Free NBA Eastern Conference Picks, Best Bets, and Parlays for 4/16/22

Today the first round of the NBA playoffs gets underway with 4 games on the schedule. There will be three games in the Western conference and Toronto-Philadelphia in the East.

We broke even on our Best Bet last night as the Hawks covered the spread and eliminated Cleveland, but the Pelicans upset the Los Angeles ending another disappointing year for the Clippers. That improved our Best Bet of the Day record to 73-34 in 2022.

We went 1-1 betting the MoneyLine our overall record is 435-218.

Let’s dive into the Toronto-Philadelphia and see what we can find worthwhile to bet.

*PAPA DUDES BEST BET* #5 Toronto at #4 Philadelphia: The Raptors invade Philly and hope to steal game 1 away from the hometown 76ers. They finished the regular season on a 14-6 run and are capable of pulling off an upset. They beat Philadelphia in 3 out of their 4 regular season meetings and are a confident bunch. Pascal Siakam and Fred Van Vleet lead the team in scoring. Meanwhile the Sixers are counting heavily on Joel Embiid to continue his MVP caliber of play. He is averaging 30.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, but he is going to have to rely on other players such as James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris to compliment him, and keep Toronto from double-teaming the 7-footer. Somewhere along the line the Raptors are going to have to win a game in Philadelphia. I don’t think it’s this one. PAPA DUDES BEST BET: 76ers -4