With 16 teams competing in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs we’re presented a light schedule on Wednesday, April 24 with only two games to build a winning NBA parlay. That might not be a bad thing since we missed a four-teamer on the final day of the regular season. At least we will have the top teams in each conference hosting games with the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder taking center stage. One game doesn’t make a series but the Celtics took the upperhand on the Miami Heat winning Game 1, 114-94, covering the 14.5-point spread.
OKC ended a three-year playoff drought in grand style finishing as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with 57 wins. It was their highest win total since 2012-13 when they reached the conference championship for the fourth straight season. They do lack playoff experience with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lou Dort remaining from the 2019-20 club that lost in the first round. The Thunder enjoyed success against New Orleans winning four of the previous five meetings entering the postseason while going 4-1 ATS.
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NBA Parlay Picks for Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Boston ATS
Miami / Boston OVER
Oklahoma City ATS
New Orleans / Oklahoma City UNDER
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I built some momentum heading into the postseason by hitting three of four picks on my season-ending NBA parlay. It was still a loser, though, since the Bulls and Knicks had an offensive outburst going over the total by 21 points. They actually hit the total of 218 in regulation when the Knicks scored 33 points in the fourth. That was the only blemish on the card with Philadelphia and Sacramento each winning on the line and the Lakers-Pelicans matchup going OVER the closing total.
The options for Wednesday are limited, but I do like the Celtics at home to win handily. Boston built a big lead through three quarters in Game 1 and won by 20 even though they were outscored 35-23 in the fourth quarter. And they showed they can win when not relying on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Those guys did their thing combing for 40 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 18 points on 4 of 8 three-point shooting, but Derrick White was the X-factor. White made 6 of 10 shots for 20 points and was team-best plus-24.
Miami plays hard and Erik Spoelstra will have his troops ready. However, it’s hard to win when you bring a knife to a gunfight. The loss of Jimmy Butler in the play-in tournament severely hampered the Heat’s chances and the Celtics don’t want to give Miami any ideas of pulling off another upset by choking at home. I’ll back the Celtics despite the hefty NBA point spread. On the same game parlay I’m also backing the OVER. Boston scored 114 points in spite of Tatum’s poor shooting. Tatum was 7 of 18 overall and just 1 of 8 from distance. I expect he’ll pick up the scoring to exceed a relatively low total.
A key injury will impact the Pelicans in the playoffs. Zion Williamson is out indefinitely after tweaking a hamstring in the play-in loss to the Lakers. He led the Pels averaging 22.9 points during the season. The bulk of the offense will come from Brandon Ingram, who missed time due to injury near the end of the season, and C.J. McCollum. It will be tough to score against one of the better defensive teams in the NBA and even more difficult without Williamson. Now that they have a game under them the Thunder can relax, which is bad for the Pels, and cover the line while playing below the total.
NBA Schedule for Wednesday, April 24
Miami at Boston, 7 p.m. ET / TNT
New Orleans at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m. ET / TNT
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