The NBA First Round Playoff Games have arrived as Pickswise will be handing out daily winning NBA picks starting on Saturday. With over a decade of combined winning experience, Pickswise is your number one NBA first round playoff resource to win. To kick off the first round playoff games, the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers from the Eastern Conference will go toe to toe. Enjoy these free NBA first round playoff predictions? Give @Pickswise a follow and get a first hand-look on his daily research.
Nets vs. 76ers First Round Playoff Predictions
Game 1: Nets vs. 76ers
Line: 76ers -335
Pickswise Expert Picks: 76ers WIN!
The 76ers are heavy favorites for game one at home and they should be. They have been the vastly superior team this season and they are very familiar with the Nets as they play in the same division. The key for the Nets to have any chance at winning or covering in this series is whether they can come close to controlling Joel Embiid. However all of that was answered with the news that Embiid will not be playing in the first game. That opens up things for the Nets as they actually were able to take a couple of games in the season series. In both cases they were able to ratchet up the score, scoring 122 and 127 points in those wins. That is the way they have to play, but it is hard to get the pace where they want it on the road in a game one scenario. The Nets are intriguing at +265 but I am not feeling them coming into Philly and getting an immediate advantage. Not a lot of payoff at -335 but the 76ers are the money line play in this one.
Game 2: Nets vs. 76ers
Line: 76ers -400
Pickswise Expert Picks: 76ers WIN!
It was a pretty big upset that the Nets won game one at Philly. There was talk before the game that Joel Embiid was not going to play but he logged 24 minutes and put up a double-double. Jimmy Butler scored 36 points but the rest of that vaunted starting 5 were no shows. Now the pressure is greater for a team that is built to win right now and the Nets can play free and easy even more that they already are. Philly is still a pretty favorite in this one at -7.5 and -333 while Brooklyn is +265 on the money line. I think this one falls into some correlation strategy. If you thought the 76ers were going to win the series then you should stick with them here. So they dropped the opener, no big deal. If you like the Nets to upset overall then take some of those winnings and reinvest. I am in the former camps. Philadelphia bounces back. Their starters perform at normal ranges and they get the win. Just not a great payoff.
Game 3: Nets vs. 76ers
Line: 76ers -165
Pickswise Expert Picks: 76ers WIN!
The 76ers came roaring back to even the series at one after dropping the opener. They won by 22 which was impressive and that cushion was the result of an all time third quarter that saw them score 51 points. The win was all about offense as Philly made 56% of their shots and score 145 points (while giving up 123). They are installed as small favorite in game three with the series moving to Brooklyn on Thursday.
Ben Simmons had a triple double in the win but what stands out to me is the fact that Jimmy Butler only seems to play well when the team, other than Joel Embiid, struggles. I am looking at game one as a bit of an outlier in terms of where these teams are at. It never hurts to be playing at home but Philly should keep rolling in this spot. Going with the money line you can get a really good price too at -165. I would even look at parlaying it with the spread for a better payout.
Line: 76ers -125
Pickswise Expert Picks: Nets WIN!
After stealing game one the Nets have now lost two straight. They have to be concerned, especially because Joel Embiid did not play in game three at home and the 76ers will still in control most of the game. I liked their defensive strategy in terms of laying of Ben Simmons but they gave him too much room to come down hill and he killed them. Philly might not get as much shooting from the likes of JJ Reddick and Tobias Harris but Simmons can repeat his game, he made it look easy. For Brooklyn I am not sure why they are being so equitable with their minutes.
They are a mostly young team and need to ride the few players that are getting it done. Specifically D’Angelo Russell and Caris Levert, they seem to be the only ones who can score without bombing away or getting putbacks. Russell probably shouldn’t leave the floor for more than a few minutes unless the game is out of reach. Getting down 3-1 will be insurmountable. Brooklyn is a small underdog in game four. I think they even things up so we can get a decent payoff in process. Take the Nets.
Game 5: Nets vs. 76ers
Line: 76ers -450
Pickswise Expert Picks: 76ers WIN!
Game four was there for the taking for the home Nets but now they are looking at hitting the road not only down three games to one but having lost three in a row and two at home. Brooklyn has generally fought well but they just might be spent at this point and going through the “growing pains” a young team does this time of year. Perhaps they can get back to the freedom they had in game one but even that might not be enough. Philly got a really good performance from Joel Embiid in the game four win but other than that not a lot stood out. They can use the formula again to close out the series as even though Jarrett Allen had a good game scoring he could not contain Embiid at all. After one of the best games of his career Ben Simmons was just average. He can be again in G5 and they will still win. Philly closes out the series at -425. A fair price.
