Free NBA Picks Today for Friday, December 8th, 2023

Our free NBA picks are out for Friday, December 8th 2023! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free NBA picks for the best games on today’s schedule!

Detroit Pistons @ Orlando Magic – 7PM ET

Tony Battalio

The Detroit Pistons are in the middle of an awful losing streak, and it does not seem like it’s going to end anytime soon with the way they’ve been playing throughout the last month of the season. They will be looking to go on the road to Orlando and pick up an upset victory here in this one to snap their losing streak and hopefully get things rolling in the right direction once again before the new year comes around. If they do not get things turned around quickly, they will be out of playoff contention by the beginning of January if they are not already all but officially eliminated from playoff contention. They have been absolutely awful at both ends of the floor, and they have struggled to win close games throughout the season and now they will look to go on the road against one of the top teams in the conference and pick up a much-needed victory here on Friday night. 

It has been a solid start to the season for the Orlando Magic and they will be looking to keep the momentum rolling here on Friday night at home against the Detroit Pistons. Orlando will also be looking to bounce back after their blowout loss on the road in Cleveland in their previous game as they look to get right back into the win column with a stellar performance against a struggling Detroit team. Orlando has been one of the best teams in the league throughout the early part of the regular season, and they will be looking to maintain that narrative with another quality performance here on Friday night at home. Orlando comes into this game with 14 victories through their first 21 games of the season. They will be looking for winning number 15 here on Friday night at home against the Pistons. That is exactly what I expect as I look for them to pick up the victory here in this one and cover the spread against Detroit in the process.

Atlanta Hawks @ Philadelphia 76ers – 7PM ET

Tony Battalio

It has been an up-and-down start to the regular season for the Atlanta Hawks and they come into this game on the road and Philadelphia looking for a huge momentum boosting victory on Friday night. Atlanta comes into this game with 11 losses through their first 20 games of the regular season and they will be looking to break the double digit win mark with a quality performance here on Friday night on the road in Philadelphia. However, with superstar point guard Trae Young being listed as a gametime decision for this one, this could end up being a very long night for the Atlanta Hawks as they tend to look awful when he is not in the lineup. They come into this game on a two game losing streak, and losers of four out of their last five and they will be looking to gain as much momentum as possible with a victory here on Friday night in Philadelphia. Atlanta is in desperate need of a victory in this game against Philadelphia feels like a must win game for them if they want to remain competitive throughout the early part of the year. 

The Philadelphia 76ers are having an incredible start to the regular season, and they will be looking to maintain that start with another quality performance here on Friday night at home against the Atlanta Hawks. Despite all the dramas surrounding the team coming into the season regarding James Harden, this team has been a better team without him in the lineup throughout the early part of the regular season. Philadelphia comes into this game with one of the best records in the league throughout their first 20 games of the regular season as they currently have 13 victories. They will be looking for their 14th victory of the season with a quality game here at home on Friday night as they look to take down a struggling Atlanta Hawks team. Philadelphia has already picked up one victory against Atlanta earlier on this season and I expect them to get a second consecutive victory against the Atlanta Hawks here on Friday night as well. As I look for Philadelphia to pick up the win and cover the spread in the process here in this one.

New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics – 7:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

The New York Knicks have had a decent start to the season, but they have had pockets of rough play throughout the early part of the year as well. They come into this game with 12 victories through their first 20 games of the regular season. Now they will go on the road to Boston and look to pick up a victory and TD Garden here on Friday night. This will be a huge momentum boosting victory for the New York Knicks throughout the early part of the year as they look to take down one of the top teams in the league on the road. Jalen Brunson has been incredible for the New York Knicks throughout the early part of the regular season and he will be looking to maintain those numbers with another quality game. They will be looking to bounce back after they were blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks in their previous game, and they will also look to pick up their first victory against Boston this season in their third try here on Friday night. 

It has been an incredible start to the regular season for the Boston Celtics and they will look to keep the momentum rolling with another quality game here on Friday night at home against the New York Knicks. They have already played two games against the New York Knicks throughout the early part of the season and Boston has picked up victories in both of those games. They will be looking to keep that trend alive with a third consecutive victory over the New York Knicks here at home on Friday night at TD Garden. Boston comes into this game with 15 victories through their first 20 games of the regular season and they will be looking for their 16th one of the year here on Friday night at home against the Knicks. Boston will also be looking to bounce back after losing to the Indiana Pacers and their previous game as the Celtics look to get back on track heading into the weekend. That is exactly what I expect as I look for them to grab their third victory of the season over New York here on Friday night at home. 

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Miami Heat – 8PM ET

Tony Battalio

It has been an up-and-down start to the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they will be looking to to build some momentum throughout December and it starts with grabbing a victory here on Friday night in Miami. Cleveland just can’t seem to string some success together throughout the early part of the regular season as they find themselves hovering around 500 through their first 21 games of the year. A victory in this game against the Miami Heat on the road would be a massive boost for the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the rest of this calendar year as they look to put together a winning streak heading into the middle of December. Cleveland comes into this game with 12 victories through their first 21 games of the regular season and they will be looking for a huge momentum boost with a win here on Friday night against the Heat. They come into this game with a little bit of momentum after beating Orlando and Detroit in back-to-back games.

Miami is off to a decent start to this season as they come into this game with an identical record as Cleveland but they have plenty of momentum after starting off the year rough and picking it up over the last month. They will keep that momentum rolling with a quality performance at home here on Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers as they look to start stringing victories together throughout the early part of December. Miami comes into this game with 12 victories through their first 21 games of the regular season and they will be looking for their 13th one of the year here on Friday night at home against Cleveland. They come into this game after picking up a close win against the Toronto Raptors north of the border in Canada and their previous game and they will be looking to grab a second consecutive victory as they return home for this game on Friday night against Cleveland. That is exactly what I expect as I look for Miami to pull out the win Friday night on the road in what I think will be a close and competitive contest.

Golden State Warriors @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 8PM ET

Tony Battalio

Golden State comes into this game looking to pick up a solid victory on the road in Oklahoma City here on Friday night. These two teams are getting very familiar with each other throughout the early part of this season as they have faced off several times, but Golden State has not come out on top of the majority of those games throughout the early part of the year as well. As they come into this game with two losses and three opportunities against Oklahoma City, and they will be looking for their second victory against Oklahoma City here on Friday night on the road. Golden State is one of the toughest teams in the league to beat at home but they have struggled on the road over the last year and a half and that is something that may come back to bite them in this game on Friday night. Golden State comes into this game hovering below .500 through their first 21 games of the season and they will be looking for their 11th victory of the year here on Friday night on the road.

It has been a solid start of the season for Oklahoma City and they come into this game looking for their third victory of the year against Golden State to wrap up this season series with a win. Oklahoma City comes into this game with 13 victories to their name through their first 20 games of the season and two of those victories have come against this Golden State team. What is perhaps the most impressive thing about that is the fact that both of those victories also came in San Francisco and it has been very hard to beat Golden State at home over the last eight years. So grabbing two victories over Golden State is a massive feat for the early part of the regular season and they will be looking to build upon that accomplishment with another quality performance here on Friday. That is exactly what I expect out of Oklahoma City in this game on Friday night as I look for them to get their third victory of the season against Golden State here in this one. 

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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.