Expert Basketball Picks and Previews

San Antonio is back at Frost Bank Center on Tuesday night for Game 2, holding a 1-0 series lead after a 111-98 win in the opener. Tipoff is set for 8:00 PM ET on NBC, and the spot is pretty clear from a betting angle. Portland needs a better offensive night to keep this series from tilting early, while the

Game 2 of this Western Conference first-round series heads back to Crypto.com Arena with a lot more pressure on Houston than the seed lines suggested a few days ago. The Rockets finished 52-30, the Lakers went 53-29, and Los Angeles now owns the early 1-0 edge after a 107-98 win in the opener. Tuesday’s tip is set for 10:30 PM

Kevin Durant takes spotlight as Rockets try to even series with Lakers All eyes will be on the great Kevin Durant when his visiting Houston Rockets seek to square the ledger against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of their best-of-seven playoff series Tuesday. Durant was unable to play Saturday’s first-round series opener after accidentally bumping knees with a

Celtics seek repeat of dominant opener in Game 2 vs. Sixers The Boston Celtics will strive to build on a dominant playoff-opening rout of Philadelphia when they host the 76ers for Game 2 on Tuesday. The Celtics, the Eastern Conference’s second seed, pounced on Philadelphia in Sunday’s Game 1 matchup behind the star tandem of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

Game 2 of this Eastern Conference first-round series stays in Cleveland on Monday night, with tipoff set for 7:00 PM at Rocket Arena and the Cavaliers trying to turn their 1-0 series lead into real control before the matchup shifts north. Cleveland took the opener 126-113, and it looked like the cleaner, steadier team once the game settled in. Toronto

Game 2 in this Eastern Conference first-round series stays at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, with tipoff set for 8:00 PM and the Knicks trying to build on their 1-0 series lead after a 113-102 win in the opener. Atlanta enters off a 46-36 regular season that was better than it looked at midyear, while New York finished 53-29

Game 2 shifts right back to Ball Arena on Monday night, with tip-off set for 10:30 PM ET and Denver trying to push this first-round series to 2-0 after a 116-105 win in the opener. Minnesota comes in at 49-33 after finishing sixth in the West, while Denver closed the regular season 54-28 and held serve in Game 1 behind

Cavs guard duo out for even more in Game 2 vs. Raptors The Cleveland Cavaliers’ starting backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden lived up to the hype in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round series against the Toronto Raptors. Mitchell scored 32 points in 31 minutes, and Harden dissected the defense for 22 points and 10 assists,

Fresh off play-in win, Suns take on top-seeded Thunder The Phoenix Suns come into their first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with some momentum after knocking off the Golden State Warriors in the play-in finale Friday to earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The Thunder haven’t played in a week heading into Sunday’s Game 1 of