The NBA playoffs continue Tuesday with a packed four-game slate. First up, the Pacers will try to put away the Bucks at 6 p.m. ET. If they can do that, they’ll move on to face the Cavaliers in the second round. At 7:30 p.m., the Knicks will take on the Pistons, up 3-1 in that series with a second-round berth on the line. The Celtics, up 3-1 on the Magic, will attempt to move on with a win at 8:30 p.m. To round out the night, the Clippers and Nuggets square off at 10 p.m. in a 2-2 series.
Now that the 2025 NBA postseason has begun, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will be providing daily picks for the duration of the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Finals.
Damian Lillard didn’t play in Game 1 and the Pacers won by 19. He got hurt in Game 4 and the Pacers won by 26. These teams aren’t evenly matched even at full strength. Without Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo is simply the only Buck that can create advantages. Milwaukee can’t stay in front of Indiana one bit on defense. I’ll gladly take this line and assume the Pacers put this thing away at home by double digits. The Pick: Pacers -7.5
The Knicks are favored by 5.5 in this game, but is there any reason to feel great about that after four games? The Knicks won Game 1 on a fluky 21-0 run. The Pistons won Game 2. Games 3 and 4 were decided by three combined points. The fact that the Pistons have already won at Madison Square Garden suggests they aren’t afraid of the bright lights. This line is just too high for what feels like a coin flip game. The Pick: Pistons +5.5
The beauty of points props is that they don’t account for efficiency. Paolo Banchero is leading all players this postseason by taking an absurd 27.3 shots per game. Nobody would choose to do that. For reference, the career playoff record is Allen Iverson at 26.5. But Orlando just has nobody else to shoot, so Banchero does so unencumbered. At that volume, the points are going to show up even if they don’t come out of good offense. The Pick: Banchero Over 29.5 Points
The Nuggets have built their whole defense in this series around helping off of the few iffy shooters the Clippers have. Kris Dunn has been the most notable example of this. He’s attempted 19 3s in this series, 18 of which have been wide open, according to NBA.com tracking data. That has made his over an acceptable play in the past, but look at the way the Clippers nearly came back from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit: they put their shooters (Norman Powell and Bogdan Bogdanović) on the floor late, emphasized offense and survived defensively with a zone. They lost the game, but that’s an adjustment we’ll surely see more of, so if Dunn loses minutes to Bogdanović as an attack on the Denver defense, it stands to reason he’ll take, and therefore probably make, fewer 3s. The Pick: Dunn Under 1.5 Made 3-Pointers
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