NBA Playoff Picks: Rockets vs Lakers & Spurs vs Blazers Best Bets

The Knicks got wrapped up in emotion-fueled, lockdown defense in a testy playoff environment and wound up blowing Game 2 on Monday.

While that series and the Nuggets-Wolves in the West are even at 1-1, a few teams with designs on doing the same take the court Tuesday night.

The Rockets are hoping leading scorer Kevin Durant is in the lineup against the Lakers, who used vintage LeBron James to take Game 1, 107-98 on Saturday.

Rockets (-4.5) at Lakers, 10:30 p.m. ET

No sympathy cards were sent from the Lakers when Durant (knee) was scratched for Game 1. Los Angeles is playing without MVP candidate and NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reeves (oblique), but James did more than his part to bag the opening game of the series on Saturday. He had 19 points and 13 assists.

Without Durant, Houston had 27 more shot attempts than the Lakers. But efficiency and consistency expected of Durant were sorely lacking. The Rockets shot 37.6% from the field, 33.3% from 3-point range and 68% from the free-throw line.

Durant is a multiplier in the playoffs because of his ability to function and force decisions from the defense in half-court sets. The Rockets are more than willing to roll the dice that Luke Kennard, who produced a playoff career-high 27 points and went 5-of-5 from 3-point range Saturday, won’t produce a similar encore effort.

Our pick: Rockets (-4.5, -114 at FanDuel), over 206.5 total points (-114)

Portland Trail Blazers at San Antonio Spurs (-11.5), 8 p.m. ET

We plan to continue the suggestion these playoffs will morph into one massive Victor Wembanyama celebration/coming-out party and Game 1 underscored most of our thesis.

The Blazers have no answer for Wemby (who does?!) on either end of the floor. When the supporting cast of the Spurs brings juice, the delta between San Antonio and Portland grows exponentially. Wembanyama had 35 in Game 1.

But he was scoreless in the third quarter, and when a two-point lead ballooned to a 21-point edge two minutes into the final period, it was all about the co-stars. Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox scored 17 points apiece for San Antonio and Devin Vassell scored 15.

San Antonio naturally forces teams to the perimeter with size and shot-blocking ability. The Blazers were only a hair better than 25 percent on their 38 tries from 3-point range in Game 1. Without a lights-out night from deep, this series continues to trend toward a sweep.

Our pick: Spurs alternate spread (-9.5, -154 at FanDuel) plus Wembanyama double-double (-200) and Jrue Holiday 6+ assists (-115), +298 parlayed at FanDuel