2023 NBA bets, lines and stats for Friday - ESPN

We've got a heavy schedule on tap for Friday night, with 20 of the 30 teams in action. This will be the busiest night in the NBA until 2024, with only six games scheduled in each of the last two nights of this year.

That makes this a night of opportunity, so let's explore some of the more fun matchups in this busiest night of the (remaining) year.

Hornets +15.5 over Suns (-105). The Hornets have struggled this season, particularly since LaMelo Ball's injury, having lost six straight games on the road and nine straight games overall. But, despite all the losses, it is relatively rare for them to lose games by more than 15 points; they have only four such losses in their past 19 games overall. The Suns had a strong bounce-back performance in their last outing, beating the Rockets by 16 points on the road on Wednesday. But, before that game, the Suns had lost five of six and nine of their previous 12. On the season, the Suns are only 7-9 at home, and their overall scoring margin is only +0.5 PPG. As such, 15.5 points is more points than I would be willing to give. According to ESPN Analytics, the Suns should be double-digit favorites at 12.2 points, but they also fall short of predicting a victory margin of 16-or-more points.

Tyrese Maxey OVER 27.5 points (-120). Maxey is due for a big scoring game after two pedestrian outings. He couldn't buy a bucket on Christmas day against the Heat, going scoreless through the first half and 0-for-7 from downtown before making his only 3-pointer in garbage time. He played closer to his norm on Wednesday, making half of his field goal attempts and leading the 76ers with 23 points, but was still below his typical volume. Joel Embiid has missed the last two games injured and will be out