NBA Playoff Odds: Betting Preview for Friday’s Games

With another night of postseason action in the books, the NBA is gearing up for three more exciting playoff games on Friday night. The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks will kick things off at 7:00 p.m. EST for Game 3 of their tied series. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will try and take the 3-0 series advantage over the Boston Celtics at 8:30. The action will then conclude after the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks clash at 9:30. The Mavericks lead their series 2-0.

BetOnline has once again provided odds for tonight’s NBA action. Read on to see who has the best shot of winning tonight.

NBA Odds: New York Knicks (No. 4) vs Atlanta Hawks (No. 5) Game 3

Odds via BetOnline as of Friday, May 28

  • Series: Series tied 1-1
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
  • Moneyline: Knicks (+160) vs Hawks (-180)
  • Point Spread: Knicks +4.0 (-105), Hawks -4.0 (-115)
  • Total: 211.0 — Over (-115), Under (-105)

The Knicks Game 2 win on Wednesday was the organization’s first postseason victory in a long time and they’ll be looking to continue the momentum on Friday night. Derrick Rose led the way with a 26-point effort, but, at some point, someone else is going to need to step it up too. 2021 NBA Most Improved Player Julius Randle has had the same exact stat line (15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists) in both of the games so far. That’s pretty underwhelming for a player who averaged 24.1/10.2/6.0 in the regular season.

It’d be nice if Atlanta’s John Collins shows up for Game 3. For someone who’s supposed to be one of the Hawks’ best players, Collins was virtually invisible in Game 2. He registered no points in 14 minutes of play, mainly because he was in foul trouble early and often. That’s just unacceptable. Another thing that Atlanta will have to work on is its 3-point accuracy. The Hawks shot just 12-for-44 (27.3%) from beyond the arc on Wednesday, which is a considerable decrease from their NBA regular season percentage (37.1%).

Brooklyn Nets (No. 2) vs Boston Celtics (No. 7) Game 3 Odds

Odds via BetOnline as of Friday, May 28

  • Series: BKN leads 2-0
  • Time: 8:30 p.m. EST
  • Moneyline: Nets (-350) vs Celtics (+280)
  • Point Spread: Nets -8.0 (-107), Celtics +8.0 (-113)
  • Total: 227.0 — Over (-105), Under (-115)

Before the 2020-21 NBA Playoffs even began, people thought that the Nets would be dominant, but maybe not to this extend. They’ve outscored the Celtics 234-201 through the first two games and show no signs of slowing down. While it was the ‘Big 3’ had another good showing in Game 2, another player who helped the Nets to victory was Joe Harris. The 29-year-old recorded 25 points in the victory, including going 7-for-10 from the 3-point line — a new franchise record. Brooklyn was already dangerous when it came to the ‘Big 3,’ but they become that much more frightening whenever their secondary players show up.

At this point, the Celtics need to do whatever they can to win. They didn’t have a single player hit the 20-point mark in Game 2, which always make it tough to win in the NBA Playoffs. The good news is that it looks like Jayson Tatum will be alright after his injury scare the other night. The bad news is that Kemba Walker is questionable, which would put Boston at a disadvantage if he’s out.

NBA Playoff Odds: Los Angeles Clippers (No. 4) vs Dallas Mavericks (No. 7) Game 3

Odds via BetOnline as of Friday, May 28

  • Series: DAL leads 2-0
  • Time: 9:30 p.m. EST
  • Moneyline: Clippers (-113) vs Mavericks (+115)
  • Point Spread: Clippers -2.0 (-113), Mavericks +2.0 (-108)
  • Total: 219.0 — Over (-110), Under (-110)

Once a favourite to win this year’s NBA Finals, the Clippers have their backs against the ropes as their in danger of facing a three-game deficit against the Mavericks. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have been the only players to show up for their team as they average 33.5 and 25.5 points per game respectively. The next closest player is Nicolas Batum, who’s averaging 10.0. That’s not good enough to win in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Luka Doncic continues to dominate for the Mavericks. He has two 30+-point efforts for Dallas already and it looks like he’s just getting started. Plus, the Mavericks are actually getting help from their depth. Tim Hardaway Jr. dropped 28 points in Game 2 to help clinch the victory. The Mavericks also shot 52.9% from beyond the arc, which was the second game in a row they did better than the Clippers, who led the league in that category during the regular season.

Devon Platana
Devon Platana

After graduating with a Masters degree in Journalism, Devon joined USGS to improve his sports writing skills. As a lifelong sports fan, one of Devon’s favorite things to do is analyze statistics across all sports.