The NBA First Round Playoff Games have arrived as Pickswise will be handing out daily winning NBA picks starting on Sunday. 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 Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics 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.
Pacers vs. Celtics First Round Playoff Predictions
Game 1: Pacers vs. Celtics
Line: Celtics -300
Pickswise Expert Picks: Celtics WIN!
Hypothetically the series between the four and five seeds should be tight but this has a chance to be anything but. Boston has the talent to overwhelm Indiana but we have been saying that all season as they have struggled with consistency. Now that the lights are brighter we may see more of what we expected. Boston was 3-1 against Indiana during the season. Both of these teams have a lot of players that are listed day to day at the moment but I think that is lingering from the final game of the season.
Boston will not sweep Indiana but this could be a quick series. Boston at -300 is not going to make you rich but you could parlay them with some other Pickswise winners to make a go of it. If the Pacers are going to win any of these games they have to get more out of their backcourt. They were steady there for a while after the loss of Victor Oladipo but that has waned down the stretch. Go with Boston.
Line: Celtics -290
Pickswise Expert Picks: Celtics WIN!
84-74, that was the final score in game one in favor of Boston, wow that is a low total and I heard one pundit say that it wasn’t bad basketball more like a nice college game. Even though both teams are committed to defense you have to think we get a little more punch in this one and that probably favors Boston who has more scoring options and the top scorer in the series in Kyrie Irving.
The result of game one has had basically no effect on the spread or the money lines as game one, other than being low scoring pretty much went according to expectations. I think we will see much the same with game two. Boston will get another hard fought victory on the backs of its top players. Take Boston at -290. I don’t think we will have to sweat it too much. For Indiana to pull an upset they need to get more from their bench and that is more likely to happen at home in game three.
Game 3: Pacers vs. Celtics
Line: Pacers -140
Pickswise Expert Picks: Pacers WIN!
If you watched game two you know this series could easily be tied at one. Indiana just couldn’t make winning plays over the last 90 seconds. It was another low scoring affair but within that Kyrie Irving was awesome with 37 of their 99 points. With the venue shifting to Indiana the Pacers are favored in this spot as they fight for their lives so to speak.
I like what I have seen from Boston but I never saw this series as a sweep so I think you have to go with the Pacers in this spot. This one is likely to be low scoring so they are not going to run away and hide from Boston. Indiana is -150 on the money line and I recommend backing the home team in this spot. Everyone will be a little more comfortable and sharper at home. The key will be finding a good secondary scorer and getting more from their center duo. Again being at home will get the team to take a breathe and perform.
Line: Celtics -145
Pickswise Expert Picks: Pacers WIN!
