We are less than a week into the NBA Playoffs and already the intensity in some of these series is through the roof. We get three more games on Friday, with the action starting at 7 pm ET in Philadelphia between the 76ers and Celtics. Next up it’ll be the Lakers and Rockets at 8 pm ET, with the Spurs and Trail Blazers closing out the night at 10.30 pm ET. All three of these games will be broadcasted live on Prime Video.
My NBA Best Bets are ready for the three games, this time around I’ve focused on the Point Spread market after going 2-0 on Wednesday’s bets. Odds are courtesy of FanDuel, make sure you visit our NBA Picks page for daily in-depth analysis throughout the entire NBA postseason. Now let’s reveal my bets for Friday!
Celtics vs 76ers Best Bet: Celtics -7.5 (-106)
Boston losing Game 2 at home was hardly a surprise to me, I had a sneaky feeling it would happen after I saw them going 5-5 SU in their last ten Game 2s when playing at home. Losing that game now puts a bit of pressure on the Celtics which should hopefully bring the best out of them on Friday as the series shifts to Philadelphia. Philly got a career night out of VJ Edgecombe who had 30 points, while as a team they went red hot from deep connecting on 19 threes. That might have worked once, but I doubt a team led as well as the Boston Celtics by head coach Joe Mazzula will fail to make the necessary adjustments. The Cs have won 9 of the last 13 meetings vs Philly, they’re also 5-2 SU in 7 visits to Xfinity Mobile Arena. I’ll take them to cover on Friday night.
Lakers vs Rockets Best Bet: Lakers +9.5 (-115)
The Lakers have exceeded expectations so far in this series, going up 2-0 with their two best players still out injured. With the series now shifting to Houston for the next two games, all the pressure is on the Rockets who are basically in a must-win scenario in Game 3. No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit, KD and co. have to come up with a gameplan to pull one back. Their offense has been catastrophic in the first two games. Alperen Sengun is averaging under 20 points and shooting under 39% from the field. Durant himself had a dud in Game 2 committing 9 turnovers, Houston has been the toughest watch in the NBA postseason so far. Can they erase all that completely just because the series shifts to their arena? I doubt it. LA is playing with very little pressure in Game 3, surely they can keep things somewhat close here? They’ve covered in 7 of 8 meetings and are 9-4 ATS in 13 visits to Toyota Center.
Spurs vs Trail Blazers Best Bet: Spurs -2 (-110)
Not having Wembanyama at their disposal in Game 3 is undoubtedly a bit blow for San Antonio, as they’ll have to now come up with a completely different gameplan without their best player. In 18 games without him this year the Spurs are 12-6 SU, however there is a noticeable drop-off in their defensive efficiency which goes from 110 when he plays to 116.6 when he doesn’t play. Portland finally got a big game out of Scoot Henderson who went off for 31 points in the Game 2 win, plus Jrue Holiday once again proved his value as the veteran leader of the team with 16 and 9 assists. After just 40 and 42 points in the paint scored in Games 1 and 2, I’m expecting the Trail Blazers to attack the basket relentlessly here with Wemby out of the picture. Losing the best player to an injury can often rally the troops of a team and bring the best out of them. San Antonio actually led by as many as 14 points with 8 mins remaining in the 4th before their collapse. They had two full days to come up with a gameplan for Game 3 that won’t involve their big man, I think that’s quite enough for a team that went 62-20 SU this season. I’ll back San Antonio even though they’re shorthanded here.
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