3 Best Bets, Odds and Picks for First Full Day of NBA Restart Games on July 31

• The NBA’s Orlando Restart continues with a full day of action on Friday
• Friday will be the first day with more than 2 official NBA games since March 11th
• Read on for a deeper look at the odds, spreads and picks on Friday’s matchups

After several months of waiting, the NBA is finally back. The first full day of basketball action comes Friday, with six games on the board emanating from the Orlando bubble.

This is one of the more exciting sports’ days in recent memory, and along with a full day of action, there’s also plenty of value to be found in the July 31st NBA odds.

Friday July 31st NBA Game Odds

Odds taken July 31st

The sight of a full basketball board is a welcome one. Thursday night featured a great season-opening doubleheader of games, but Friday is where basketball fans and bettors get to dive into a complete slate of action.

Mavericks -1.5 (-112) vs Rockets

The Friday nightcap features maybe the best two offenses in basketball. The Rockets prowess has been well-documented, and James Harden is once again leading the league in scoring at 34.4 points per game. However, the edge actually sits with Dallas in this matchup.

The Mavericks rank first in the league, ahead of the second-ranked Rockets, in offensive efficiency, posting 115.8 per 100 possessions. Rick Carlisle’s team is also better in floor percentage, average scoring margin, and shooting percentage.

Most importantly, though, Dallas enters Friday as the healthier team. Houston’s Eric Gordon, a key bench guard, will be missing for at least two weeks after suffering a sprained ankle. His minutes will be picked up by Austin Rivers, Jeff Green, or Ben McLemore, and there will be an obvious hole in Houston’s rotation.

Both teams have looked good in the scrimmages leading up to Friday, but it’s the Mavericks who will carry their momentum into a win on Friday night.

Celtics vs Bucks Over 218.5 (-110)

Friday’s Milwaukee-Boston matchup features the second-lowest total on the July 31st slate. While, yes, this game features great defense and it’s plausible to expect rust from the offenses, there’s actually plenty of reason to be on the “over” here.

A big part of that is the way these teams score. The Bucks are an elite interior team, ranking 4th in the NBA in points in the paint per game, and Boston also sits in the league’s top half in that category. These squads get plenty of high-percentage looks, ones that a little bit of rust shouldn’t rattle too much.

Milwaukee also has the league’s overall most productive offense, with Mike Budenholzer’s team leading the league at 118.6 points per game. Boston is just 11th in that category with 113 points, but they are no offensive pushover. The Celtics are 6th in offensive efficiency and 5th in average scoring margin.

The Bucks may have their eyes ahead on the NBA Championship odds, but on Friday, a shootout with the Celtics should provide a tough test.

Grizzlies +3 (-110) vs Trail Blazers

The biggest surprise of this season has been Ja Morant’s almost immediate success with Memphis, and that should only continue into the Orlando bubble.

Morant, along with Jaren Jackson Jr, Brandon Clarke, and Dillon Brooks, has brought the Grizzlies back to the playoffs, and they have the edge over the Trail Blazers in their first seeding game.

The advantage for Memphis comes on the defensive side of the ball. The Grizzlies are better than the Blazers when it comes to opponent points per game, opponent average scoring margin, and team defensive efficiency. Each of these teams are strong offensively, but it’s Portland who finds themselves ranked in the league’s low 20’s in each of the aforementioned categories.

Additionally, Portland will be without Trevor Ariza, who opted out of the Orlando restart. The forward was playing 33.4 minutes per game for the Blazers, and his absence leaves a big minutes void that this team isn’t deep enough to fill.