NBA Playoffs Round 1: Free NBA Picks Today for Thursday, April 20th, 2023

Our free NBA picks are out for Thursday, April 20th, 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!

Philadelphia 76ers @ Brooklyn Nets – 7:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

The Philadelphia 76ers have looked absolutely unstoppable throughout the first two games of their series against the Brooklyn Nets. Now the series heads to Brooklyn with Philadelphia looking to grab their third consecutive victory of the series and put Brooklyn on the brink of elimination heading into their second game at home. With the way Embiid and Harden have been playing throughout the first two games of this series. I can’t see the momentum changing much despite the change in scenery. As Philadelphia looks almost unbeatable at the moment, and almost guaranteed to advance past the first round.

The Brooklyn Nets have a lot of questions they still need to answer heading into game number three of the series against the Philadelphia 76ers. They have yet to figure out how to stop Joel Embiid, and it has led to them losing the first two games in the series on the road in Philadelphia. Brooklyn will have to play a lot better if they want to regroup and get a victory here in game number three or game number four while they are in friendly confines at home. However, I just don’t see that happening as I think Philadelphia picks up their third victory of the series here in this one.

Sacramento Kings @ Golden State Warriors – 10PM ET

Tony Battalio

The Sacramento Kings have looked incredible throughout the first two games of the series at home against the defending NBA champions. However, it might be fair to say that the real test starts now is Golden State has been absolutely horrid on the road this season, but almost unbeatable at home this season as well. Sacramento is still a young and inexperienced team when it comes to playoff environments and you won’t find a much better playoff environment than at the Chase Center over these next two games. So it’ll be interesting to see if Sacramento can still step up to the task and grab a third and potentially fourth victory over the Golden State Warriors on the road over the next four days.

Golden State will be looking to rebound after two very competitive losses during the first two games of the series in Sacramento. They will not have Draymond Green for game number three after he stomped on Domantas Sabonis’ chest towards the end of game number two the other night. The absence of Draymond Green could play a huge role in the way the Warriors perform this one as he is a key part of this roster. However, guys like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are still very capable of dropping 30+ points on you any night and it doesn’t make this Warriors team any less dangerous. That is why I think Golden State will pick up their first victory of the series here on Thursday evening.

Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Clippers – 10:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

The Phoenix Suns come into this game after bouncing back in the game, number two of the series and grabbing the victory. It was a must win game for Phoenix as they avoided going down two games to zero before heading back to Los Angeles for games three and four. Now they will be looking to grab their second consecutive victory of the series against the Los Angeles Clippers here on Thursday evening. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker will have to continue to play well throughout game three if the Suns want to grab another much-needed victory and give the selves the opportunity to take both games in Los Angeles.

Despite not having Paul George in the lineup, the Los Angeles Clippers have looked surprisingly competitive against the Phoenix Suns throughout the first two games of the series. Kawhi Leonard has been absolutely electric, but eventually he will have to rely on someone’s help to continue to play as well as he has. He has scored over 30 points in the first two games of a series, and while he might be able to keep it up for the next two, I don’t see it becoming something that can be consistently done throughout a full seven game series against Phoenix. That is why I think Phoenix gets the victory here in game number three against the Los Angeles Clippers

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