Thursday saw the Knicks and Timberwolves advance from their respective series, while the 76ers pushed the Celtics to the limit forcing Game 7. We get three more tasty Game 6s on Friday and it all starts in Orlando where the Pistons face the Magic down 3-2. Cleveland will look to advance from their series against Toronto, while in the final game of the day we have the Rockets hoping to become only the 5th team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after going down 3-0 to the Lakers.
Catch all three games on Prime Video starting from 7 pm ET. My NBA Best Bets are ready for Friday’s slate; odds are of course courtesy of FanDuel. Be sure to go over our NBA Picks page for daily in-depth analysis throughout the entire NBA postseason. Now let’s dive into my bets!
Pistons vs Magic Best Bet: Pistons -3.5 (-110)
Although it was a wire-to-wire win for Detroit in Game 5, the Pistons didn’t do it without drama. They need to forget that game as quickly as possible as the series now moves to Orlando for Game 6. If they come out with the same effort in Friday’s game like they did on Wednesday, they’ll give themselves a chance. Detroit outrebounded Orlando 49-33 in that game, with 16 of those coming on the offensive end. I love what Charles Barkley said the other day on TV – Game 6 is basically Game 7 for the Orlando Magic, if they lose on Friday there is no way they’ll be able to bounce back and win on the road to eliminate the Pistons. A lot of people have given up on Detroit after they went down 3-1, I am not one of those people. I still feel like they can advance here, especially if Cade plays like he did on Wednesday and the rest of his team follow his lead playing with effort. Orlando got up 3-1 in this series while shooting a measly 38.7% in those four games, so it’s not like the Pistons defense isn’t doing its job. It might be an unpopular pick, but I believe we will have a Game 7 in this series. Give me the Pistons to cover.
Cavaliers vs Raptors Best Bet: Cavaliers ML (-174)
It is a shame to say this as a neutral, but I feel like the series between the Cavaliers and Raptors will come down to which team is healthier. At the moment that is definitely the Cleveland Cavaliers who hold a 3-2 lead ahead of Friday’s game in Canada. Game 5 saw the most points scored in the series with both teams clicking offensively, in the end the Cavs just executed better down the stretch, with an unlikely hero in Dennis Schroder stepping up. In part that might be because the Raptors lost Brandon Ingram after just 11 mins of play, plus Scottie Barnes was struggling in the 2nd half after getting kneed in the quad earlier in the game. Immanuel Quickley isn’t coming back any time soon either, the Raptors could struggle to find enough bodies on offense to keep up with the pace in Game 6. Since acquiring Harden the Cavs have flourished while playing only one style of play, I think they’ll stick to it and try to run the Raptors out of the gym here. It worked to perfection in all 3 wins so far in the series, so it makes no sense to switch things up in a potential series clinching game. Give me Cleveland to advance here.
Lakers vs Rockets Best Bet: Lakers ML (+144)
So we are just going to forget what happened in the first 3 games of this series? A lot of people are favoring the Rockets to do the impossible and become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit, on Friday they’ll have a chance to become only the 5th team ever to force a Game 7 after going down 3-0. But realistically, is this team capable of doing something like that? Sure, they showed glimpses of great play offensively in the last two games, but bad habits do not disappear overnight. Kevin Durant is set to miss yet another game and although the Rockets offense has looked very solid in his absence, at some point they’ll start to feel they’re missing a 25 ppg scorer. Experience is also another factor here. The Lakers have plenty of it with LeBron James, while Houston hasn’t exactly been in this scenario as a group yet. Austin Reaves came back from his oblique injury, although it was a bad shooting game he’ll feel good about getting his legs back under him. I am expecting a tight game in Game 6, the Lakers wouldn’t be doing themselves any favors allowing this to go to a Game 7. They’ve already recorded 3 wins at Toyota Center this season, I’ll back them to do it for the 4th time and eliminate the Rockets.
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