenny Atkinson: Nets are a below-average team ‘right now’

RELATED: Joe Harris thinks Nets’ problem has been the same game-to-game

Success in the post is helping fuel the Los Angeles Lakers offense

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are posting up a lot, which is working out very well for the Los Angeles Lakers offensive attack.

The Los Angeles Lakers are having a better start than many anticipated from them, even with a home-heavy schedule hosting a lot of the teams who are expected to be at the bottom of the league by season’s end. The defense, in particular, has been the biggest headline as they currently lead the NBA in defensive rating.

But over the last few weeks as they’ve maintained that defensive excellence, the Lakers have found some more success on the offensive end. After ranking as low as No. 19 on offense earlier in the season, the Lakers are now No. 10 in offensive efficiency. And one key part of their success has been the post-game.

As I wrote in the aftermath of the opener against the Clippers, the Lakers were smart to utilize the post in that game but simply went to that well too often. They posted up nearly 25% of the time against the Clippers, but they’ve since tailed that back to posting up just 13% of the time, which is still the second-highest rate in the NBA.

According to Synergy Sports, the Lakers are the No. 2 most efficient team when scoring out of the post, including pass outs, getting 1.094 points per possession. That’s a much higher mark than they see out pick-and-rolls and isolations, speaking to their general lack of guard play.

A big part of that is the post efficiency is the scoring ability of LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing in the post but also their ability to find open shooters like Davis did against the Hawks. Only the Philadelphia 76ers post-up more often than the Lakers, but they’re nowhere near as efficient, ranking No. 11 in efficiency. The passing and shooting for the Lakers has allowed them to turn those post up plays into great shots.

The passing has been great from both Davis and LeBron, while LeBron’s efficiency in the post has been masterful. Among players who have posted up at least 20 times this season, Synergy has LeBron as the most efficient post scorer in the league (1.32 points per possession) by a wide margin ahead of Charlotte’s PJ Washington (1.167) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (1.118).

Although the post hadn’t been much of a weapon over the past few years for the NBA’s best teams, the Lakers are leaning into their size to bring a mix of modern efficiency and throwback post play that currently has them with the best record in the league.

Former Michigan State star Miles Bridges posterizes 6-foot-11 Jonas Valanciunas

Miles Bridges is up to his usual tricks, this time posterizing Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas.

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You know, there is a lot of negativity in the world today. It seems like society is more divided than ever. Amidst the anger and the divisiveness that plagues our society today, there is one bright spot. One beacon of hope. One thing that can unite us all: Miles Bridges dunking the basketball like the rim owes him money. The Former Michigan State forward and current Charlotte Hornets star through down a dunk tonight and absolutely posterized Jonas Valanciunas of the Grizzlies.

You can watch it here:

Ah yes, that is beautiful. You can watch as Miles goes up and over the Memphis Grizzlies center Valanciunas. I’m not sure but I think Miles Bridges has some type of spring system in his legs. It’s still unclear how he does these things.

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