Sharp NBA Playoff Picks for Friday: 3 Predictions for Today, Including Thunder vs. Timberwolves

The NBA playoffs are here and with that comes plenty of opportunities to make some cash from the sportsbooks.

Thursday’s slate of play-in games features two great matchups and we’ve got three bets to start off the playoff betting hot.

Thunder vs. Timberwolves Pick: Thunder +5.5 | Shop for the Best Odds Below!

As was mentioned in our predictions for Wednesday, the Thunder came into New Orleans and secured a victory to advance in the play-in.

New Orleans just did not have enough defense in the pain to slow the young core of the Thunder and we will be backing them to have a repeat performance tonight.

The Timberwolves pose a much greater threat to this bet than the Pelicans, but if anyone watched their game with the Lakers, they shouldn’t scare anyone.

Anthony Edwards was abysmal and while the return of Rudy Gobert helps Minnesota, he hasn’t exactly been playing inspiring ball either.

This is a team that went viral for fighting one another on the sideline, which prompted the absence of Gobert on Wednesday. They’re now matching up against a Thunder team that is playing with clear confidence and unification as a team.

Despite stellar performances from Karl-Anthony Towns and Mike Conley, the Timberwolves were unable to get past the Lakers. If those two can’t light up the Thunder for 20+ a piece tonight, they’re in trouble with the way Anthony Edwards is shooting the basketball.

I’ll be backing the ascending Thunder team against an older Timberwolves squad that is in disarray.

OddsJam Fantasy Screen Pick: Rudy Gobert Under 13.5 Points | -119 at PrizePicks

If you aren’t using the new OddsJam Fantasy Screen, what are you doing?

Our new software makes it incredibly easy to find sharp, mathematically profitable bets for all of the major DFS apps, including PrizePicks. This bet comes with a clear edge, as some sportsbooks — like Caesars — have this bet in the -145 range.

Gobert has not reached 14 points since March and struggled to do so recently. While the Thunder don’t have the world’s greatest defense, Gobert’s recent struggles paired with his one-game suspension make this a nice play. Plus, we can root for Gobert misses for our Thunder bet.

Gobert is also questionable in this game with a back injury. While we don’t yet know the severity of the injury(or if there really is one at all), it’s certainly something worth monitoring in such a pivotal game.

The bottom line is, this is clear value on PrizePicks. Remember, the -119 odds are only given with five- or six-leg entries, so be sure to scan the OddsJam Fantasy Screen for more profitable bets and build your slip for tonight’s games.

Josh Giddey Over 6.5 Assists | -130 at BetMGM

We are all OKC Thunder in today’s betting slate, but not without good reason. BetMGM continues to hand us profitable bets and we’re going to politely accept their generous offers.

This bet comes from the Positive EV page, where they have Josh Giddey’s over on assists for tonight’s contest. Beyond the clear value they are giving us (and over at WynnBet if you would prefer), this is a bet that I love.

Giddey had a monster game against the Pelicans on Wednesday night, with 31 points, nine rebounds and most importantly, 10 assists. While it’s a bit of a shame he couldn’t land the triple double, he hammered the over on his assists.

With the scoring ability of Shai-Gilgeous Alexander in the paint, Giddey is an assist machine and will be putting up big numbers again tonight. We’ve got a +EV play for a player coming off a near-triple double.

What more could anyone ask for?