Saturday, May 18 NBA Playoff Parlay Picks

The No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference moved to the semifinal round with relative ease, but the same can’t be said about the top-seed in the Western Conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder were pushed to the brink of elimination losing at home in Game 5 and will have to win on the road on Saturday, May 18, in order to keep their championship dream alive. OKC was one of the top teams against the NBA betting line during the regular season, but they cashed in just one of their last four games in the Western Conference semifinal series with the Dallas Mavericks. There were some questions about the teams youth and lack of playoff experience entering the postseason and we’ll see exactly what the Thunder are made of in Game 6.

It appeared as though OKC seized momentum with a Game 4 road win as a 1.5-point NBA point spread underdog to even the series. Back in OKC for Game 5, Luka Doncic was the hero for Dallas recording a triple-double. Perhaps more impressive was the Mavs defense, which held the Thunder to a season-low 92 points on 25 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line. Not known for stopping opponents from scoring during the regular season, the Mavs held OKC to an average of 97.7 points in the last three games, cashing the UNDER in all of them. The Mavs opened as a 4.5-point Game 6 favorite on the NBA odds at Caesars sportsbook. 

Bet on the NBA Playoffs at Caesars sportsbook 

NBA Playoff Schedule for Saturday, May 18

Oklahoma City at Dallas, 8 p.m. ET

With two games on the NBA playoff schedule last Saturday I played a pair of same game parlays splitting the two. My loss was in Game 3 of this series when I backed OKC at +1.5 and OVER 216.5. Turns out the Mavericks had the upper hand winning 105-101 handing me a pair of setbacks, but as we know it only takes one to come up a NBA picks and parlay loser. At least I made up for it in the East backing Boston and the UNDER. The Celtics were not affected by a Game 2 home loss going into Cleveland for a 106-93 win. They covered the 7.5-point NBA point spread and finished below the total of 210.5. So it wasn’t a complete disaster.

This game is all I got so I better make it count. I’m not giving up on the Thunder just yet. They won twice in New Orleans in the first round and rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Dallas in Game 4. They are 3-1 on the road this postseason with payouts in all three wins. OKC will need to find some offense other than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though. SGA scored 30 points in Game 5 with but no other teammate scored more than 13. It’s a bit alarming for a team that was so efficient during the regular season and averaged 124 points in three games against the Mavs. 

There has to be a sense of urgency on the OKC side and they haven’t faced much adversity this postseason. They swept the Pelicans in the opening round and when they needed a solid effort in Game to avoid a 1-3 series hole they came through. However, even in that game the offense stumbled with OKC shooting just 38 percent. And again it was SGA who delivered netting 34 points. With their backs against the wall it makes sense that your best player leads the way. Gilgeous-Alexander has a points scored NBA prop of 31.5 and I’m leaning toward backing the OVER.

Defense has been a huge deal in the series and it isn’t by chance, at least not on the OKC side. They were one of the best during the regular season and they’ve been equally strong in the playoffs. They’ve held opponents to fewer than 100 points in six of their nine playoff games and the Mavs scored more than 105 points just once. Doncic and Kyrie Irving will get their points since they do most of the heavy lifting. Doncic went had 31 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 5 with Irving held to just 12 points.

When holding one of the Mavs scorers in check you’d expect better results, but that hasn’t been the case in this series with other players stepping up. P.J. Washington has been huge scoring more than 20 points in three of the five games after averaging just 11.7 points in 29 games after being acquired. I do anticipate a better overall effort on the part of OKC, which is why I’m backing them plus the points as my NBA best bet.

NBA Playoff Parlay Picks for Saturday, May 18

Oklahoma City +4.5

Oklahoma City / Dallas OVER 210.5

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander OVER 31.5 points

Bet $100 to Win $620 On This NBA Parlay at Caesars sportsbook