Backing the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets to win is the backbone of this +306 NBA parlay.
The pregame narrative: Denver hasn't lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in over a calendar year and can take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series tonight. In Philadelphia, I expect Joel Embiid to get the Sixers back in the series.
Check out the full NBA parlay picks for April 25.
NBA parlay picks
Parlay: Nuggets moneyline + 76ers moneyline + Embiid over 29.5 points (+305)
Nuggets moneyline (-110): If the Lakers couldn't win Game 2, I have a hard time imagining them winning any game this series.
Los Angeles led by as many as 20 points on Monday before unravelling down the stretch and losing on a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater. The Nuggets shot 8-of-34 from deep (23.5%) while the Lakers shot 13-of-30 (43.3%) but none of that mattered.
Denver has now beaten L.A. in 10 straight games dating back to the midway point of last season and six of those wins have been by 10-plus points.
The team has no answer for Nikola Jokic and Murray has now woken up, too. That duo should do its part to break the Lakers' will early on.
Other parlay picks
76ers moneyline (-220): Philly had an all-time collapse at Madison Square Garden on Monday, giving up eight unanswered points in the final 45 seconds to lose by three.
But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
I expect the Sixers to rebound at home on Thursday night. The team went 19-5 with Embiid at Wells Fargo Center this season. It averaged 121.5 points per game and had a +10.9 net rating, per StatMuse.
New York's key to success in this series has been to keep the scoring and pace low but I don't think that will last forever.
Embiid should get a friendlier whistle at Wells Fargo Center and his supporting cast is due to have a larger impact. Tobias Harris and Kelly Oubre Jr. combined to average 32.6 points per game this season and they've put up just 31 cumulative points this series.
Embiid over 29.5 points (-167): Depth scoring would be nice but make no mistake, Embiid is still the most important man on the court.
The reigning MVP and scoring champion averaged 35.7 points in 24 home games this season. He scored 30-plus points in 19 of those games, including once against the Knicks.
Embiid hasn't been at his best this series — he's shooting just 39.2% from the field — but he still cleared this mark in Game 2 and landed on 29 points in Game 1.
He's averaging the most free throw attempts/game this postseason (12.0) and some positive regression in the shooting department should arrive.
Picks made at 9:51 p.m. on 04/25/24.