Peter’s Points: NBA Best Bets Today (Expert Predictions, Picks for CJ McCollum, Heat-Celtics)

Both No. 1 seeds in the NBA are in action in the playoffs on Wednesday night, and they’re heavily favored at home with a chance to take a 2-0 series lead.

The Boston Celtics were dominant in Game 1 against Miami, which makes it really tough to bet on them in the prop market since we don’t know how long they’ll need their starters to play. 

As for the Oklahoma City Thunder-New Orleans Pelicans matchup, we saw defense reign supreme in Game 1, but does that continue? 

Here are my top bets to place for the two matchups tonight:

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NBA Best Bets Record to Date

• 2023-24 season record: 331-318-13 (-5.59 units)
• Overall record (last 2+ seasons): 956-876-21 (+34.35 units)

Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on  BetStamp here.

NBA Best Bets Today

• Boston Celtics -14.5 (-110) vs. Miami Heat – 0.5 unit
• CJ McCollum OVER 30.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-112) – 0.5 unit

Boston Celtics -14.5 (-110) vs. Miami Heat – 0.5 unit

Miami had one of the worst offenses (in terms of points per game) in the NBA all season long, and now it doesn’t have its best player in Jimmy Butler for the second straight game. 

Not only that, but Terry Rozier’s absence really gives the team a lack of players that can create its own shot. 

That showed in Miami falling behind big in Game 1, and I expect a similar result in Game 2 against the NBA’s No. 1 offense. 

Boston has done a great job as a home favorite this season, going 23-17-2 against the spread and winning those games by an average margin of 15.3 points per game. 

Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro have to have big games for the Heat to even cover in this matchup, and Boston was able to rest its starters a lot in Game 1 due to the massive lead by the end of the third quarter. 

I’ll lay the points with the C’s as Miami is simply overmatched. 

CJ McCollum OVER 30.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-112) – 0.5 unit

CJ McCollum came just short of this number with 20 points, six assists and three rebounds in Game 1, but his usage is where I think we need to look. 

McCollum took 22 shots in Game 1 – a massive uptick from his final play-in game where he fell way short of this number against the Sacramento Kings. 

To close out the regular season, McCollum cleared this number in seven straight games, and if he’s going to attempt this many shots from the field, he’s a must-bet on the OVER tonight.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.