The NBA Playoffs are heating up and already we are seeing quite a few upsets in the first couple of days of play. Tuesday night sees a 3-game slate, beginning in the Eastern Conference between the 76ers and Celtics at 7:00 pm ET. After that we have the Trail Blazers and Spurs locking horns at 8 pm ET, while the night concludes in Los Angeles, where the Rockets aim to level their series with the Lakers at 10:30 pm ET. Let’s get into my NBA best bets for all 3 matchups tonight, while you can also find out our expert NBA picks for tonight’s matchups and EVERY postseason game!
76ers vs Celtics NBA best bet: 76ers ML (+640)
Monday night saw a pair of Game 2 upsets as the Hawks overcame the Knicks by a point at MSG and the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in a tight finish at Ball Arena. At least one upset is bound to happen in Tuesday’s slate, in my opinion, so why not take a gamble on Philadelphia at this massive price? Yes, they didn’t play well at all in the opener, but with 2 days to think about that loss and come up with a better game plan for Game 2, I have a sneaky feeling the 76ers could switch things up and make life difficult for the Celtics.
Philadelphia’s best chance would be to speed things up here, as they ranked 15 spots above the Celtics in terms of pace during the regular season. And they also have to get Tyrese Maxey going from three, after he shot 51.4% from downtown in 4 regular-season meetings with Boston. If they can fix those 2 things, I could very well see the Sixers coming out victorious on Tuesday. For those who aren’t as brave, there’s also the option to back the 76ers +13.5 as we approach tip-off.
Read our full 76ers vs Celtics Game 2 prediction
Trail Blazers vs Spurs NBA best bet: Spurs -11.5 (-114)
The atmosphere at Frost Bank Center felt the best out of all the Game 1s we saw over the weekend, which certainly helped the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama overcome some jitters as the Frenchman made his postseason debut. San Antonio put on a clinic defensively, holding the Trail Blazers to just 98 points. That’s been the hallmark of this team all year long, and after Wemby was just announced as the winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award, he should be even more motivated to do well as the 2 teams face off in a rematch on Tuesday.
Portland had its moments, even tying the game in the 3rd quarter after falling behind early, but this being their first postseason run as a group, it’s really hard to imagine them pulling off the upset against arguably the toughest defense in the NBA. I expect the Spurs to neutralize Deni Avdija and once again put on a defensively dominant display here.
Read our full Trail Blazers vs Spurs Game 2 prediction
Rockets vs Lakers NBA best bet: Over 206.5 points (-114)
Game 1 between the Rockets and Lakers was arguably the weirdest one of the NBA Playoffs opening weekend. Kevin Durant opted not to play, which resulted in just 98 points being scored by Houston, despite them taking 27 more shots from the field and outrebounding the Lakers 44-35 (and 21-3 on the offensive end). With KD presumably coming back, the efficiency of the Rockets’ offense should go up, which in theory means more points scored. In their lone win at Crypto.com Arena during the regular season, Houston scored 119 points, so pushing the tempo might be the recipe for success on Tuesday night.
The Lakers felt very comfortable scoring the ball (61% from the field and 53% from three) despite not having Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic at their disposal, and LeBron James is doing his best getting everyone involved while thriving in that role. I’m confident these 2 teams have enough to overcome a somewhat low projected total here.
Read our full Rockets vs Lakers Game 2 prediction
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