The NBA playoffs continue Wednesday night with Game 2 for the No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchups: Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans. The odds for both favor the top seeds by a significant margin, but the Pelicans won the first game all the way. Would it be the NBA playoffs if there were no twists and turns?
Still, our experts are picking solidly based on the groups (seeds) for tonight’s games. The Celtics are playing some of their best ball, and it’s hard to see the Heat challenging this core without Jimmy Butler or Terry Rozier. The Thunder, meanwhile, didn’t look like themselves for much of the opener against a Pelicans team playing without Zion Williamson, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stood out to give them a 1-0 lead.
We have the odds, previews and predictions for Celtics-Heat and Thunder-Pelicans below.
All odds from BetMGM. Find the best deals on StubHub for tickets.
No. 1 Boston Celtics vs. No. 8 Miami Heat
How to watch: 7 p.m. ET on TNT
The Celtics lead the series 1-0
Series odds: Celtics odds not listed, Heat +4000
Oof, those three from Boston. They continued to rain on Sunday, with the Celtics tying a franchise playoff record of 22 3-pointers — and an NBA first with every player who spent minutes in the game losing at least one from deep.
Boston came out hot from the start, leading 14-0 in the first three minutes, and never really cooled down. They led by double digits for the entire second half and closed the game 114-94 in a wire-to-wire victory. Jayson Tatum had his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. But even that wasn’t the most impressive part of this match. Six Celtics had double-digit scoring, and the way this Boston team moves the ball is a thing of beauty.
The Heat, meanwhile, have their work cut out for them without two of their best playmakers, Butler and Rozier. For a moment Sunday, it looked like Miami was bringing him back. They held Boston scoreless for the final two minutes of the first quarter and opened the second quarter with a bucket from Jaime Jaquez Jr. that brought the score to three, the closest they could get before Boston got within move away again.
Bam Adebayo scored 24 points on 18 attempts. The bench had 29 points, including 17 for Delon Wright, a bright spot in an otherwise dark night for Miami.
Hard to see this Celtics team losing one in this series. The odds of a Boston sweep are -175.
Expert Picks for Celtics vs. Heat
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No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans
How to watch: 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT
The Thunder leads the series 1-0
Series odds: Thunder -1200, Pelicans +750
What happened to the Thunder on Sunday? They were 9-point favorites going into the game, but nearly fell short against a Zion-less Pelicans team. The game was, in the words of Athleticism William Guillory, “an exhausting rock fight”. Both teams struggled to create shots and the game was tied 43-43 at halftime.
Although the Thunder managed to pull away in the third quarter, New Orleans brought it back and tied it with 3:58 left in the fourth. A critical floater by Gilgeous-Alexander drew a foul and gave the Thunder a three-point lead with 32 seconds remaining. The Pelicans were unable to regain the lead and lost 94-92.
But the Thunder had a bad game (by their standards) and still managed to win. The Thunder haven’t scored fewer than 100 since losing to the Bucks 118-93 13 games ago.
With Williamson still sidelined, the Pels have done a great job limiting the Thunder, but they’ll need Brandon Ingram to step up if they want another chance to beat this Thunder core, who likely won’t play as well hurt again. Ingram averaged 20.8 points per game during the regular season, but had just 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting Sunday. Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting, and Jalen Williams contributed 19, plus 4 assists and 7 rebounds.
Expert Picks for Thunder vs. Pelicans
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(Photo by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
