Friday NBA Odds, Predictions, Betting Trends: Bulls vs. Suns, Nuggets vs. Cavaliers Among Most Popular Public Picks (March 18)

It would be easier to list the NBA teams not in action on Friday. How's that for volume to tip off the weekend, much less with March Madness running amok?

The theme of the night in the association's non-conference matchups: Eight of the 12 games on the board feature teams that don't quite see each other very often.

The slate includes Mavericks vs. 76ers, Nuggets vs. Cavaliers, Lakers vs. Raptors, Celtics vs. Kings and Suns vs. Bulls, among others.

Naturally, a handful of those games are also among the most-popular wagers we've tracked Friday.

Here are the top five betting spreads getting peppered with action.

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Friday's NBA Odds & Betting Trends

*Odds and public betting trends data as of Friday afternoon

5 Most Popular NBA Bets 

Knicks (-5.5) vs. Wizards

7 p.m. ET

Before diving into the non-conference tilts, we first have to mention the Knicks, who are hot commodities at home.

The 87% of tickets on New York's the most of any spread tonight, and why not fade the Wizards? They own the worst cover rate in basketball (26-40-2 ATS, 39.4%) this season.

Nuggets (-2.5) vs. Cavaliers

7:30 p.m. ET

The public likes the Nuggets at a short price in Cleveland, as the road squad's pulling 86% of tickets at the time of writing.

Celtics (-9) vs. Kings

10 p.m. ET

Another road favorite with tons of support's Boston, which has won six of the last seven overall and five of those against the spread.

The Celtics, despite the number creeping toward 10, are attracting 85% of the betting tickets vs. the defense-optional Kings.

Suns (-5) vs. Bulls

10 p.m. ET

The Bulls are a woeful 2-7 against the spread the previous nine overall and haven't covered as road underdogs in six straight.

Bettors are fading Chicago again in Phoenix, with 76% of the bets riding on the Suns minus the points.

Thunder (+16.5) vs. Heat

8 p.m. ET

The lone underdog on the list is Oklahoma City, catching a whopping 16.5. against the top-seeded Heat.

The Thunder have been awesome against the spread despite struggling in the win-loss column, trailing only Memphis in cover rate (40-25-4, 61.5%) this season.