Wednesday’s NBA Predictions – Betting Tips for May 5, 2021

The NBA keeps the ball rolling with nine games on Wednesday night. Boston heads to Orlando to get the action started and likely gives us one of many easy games to predict.

I’m here for another batch of free NBA picks, where I offer my game-winner predictions for each contest, my favorite underdogs to target, and the best NBA bets for the day.

There is a lot of movement on this slate, as some of the best teams (and biggest stars) are in on the action. For today’s NBA picks, read on.

This schedule looks fairly straightforward, with the only thing potentially tossing a wrench in the plans being resting candidates.

Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Phoenix all played last night, so it’s always possible some of their key players will take the night off.

Potential rest aside, I like the Bucks and Suns to get wins in a seemingly advantageous spot. Boston, Portland, Philly, and Memphis all look like no-brainers, too, so random injury news would be the only thing that would trip up those picks.

Things do get a bit dicey when you look at Utah, Denver, and Indiana. The Pacers are typically tough to trust, but hey, they’re slowly getting healthier, and the Kings are awful.

The Jazz also aren’t at 100%, but they’re better than the Spurs at home and need to keep winning to hold onto first place in the Western Conference.

I’d imagine they get the win, and Denver should also keep it going. The Knicks have proven to be quite the tough out, of course, and they’re officially locked into a winning season for the first time since 2013.

The Knicks have officially clinched their first winning season since 2013.

WHAT A TIME. pic.twitter.com/gNMzhoFhnZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 4, 2021

That’s a fun story, but New York has to go on the road to battle Nikola Jokic. I love the fight with the Knicks, but I’m not too fond of their chances here.

My initial prediction for the Pacers vs. Kings game was to back Indiana, but I changed my tune when I caught wind of the Pacers already having issues with their head coach.

Amid a year of difficulties with players and staff, Indiana Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren’s future with the franchise is uncertain as the regular season nears an end, sources tell ESPN. The Pacers are 30-34 and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 5, 2021

Indiana is 30-34 and not consistently getting it done, they have a slew of injuries, and now they have trouble in the locker room? That’s a recipe for disaster.

Sacramento isn’t the poster child for stability or reliability and their coaching situation is a nightmare, but they’re still capable of handing the Pacers a loss here.

This feels like a slate where you target value in spreads and game totals more than upsets, but Sacramento at +215 does look pretty good.

You could consider going with the Knicks or Hawks as upset plays, but I’m not digging those bets. Based on the pricing available to me at the best NBA betting sites right now, the three bets listed above stand out the most.

Phoenix is still eyeing the best record in the west, so I fully expect them to dispatch the Hawks. However, the Suns play at a slow pace, and they have a very good defense. I think this game easily hits the Under.

On top of that, the Over is just 30-35 in Knicks games this season.

In addition to the Under, I also like the Knicks to make a game of it. Denver is still the straight-up pick at home, but New York has gone 9-1 over their last 10 games, and they’re 24-16 ATS as underdogs this year.

The Knicks have been overlooked all year, and this is a nice spread. Don’t continue looking past them in this spot.