Talent alone won’t win you an NBA championship – you need a bit of luck on your side as well. And both of our Eastern Conference Finalists this season, the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers, had things fall their way through the first two rounds, facing opponents with injury depleted rosters. But the road starts to get rougher for the Pacers starting on Tuesday. Here are my NBA picks for May 21st. Go here for the latest NBA odds.
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NBA Picks May 21st
Indiana Pacers vs. Boston Celtics
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Spread: Celtics -9.5
Total: 221.5
While Boston made fairly quick work of undermanned and less talented squads in the first two rounds of the playoffs (the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively), they weren’t at 100% themselves, either. Starting center Kristaps Porzingis has only played four playoff games this season after injuring his calf. He’ll remain out for at least Game 1 of this series.
But it shouldn’t matter too much, as the Celtics are way more talented than the Indiana Pacers, who have overachieved to make it this far. While stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam have had big games, they’ve been inconsistent throughout the playoffs. With hardly any rest coming into this series after just dispatching the New York Knicks on Sunday, I think the home team will jump the Pacers and cover the spread on Tuesday night in TD Garden. I’m going to skip making a play on the total until I see how the first couple of games play out.
Best Bet: Celtics -9.5 (-115)
If you’d like even more info to help make your NBA bets for May 21st, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
