Sharp NBA Playoff Picks for Wednesday: 3 Predictions for Today, Including Heat vs. Bucks in Game 2

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

Wednesday’s slate features two teams that are in desperate need of a victory in the Milwaukee Bucks and the Memphis Grizzlies. Neither can afford to drop to 0-2 on the series at home, so the stakes are high for two of the best regular-season teams.

Heat vs. Bucks Pick: Bucks -8 | Shop for the Best Odds Below!

Game 1 featured multiple upsets, including the Miami Heat stealing a game in Milwaukee. Following an early injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat shot lights out and the Bucks were unable to rally.

Despite their own loss of Tyler Herro, the Heat shot at ridiculous numbers, which will not continue into Game 2. Miami shot 60% from beyond the arc and 59.5% from the floor. That kind of success isn’t sustainable for a Miami team that lost at home to the Hawks in the play-in tournament and struggled to get past Chicago.

Antetokounmpo missed some time during the regular season and the Bucks didn’t miss a beat. They are going to have a significantly better shooting performance in this game and the Heat’s unsustainable efforts from Game 1 will slow down. It’s simply the law of averages people.

Take the Bucks to cover this spread easily. They will win by 12+.

Timberwolves vs. Nuggets Pick: Nikola Jokic Over 8.5 Assists | -130 at BetMGM

The Denver Nuggets completely flexed on the Timberwolves in Game 1 and we will be seeing more of the same tonight. Denver’s roster outclasses that of Minnesota, particularly with the injuries the Timberwolves have sustained.

The primary threat on the Nuggets, of course, is Nikola Jokic. The Joker had 29 triple-doubles this season, which of course means he had over 10 assists. We’re going to be counting on him getting those assists with this pick from the OddsJam Positive EV page.

As you can see, this bet is heavily favored at other sportsbooks. BetMGM is gifting us -130 odds, which is significantly higher than the average odds. This is one to lock in quickly before the lines move.

Jokic has been so reliable with his assists this season and has earned 10+ in each of the last two games he’s played over 30 minutes in. If the Timberwolves can keep this remotely close, he’ll log more minutes than Game 1 and coast to this assist total.

OddsJam Fantasy Screen Pick: Gabe Vincent Over 10.5 Points | -119 at PrizePicks

Our daily PrizePicks selection is an absolute banger in terms of value. PrizePicks is gifting us this line at -119, while this prop on regular sportsbooks is as high as -172 at FanDuel. This has almost a 60% implied chance to hit!

Vincent logged 15 points in Game 1, but more importantly, 33 minutes. 10.5 points isn’t a ton to ask for, particularly for a player that is logging starting minutes. With the status of Giannis up in the air, there will be opportunities in the mid-range attack for players like Vincent.

The attention that Jimmy Butler drew from Milwaukee’s defense in Game 1 gave Vincent a number of wide-open looks from the corner. While we can’t expect him to replicate his 4-5 shooting performance from beyond the arc, it’s fair to assume he’ll have some good looks in this game as well.

Regardless of analysis, this is an extremely profitable play from the OddsJam Fantasy Screen, so I’ll be adding it to my slip tonight.