Basketball Parlay of the Day: Friday, February 8th

Disclaimer: Every basketball parlay in this series is going to be a simple 4-legger. A 4-leg basketball parlay is RISKY so approach with caution and avoid tossing full unit bets on these picks. 

With such a thin slate of games in store on the NCAA side tonight, we’re going to be sticking to purely a basketball Parlay of the Day article today. Last night we didn’t have a parlay in play but had a couple underdog moneyline bets in the mix.

For the second day in a row, our first two games fell apart in spectacular fashion before the late night west coast game swooped in to save the day and turn an overall profit (shout out Santa Clara +250).

With all that said, let’s dive into tonight’s action and see the parlay we have in store!

Basketball Parlay of the Day

• Pennsylvania (Pick Em) @ Brown
• Knicks @ Pistons – OVER 207
• Kent State (+4) @ Akron
• Heat @ Kings (-3)

PENNSYLVANIA QUAKERS VS BROWN BEARS – 7:00pm ET

Brown and Penn are two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum in this match-up. Despite coming in with the same 13-7 record on the year, Penn is on a bit of a run winning 3 of their last 4 whereas Brown has dropped 3 of their last 4 match-ups.

Granted, Brown lost those three games to two of the best programs in the Ivy League (Harvard and Yale twice), but the fact remains that they have struggled offensively in recent games. Brown does have a legit defense which should help to at least keep them in the game, but if the offense continues to be an issue, the Bears are going to have a tough time pulling this one out.

As far as players to watch for on Brown, Desmond Cambridge and Tamenang Choh form a formidable defensive duo that also happen to lead the team in scoring. Brown lacks outside shooters and size down low, but Choh does an excellent job of picking up the slack on the boards by averaging a very respectable 8.7 rebounds per game while standing just 6’5.

Penn struggled themselves when facing the class of the Ivy league, coming away with a similar 1-3 record on the year so far. However, they look to have righted the ship in their past few games and are back to playing excellent team defense and efficient offense.

With arguably the best non-conference win of any team in the Ivy League (Villanova), Penn has shown that when at their best, they can give any team in the nation a tough night.

AJ Brodeur is the stat stuffing leader of this Penn squad. Leading the team in every major statistical category (except steals), Brodeur is a smart and versatile undersized big.

While he isn’t the deadliest 3 point shooter, he has made major strides this season and teams at least now have to respect his ability to knock the shot down at a slightly above average clip. Penn’s offense starts and finishes with Brodeur, so look to him to be the go-to guy on the evening.

Brodeur is the key to this pick for me. Despite being undersized compared to bigs at larger programs, he should be able to have his way with the undersized Bears front-court. The Bears don’t run out any consistent contributor standing anywhere close to Brodeur’s 6’8 frame and will likely need to rely on their unproven and seldom utilized trio of (also undersized) bigs to slow him down.

Don’t expect that to happen and look for Penn to continue their hot streak with a nice road win to get them back into Ivy League contention.

Basketball Parlay Pick #1: Pennsylvania Quakers (Pick Em)

NEW YORK KNICKS VS DETROIT PISTONS – 7:00pm ET

Despite a blockbuster trade involving franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis prior to the trade deadline, this Knicks team isn’t going to be drastically different from what we’ve seen on the year so far.

Wes Matthews has already been waived following the trade and Deandre Jordan looks to assume the 25-30 minute a night role that was (at times) occupied by Enes Kanter. While Jordan initially was thought by most to be in line for a buyout himself, the Knicks have decided to hang onto the reliable big man.

The Knicks have really struggled to score recently, as evidenced by the incredibly low point total in the match-up. That said, Dennis Smith Jr. and Deandre Jordan should infuse a bit more life into the stagnant Knicks attack and they likely should be able to score closer to 100+ points per game on a nightly basis (instead of the 90ish they’ve been putting up over the past few weeks).

The Pistons actually faced the new look Knicks in their last match-up and came away with a fairly low scoring win. However, this time around they get the match-up in the own backyard where they average nearly 3 more points per game.

Blake Griffin murdered the Knicks in the last match-up and nothing that has happened between then and now should indicate that’s going to change. Speaking of what’s happened since their last matchup on the 5th, the Pistons will actually look slightly different this time with Reggie Bullock being traded to the Lakers.

While the loss of Bullock will hurt a team that is already severely lacking outside shooting, that shouldn’t change the fact that the Pistons should absolutely boatrace the Knicks in this match-up. With their first match-up as Knicks under their belt, expect Jordan and Smith Jr. to make the Pistons run up the score as the over hits comfortably.

Basketball Parlay Pick #2: OVER 207

KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES VS AKRON ZIPS – 9:00pm ET

Jaylin Walker is the real deal and Kent State has been sneakily one of my favorite plays on the season. Perennially undervalued by odds-makers, the Golden Flashes have been outright underdogs in 5 of their last 7 games, yet managed to go a very solid 5-2 across that stretch.

Even giving the fact they are on the road and facing a respectable Akron team, odds-makers still don’t seem to be giving a very solid Kent State team the respect they deserve.

Circling back to Jaylin Walker, he’s the #12 leading scorer in the nation with solid court vision who also happens to rebound the ball extremely well for a guard. Basically, Walker does it all for the Flashes and the offense runs almost entirely through him.

Walker has also evolved into a pest on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 1.5 steals per game and helps to form a formidable defensive back-court duo with teammate Antonio Williams.

While Akron does have a relatively solid record on the year, they haven’t beaten any of the top caliber teams in the MAC.

Much more of a defensive minded team compared to Kent State, Akron looks to slow down the pace of play and does a great job of contesting almost every look their opponent gets. While they don’t create a ton of turnovers, they play very strong team defense and work well as a unit to provide help when needed.

Akron doesn’t have the same star power (or production) from any one player as Kent State does in Walker, but they do share the ball well and rebound the ball hard as a team.

Jimond Ivey is probably their most consistent offensive threat and while he doesn’t lead the team in looks on most nights, he scores at a very efficient clip from the field while pouring in 6 rebounds and 3 assists a night.

Akron’s biggest Achilles heel is their lack of shooting (especially from 3) and that will come back to bite them hard tonight. It is almost a certainty that Jaylin Walker is going to go out and get his 20+ points so the Zips will need offense to be able to punch back when Walker inevitably gets hot.

Akron simply doesn’t have that right now and Kent State is good enough defensively to keep that trend rolling.

Basketball Parlay Pick #3: Kent State Golden Flashes (+4)

MIAMI HEAT VS SACRAMENTO KINGS – 10:00pm ET

Our last matchup of the day finds the Kings once again as 3 point favorites, only this time, at home. Both teams made a bit of a splash right before the trade deadline with the Heat shipping off Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington for Ryan Anderson while the Kings made a bit of a splash for Harrison Barnes.

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Losing Johnson should definitely hurt a bit, but the move made it clear that the Heat are trying to surround new lead play-maker Justice Winslow with some additional shooters.

Anderson is a stretch big who knocks down the deep ball at a 38% clip on his career and in theory should help space the floor for a team that desperately needs it.

Despite pulling out a surprise win on the road against the Trail Blazers their last time out, the Heat have been struggling against playoff caliber teams.

While they do a great job of controlling the pace and slowing things down, they simply do not score at an efficient enough clip to be able to contend with most contending teams.

Meanwhile for the Kings, Harrison Barnes is questionable to suit up for the game tonight (at the time of this writing), but frankly shouldn’t affect the outcome of the game all that much.

The Kings are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and despite dropping a game to the league’s hottest player, James Harden, have won 3 of their last 4. The Kings love to push the pace and fly up and down the court, making for an interesting stylistic match-up against the grind it out Heat.

At the end of the day, I’m not going to over-analyze this one too much and will simply take the better team, at home, with a small point spread. Even if the Kings get lured into a slow and ugly game, they shoot the ball more efficiently at all three levels and should be able to create enough offense to pick up the win in front of their home crowd.

Basketball Parlay Pick #4: Sacramento Kings (-3)

Total Payout: +1290 (varies from book to book)

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all of your DFS needs and for more of my sportsbook picks. A parlay can make your day!