NBA Playoffs Round 1 betting picks | Saturday, April 23

The NBA playoffs are rolling on this weekend and it has had a lot of storylines. Sure, there are a good amount of lopsided series’ but that’s par for the course. After all, it’s only the first round. It will almost certainly get more interesting and entertaining as the field lessens. Regardless, each game still has players to watch for and the talent in the league is astounding. While some series’ appear to be locked up, anything can happen and each team will have to approach each game with game 7 intensity. Here are the picks for Saturday’s slate.

Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto Raptors

The last game in this series was a classic and it showed Joel Embiid’s otherworldly ability. After a slow first half, he controlled the second half and was able to hit a buzzer beating three in overtime. It was insane. And it will also be devastating for the Raptors who are now down 3-0. It’s extremely unlikely they find a way to get back in this series and they may be done. The Raptors will find it hard to motivate themselves, especially after their last game. It was a soul crushing loss in a very winnable game and this will likely be the first series to come to a close in this year’s NBA playoffs.

The Sixers have also won all three NBA games in this series without a vintage James Harden performance. Yes, he has historically struggled in the playoffs and hasn’t been up to snuff this year but he definitely has the talent to drop 40. It feels like he will have one of the games soon and if he does, the Raps will be toast. Philly has dominated this series and while they can definitely have a bad game and be fine, they will be motivated to end this series and get a longer rest than most teams for next round. Take Philly and the points and watch them trounce Toronto.

Memphis Grizzlies at Minnesota Timberwolves

So far, this series has been very evenly matched and even though the higher seeded Grizzlies have the advantage, it won’t be easy to close out the Timberwolves. However, the Grizzlies had an emotional game three win where they rode a 22-0 fourth quarter run to come all the way back and beat the Wolves. It was a highly intense game and one that could send the Wolves home defeated. The Grizz have all the momentum right now and, not to mention, they have a better team. Sure, the playoff are different than the regular season but both of these teams are very young and Memphis is playing with a lot of swagger.

If last game had gone differently, this series would look a whole lot different. However, the Wolves choked and now are in danger of going down 3-1. They blew their chance and it would be shocking if they were able to completely wipe that from their memory. It was one of the more memorable playoff choke-jobs in recent history and it’s going to be heard for Minnesota to bounce back. Take the Grizzlies as they look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this series.

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