Wise n' Shine: What you need to know to bet better on Wednesday, May 4

Welcome to another wonderful Wednesday of sport. Today, we have NBA and NHL playoff games, plus a huge MLB slate and soccer to enjoy, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better!

About Last Night

NBA mega parlay cashes!
Oh what a night! We just love hitting our mega parlays at double-figure odds and Andrew Ortenberg dunked on the sportsbooks again last night with a +1121 odds mega parlay that needed just 2 legs. That’s the third time in 9 days that we’ve hit one of these bets, so make sure you check out his picks for tonight’s games. After going 2-0 yesterday, we’re also on an 11-4 run on NBA props. Both series that were in action last night are now tied at 1-1.

NHL Best Bet is a winner
We gave our first 3-star play of the NHL Playoffs on Tuesday and it duly cashed at +105 odds as the Penguins vs Rangers game went over 5.5 goals. The marathon contest in fact went to triple-overtime before Pittsburgh won 4-3. The Capitals (vs Panthers), Avalanche (vs Predators) and Flames (vs Stars) also won.

It all adds up in MLB
It was a terrific Tuesday on baseball totals for Pickswise, as our handicappers went 10-4, including an amazing 8-1 run on the last 9 games of the slate. The New York teams will have been celebrating the most, with the Mets taking both games of their doubleheader against the Braves and the Yankees beating the Blue Jays 9-1 for their 11th straight win.

Today’s Slate

Heat and Suns aiming to stay hot
We have another pair of Game 2s in the NBA tonight, with the 76ers visiting the Heat (7:30pm ET, TNT) before the Mavericks play the Suns (10:00 pm ET, TNT), with both home teams holding 1-0 leads and strongly favored to win again. Read our picks for today’s NBA games.

Monster slate of MLB action
Doubleheaders in Detroit and Cleveland have given us a huge 17-game MLB slate today, with Rangers vs Phillies being shown on ESPN+ at 6:45pm ET. Read today’s MLB game previews.

4 playoff clashes in the NHL
Today’s 4 NHL games are all on ESPN or ESPN2, running from Bruins vs Hurricanes at 7:00pm ET until Kings vs Oilers at 10:00pm ET. Read today’s NHL picks.

Champions League action
Liverpool went 2-0 down in Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal at Villarreal, but still came back to win 3-2 and cash our ML pick. Manchester City is hoping to make it an all-English final today as it goes into the second leg at Real Madrid holding a 4-3 lead. Read our preview of today’s Champions League and MLS games.

Best Bet of the Day

Houston Astros ML vs Seattle Mariners
2:10 pm ET

The Astros are sending Justin Verlander to the mound for the series finale and he should be excited to face the Mariners. He’s pitched against them once already this season, just over 2 weeks ago in Seattle, when he nearly had a complete game, going 8 innings while striking out 8 hitters without giving up a run and just 3 hits. His last outing was similar, pitching 7 full innings, striking out another 8 hitters, giving up just 1 run on 4 hits. Even if Verlander doesn’t handle the complete game himself, the Astros have one of the better bullpens in the league. Read our full game preview for Mariners vs Astros.

Must-watch

You won’t want to miss today’s edition of our daily sports betting show Let’s Bet It! at 10:00 am ET on our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/c/Pickswise.

Mark Zinno and Jared Smith are your hosts today, and they’ll be joined by our golf betting analyst Diane Knox Balas to discuss the Wells Fargo Championship and give out her picks, and by former NBA champion and Pickswise NBA analyst Brian Scalabrine, who will give his views and picks for the NBA Playoffs.

We’ll also have the best bets for today’s MLB, NHL and soccer games, and the team’s Plays of the Day.

You can also access the show through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).

Must-read

You can also read Diane Knox Balas’ best bets and insights for the Wells Fargo Championship, and we’ve got you covered for today’s NBA action with same game parlays for 76ers vs Heat (+691 odds) and Mavericks vs Suns (+3119 odds!). You can also get an early look at today’s best NHL player props.

Be sure to head over to the Analysis tab for even more great sports betting content as it arrives throughout the day.

Stat of the Day

The 76ers made just 18% of their 3-point attempts in Game 1 against the Heat.

Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news, and best bets. Check out our expert NBA picks, MLB picks, NHL picks and Soccer picks for the latest game picks.