Some of the competitions genuine heavy hitters will matchup in the second round of the NBA playoffs on Tuesday. First up it’s Game 1 of the Celtics vs 76ers series, then it’s Game 2 Between the Nuggets and the Suns.
Check out our NBA betting tips for Tuesday’s slate below and good luck to everyone following us this post-season!
NBA Playoffs Betting Tips: Tuesday, May 2nd 2023
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
TD Garden, 9:30am AEST
One of the most highly-anticipated Eastern Conference playoff series in recent memory is about to commence, with the Boston Celtics taking on the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics finished the regular season with the better record of the pair, which means they have home court advantage in 4/7 games in this series.
The Celtics made their first round series against the Hawks perhaps a little more complicated than it had to be. They looked on their way to wrapping it up in five games in Boston, but were forced to travel back to Atlanta for Game 6 where they finally sealed the deal.
In contrast, the 76ers were far too good for the Nets in their first round matchup which ended up in a sweep. They’ve been afforded more rest days as a result, but that hasn’t helped Joel Embiid who’s listed as ‘unlikely’ to play in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Regardless of whether or not Embiid plays, I believe the value in Game 1 lies in the Overs in the Total Points market. Both of these teams are extremely talented offensively, and it always takes coaches a game or two to work out the correct defensive matchups in any given series. On top of that, both teams averaged over 115 points per game this season, and the current total of 213.5 just looks too low.
Over 213.5 Points
$1.90 (2 Units)
Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets
Ball Arena, 12pm AEST
The Phoenix Suns went into their second round matchup against the Denver Nuggets as favourites but you wouldn’t have known it by the way Game 1 transpired. The Suns took an early lead and looked solid, but completely fell away after that and let Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets take complete control of the game and eventually run away 18-point winners.
The Suns still had decent contributions from their two main stars in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but the drop off in production after those two was significant. DeAndre Ayton will need to drastically improve in Game 2, as his 14-point and seven rebound performance on Sunday morning isn’t going to cut it against the 2x MXP in Jokic.
For the Nuggets, they’ll be thrilled with how they played in Game 1 but will know there’s still a lot of work to do to secure a Conference Finals berth. Still, the signs from Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic were a big positive and both look to be in great health.
I’m convinced the Nuggets Game 1 win was no fluke considering they were an amazing 34-7 on their home floor in the regular season; however, you can’t expect the Suns to roll over again in Game 2 and they’ll be desperate to try and secure a win and go back to Phoenix with a split. With that in mind, I like the chances of the Suns covering the spread, but also wouldn’t be surprised if the Nuggets pulled out a narrow win.
Phoenix Suns +4.5
$1.91 (1.5 Units)
