Ricky Dimon
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The Brooklyn Nets will try to finish off the Boston Celtics when NBA postseason action resumes on Tuesday. Meanwhile, there are two Western Conference series continuing and both are tied at 2-2. The Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers will break their deadlock; the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers will do the same. Be sure to check out our picks on the side and total for each of tonight’s matchups, with our experts on fire this NBA postseason, boasting a 36-20 record!
Here is our best four-leg parlay for today’s action.
Boston Celtics +12.5 (-110)
Denver Nuggets -2 (-110)
Nuggets-Trail Blazers Over 226 (-110)
Phoenix Suns -5 (-110)
Parlay odds: +1209
For this parlay, we mix in two favorites against the spread, one underdog and the points, and an over play. Let’s break down each of the four legs one by one.
Boston Celtics +12.5 over Brooklyn Nets (-110)
As positive as things may have felt for Boston following Game 3, it did not take long for the Celtics to be put back in their place by Brooklyn. Already without Jaylen Brown and now missing Kemba Walker, as well, a shorthanded Boston team gave up 141 points. Robert Williams III was also sidelined from the most recent contest and both he and Walker are questionable for Tuesday. Romeo Langford got the start in Walker’s place, but he couldn’t outscore either Payton Pritchard or Aaron Nesmith—Boston’s rookies who came off the bench.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 42 points, James Harden had 23 points to go along with 18 assists, and Kyrie Irving delivered 39 points and 12 rebounds. As good as the Big 3 is, all three usually don’t perform that well at the same time. The Celtics are getting a ton of points (12.5) and Brad Stevens them up to the extent that they can keep it close…or, sort of close.
Check out our full game preview.
Denver Nuggets -2 over Portland Trail Blazers (-110)
For the Nuggets, Game 4 of this series was a complete write-off. They never led at any point and pulled their starters for the fourth quarter, thus allowing them to rest up for this one. No Denver player logged more than 27 minutes of court time. Soon-to-be NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had been dominant in the first three games of the series, reaching the 34-point mark on each occasion. Expect him to return to that level of dominance in Game 5. Jusuf Nurkic is not the most mobile big man in the league and neither is Enes Kanter, so Jokic should once again have his way offensively with Portland.
Check out our full game preview.
Denver Nuggets vs. Portland Trail Blazers Over 226 (-110)
Three of the four games in this series have comfortably surpassed the 226-point mark, with only Game 4 failing to do so. This was largely due to the Nuggets enduring a are offensive slump which resulted in just 95 points. A superstar like Jokic won’t let that happen twice in a row. During the playoffs these have been two of the hottest shooting teams in the league, ranking third and fourth in three-point percentage, On top of that, the Nuggets are sixth in fast-break points per game while also ranking second in second-chance points.
Phoenix Suns -5 over Los Angeles Lakers (-110)
The big question for the Lakers heading into tonight’s game is the status of Anthony Davis. He suffered a groin injury during their Game 4 loss on Sunday and now L.A. fears he might be out for an extended period of time. He finished with just six points in 19 minutes. Davis had been by far the Lakers’ best player in their two wins over Phoenix, so obviously his absence would be crippling. Even with Davis available, the Suns are already just as good if not the better team. Playing at home, they should take care of business on Tuesday—regardless of Los Angeles’ personnel.
Check out our full game preview.
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