The conference round of the NBA Playoffs officially begins with one standalone matchup on Tuesday night, as Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Timberwolves and Thunder takes center stage at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Our staff of basketball betting experts dug into the latest odds and identified 4 NBA picks for tonight's contest. Continue below for our NBA best bets and predictions for Tuesday, May 20.
NBA Playoffs Best Bets, Picks, Predictions: Tuesday, May 20
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 8:30 p.m. | |
| 8:30 p.m. | |
| 8:30 p.m. | |
| 8:30 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NBA Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Timberwolves vs. Thunder
By Joe Dellera
The Wolves face off against the Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and I’m targeting Anthony Edwards in tonight's contest.
Ant has been awesome during the playoffs and is contributing as more than just a scoring threat. He’s averaging 13.9 RA per game and has been a major factor as a facilitator and as a rebounder.
I fully expect OKC to blitz Edwards and send plenty of doubles his way to force anyone but him to beat them.
This is something they’ve consistently done and he’s struggled against them as a scorer with just one 30-point game in 16 games against them since 2022.
On the flip side, he’s hit this RA line of 11.5 in three straight against OKC, and both his rebounds and assists have clearly seen a spike.
Given his head-to-head play and how he’s performed in the playoffs, I’ll back Ant to stuff the stat sheet in a well rounded effort in Game 1.
Pick: Anthony Edwards Over 11.5 Rebounds + Assists (-110)
| | | |
Timberwolves vs. Thunder
Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams ranked second on his team in assists during the regular season, averaging 5.1. As a result, it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see his assists prop hovering around 4.5 per game.
However, Williams has upped his assists average during the playoffs to 5.7, and yet surprisingly, bookmakers appear somewhat hesitant to adjust his prop line.
What’s interesting about Williams’ stat line is that he's also averaging an additional 2.5 minutes per game in the playoffs (35.0) compared to the regular season (32.4).
Since it’s almost expected that teams operate with shorter rotations during the postseason, we’re getting tremendous value on Williams to go over his projection.
He has covered this line in 10 of his last 12 games and his previous four head-to-head meetings against the Timberwolves.
If we look at his season-long numbers, he has exceeded 4.5 assists in 62% (50 of 81) of his games. Based on those numbers, we should expect odds closer to -150, but we’re getting -130.
Pick: Jalen Williams Over 4.5 Assists (-130)
| | | |
Timberwolves vs. Thunder
Played this same old boring prop in Game 7 against Denver, and even in a blowout, it smashed.
Now we're back, even against the Wolves.
Williams has gone over 9.5 RA in eight of 11 in the playoffs. His misses have been one nine and two eights.
It's a high floor prop that also cashed in three of four against Minnesota this regular season, and generally, it's my go-to in these playoffs, where books obviously will continue to get sharper each passing day.
Pick: Jalen Williams Over 9.5 Rebounds + Assists (-135)
| | | |
Timberwolves vs. Thunder
There has been one clear betting pattern throughout these NBA playoffs: the Thunder take late market movement pretty much every game.
