National Lacrosse League Betting Picks and Predictions: NLL Week 17 Friday Best Bets

The National Lacrosse League continues its “March to May” with Week 17. The weekend starts with two matchups and I have a bet for each of them. Let’s take a look at what they are.

Note: The odds presented below are those at the time when Hutton sends his picks out to DubClub subscribers and are subject to change. Subscribe to Hutton Jackson’s lacrosse picks on DubClub so you never miss out on the best odds for these picks. As soon as Hutton places a bet, you’ll immediately get a notification with both the pick and brief analysis. Picks are sent out at least 20 minutes in advance of articles published on Bet On Lacrosse.

Ottawa Black bears at Halifax Thunderbirds

Ottawa Moneyline/Spread+155 / +1.5
Halifax Moneyline/Spread-190 / -1.5
Total22
TimeFriday · 6 p.m. ET
TVESPN+/TSN

Odds via Caesars

The Halifax Thunderbirds and Ottawa Black Bears face off for the second time this season and I’m targeting the total in this game. Both teams score and give up a ton of goals in transition and back-and-forth track meet should favor a high-scoring game.

Halifax’s offense has played really well during the past two months and is averaging 13.17 goals per game in their last six games. That includes scoring 17 on Saskatchewan, the most efficient defense in the league at the time.

This Ottawa defense had played well earlier in the season, but that was before Callum Jones went down with an injury and the team traded away Ron John. They’ve also give up a ton of shots per game and lot of their success has been due to incredible play in net by Zach Higgins. Halifax was able to drop 14 on Ottawa a month ago and I expect a similar output from the Thunderbirds on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa offense has struggled this season, but I think this is a good buy-low spot for them. While I didn’t like the Black Bears trading away Kiel Matisz, Ottawa replaced him with Travis Longboat, who looked solid in his Black Bears debut last week. I expect Ottawa to not only have offensive success in transition, but think they can also find enough settled offensive success to push this total Over 22 at -115 on Caesars.

Pick: Over 22

Las vegas Desert Dogs at Buffalo Bandits

Las Vegas Moneyline/Spread+320 / +3.5
Buffalo Moneyline/Spread-430 / -3.5
Total25.5
TimeFriday · 7:30 p.m. ET
TVESPN+/TSN+

Odds via FanDuel

I rarely bet favorites of more than -1.5 in a league as competitive as the NLL, but this is a rare scenario where I’m not sure a 3.5-point spread is large enough. I don’t foresee this game being all that close and expect Buffalo to be able to win by four goals or more.

The Bandits are still the most efficient offense in the league and face the least efficient defense in Las Vegas. The Desert Dogs have allowed a league-high 14.6 goals per game with the next closest team being Calgary at 12.8. They’ve also allowed 20+ goals to opponents in three of their last five games. Additionally, Desert Dogs also traded away one of their best defenders James Barclay earlier this month and placed rookie of the year candidate Adam Poitras on the IR. While Las Vegas’ offense has shown improvement, it won’t be enough to hang with Buffalo.

During the past four seasons, there have been 13 games that have featured a 3.5-point spread, which is the highest we’ve seen in the NLL. Favorites in those games are 8-5 against the spread according to the Bet On Lacrosse Report. Ultimately, much like in the NHL, the sportsbooks don’t want to post a spread higher than 3.5, even if it is deserved.

Trust Buffalo to win in a blowout and bet Bandits -3.5 at +100 on FanDuel.

Pick: Buffalo Bandits -3.5


Subscribe to Hutton Jackson’s lacrosse picks on DubClub so you never miss out on the best odds for these picks. As soon as Hutton places a bet, you’ll immediately get a notification with both the pick and brief analysis!

Hutton Jackson is a Northern Virginia native and co-founder of Bet On Lacrosse who currently serves as the lead betting analyst on the platform. He is also an Emmy-winning producer whose work has appeared on MLB Network, NHL Network and The Action Network. Hutton played four years of college lacrosse at DeSales University where his highest lacrosse accolade was being named to Inside Lacrosse’s 2014 All-Name Team, an honor that didn’t require stepping on the field. When he’s not producing new video content, editing podcasts or writing about lacrosse, he can usually be found diving around the crease in your local men’s league and ranting about Baltimore and D.C. sports.

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