NBA Playoffs action continues on Wednesday with three Game 5’s on the program. Will the Celtics, Nuggets, and Suns close out their respective series with a win, or will the underdogs force a Game 6? We bring you our thoughts and best bets for all three games right here!
Check out our NBA betting tips for Wednesday’s slate below, and good luck to everyone following us this post-season!
NBA Playoffs Betting Tips: Wednesday, April 26th 2023
Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics
TD Garden, 9:30am AEST
The Celtics will look to tidy up their first round series in five games when they host the Hawks on Wednesday. They won the all-important Game 4 a couple of days ago to take a commanding 3-1 lead.
The Hawks have managed to remain competitive in all four games to date but their execution down the stretch has been inferior to their opponents.
Most notably, their defence hasn’t been able to stand tall and that’s a clear area their front office will look to improve in the off-season. They’ve given up 119+ points in each of their last three games and haven’t kept a team under 100 since November.
Still, the way the Hawks have been able to battle has been admirable and I expect them to continue to push the Celtics in Game 5.
If they’re any chance of pulling off a major upset, then they’ll need to be a lot better in the first half, which is the half they’ve really struggled with in this series, particularly in their losses where they’ve trailed by double digits in all three.
With that in mind, expect the Hawks to throw some different looks at the Celtics early and look to get the early jump before the star factor of the Celtics sees them come over the top in the second half.
Atlanta Hawks +8 First Half Line
$1.88 (1.5 Units)
Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
Ball Arena, 11am AEST
The Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards, showed some fight with their backs against the wall in Game 4 to claw out a 114-108 win. Ant Man had 34 points, a lot of those in the clutch, and made sure his team avoided a first round sweep.
On the flip side, Karl-Anthony Towns failed to fire in a big game once again, and the Timberwolves front office will have some decisions to make in the off-season on that front.
For the Nuggets, 2x MVP Nikola Jokic was fantastic as usual with 43 points and 11 rebounds, but the Nuggets role players couldn’t replicate their home form, which has been an issue with this team all season.
Back on their home floor where they have an impeccable 36-7 record this season, I expect the Nuggets to complete the gentlemen’s sweep and finish the series off at 4-1.
The Nuggets are levels above the dysfunctional Timberwolves and I wouldn’t be surprised if the score line got really ugly in this one.
Denver Nuggets -9.5
$1.90 (2 Units)
Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns
Footprint Center, 12pm AEST
This is another first round series where the writing looks to be on the wall for the lower seed.
The Clippers have battled hard despite being without Paul George for all four games and Kawhi Leonard for their last two, but they now head to Phoenix down 3-1 and seemingly 48 minutes away from starting their off-season.
Russell Westbrook has had a fantastic series and has relished being the main man on offence, but he had little help around him in apart from an offensive explosion from Norman Powell in Game 3.
Meanwhile, Devin Booker would probably be leading the Playoffs MVP, or at least a close second behind Miami’s Jimmy Butler. While Kevin Durant has also been the definition of efficiency.
Despite winning the last three games in this series, the Suns are yet to put a total four-quarter performance together. However, they’ve been building with each game and I expect Game 5 to be their best of the lot.
Phoenix Suns -11.5
$1.84 (1.5 Units)
