NBA Bets Playoff Edition – Stopping The Unstoppable

Good day from NBA Bets central.  Let’s look at these playoff teams and pick some winners.

This is an exciting time of year for sports fans.  Baseball is underway, NHL playoffs are here, and NBA starts its real season – 16 teams after one goal.  But can any team stop the Warriors or is this just all a formality?  Let’s see what NBA Bets has to say.

Looking at won/loss records for the season in total, 6 teams finished with under 30 losses.  The 2 teams finishing under 30 in the Eastern Conference both have better records than any team in the West.  This is attesting more to the strength of the West; it’s not to imply either Milwaukee or Toronto will win the crown.

NBA Bets will look at each series in both the East and the West and get you ready for playoff action.  The players are about to ramp it up, and so will we.  Here’s how the 4 Saturday games shape up.  All times Eastern:

Brooklyn Nets  at  Philadelphia 76ers, 2:30 pm
Right off the bat we have a possibility of a major upset, pending on the health of Joel Embiid of Philadelphia.  Here is the headline from cbssports.com:  “Joel Embiid injury update: Sixers star may not play in Game 1 of first-round playoff series vs. Nets”.

This is huge news.  If his injury is severe enough to keep him out of multiple games or at least limit his playing ability, the 5-1 Brooklyn is getting to win this series is a definite value play.  What’s weird is, at the time of this writing, the game line for the first game is off the board but the series price is up.  NBA Bets is taking a flyer on the Nets getting 5-1 as the dog for this series.  The lay side is Philly at 1-7.

NBA Bets To Win – Does Joel Embiid Matter That Much?

To answer the above question let’s examine the 2 games played in Philly this year against the Nets.

Most recently, on March 28, the 76ers won 123-110.  In that game Joel Embiid scored 39 points, collected 13 rebounds and dished out 6 assists.  In the game Philadelphia lost in December of 2018, he racked up 33 points, got 17 rebounds and handed out 6 assists.

These numbers are too big to ignore.  Yes the scoring will be divided up between other players when he is out of the lineup, but to expect all those points will be taken care of, and especially all those rebounds collected will not go to Brooklyn’s offense, is absurd.  His playing health could swing this series and give it to the Nets.

If you are seeing a line on game 1, and if it is 7 or higher, NBA Bets likes taking the +7 on Brooklyn as a value play and possibly the money line as well.  This play will be confirmed on twitter when the line is solid.

If Embiid is fit and does play in game 1, then both the game and the series are considered no bets.

Orlando Magic  at  Toronto Raptors, 5:00 pm
This series is more straight forward.  All key players are ready for action.

Toronto split 2 home games with the Magic in the regular season, but the one they lost was when Kawhi Leonard was injured and not in the lineup.  Wild cards such as Danny Green stepped up out of nowhere in the Raptors home win to score 29 points.

If Orlando is to have a chance they need their star Nikola Vucevic to step up big time.  He is capable of having one of those great nights but should not be expected to be sensational every time out.  Toronto most likely has too many weapons for Orlando.

The series line is Toronto  -11.65  back  +750 on Orlando, and the game 1 line is Toronto 8 1/2.  NBA Bets has no prediction here as both lines seem correct.  If there are any changes it will be updated on twitter.

Can The Clippers Compete In This Series?

Every team needs to be taken seriously come playoff time.  No matter what their record they fought to get here and being eliminated is losing your tournament life.  That being said, however, Golden State has too many weapons and it would be an incredible surprise if they lost this series.

More from FanSided

• Thunder projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
• NWSL Challenge Cup news: Courage ruthless against Washington, Racing remain perfect
• 2023 Women’s World Cup: Ary Borges and Brazil showed the entire world what they are about
• Trea Turner’s rough season goes from bad to worse
• Brewers attempt to troll Elly De La Cruz backfires 456 feet

The current series line is Golden State 300-1  back  100-1 on the Clips.  NBA Bets says you could take the 100-1 and hope 2 of the Warriors 4 superstars get injured.  That would even out the series.  Other than that stay away.  Nobody should be laying 300-1 unless a series is already over, and even then it’s iffy.

The game 1 line is GS by 12 1/2, up from the opening line of 11 1/2.  These 2 teams played 4 games against each-other during the regular season.  In the most recent 2, when Golden State was at full strength, they walloped the Clippers by 18 points in Los Angeles and by 27 points at home.  NBA Bets currently has no recommendation on the game or series.

San Antonio +6  over Denver, 10:30 pm
Here’s another game where NBA Bets favors the underdog even though this is a #7 seed playing on the road at the #2 seed.  The West is much more bunched up than the East.

These 2 teams battled against each-other 4 times, with the home team prevailing in every game.  This may happen again here in the playoffs.  If any team is able to break thru and win an away game, Gregg Popovich has the best chance to figure it out.

The series price is Denver -2.45  back  +2.05 on the Spurs.  NBA Bets says take the dog in the series and the +6 in game 1.

NBA Bets Recap For Saturday April 13:

Brooklyn +7 or better if line is available
Brooklyn in the series at 5-1 or better

San Antonio +6
San Antonio in the series at +2.05 or better.

We will be back with Sundays games soon.  Enjoy the playoffs!

Best of luck and continued success from NBA Bets