Now that we're in the thick of the NBA playoffs, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will be providing daily picks for the duration of the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Finals. All lines courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
Miami Heat at New York Knicks
My honest advice to you is to avoid this game like the plague. There are just too many injury question marks regardless of who is actually on the floor. If you insist on making a bet though? Gabe Vincent has topped his scoring prop in four of Miami's six postseason games, and in the sixth he played only 18 minutes. The Heat have increasingly leaned on him to make big shots late in games, and he's now averaging 12.5 field goal attempts per game in the playoffs after taking just 8.3 in the regular season. If Jimmy Butler is out or hobbled, Vincent is going to pick up the scoring burden. The Pick: Vincent Over 13.5 Points
Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors
There are a number of colliding trends here. If you want to take the Warriors, you can lean on their 35-9 home record this season and the relative struggles of LeBron James in Game 1s. However, I prefer the Lakers due to the schedule. They finished their first-round series on Friday. The Warriors had to fight a Game 7 war on Sunday in Sacramento. This is an every-other-day series with no two-day breaks anywhere on the schedule. The Warriors are an older team that could really use that rest. They went 7-13 with a rest disadvantage this season. Steve Kerr rarely goes all-in on early series games anyway. The Warriors are going to pace themselves, but the Lakers, knowing they need to win at the Chase Center at least once, will treat this is a must-win game. Combine that with the points you get on the spread, and the Lakers feel like the pick here. The Pick: Lakers +4.5
