The NBA playoffs continue on Wednesday with three games to look forward to. Action begins at 9am AEST, and we’ve previewed all three games and provided our best bets for them 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 19th 2023
Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics
TD Garden, 9am AEST
The Boston Celtics were too good for the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1, which was to be expected considering they’re the Championship favourites.
The Celtics have now won six straight games against the Hawks, including 4/4 this season.
Not only have the Celtics been winning against the Hawks this season, but they’ve been doing it in style, particularly on the offensive end. They’ve scored 126, 134, 120, and 112 points in their four meetings against them.
It’s tough to see the Hawks finding a solution and reversing the result from Game 1 on Sunday, especially considering their road record this season (17-24) is a lot worse than the Celtics elite home record (33-9).
The Celtics have the better starting five and also have a lot more firepower coming off the bench, led by 6MOTY finalist Malcolm Brogdon.
Part of me believes the Hawks know they aren’t any chance of beating the Celtics in a best-of-seven series, and that they’ll simply take their medicine in Game 2. So with that said, I expect the Celtics to secure another easy win against the Hawks.
Boston Celtics -10
$1.90 (1 Unit)
New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, 9:30am AEST
The more exciting of the early games on Wednesday is certainly this battle between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite being the visiting team, the Knicks were able to draw first blood with a win in Game 1 on the back of a superb effort on the defensive end.
The Knicks managed to hold the Cavaliers to just 97 points, which was just the second time they’ve held a team to under 100 points since February.
Although they were the underdogs in Game 1, it wasn’t a big surprise they were able to cause the upset considering they’ve now won four straight meetings with the Cavs.
The Knicks clearly matchup extremely well with the Cavs and winning Game 2 is certainly not beyond them. However, I prefer to back them in to cover the spread for a bit of insurance.
New York Knicks +5.5
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns
Footprint Center, 12pm AEST
Perhaps the biggest upset from the eight Game 1’s was when the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Phoenix Suns.
The Clippers managed to have their noses in front for the majority of the game and also executed far better in clutch time to eventually come away with a five-point win despite being without Paul George who’s expected to miss the entire series through injury.
Kawhi Leonard was phenomenal in his first post-season game in a couple of years and finished the night with a game-high 38 points, while Russell Westbrook probably played the best nine-point 3/19 shooting game in NBA history.
Although the loss was disappointing for the Suns, their way forward is fairly clear cut. They simply need to clean up the defensive glass and allow Kevin Durant to go to work in clutch time, rather than watch 37-year-old Chris Paul trying to make things happen.
Suns coach Monty Williams has done a reasonable job at making adjustments after bad losses in playoff games, and I expect his superior-talented Suns to bounce back in Game 2.
Phoenix Suns -7.5
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
