Parlays

The Philadelphia 76ers travel to face the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their first round playoff series, but the tone of this matchup is heavily influenced by the absence of Joel Embiid. Philadelphia will be without one of its centerpieces as he continues to recover, leaving a massive void in both scoring and interior defense. That responsibility now shifts to Tyrese Maxey, who averaged over 28 points per game this season and has shown the ability to take over offensively. However, without Embiid’s presence, Boston can key in defensively on Maxey, limit driving lanes and force the Sixers into more difficult perimeter shots. The lack of a dominant interior option also impacts Philadelphia’s rebounding and second-chance opportunities, further shrinking their offensive margin for error.

Boston enters as the more complete team after securing the #2 seed, boasting one of the league’s best net ratings and a top tier combination of offensive efficiency and defensive versatility. Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics can score at all 3 levels while maintaining strong defensive pressure across multiple positions. While the regular season series was competitive, Philadelphia’s current roster limitations shift the balance significantly. From a stylistic perspective, this game projects to be slower and more methodical, with the Sixers likely attempting to control pace and limit possessions to stay competitive. Game 1 playoff environments also tend to emphasize physicality, half-court execution and defensive intensity. With Boston capable of dictating tempo and Philadelphia potentially struggling to generate consistent offense, this sets up as a lower scoring contest rather than a fast-paced shootout.

76ers vs Celtics Prediction: Under 213.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 212.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns will contest Game 1 of their series in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs on Sunday in Oklahoma City. These 2 familiar foes faced each other 5 times during the regular season — more than the normal 4 because they also squared off in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. On 3 of those occasions, the winning team scored at least 135 points. The first matchup of the 2025-26 campaign resulted in a 123-119 victory for the Thunder. Only 1 of the 5 matchups produced fewer than 227 points (a 108-105 Suns win on January 4). Another relatively high-scoring affair should be in the cards this weekend, so my Suns vs Thunder pick is Over 215.5.

OKC may be the best defensive team in the West, but its games are still averaging 226.9 points; Phoenix is not too far behind at 223.7 ppg. Although the Suns like to play slow, that is not really a strategy that works well against Oklahoma City. It’s not like the visitors are going to have an advantage in half-court sets against the Thunder’s defense. Devin Booker and company will have to utilize a transition game on at least a somewhat regular basis. Booker did not do much in the play-in tournament, but he scored at least 30 points in 5 of his last 6 regular-season contests. The over is 4-2 in the Suns’ last 6 road games. It is also 8-2 in the Thunder’s last 10 overall, 4-0 in their last 4 at home and 6-1 in their last 7 against Phoenix.

Suns vs Thunder prediction: Over 215.5 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable to 217.

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Friday’s play-in tournament game versus Charlotte perfectly encapsulates this entire Orlando Magic season. Just 2 days after getting smacked by the 76ers and their star player Paolo Banchero going 7-for-22 and committing 6 turnovers, the Magic completely flip the script and win by 31 points to make it into the postseason. Now the real deal begins, as they head to the Motor City for Game 1. The Magic actually tied the Pistons 2-2 in the regular season, but it’s worth pointing out they had a 19-20 SU record in away games. Only 3 wins in 11 games versus East opponents makes the Magic one of the more inconsistent teams right now.

The Pistons have been anything but inconsistent. Expectations are high going into the playoffs after a 60-win regular season. Cade Cunningham successfully returned following a punctured lung, playing in the final 3 regular season games and regaining some of the momentum lost due to his absence. A good sign for the Pistons is certainly the fact that they didn’t fall off when he wasn’t there. In fact, they were the 3rd-best defense in the league over the final 15 games played. That’ll be the key to this series — if the Pistons can maintain their high level of play on that end, they’ll be in a good spot.

Detroit had an entire week off to rest before this game, while the Magic played 2 grueling play-in games. These Pistons are hungry for success, especially Cade, who has had his way with the Magic defense — averaging 32.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 10.7 assists in 3 meetings. I don’t think they’ll be able to contain him in the opener, so let’s back Detroit to cover here.

Magic vs Pistons prediction: Detroit Pistons -8.5 (-110) is available at time of publishing. Playable to -115.

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The Los Angeles Kings played well down the stretch, earning a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The good news is that L.A. doesn’t have to face Edmonton for a fifth straight playoffs. The Kings have been ousted in the first round by the Oilers in each of the past four seasons. The bad news is that the Kings draw the Avalanche, the team which notched 121 points and 55 wins enroute to the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season. Colorado outscored L.A. 13-5 in three meetings in the regular season, with the total going 1-1-1 in those meetings.

The only previous meeting at Ball Arena in Denver came on Dec. 29, 2025, a 5-2 win by the Avalanche. While all of that looks like doom and gloom for the Kings, they played extremely well down the stretch, and they have plenty of postseason experience lately, albeit poor results in four straight series setbacks to the Oilers. Expect L.A. to make life very uncomfortable for Colorado in Game 1. In fact, it might be the only chance for the Kings to steal a game before the Avalanche get settled in for what they hope is a long run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Kings vs Avalanche prediction: LA Kings +1.5 (-115) at time of publishing. Playable to -130.

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The Montreal Canadiens will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Sunday. The Canadiens finished the season 4^th in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens also had the best form away from home with 56 points through 41 away games, averaging 3.40 goals per game while allowing 3.06 goals per game. The Canadiens managed to score despite ranking 24^th in total shots, partly due to 56 goals on the power play. This incredible power play unit could come up big in this series as the Lightning rank 3^rd for most power play opportunities against them.

For the Lightning, they finished 3^rd in the Eastern Conference, averaging 3.49 goals per game while allowing just 2.79 goals per game. The defense for the Lightning has been huge this year, allowing only 229 goals all season. Overall, this should be a great series between teams that split the regular season series. In this one, I am trusting the Canadiens offense to get the best of the Lightning defense with the power play having an impact and taking the Canadiens on the money line.

Canadiens vs. Lightning Prediction: Montreal Canadiens ML (+160) available at the time of publishing. Playable to that number.

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The Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres kick off a highly-enticing, Round 1 series in the 206 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday. These Atlantic Division opponents have met 4 times this season, with Boston claiming 3. Will that success continue? Here is our Bruins vs. Sabres prediction to get you set for Game 1.

As most people know by now, this is the first playoff appearance by Buffalo in 15 years. The city, organization and players are all feeling a way they haven’t felt in years, and I expect that to translate to the ice. This is not an opportunity the team would like to waste, and for them to succeed, they need a hot start against a Boston team that has been a perennial playoff contender. As far as the matchup goes, Buffalo has shown they have a stacked lineup that is explosive and highly offensive. In fact, they owned the 5th-best goals per game average (3.45), along with the 4th-best penalty kill (81.9%). Boston’s depth has been a significant question this season, and while they have clearly answered the bell in the regular season, I will need to see them do the same on the road in the playoffs. For our Bruins vs. Sabres prediction, we expect Buffalo to win in regulation to kick off the series.

Bruins vs. Sabres prediction: Buffalo Sabres ML (-170) available at time of publishing. Playable to (-185).

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The San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals conclude a series on Sunday afternoon. It took 12 innings for the Giants to resolve Saturday’s game, but they have now won the first 2 games and are aiming for a sweep. Both teams sit at 9-12, and neither team is great, but I prefer the Giants quite a bit in this matchup. Give me the Giants on the money line on Sunday.

The pitching matchup is Robbie Ray vs. Miles Mikolas, and there are 2 strong factors for me. First, I am always interested in fading Mikolas. While his ERA over 11.00 is certainly worse than he actually is (thanks to giving up 11 runs to the Dodgers), Mikolas is a fade candidate for me in nearly every start. Second, and significantly, I am fading the Nats against a good lefty. The Nationals currently have the highest batting average in the league versus lefties, but that is not sustainable for them. Rather, they are designed to hit righties, as most of their best young bats are left-handed hitters. Ray has been great so far this season, and aside from walking too many people, he has held every opponent to 2 runs or less. Let’s also remember that Washington has one of the worst bullpens in the league, and they will likely be in the game early. Take the Giants.

Giants vs Nationals best bet: San Francisco Giants ML (-155) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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The New York Yankees will look to complete the sweep against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon after a dominating showing through the first 2 games of the series, outscoring Kansas City 17-6. On the mound for the Yankees will be left-hander Ryan Weathers, who is 0-2 with a 4.29 ERA through 4 starts this season. For the Royals, Cole Ragans will get the nod, who is 0-3 with a 3.78 ERA this year. 

Offensively, the Yankees have seemed to find their groove, hitting .245 over their last 7 games and showing consistent run production in this series. As for the Royals, they’re in a clear slump, batting just .207 over their last 6 games and failing to generate offense against this Yankees pitching staff. Weathers may not have performed well in his last start against the Angels, giving up back-to-back-to-back homers in the first inning, but after that minor hiccup, he settled down nicely and found a little bit more command with his pitches — striking out 10 in his start. This Royals team hasn’t shown anything in this series to make me trust them right now, and even though Weathers has struggled on the mound, I don’t expect the Royals to do too much offensively to pull away from New York. The Yankees are swinging the bats well in this series, and for that reason, I think they’ll continue seeing the ball well and complete the sweep over Kansas City. 

Royals vs Yankees prediction: New York Yankees ML (-150) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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The Chicago White Sox will take on the Athletics the 3rd game of their series on Sunday. Through the first 2 games, both teams have come away with a win. On the mound in this one, we will see Nolan Schultz of the White Sox and Jeffrey Springs of the Athletics. Schults has pitched 4.1 innings this season giving up 3 hits, 4 walks and 4 earned runs against the Tampa Bay Rays. On the other side, Springs has a 0.93 ERA this month pitching 19.1 innings giving up just 6 hits and 2 earned runs. I suspect that Springs will have another good day against a White Sox team that is batting .206 this season.

Outside of the starters, the Athletics are batting .230 this season with 153 hits and 80 runs. The White Sox are batting .206 with 133 hits and 69 runs. These numbers alone give the edge to the Athletics. Jumping to the bullpens, the Athletics bullpen has given up 83 hits and 45 runs this season. The White Sox bullpen has given up 104 hits and 63 earned runs. The White Sox pen also has a WHIP of 1.64. Overall, I think it could be a short day for Schultz and I expect Springs to do well. I am taking the Athletics on the run line.

White Sox vs. Athletics prediction: Athletics -1.5 (+140) available at the time of publishing. Playable to +125.

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