NBA Playoffs on TNT: Free NBA Picks and Previews

The NBA Playoffs have started out pretty much how everyone expected, the favorites were 7-1 in Game 1′s throughout, as the only underdog to win on the road was the injury-ridden Portland Trail Blazers. For a team without their 2 bigs (Pryzbilla and Oden), and their star player (Brandon Roy), they sure are playing tough. Check out my series predictions to see how I’m doing thus far. Here are my picks for Tuesday’s games…

Milwaukee Bucks @ Atlanta Hawks (-7.5) (4-20: 7:00 PM ET – NBA TV): Without Bogut, and with the Hawks gaining some momentum, I just don’t see the Bucks keeping this one close. I know John Salmons was a heck of a pick up, but they just don’t have the bodies to keep Atlanta from shooting above 50% from the field, and unless Milwaukee suddenly turns into a great shooting team, this one should stay in double digits.

Miami Heat @ Boston Celtics (-1) (4-20: 8:00 PM ET – TNT): It looks like a lot of bettors are writing off the Celtics without Kevin Garnett in the lineup. The Big Ticket is a key to the Celtics, no doubt, but just one game? I think Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace’s “upper body” play well in KG’s absence, and the Celtics win outright without the future Hall of Famer.

Portland Trail Blazers (+8.5) @ Phoenix Suns (4-20: 10:00 PM ET – NBA TV): I like the Suns to even this series out, but I have a feeling it will be close again. The Blazers are just a tough match-up for the Suns, even without a couple key components. They slow it down well, and Andre Miller is a very tough match-up for Steve Nash. Still, I’m not super confident about this one – the Suns could come out on fire after dropping game one. And Phoenix has been great down the stretch, still – I’ll take the 8.5 points in this one.

Oklahoma City Thunder @ LA Lakers (-6.5) (4-20: 10:30 PM ET – TNT): Like I said in my newsletter, I would love to see the Thunder come out and snipe the Lakers in LA, and take it back to Oklahoma tied up – and as much as I could see that happening, the smart money is on LA winning at home. When it comes right down to it, the Lake-show should continue to dominate down low, and that’s where the playoffs are won and lost.