What an absolutely terrible day for California basketball fans. An awful coaching display from JJ Reddick and the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff, that will burn the hearts of Lakers fans for the offseason.

With the season on the line, the Lakers could not make the adjustments to get ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Reddick had no answer for slowing down Rudy Gobert who had a playoff career high of 27 points and 24 rebounds. The best Reddick could do was put in a player that hasn’t played since January 25th.

The Golden State Warriors looked absolutely terrible and were out of the game before the third quarter began. The Houston Rockets surprisingly showed life in game five, and now take the series back to San Francisco.

 

 

NBA Picks, Predictions & Best Bets Today, 5/1

Several longtime NBA lovers and basketball “heads” have declared this the most exciting first round that they can recall. The Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks played five games. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Memphis Grizzlies only played four games.

What they are implying when saying that is the Detroit Pistons versus New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers versus Denver Nuggets has blown away all expectations. Today’s NBA best bets focus on the projected close matches.

Knicks vs Pistons Prediction: Karl-Anthony Towns Over 23.5 Points (-105 on BETMGM) *BET OF THE NIGHT

The New York Knicks could not put the series away at Madison Square Garden, and the streak continues. The Knicks have not closed out a series on their home court since June 11, 1999, not one time this century. Instead the Detroit Pistons stayed alive for one more game, and they have an opportunity to do something they haven’t done since May 26, 2008. Win a home playoff game. Oy vey, talk about bragging about who has it worse.

This has been a compelling series, and it seems the Pistons are firing on all cylinders for three quarters. Then the Knicks decide it’s time to play basketball and the last five minutes of the game are extremely entertaining. The Pistons are slight favorites with a -1.5 spread at Little Caesars Arena, but the Knicks have a great opportunity to advance to the next round.

If they are going to do it, Karl-Anthony Towns will have to improve his play. For the Knicks, their season and this series has coincided with how well Towns plays. In games one, three, and four Towns scored 23, 31, and 27 points and the Knicks won all three of those games. In games two and four Towns scored 10 and 17 points and New York lost both matches. His season average is 24.4 points per game, and he needs to score his average for this near even odds wager to be successful. 

Put a unit for him to do just that, and if you are a risk taker, add on the Knicks Moneyline. At BETMGM those odds come out to +240 and there is a 20% odds boost which pushes the odds to +288. For those new to BETMGM make sure to take advantage of an offer from Fantasy Alarm for a $1,500 money back opportunity. 

 

 

Nuggets vs Clippers Prediction: James Harden Under 20.5 Points (-115 on Bet365)

The Los Angeles Clippers host the Denver Nuggets at Intuit Dome for the third playoff game in the building’s history. Clippers fans are beginning to experience that familiar feeling, disappointment. Despite having a 2 - 1 series lead, Los Angeles is now behind 2 - 3 to Denver, and are in a win or go home scenario. 

If they are going to win they are going to need much more offensive production from James Harden, and the prediction is that is not going to happen. Harden experiences a dip in production during the playoffs, and there is a reason for it. He does not receive the same friendly whistle in the playoffs, and it causes a drop in his free throw production which causes his points to decline.

Harden has gone over this point line in just one game this series, the first one. In the last four games he has scored 18, 20, 15, and 11 points. His field goal attempts have gone from 22, 17, 14, 11, to 9 in the most recent match. It could be frustration, mental and physical fatigue, the rumors of him loving the night clubs, or numerous other factors.

Whatever it is Harden seems checked out, and has avoided the locker room/post game media interviews in the last two games. Put a unit on Harden to be ineffective once again tonight at BET365 and for those new to the sportsbook make sure to check out the promotion offer at the end of this article.

 

 

Best NBA Prop Bets & Other Picks Today, 5/1

There is an in-depth look at the Nuggets versus Clippers game in the Nuggets vs Clippers Predictions, Picks & Odds: NBA Playoffs Game 6, 5/1 article. The last NBA best bet today focuses on this match as well with a fantastic odds wager.

Nuggets vs Clippers Prediction: Aaron Gordon 2+ Threes Made  (+200 on FanDuel) 

Aaron Gordon has battled through a calf injury most of the season, but is still able to step it up when he is needed most. He has scored 91 points and a total of 31 rebounds against the Clippers. But this best bet focuses on something Gordon improved on immensely this offseason, his threes.

Gordon’s three point percentage was a career high 43.6% this season, which was 14.6% more than last season. Although he doesn’t attempt many threes, he has attempted two or more in every game of this series. Gordon has made one or more threes in eight consecutive matches, and should have plenty of opportunities to make two or more threes tonight.

If the Clippers continue to double Nikola Jokic, Gordon will be open for attempts. He made two threes in game three at Intuit Dome in a match the Nuggets were behind. The spread is -6.5 in favor of Los Angeles, and if the Nuggets are behind Gordon will take more three point attempts. Put a unit on it at FanDuel and for those new to the sportsbook, make sure to take advantage of Fantasy Alarm’s promotional offer. 

 

 

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Bet Smart, Be Lucky - Iggy

*All NBA odds accurate at time of writing and NBA best bets today to be placed at 1 unit unless specified otherwise