NBA Picks for May 15: Basketball Best Bets, Predictions, Odds on DraftKings Sportsbook

The second round concludes on Sunday. The action gets underway at 3:30 p.m. ET. with the Boston Celtics hosting the Milwaukee Bucks. In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns face the Dallas Mavericks at 8 p.m. ET. Let’s survey the slate and pick the best bets for Sunday.

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Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics

Bucks +5 (-110)

The Bucks played about as bad as they could, and they still hung with the Celtics in Game 6. After shooting 18.8% from three in the first half, the Bucks found themselves in a double-digit hole. That number improved to 30% in the second half, but that’s not good enough when the Celtics make 39.5% of their 3-pointers. Make no mistake. This is a 3-point league. Many experts and analysts are enamored with the flashy stars and the big names. They have to produce endless content, so they have to talk about something. There is one conversation for every game: Who made their threes? Go through every game and go through the stats. “The Celtics are the better team,” expert 1/super fan 1 says to expert 2/super fan 2, but expert 2/super fan 2 replies, “It doesn’t matter, Giannis is the best player in the league.” Both are wrong, but they don’t want to write or talk about threes everyday. It’s boring.

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals 3-Point Shooting

Game 6: Celtics 39.5% - Bucks 24.1% — Celtics Win

Game 5: Bucks 44.8% - Celtics 32.3% — Bucks Win

Game 4: Celtics 37.8% - Bucks 33.3% — Celtics Win

Game 3: Celtics 27.3% - Bucks 26.5% — Bucks Win

Game 2: Celtics 46.5% - Bucks 16.7% — Celtics Win

Game 1: Celtics 36.0% - Bucks 35.3% — Bucks Win

The pattern is obvious to anyone who has been watching this series. We can set up Punnett squares to predict the outcome.

Boston’s only hope is that the Bucks are cold from downtown. If the Bucks shoot their season average in Boston on Sunday, then Giannis Antetokounmpo is headed to the Eastern Conference finals. The Bucks won’t be ice cold in back-to-back games.

Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns

Mavericks +6 (-110)

This is an age old tale. This matchup feels more like an NCAA March Madness game than an NBA playoffs game. The Suns are Duke or North Carolina, depending on your persuasion. The Mavs are Cinderella, They’re outmatched in every aspect of the game except for their one legendary star that has rallied the underdogs and one other intangible category — heart. Who do you got?

Betting with our hearts is a sucker’s move, but living without a heart is a sucker’s life. The Suns had their chance last year and they blew it. They nearly blew it again in the first round against the lowly Pelicans. That was a series because the Pelicans wanted it more. The Suns just don’t want it enough. They expect it. They’re the better team. The Mavs do not expect anything but want everything.

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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