Free NBA Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (5/9/23)

Thunder Dan's top NBA betting picks and best bets for today's NBA games on 5/9/23. His free picks against the spread, teasers, parlays, and NBA player props.

I'm not sure what else we could ask for as far as entertainment goes with these NBA Playoffs, they've been simply awesome so far in my opinion. Sure, I wish we still had Giannis and the Bucks to watch and my Cavs made an early exit, but we have two series tied up 2-2 tonight going into game five. We also have the Lakers poised to return to the Western Conference Finals after going up 3-1 on the Warriors last night and the Jimmy Butlers - I mean...the Miami Heat sitting at 3-1 as well.

The Sixers-Celtics series might be the most compelling series going right now, but the Suns' resurgence against the Nuggets after being down 0-2 is pretty incredible, too.

As always, in this article, I'll be providing my favorite picks against the spread, game totals, parlays, and teasers for the NBA playoff games that tip-off at 7:00 PM EST on Tuesday, May 9th. Now, let's see how we want to attack these games with the books tonight!

Thunder Dan's NBA Best Bets

• First-Round Series Predictions: 5-3
• 2022-2023 Postseason Individual Games: 10-11
• Against the Spread: 6-3
• Game/Team Totals: 2-5
• Moneyline Parlay: 2-1
• Teasers: 0-3
• Overall: 15-15

NBA Betting Picks

Philadelphia 76ers (+7.5) @ Boston Celtics (213.5 total)

Just when you thought you had a read on this series, the Sixers pulled out a huge Game Four win, and now it is just a best-of-three from here on out. The Sixers weren't given much of a shot in this series with Embiid's health in question last week, but they won game one without him and he finally looked his dominant self in game four with a big performance. I was pumped the Sixers pulled it out, not just because I live here in Pennsylvania and have many relatives who are Philly fans, but because I had bet them on the money line in Game Four, and if you remember I bet them +2.5 games in this series as well.

It's quite possible that Boston bounces back tonight at home and wins this game as well as the series, however, the Sixers have positioned themselves well here to where they have a puncher's chance and I'm not really ready to write off James Harden and Joel Embiid that easily when both guys have the ability to take over late in games.

JAMES HARDEN CLUTCH TO FORCE OT 😱 pic.twitter.com/Mj1stbdXbp

— ESPN (@espn) May 7, 2023

I know Doc Rivers has plenty of critics out there, but it's quite possible that he's the better coach in this series. What the heck was Joe Mazzulla thinking by not calling a timeout at the end of regulation or overtime in Game Four? This whole "he trusts his players" excuse is garbage. Mazzula seems like he is in over his head in late-game situations and he's relying far too much on his star players to make plays in crunch time instead of putting them in the right position to win.

I guess I am wandering in and out of my point here, so I will just cut to the chase. I think the Sixers cover tonight. They have been the underdog in every game in this series, winning two of them outright and then not even covering in games two and three. But something clicked in Game Four and they got both Harden and Embiid going at the same time as well as some timely production from Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey.

I won't take them to win outright on the road, but I think this is another close game and 7.5 points is too much to spot Philly. I will also make a secondary bet on the Celtics team total over 110.5 points as they have scored 111 or more in all four games in this series. It took overtime to get there in Game Four, but they also played incredibly sloppy in regulation of that one, too.

The Picks: Sixers +7.5 (-110 DK), Celtics team total over 110.5 points (-110 DK)

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Phoenix Suns (+5.5) @ Denver Nuggets (228 total)

What Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have done in the last two games has been nothing short of spectacular. They both scored exactly 36 points on Sunday night in the Suns' five-point win to even the series as Phoenix survived 53 points from Nikola Jokic. Phoenix finally got a big game from a bench player as well with Landry Shamet going for 19 points in 30 minutes. Shamet drained five of eight attempts from deep and hit some huge shots down the stretch to help Phoenix maintain their lead.

Devin Booker is AVERAGING 36.8 PPG on 61.7% shooting in the playoffs 🤯

UNREAL efficiency. pic.twitter.com/X3hj508XG7

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 8, 2023

But can Phoenix keep this up as they head back to Denver where they were handled by the Nuggets in the first two games of the series?

KD and Booker will have to continue to carry the load as Chris Paul remains out for Game Five. But I think the pressure to win here is actually greater for Denver than Phoenix as the series has shifted. The Nuggets have been great at home all year, including in the first two games of this series. But they'll have to make some adjustments on defense to slow down the Phoenix super pals or they could be in danger of going down 3-2 and heading back to Phoenix for game six.

Watching Game Four was incredibly entertaining as Jokic, Murray, Booker, and Durant were all putting their offensive arsenals on display. And while some adjustments can be made by both teams, I am not sure either team has a defender who can slow any of these guys down. I think we could be in for another high-scoring game tonight. The only game to not go over 228 points in this series was Game Two, which stands out as a bit of a fluky result when compared with the others.

I think Denver wins tonight, but I am not willing to lay 5.5 points on the favorite. I'm going to take the over instead and just hope that we get another entertaining, high-scoring affair.

The Pick: OVER 228 points (-110 DK)

NBA Betting Picks: Parlays and Teasers

4-point Teaser: Philly +11.5 and Denver -1.5 = (-110 DK)

Good luck tonight, RotoBallers!

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