The 2024 NBA postseason is well underway, and the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will provide daily picks for the duration of the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Finals.
Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
I'm going to keep picking Luka Doncic unders until he shows me that he's healthy. He scored 16 points in the first quarter of Game 2 and 13 the rest of the way. Oklahoma City frequently threw doubles at him, hoping to force his teammates to beat him from deep. The Thunder did so in Game 2, as P.J. Washington and Josh Green combined to make 10 of their 16 attempts. That's not sustainable, and OKC isn't the sort of team to get scared off of a strategy because of small-sample weirdness. I'm expecting Doncic, who is questionable with both knee and ankle injuries but is expected to play Saturday, to continue as more of a passer in this series. The Pick: Doncic Under 30.5 Points
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics
Jrue Holiday has scored 12 or more points in only one of his seven playoff games this season. His career field goal percentage dips nearly five percentage points between the regular season and postseason, and he experiences a similar though slightly smaller 3-point decline. In Milwaukee, the Bucks demanded such volume out of him that you could generally expect decent scoring outputs. In Boston, he's only averaging 8.7 field goal attempts per game this postseason. With the Bucks? He averaged 17.7. Throw in the demands of guarding Donovan Mitchell, and Holiday unders look like the play here. The Pick: Holiday Under 11.5 Points
