NBA Picks

In a lot of ways, OKC and Portland are mirror images of one another: two superstars in their primes, a hulking center, defensive-minded athletic 3-and-D forwards and a pension for bowing out of the playoffs early. But where they differ is on the defensive end. OKC is an elite, long-armed, active defensive unit, and they’ve managed to maintain their cohesion while playing at an up-tempo speed. Their league-leading forced-turnover percentage can do damage against Portland’s backcourt, and if they can force Lillard and McCollum into sloppy ball-handling, this will get ugly quick. Kyle Cash looks at how one of the NBA’s best backcourts will do versus the OKC D!

A few months ago, LeBron James was the leader of the title-contending Los Angeles Lakers and making videos declaring himself as “the greatest of all time.” Today, he’s six weeks away from an early summer vacation filled with brown-nosing rappers, tampering with free agents and filming bad sequels to beloved cult classics. The Nuggets are obviously the better team but how will they stack up against the spread? KC takes on the bookmakers and this question with his daily NBA pick.

The Sixers have gone 4-2 since Embiid has been sitting to rehab his knee. The Sixers have turned to veteran Amir Johnson to fill in at Center. In his last game for Philadelphia, Johnson produced 13 points, two assists, and five rebounds against Orlando. Can the Sixers keep winning without their big man in the post? Bookmakers think they can tonight, opening the Bulls as 5.5 point underdogs!

The Raptors and Rockets met in January in Houston and the Rockets put together an impressive 125-107 win over Toronto. Can the Raptors return the favor as 3.5 point favorites tonight at home? Keith Franks has your NBA pick!

I’m not sure whether or not the Boston Strangler was ever officially identified, but I would like to throw Kyrie Irving’s name into the list of potential suspects. A team that Bill Simmons once said was going to “kick everyone’s butt in the East” and “win 67 games” is now on pace for no home-court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Can the Celtics put a run together in the home stretch for the sake of chemistry? Let’s start by looking at tonight’s game out west against the Warriors where sportsbooks have the Cs as 9 point underdogs.