Wise n' Shine: NBA picks, MLB predictions and NHL best bets for Friday, May 12

Good morning Pickswise Nation and welcome to another fantastic Friday of sports. The NFL schedule is out and today we have playoff action in the NBA and NHL plus a busy MLB slate, so let’s get straight to making your next bet better.

About Last Night

Nuggets eclipse the Suns
The Nuggets became the first team to reach the conference finals this season with a 125-100 victory over the Suns to clinch a 4-2 series win. The Celtics stayed alive by winning 95-86 against the 76ers to force a Game 7. The Nuggets ML was our 3-star play at +140 odds and JutPicks went 2-0 with his NBA player props.

Kraken vs Stars SGP cashes at +575 odds
Our Kraken vs Stars Same Game Parlay cashed at +575 as the Stars won 5-2 up to take a 3-2 series lead. In the other game, the Hurricanes clinched their series against the Devils 4-1 with a 3-2 overtime win.

Mets’ misery continues
There were only 6 MLB games yesterday but no lack of storylines, as the Mets lost  5-0 to the Reds to suffer 5 straight series losses for the first time in a decade, while the Rays reached 30 wins with an 8-2 success against the Yankees.

NFL schedule is released
NFL fans have been checking out their teams’ 2023 schedule after they were released last night and Ricky Dimon has already taken a look at the NFL opening lines and found some NFL best bets too.

Now you can bet any of our Friday sports predictions at FanDuel Sportsbook, which has a great new-customer offer to take advantage of. If you sign up for FanDuel right now, you can get $150 in bonus bets following an initial wager of just $5! Click here to join FanDuel right now.

Today’s Slate

Heat, Lakers looking to clinch at home
We have a couple of huge NBA games today with the Heat and Lakers both needing home wins to advance and avoid a Game 7. It’s Knicks vs Heat first on ESPN at 7:30 pm ET, followed by Warriors vs Lakers at 10:00 pm ET. Read today’s NBA picks.

Panthers are a win away
We have 2 Game 5s in the NHL, with the Panthers looking to clinch against the Maple Leafs at 7:00 pm ET on TNT and the Oilers and Golden Knights tied at 2-2 heading into their 10:00 pm ET meeting on TNT. Read all of today’s NHL predictions.

15 MLB games on Friday
We are back up to 15 MLB games today, with Cubs vs Twins and Royals vs Brewers on Apple TV+ at 8:10 pm ET. Read all of today’s MLB predictions.

Best Bet of the Day

NBA: Miami Heat -4.5 over New York Knicks
7:30 pm ET, ESPN

The Miami Heat have looked dominant on both ends of the floor for most of this series, but couldn’t close out the job on the road due to getting outshot 38.2% to 30.2% from the 3-point line. An encouraging thing for the Heat was that their bench unit continued outplaying the Knicks deep into the game and head coach Erik Spoelstra continued to draw up open shots. The difference in the game was missing those wide-open looks. That shouldn’t continue as Miami heads home for Game 6 and Miami has an average margin of victory of 10.9 points in wins in these playoffs. Read our full Knicks vs Heat predictions.

You can bet on today’s NBA action over at DraftKings Sportsbook, which has a great sign-up offer where you can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets instantly! Click here to take advantage and claim your bonus bets right now.

Must-read

Today’s NBA Same Game Parlays for the Knicks vs Heat and Warriors vs Lakers games are ready to read, and you can also check out our MLB mega parlay plus our Panthers vs Maple Leafs Same Game Parlay.  Our EPL parlay for tomorrow morning’s games is also available, along with our UFC on ABC 4 best bets and UFC four-fight parlay for Saturday’s big fights.

Read all of our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.

Stat of the Day

The Warriors are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.