Phil Agius
Show Bio
Good morning, Pickswise Nation. Wow! What a start that was to the NBA Finals. We have to wait until Sunday to see the next clash between the Celtics and Heat but there’s still plenty of great sports action today, including the NHL playoffs, French Open tennis semifinals and a big day of baseball. Let’s get straight to making your next bet better!
About Last Night
Celtics fight back to claim early lead
Game 1 of the NBA Finals turned into an instant classic as the Celtics staged a huge fourth-quarter rally to beat the Warriors 120-108. Pickswise handicapper Mark Zinno went 2-0 with his picks of Celtics +3.5 and over 211.5. The Celtics are now -170 favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook for the NBA Championship, with the Warriors out to +140 after losing at home.
Smooth sailing for the Avalanche
The Avalanche cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Oilers last night to go 2-0 up in the NHL Western Conference Finals. The Avs are -155 favorites to win the Stanley Cup with DraftKings Sportsbook, with the Lightning +380, Rangers +400 and Oilers +1600.
MLB afternoon parlay cashes at +716 odds
Pickswise cashed our afternoon parlay on Thursday’s MLB slate at +716 as the Tigers ML, Rays ML and Blue Jays -1.5 all came in, part of an 8-4 day overall on ML/RL picks. We also went 7-4-1 on totals, taking our record to 43-25-2 over the past 5 days. The Yankees won both games of their doubleheader with the Angels, while the Dodgers beat the Mets 2-0.
Today’s Slate
Lightning aiming to strike back
The Rangers hold a 1-0 lead as they prepare to host the Lightning for Game 2 tonight (8:00 pm ET, ESPN). Get our picks for tonight’s game.
Big day of baseball
We have a big slate of 15 MLB games today, including Angels vs Phillies at 7:05 pm ET on ESPN+, and Apple TV+ is showing Tigers vs Yankees at the same time. Read today’s MLB game previews.
Best Bet of the Day
Boston Red Sox ML vs Oakland Athletics
9:40 pm ET
Both teams got a well-needed rest day on Thursday as the Red Sox had played 11 games in the last 10 days and the A’s had been playing for 13 consecutive days. Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi also got an extra day of rest coming off his first career complete game. In 5 starts away from Fenway, the righty has a 2.97 ERA with a 0.86 WHIP and has completed at least 6.0 innings in his last 3 away starts. Eovaldi has faced some of the toughest offenses in baseball this season such as the Yankees, White Sox, Blue Jays, Astros, and Braves, so the substandard A’s lineup will be a welcome sight. The A’s have lost 6 of their last 7 games and rank 30th in runs per game and batting average at home. Read our full game preview for Red Sox vs Athletics.
Must-watch
Don’t forget to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It! on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise every day at 10:00 am ET.
Today, the team will be discussing what happened in Game 1 of the NBA Finals and looking ahead to today’s MLB and NHL games before revealing their Plays of the Day.
You can also access the show at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).
Must-read
Our NHL same game parlay for Game 2 between the Lightning and Rangers is available now, along with today’s French Open tennis picks — our expert Ricky Dimon is 4-1 over the past 2 days.
We’re also getting excited for the new Premier Lacrosse League season, and you can read our lacrosse betting guide, 2022 PLL season preview, guide to every team, and our Week 1 picks, with the games being shown on ESPN and ESPN+.
Read all of our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.
Stat of the Day
The Tampa Bay Lightning are 16-0 following a loss in the postseason under John Cooper since the start of their first Stanley Cup campaign in 2019-2020.
Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news, and best bets. Check out our expert NBA picks, NHL picks, MLB picks and Soccer picks for the latest game picks.
