There are three games — and plenty of NBA betting opportunities — on Monday's NBA slate on April 29. Our Buckets Podcast crew has cooked up some NBA best bets, so let's dig in.
Check out the NBA best bets from the "Buckets" podcast below.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7:30 p.m. | Heat +10.5 & ML (+430) |
  | 8:30 p.m. | Thunder -4.5 |
| 8:30 p.m. | Thunder -4.5 |
  | 10:00 p.m. | Lakers +7.5 |
Heat +10.5 & ML +430 vs. Celtics
7:30 p.m. ET ⋅ TNT
This is a recognition of who each team is in their blood.
As we watched the Celtics go up a million to 30 at halftime in Game 3, they made all their shots and looked great. They were locked in to the game plan and had the effort there. If the effort is there, the Heat and their fans know they cannot compete with the Celtics. That game was coming off a loss, and that is what concerns me about the Celtics tonight.
Since the bubble, when the Celtics are favored after a loss in the NBA Playoffs, they are 12-3 against the spread. After the Celtics win by 10+ in that following game, they are 8-15 against the spread and have lost seven of the last 11 outright — and three of those games were against the Heat.
That is the cap, and it is as simple as that.
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Thunder -4.5 at Pelicans
8:30 p.m. ET ⋅ NBA TV
I think the line has reached its consensus at Thunder -5.
I don't think there is much action in the market on this game, but the reason I am playing this is because this qualifies in my first-round favorite system. A 1-seed favored by four points or greater in the first round historically has a 60% hit rate, and this year these teams are 5-4 against the spread. This is profitable if you are blindly betting it, and I expect this to get back to 6-4 at 60% with the Thunder tonight.
Daigneault has done a fantastic job with his lineups in this series, and the Thunder are a much more dominant team. They will play with urgency to finish this series off tonight and send a statement to the league with the second sweep of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
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Thunder -4.5 at Pelicans
8:30 p.m. ET ⋅ NBA TV
By Matt Moore
Game 1 was the inflection point for me when Mark Daigneault took that timeout and settled the whole team down as the Thunder came back and won.
That was a huge step for a young OKC team in the playoffs, and since then, OKC has destroyed New Orleans and taken a commanding 3-0 lead in this series. The Pelicans were one of the best corner-3 teams in the regular season but are shooting just 19% from those locations in this series.
Top-two seeds on the road as favorites that are up 3-0 in the first round are 22-10 straight up and 19-13 against the spread, and I expect that success to continue tonight.
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Lakers ML at Nuggets
10:00 p.m. ET ⋅ TNT
By Matt Moore
The Denver Nuggets are 7-11 straight up against teams above .500 when any of their starting five is out this year.
Jamal Murray is questionable heading into this matchup, so it is imperative that he plays tonight if the Nuggets want to close this series out. They lost Bruce Brown, who could carry the bench as a guard last season. Reggie Jackson is still banged up and has been sick for two weeks, yet he likely starts if Murray is out tonight.
I don't trust the Nuggets if he has to start, and you can bet the Lakers now regardless of if Murray is playing or not. I have bet on the Lakers throughout this series, and they consistently go up in these games by double digits. There is no point in betting the Lakers spread in this because the market will not give you a good number even if the Nuggets trail in this game like they have every game thus far.
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