May 6 NBA Playoffs Betting Preview & Picks: Heat vs. 76ers & Suns vs. Mavericks

Two Game 3’s are happening on Friday evening, as two teams look to either take a commanding 3-0 series lead or get back into the series.

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Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers

The Spread: Heat (-3)

The Philadelphia 76ers will likely be missing Joel Embiid yet again, as he’s currently dealing with an orbital fracture and a concussion, and a torn ligament in his right thumb.

With Embiid out, the Sixers will need to rely heavily on James Harden and Tyrese Maxey to pick up the scoring load.

Maxey went off for 34 points on 12-of-22 shooting, so he did his job. Harden, however, had just 20 points in 6-of-15 shooting. Harden racked up nine assists as well, but he failed to get any of his teammates going outside of Maxey and Tobias Harris.

Harris dropped in 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go along with four rebounds, four assists, and four steals. 

Jimmy Butler carried the Miami Heat with 22 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, and two steals. 

Bam Adebayo provided 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block.

Victor Oladipo came off the bench to score 19 points. Tyler Herro added 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

The Pick:

With the Sixers without Embiid again, the Heat should be able to take care of business with ease and cover the spread to go up 3-0 in the series. The only way the Sixers have a shot is if the old version of Harden shows up.

Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks

The Spread: Even

The Phoenix Suns came out and took care of business in Game 2, as they got a great performance from their superstar backcourt.

Devin Booker went off for 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Chris Paul added 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with eight assists and six rebounds.

Jae Crowder provided 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Mikal Bridges chipped in 11 points and six assists.

The Dallas Mavericks got blown out in Game 2, but it wasn’t because of the play of Luka Doncic, who went off for 35 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. As Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said, everyone else needs to show up alongside him, as Doncic had 45 points in their Game 1 loss.

Jalen Brunson has struggled to bring the best version of himself early on in this series, as he had just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting in Game 2.

The Pick:

The Mavs will have to make adjustments, as this is no longer the Utah Jazz they’re facing off of, who had no wing defenders to speak of. With the Mavs being home, though, perhaps Brunson can get going, and Spencer Dinwiddie and the other Mavs’ role players to get themselves back into the series.