Now that we are in the heat of battle NBA playoffs, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will make daily picks during the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Final. All rules courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
Recommended game | Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks
My honest advice would be to avoid this series until we have a better idea of how sane Giannis Antetokounmpo is. If you insist on using this series despite the uncertainty, defense remains the safest option on the board. We continue to see unrealistic shooting variants in this series so far. The Heat made nearly half of their 3-pointers in Game 3 (16-of-33) after the Bucks had a historic Game 2 shooting from deep. Yes, Duncan Robinson’s presence in the rotation should lead to more attacks on both sides, but he’s unlikely to shoot 5-of-6 from deep again, and even if he does, Game 3 entered under the expected total of 220.5 points. The choice: under the 218
Recommended game | Los Angeles Lakers vs Memphis Grizzlies
It gives me absolutely no pleasure to make this choice, but let’s play amateur psychologist for a moment. Dillon Brooks has been submerging both literally and figuratively for the past two days. Does he seem like the kind of player to quietly let that go? Of course not! He’s going to try to play heroball in Game 4. He did in Game 4 and it just didn’t work. Brooks took 13 shots in 19 minutes, and the Lakers are encouraging him to fire away. Assuming he doesn’t get thrown out of the field and shoots a little more accurately, he’ll probably rack up a decent amount of points, even if he doesn’t do it very efficiently. The choice: Brooks over 13.5 points