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The 2015 NBA Playoffs got everyone started with a clean slate. Through the first two days of the “new” NBA season, we nailed one upset pick and missed another. In the end, if you followed our daily NBA picks over the weekend, you probably won a fistful of dollars during our 7-1 run to get the ball rolling.
Things quiet down on Monday as the playoffs begin to stagger games, but we can still win some cash via NBA betting. We need to be somewhat concerned about those dangerous game two’s, where road teams historically can come in and steal a win out of nowhere. I don’t know if I really see it with tonight’s two matchups, but they’re still worth breaking down. Join us as we take a quick look at tonight’s NBA games and see who might escape with a win:
Milwaukee Bucks (6) @ Chicago Bulls (3) 8:00 pm ET on TNT
Milwaukee plays enough defense and has a solid team-style brand of offense that could give them a shot at stealing a win at some point in this series. However, they didn’t have much of an answer for either Derrick Rose or Jimmy Butler in game one, while Michael Carter-Williams wasn’t really himself on either end. Chicago also won by 12 despite getting a really inefficient game from Pau Gasol, who missed a ton of shots. Against a fairly weak interior defense, I can’t see Gasol coming up that lame again in this series, especially at home. The Bucks are going to need everything to fall into place to get even one win in this series and if they can’t be more efficient on offense (shot just 39% in game one), they won’t stand a chance of winning a road game. Because of that, I like the Bulls to win again tonight and at least take the series in five games, if not get a complete sweep.
Pick: Bulls 104, Bucks 94
New Orleans Pelicans (8) @ Golden State Warriors (1) 10:30 pm ET on TNT
I said earlier that I could see the Warriors sweeping the Pellies in this series and nothing has changed despite New Orleans keeping the first game interesting. The reality is the Pelicans just can’t defend at Golden State’s level and their offense isn’t as consistent or nearly explosive enough to match what the Warriors do. It took a near-perfect game from Anthony Davis and a random big game from Quincy Pondexter to get the Pelicans back in the game in the first clash and that’s not going to be easily repeated in this series. Specifically for game two, the Pellies are rolling in with Tyreke Evans (knee) iffy and Jrue Holiday (leg) still not quite himself. And now we’re supposed to pull for them to go in and beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena? Golden State has lost two games at home all year. It’s just not going to happen.
Pick: Warriors 109, Pelicans 101
