New York Knicks v Cleveland Cavaliers
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Good afternoon sports fans, it's Chris Bengel back with you on this Wednesday.

I don't think anyone expected the Phillies' offense to slug five home runs on Monday night. Whether or not Lance McCullers Jr. was tipping his pitches, the Phillies lineup absolutely teed off on the right-hander and took a 2-1 lead in the World Series. And worse for the Astros is that they have two more games in Philadelphia. That's a monumental advantage for the Phillies.

OK, let's dive into the picks -- one of which revolves around those Phillies.

All times Eastern, and all odds via Caesars Sportsbook


🔥 The Hot Ticket

Celtics at Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. | TV: ESPN

  • Key Trend: The Cavaliers are 5-0 ATS in their last five games
  • The Pick: Cavaliers +2.0 (-110)

When the Cavaliers made the move to acquire star guard Donovan Mitchell from the Jazz in the offseason, it was clear that this was a team that could make some serious noise in the Eastern Conference. That's certainly proven to be the case and it's why I'm siding with the Cavaliers at home against the Celtics.

We already know that the Cavaliers can win this game outright. They did just that on Friday when they defeated the Celtics, 132-123, in overtime thanks to a 41-point outing from Caris LeVert. One of the reasons that Cleveland has been so dangerous out of the gate is due to its prolific three-point shooting. The Cavaliers currently lead the NBA shooting 42.7 percent from beyond the arc. Mitchell, LeVert and Kevin Love all are shooting at least 45.5 percent from long range. Meanwhile, the Celtics' perimeter defense has been lackluster so far. Boston is allowing its opponents to shoot 37.9 percent from three, which is good for 24th in the NBA.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown carry the bulk of Boston's scoring load, but there's quite a drop-off after that. The Celtics are averaging 116.7 points-per-game, which is good for 12th in the league. I just think that Boston is going to need to get more than it's currently getting out of Malcolm Brogdon (13.3 PPG) if they want to make a return trip to the NBA Finals. The Celtics turn the basketball over 13.2 times per game, which is the eighth-most in the NBA. The Cavaliers are on fire right now as they're riding a five-game winning streak. I'll take the underdogs at home.


💰 The Picks

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Hawks at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. | TV: NBA.TV

The Pick: Over 233.5 (-110)-- The Hawks and Knicks are two of the league's higher scoring teams through the early portion of the 2022-23 season. That's why I'm OK with taking the over despite it being quite a large number.

The over is 5-0 in the Hawks' last five contests and 5-1 in the Knicks' last six games. The Hawks are coming off a 139-109 loss at the hands of the Raptors, which is very significant. Atlanta allows 116.9 points-per-game on the season, which is 22nd in the NBA. This is also a team that shoots 36.0 percent from three and the addition of Dejounte Murray certainly helps ball movement even more for the Hawks.

On the other hand, New York currently is averaging 117.8 points-per-game on the season, which is tied for fifth in the league with Dallas. Much like the Hawks, the team added a stellar point guard in the form of Jalen Brunson and it's paid dividends in a big way.  It's definitely daunting when the over/under rises above 230 points, but these two teams are more than capable of reaching that level in this spot.

Key Trend: The over is 5-0 in the Hawks' last five games

Astros at Phillies, 8:03 p.m. | TV: FOX
The Pick: Aaron Nola Over 5.5 Strikeouts (-164)
-- It's been a rough past two starts for Aaron Nola in the 2022 postseason, to say the least. He has surrendered 11 earned runs in hi last two starts against the Padres and Astros. Still, despite those struggles, I'm very confident in his strikeout prop on Wednesday.

When Nola struggles, he still usually manages to hover around five to six strikeouts. In fact, Nola has registered at least strikeouts in three of his four starts during the 2022 postseason. Additionally, Nola has recorded at least six strikeouts in seven of his last eight starts dating back to the regular season. While Nola struggled against the Astros in Game 1, he did dominate them in a regular season start in September to the tune of nine strikeouts across six innings in a 3-0 Phillies' win, which clinched Philadelphia's ticket to the postseason.

Key Trend: Nola has recorded at least six strikeouts in three of his four postseason starts