NBA Playoffs Round 1: Free NBA Picks Today for Sunday, April 16th, 2023

Our free NBA picks are out for Sunday, April 16th, 2023! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free NBA picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!

Los Angeles Lakers @ Memphis Grizzlies – 3pm ET

Tony Battalio

The Los Angeles Lakers come into this series after an underwhelming regular season. It has been the same story for several seasons with Los Angeles. As injuries have hampered them, and they’ve been left lower in the standings, which has led to more early exits in the playoffs. That is something that LeBron James certainly is not used to and for the first time in his career, he will approach a first round playoff series as the underdog on the betting sheets. So it will certainly be an uphill task for the Lakers in this one.

The Memphis Grizzlies come into this series in a great spot, even though they were without Ja Morant for a few weeks at the end of the season. The Grizzlies are the number two seed in the Western Conference and they will have HomeCourt advantage for this massive series against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled the one on the road this season and that could be the key difference in this series and in this game as well. As I expect the Memphis Grizzlies to pick up the victory in game number one with a solid performance by Morant.

Miami Heat @ Milwaukee Bucks – 5:30pm ET

Tony Battalio

The Miami Heat come into this game after winning the last play end game over the Chicago Bulls to advance to the series against the Milwaukee Bucks. They will certainly have their hands full with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Milwaukee roster but if they play their best basketball, they have a legitimate opportunity to win the series in my opinion. Miami finish the season seven games about 500 but much like the rest of the eastern conference playoff teams. They struggle to win away from home.

The Milwaukee Bucks coming to the series has the number one seed in the Eastern conference, and the number one team in the entire league. As long as they can remain healthy, they will make a deep playoff run this season. Unfortunately for Milwaukee that was their undoing last season as injuries caught up to them and they were defeated early on in the postseason. However, it is a new year and they have been a tough team to beat at home this season. I expect them to get a victory here in game number one of the series over the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon.

Los Angeles Clippers @ Phoenix Suns – 8pm ET

Tony Battalio

The Los Angeles Clippers are coming into this series, facing the tall task of defending Devin Booker, Deandre, Ayton, and Kevin Durant. It is fair to say that the Phoenix Suns might be the favorite to win the NBA championship at the moment, and Los Angeles drew the hardest first round matchup possible. The Clippers have superstars of their own however, such as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard and they are very capable of carrying a team to a deep playoff run. Los Angeles will still have to play the best basketball if they wanna come out with the win in this game against Phoenix.

Phoenix Suns are healthy and ready to go for this first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers. As long as their big three remain healthy it’s hard to envision anybody in the league beating them this season. As Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton make up the best big three in the entire league. With Chris Paul running the show at point guard and makes the team that much better. I look for them all to have a solid performance in the first game of the series against the Los Angeles clippers at home as I have Phoenix grabbing the victory in game number one.

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Denver Nuggets – 10:30pm ET

Tony Battalio

The Minnesota Timberwolves come into the series after winning their play-in game to clinch the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Anthony Edwards is playing at a high-level, and they will be looking to get a huge victory in game number one of this series against the Denver Nuggets. As long as Karl-Anthony Towns and Edwards remain healthy, Minnesota has a legitimate shot to knock off the Denver Nuggets here in the first round. However, they will still have to play their best basketball of the season.

The Denver Nuggets had an incredible regular season, and as long as their two time consecutive MVP winner, Nikola Jokić remains healthy they are a legitimate threat to win the NBA title. They finished as the second best team in the league behind the Milwaukee Bucks of the Eastern conference, and won over games this season. This should be a close and competitive match up throughout the duration of this series as long as Minnesota shows up and plays their best basketball this season. However, I still expect the Denver Nuggets to grab the victory in game number one.

If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NBA hub page for all your baseball needs!

*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.