NBA Playoff Picks for Tuesday, April 18, 2023

We have three games with NBA betting odds on Tuesday night. Every first-round series had its first game played over the weekend, and there were some eyebrow raising results. Golden State, Phoenix, and Milwaukee all lost their first game, and that puts three of the favorites per the NBA futures odds in trouble when it comes to their NBA Finals hopes. The Bucks might be in the most trouble if Giannis Antetokounmpo is sidelined for an extended period, and that’s something to monitor since Milwaukee was the favorite to win it all by the NBA Finals odds just a few days ago.

NBA Betting Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook

Boston Celtics -10 vs. Atlanta Hawks

There was no doubt that the Boston Celtics were a better team than the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday afternoon in Beantown. Boston took a 30-point lead into halftime against Atlanta, and the Celtics cruised from that point forward before winning by 13 points against the Hawks. Jaylen Brown was the top scorer on the afternoon with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Jayson Tatum added 25 points and 11 rebounds for the victors.

Brown and Tatum were as unstoppable as suspected, and Derrick White was very good as a role player with 24 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. Boston’s shutdown guards thrived in their assignments too as Malcolm Brogdon and Marcus Smart were able to put the clamps on Atlanta’s backcourt.

It’s no secret that Trae Young is the secret to Atlanta’s offense. Young averaged 26.2 PPG (10^th in the NBA) and 10.2 APG (2^nd in the NBA) this year, but he wasn’t very efficient. Boston capitalized on that in Game 1 as Young finished with just 16 points after shooting 5 of 18 from the field. He had eight assists, but he also had five turnovers, and that’s a trade the Celtics will make every time.

Offseason acquisition Dejounte Murray was Atlanta’s leading scorer with 24 points on 10 of 25 shooting, but he missed all six of his three-point attempts. That was a huge problem for the Hawks all afternoon as the team went 5 of 29 from beyond the arc. Additionally, the Celtics outrebounded the Hawks by 13 boards in the first meeting, and neither of those things are likely to change as Boston is very good in both departments.

Cleveland Cavaliers -5 vs. New York Knicks

It was impressive to see the New York Knicks overcome the odds on the road to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 and wrest home court away from their opponents. Julius Randle was great in the first half after Jalen Brunson got into foul trouble, and then Brunson took over with 21 points in the second half. Despite that strong performance in Game 1 though, the Knicks are underdogs in the second game of this series.

Cleveland really struggled on the glass in the first game even though Evan Mobley had 11 rebounds and Jarrett Allen had 14 rebounds. Josh Hart was able to crash the boards for the Knicks and finished with a double-double despite being 6’4 as the Cavaliers weren’t great at boxing out. Additionally, Mobley had a performance to forget in his postseason debut, as he finished with just eight points on 4 of 13 shooting.

Veteran Donovan Mitchell nearly single-handedly won the game for Cleveland. Mitchell finished with a game-high 38 points as he knocked down 14 of 30 field goals and was 6 of 16 from beyond the arc. He added eight assists and five rebounds, and he didn’t have the turnovers that plagued Darius Garland.

I expect to see a much better performance out of Cleveland in Game 2. The Cavaliers’ young players looked shaky in the first game, as Mobley and Garland each disappointed. Isaac Okoro was a non-factor with just six points and three rebounds, and the bench underperformed too. Mitchell and Allen were the only players that performed well, and that was nearly enough for Cleveland to get the victory. Cleveland knows it can’t afford to go down 0-2 before heading to the Big Apple, so the Cavs will bounce back with

a big win to even the series.