NBA Picks, Best Bets for Lakers-Warriors and Heat-Knicks: Defending Champions Survival; More hits than MSG

Now that we are in the midst of NBA Playoffs, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will provide daily picks throughout the postseason. Sam Quinn will be picking at least one for each game between now and then NBA finals. All lines courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.

Featured game | New York Knicks vs Miami Heat

We picked Game Four, and while it’s barely registered as a victory, the logic behind that pick still stands. There is simply too much offensive payoff too low for these teams to continue to struggle scoring that much. Somehow the second highest scoring game in this series did not involve either team making a third of their 3-point attempts. The Knicks are still shooting 24.8% on open 3-pointers for the series, and they’re down to 32.3% on wide-open 3-pointers. The Knicks won’t launch from deep, but we should expect better shooting in Game 5, which should lead to another end. The criterion: more than 209.5

Featured game | Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers were in this exact situation last round. They won Game 1 in Memphis, relaxed Game 2, took care of business in Games 3 and 4, and with a chance to grab an easy series victory in Game 5, folded in the second half and allowed the Grizzlies to push the series for Game 6. This was the direction of this team. They only play their best basketball when they absolutely need to. They didn’t do that in Game 5, so they’re properly favoring the Warriors. The Pick: Warriors -6.5