The schedule this week has been unusual, to say the least. The Emirates NBA Cup Final on Tuesday, followed by a league-wide day off on Wednesday, meant there were no regular NBA games between Monday and Thursday. Then, instead of the usually quiet Thursday, there were 13 games played last night. This all leads to another rarity, a three-game Friday.

Despite the paucity of games, there is still some intriguing action on the docket.

The Milwaukee Bucks, fresh off their NBA Cup championship, travel to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers and their NBA-best record. The Cup runners-up Oklahoma City Thunder are on the second half of a back-to-back and will take on the Heat in Miami.

And the Philadelphia 76ers‘ Joel Embiid could potentially make his return from his sinus fracture, as he is now listed as questionable for tonight’s matchup with the Charlotte Hornets after initially being expected to miss the weekend.

As always, let’s dig a bit deeper and find some fantasy hoops streamers and best betting angles for the night.

Friday’s Fantasy Stream Team

Caris LeVert, SG, Cavaliers (Available in 47.6% of ESPN leagues)

LeVert has found his form since returning from an injury absence last month. He has averaged just about 15 points and five boards while knocking down almost three treys per game over his last five contests. He is coming off 19-pooint effort in 19 minutes in his last outing Monday.

Kelly Oubre Jr., SG, 76ers (58.2%)

Oubre is a consistent producer when given big minutes, and he has settled in as an every-game starter for Philadelphia. He has also been big on the glass of late, averaging 14 PPG and 10.5 RPG over his last four outings while producing double-doubles in three of the four.

Dre’s best bets for Friday

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Odds by ESPN BET

Bucks +9.5 (-115) at Cavaliers

This line is so long because Damian Lillard (calf) is out. Even without him, and as well as he has played, this line is too big for a Bucks team playing at such a high level. They have won 12 of their last 15 games in addition to the NBA Cup championship game, and this includes winning two of the three games Lillard missed last month. Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing at an MVP level, and it is likely that Khris Middleton (illness) will be back in the lineup for the Bucks as well. I’ll take them with the points.

Joel Embiid over 26.5 points (Even)

There is some question as to whether Embiid will be able to play Friday, but if he does, he has shown that he is capable of the point-per-minute production he has averaged for the last few seasons. In his last 85 minutes played, Embiid has scored 78 points. And he was averaging 33.0 MPG in the four games before he had to leave his last outing early with a right sinus fracture. If Embiid is able to go on Friday, he likely puts a big scoring number on the board.

Isaiah Hartenstein over 11.5 rebounds (-105)

Hartenstein cleans the glass for the Thunder. But he does more than that, with opportunistic scoring and surprising assist numbers while consistently getting boards. Hartenstein is averaging 12.3 RPG in his 11 games this season, but he has only failed to grab 12 rebounds three times in those 11 games. Barring unusual circumstances, he should be good for his typical dozen-plus boards again on Friday.

Projections and Injury Reports

Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds by ESPN BET

Players in italics are available in a majority of ESPN Leagues

Charlotte Hornets at Philadelphia 76ers
7 p.m. ET

Line: Hornets 12.5 (-110) | 76ers -12.5 (-110)
Money line: Hornets +500 | 76ers -800
Total: 214.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: 76ers by 8.7, straight up 76%, 214.5 total points.

Injury Report:
Hornets: Tre Mann, (OUT – Back); Grant Williams, (OUT – Knee); Mark Williams, (OUT – Foot); Brandon Miller, (GTD – Ankle)
76ers: Jared McCain, (OUT – Knee); Joel Embiid, (GTD – Face); Caleb Martin, (OUT – Shoulder)

Hornets projections:

• LaMelo Ball, PG: 50.9 FPTS (29.7 pts, 5.3 reb, 6.9 ast, 4.4 3PM)

• Brandon Miller, SG/SF: 34.8 FPTS (21.8 pts, 4.5 reb, 3.4 ast, 3.6 3PM)

• Miles Bridges, SF/PF: 31.1 FPTS (17.0 pts, 6.5 reb, 3.1 ast, 1.8 3PM)

• Cody Martin, SG: 19.8 FPTS (9.1 pts, 4.3 reb, 1.9 ast)

• Josh Green, SG/SF: 16.4 FPTS (8.6 pts, 2.5 reb, 1.5 ast)

• Vasilije Micic, PG/SG: 15.4 FPTS (7.2 pts, 2.4 reb, 3.0 ast)

• Nick Richards, C: 15.1 FPTS (7.9 pts, 6.0 reb, 1.3 ast)

76ers projections:

• Tyrese Maxey, PG/SG: 47.0 FPTS (26.9 pts, 3.8 reb, 5.7 ast, 3.0 3PM)

• Paul George, SF/PF: 39.0 FPTS (19.3 pts, 6.0 reb, 5.4 ast, 2.3 3PM)

• Joel Embiid, C: 31.4 FPTS (19.4 pts, 6.3 reb, 3.2 ast)

• Kelly Oubre Jr., SG/SF: 29.3 FPTS (15.2 pts, 6.4 reb, 2.1 ast)

• Andre Drummond, C: 21.1 FPTS (9.9 pts, 8.5 reb, 1.0 ast)

• Ricky Council IV, SG: 14.4 FPTS (8.6 pts, 2.8 reb, 1.2 ast)

• KJ Martin, SF: 13.5 FPTS (7.6 pts, 2.7 reb, 1.2 ast)

Milwaukee Bucks at Cleveland Cavaliers
7:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV

Line: Bucks 9.5 (-115) | Cavaliers -9.5 (-105)
Money line: Bucks +340 | Cavaliers -450
Total: 220.5 (-115 O, -105 U)
BPI Projection: Cavaliers by 12.3, straight up 84%, 232.1 total points.

Injury Report:
Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, (GTD – Knee); Khris Middleton, (GTD – Illness); Damian Lillard, (OUT – Calf)
Cavaliers: Isaac Okoro, (OUT – Shoulder); Luke Travers, (GTD – Ankle)

Bucks projections:

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF/C: 47.5 FPTS (31.6 pts, 11.1 reb, 6.5 ast, 1.5 blk)

• Khris Middleton, SF: 28.3 FPTS (13.2 pts, 5.4 reb, 4.9 ast)

• Bobby Portis, PF: 26.7 FPTS (13.2 pts, 7.5 reb, 2.3 ast)

• Brook Lopez, C: 22.0 FPTS (11.8 pts, 4.6 reb, 1.7 ast, 1.9 blk)

• Gary Trent Jr., SG: 21.3 FPTS (12.9 pts, 2.6 reb, 1.3 ast, 2.0 3PM)

• Taurean Prince, SF: 16.3 FPTS (7.3 pts, 3.8 reb, 1.6 ast)

• Pat Connaughton, SG/SF: 15.1 FPTS (6.4 pts, 3.6 reb, 2.3 ast)

Cavaliers projections:

• Donovan Mitchell, PG/SG: 39.7 FPTS (21.3 pts, 5.1 reb, 4.4 ast, 3.0 3PM)

• Darius Garland, PG: 32.2 FPTS (17.2 pts, 2.6 reb, 5.6 ast, 2.3 3PM)

• Evan Mobley, PF/C: 30.1 FPTS (16.1 pts, 9.3 reb, 2.7 ast, 1.4 blk)

• Jarrett Allen, C: 30.0 FPTS (13.7 pts, 10.5 reb, 2.4 ast)

• Max Strus, SG/SF: 25.2 FPTS (10.8 pts, 5.6 reb, 3.1 ast, 2.3 3PM)

• Caris LeVert, SG/SF: 21.2 FPTS (11.0 pts, 2.5 reb, 3.2 ast)

• Dean Wade, PF: 14.2 FPTS (5.4 pts, 4.3 reb, 1.3 ast)

Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat
8 p.m. ET

Line: Thunder -1.5 (-110) | Heat 1.5 (-110)
Money line: Thunder -125 | Heat +105
Total: 217.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Thunder by 1.4, straight up 55%, 219.7 total points.

Injury Report:
Thunder: Chet Holmgren, (OUT – Hip); Nikola Topic, (OUT – Knee); Jaylin Williams, (GTD – Hamstring)
Heat: Josh Richardson, (GTD – Heel); Nikola Jovic, (GTD – Ankle); Pelle Larsson, (GTD – Ankle)

Thunder projections:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG: 53.7 FPTS (31.9 pts, 5.4 reb, 6.1 ast, 2.0 3PM)

• Jalen Williams, SF/PF/C: 39.9 FPTS (20.4 pts, 5.9 reb, 5.1 ast, 1.9 3PM)

• Isaiah Hartenstein, C: 25.9 FPTS (7.6 pts, 11.9 reb, 3.7 ast)

• Luguentz Dort, SG/SF: 20.7 FPTS (9.6 pts, 4.9 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.9 3PM)

• Cason Wallace, SG: 17.4 FPTS (6.7 pts, 3.4 reb, 2.0 ast)

• Alex Caruso, PG/SG: 16.0 FPTS (6.2 pts, 2.2 reb, 2.1 ast)

• Isaiah Joe, SG: 15.5 FPTS (7.8 pts, 2.1 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.9 3PM)

Heat projections:

• Bam Adebayo, C: 43.6 FPTS (19.0 pts, 12.2 reb, 5.5 ast)

• Tyler Herro, PG/SG: 39.7 FPTS (23.3 pts, 5.7 reb, 4.9 ast, 3.6 3PM)

• Jimmy Butler, SG/SF/PF: 38.9 FPTS (20.7 pts, 7.4 reb, 5.4 ast)

• Terry Rozier, PG/SG: 20.9 FPTS (11.3 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.5 ast)

• Nikola Jovic, PF: 17.9 FPTS (8.5 pts, 4.3 reb, 1.6 ast)

• Duncan Robinson, SF: 17.1 FPTS (9.1 pts, 2.3 reb, 2.3 ast, 2.1 3PM)

• Dru Smith, PG: 15.7 FPTS (6.4 pts, 3.1 reb, 1.8 ast)