NBA
New Orleans Pelicans @ Oklahoma City Thunder:
New Orleans Pelicans (+ 8.5) /// 1.85
Last bet lost. Philadelphia lost the clutch, but the chances were even and the 76ers' 15-2 run over the course of the 3rd quarter confirms that the Knicks aren't flawless. We'll see how Joel Embiid feels before Game 2 and maybe De'Anthony Melton will return to the roster. So we'll see what the
odds the bookies put up for Game 2, and if they're the same as before Game 1, I'll bet on Philly again. Josh Hart, Bojan and McBride have been too successful for the Knicks. All of them have hit a lot of three point shots at 50% realization or more. Especially Josh Hart was very good in the clutch. He was the reason why the Knicks beat Philadelphia. But he's not a shooter, and never has been. It's a hustle. It happens sometimes. My betting scores are NBA 78-83 in favor of unsuccessful, MLB 31-31 tie, NHL 2-3 in favor of unsuccessful, NFL+NCAAF 3-8 in favor of unsuccessful.
New bet: New Orleans on the road will not lose to Oklahoma by 9 points or more. This is the first Playoffs for Chet Holmgren, this is Shai's third Playoffs, but the first two were early in his career, so he's already 3 seasons out of that postseason atmosphere. My point is that experience plays a key role in the Playoffs. The same Kyle Lowry in Philly played a great game against the Knicks, even though he was a frankly weak player in the regular season. So my point is that New Orleans has a player who has great experience in the Playoffs and he really can be the MVP of this series. I'm talking about CJ McCollum, of course! This season, he is shooting the best % of three-point shots of his career. That's incredible 42.9%! Brandon Ingram is ready for the big time and we saw that in the game against Kings. And the great young players Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones create a great opportunity for New Orleans to compete with Oklahoma even without Zion. And especially since New Orleans hasn't lost by more than 8 points against the Thunder in 3 games out of 4 this season. I'll even say more: in the last 10 games against each other, Oklahoma has been able to beat the Pelicans by more than 8 points only 2 times. You want to bet? Sure!

