Friday’s Tip Sheet

ATS Rankings | Totals Report | Injuries

Game of the Night: Pelicans at Lakers – 10:35 PM EST

Will Anthony Davis join LeBron James in the Purple and Gold next season? Anything is possible in the NBA as James could certainly use another superstar next to him in Los Angeles. The two stars will meet up for the first time this season when the Pelicans continue a four-game road trip.

New Orleans (15-17 SU, 15-17 ATS) alternated wins and losses in 11 consecutive games from November 26 through December 16, capped off by a home defeat to Miami. However, that funky streak came to an end in Wednesday’s 123-116 setback at Milwaukee, but the Pelicans managed to cover as nine-point underdogs to at least keep a 12-game streak alive of alternating ATS wins and losses. Davis suffered ankle injury in the defeat, but scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds and is expected to play tonight.

The Lakers (18-13, 12-18-1 ATS) return home from a dreadful 1-3 road trip with the only victory coming last Saturday at Charlotte by 28 points. In the other three losses to Houston, Washington, and Brooklyn, the Lakers allowed at least 115 points in each defeat, while Los Angeles owns a 2-5 ATS record in the past seven games.

Last season (granted pre-LeBron), the Lakers lost all three meetings with the Pelicans, including a 119-112 setback at Staples Center last October. The Lakers are currently on a 10-2 UNDER streak at home since October, while the Pelicans have hit the UNDER in eight of the past 11 games overall.

Color of Money

The Bucks and Celtics played an exciting seven-game series in the opening round of the playoffs last season that ended with Boston finishing off Milwaukee at TD Garden. These two Eastern Conference powers meet for the second time this season as the Celtics edged the Bucks on November 1 in Beantown, 117-113 as 2 ½-point favorites, marking the 10th consecutive win by the home team since December 2017.

Milwaukee (21-9 SU, 15-13-2 ATS) is riding a three-game winning streak since losing at Indiana on December 12, as the Bucks held off the Pelicans on Wednesday, 123-115. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 25 points, while Milwaukee shot 50% from the floor to improve to 14-3 at Fiserv Forum. However, the Bucks would like to fix their road mark, which sits at 7-6, although they have won three of their past four on the highway.

The Celtics (18-12 SU, 15-15 ATS) were rolling along by winning eight straight games prior to losing at Detroit last Saturday. It looked like a one-game hiccup as Boston jumped out to a 37-26 lead over Phoenix on Wednesday after one quarter. However, the surging Suns rallied to shock the Celtics, 111-103 to cash as 11 ½-point underdogs, while limiting Boston to 41 second half points. The loss also snapped a four-game home winning streak, as the Celtics last fell to the Bucks at TD Garden in the second game of last season.

Net Gains

Who’s the hottest team in the NBA right now? You guessed it correctly, it’s the Nets (15-18 SU, 18-15 ATS), who are coming off their seventh consecutive victory on Wednesday by edging the Bulls, 96-93. What’s even more interesting about Brooklyn’s recent success is the two losses prior to this hot streak each came by two points apiece to Cleveland and Oklahoma City, while blowing a 20-point lead to the Thunder. The Nets have covered eight consecutive games, while cashing in 13 of 15 victories this season.

Brooklyn welcomes in Indiana to Barclays Center, as the Pacers (20-12 SU, 17-15 ATS) should be motivated tonight after dropping a pair of games on a back-to-back set to the Knicks and Raptors. After losing to New York at the buzzer on Tuesday, Indiana fell apart in the fourth quarter at Toronto by getting outscored, 24-11 in a 99-96 defeat. In spite of the loss, the Pacers continued a remarkable UNDER streak that reached 12 games, while Indiana looks to extend its winning streak against Brooklyn to nine.

Middle of the Road

The Pistons and Hornets are each hovering around the .500 mark as the two Eastern Conference squads meet for the second time in less than 10 days. Charlotte (15-15 SU, 16-14 ATS) rallied from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to edge Detroit (15-14 SU, 15-13-1 ATS) as 5 ½-point favorites, 108-107. Both teams held double-digit leads in the game, but the Hornets came through in the end for their second victory over the Pistons this season.

The Hornets wrap up a five-game homestand that began with the one-point triumph over Detroit, but Charlotte lost back-to-back contests to the Lakers and Knicks. Charlotte rebounded with another rally to knock off Cleveland on Wednesday, 110-99, but the Hornets failed to cash as 13-point favorites to fall to 0-4 ATS the last four games.

The Pistons began December by shocking the Warriors, but fell apart by losing seven of the next eight games. Detroit rebounded by beating Minnesota in overtime on Wednesday, 129-123 as 5 ½-point underdogs, paced by Blake Griffin’s 34 points and Reggie Bullock’s 33 points, while overcoming a 14-point fourth quarter deficit.

We Finally Made It

It took until nearly Christmas, but the Kings (16-15 SU, 19-12 ATS) are finally listed as a home favorite for the first time this season. Sacramento has laid points on the road four times, but will be chalk at Golden 1 Center against Memphis (16-15 SU, 16-15 ATS), who has lost four consecutive games after falling at Portland on Wednesday, 99-92.

Sacramento has dropped two in a row since Sunday’s victory at Dallas as the Kings lost by double-digit at home to the Thunder, 132-113. Buddy Hield drilled seven three-pointers to score 37 points for the Kings, as Sacramento hit the OVER for the fifth consecutive game. Although the Kings failed to cover in the last two games, Sacramento owns a 3-0 ATS mark off back-to-back ATS losses. These two teams have split their first two meetings this season with the home team winning each time.

You can reach Kevin Rogers via e-mail at rogers@vegasinsider.com

Kevin Rogers can be followed on Twitter at virogers.