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Friday’s Best MLB, NBA & NHL Bets (5/12)

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No matter your sport of choice, there's always sports betting action to be had. We'll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are all of our best bets across each major sport in action today.

Today's Best Bets

Here are today's best bets.

MLB Best Bets

St. Louis Cardinals (-112) vs. Boston Red Sox (-104) | O/U 10.5 (-108/-112)

This is a rare game in the second week of May between two veteran pitchers who have made one start between them. James Paxton makes his Boston Red Sox debut (and first start since 2021) as he spent all last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright's first start of the season against the Detroit Tigers was a bit of a "good news, bad news" scenario. Wainwright cruised through the first four innings, allowing zero earned runs and just two singles. However, he eventually was tagged for eight hits and four earned runs in five innings (he appeared in the sixth but did not retire either of the two batters faced). With so much unknown surrounding Paxton and how he will fare against the Cardinals, we focus our wager on Wainwright, given that there is more information to go off of with him.

Wainwright faces a Boston Red Sox lineup that leads the majors in batting average (.297), wOBA (.369), and OPS (.851) in home games and is fourth in wRC+. Wainwright has allowed at least one hit per inning in four of the last six seasons. And given that the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen ranks in the bottom half of the league in ERA and has pitched the fifth-most innings of any NL team, Wainwright may be left to eat more innings than usual, especially with two more games to play in a ballpark that typically produces high-scoring games.

Pick: Red Sox Team Total Over 5 (+100)

-Mike Spector

Check out our other MLB Odds, Picks & Predictions:

NBA Playoffs Best Bets

New York Knicks at Miami Heat (-5.5)| O/U 208.5 (-110/-110)

The Knicks were able to stave off elimination with a win in the Garden. They must do it again in South Beach to force a Game 7.

They dominated in so many key spots in the last game - they took double the number of free throws, finished +16 in rebounds, and scored 29 points off of turnovers. New York has to play better than Miami on both ends of the court, in the paint and on the perimeter if they want to win this game.

Thibs made a bold move and played Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes from tip-off to the final buzzer, and you have to wonder how fresh they'll feel having to play 48 hours later.

Miami hasn't played many bad games in these playoffs, but they did things in Game 5 they hadn't done. The Knicks were able to contain Jimmy Butler as he scored a playoff-low of 19 points, and it was the first time he didn't attempt a three. New York has to continue to get physical with Butler when he drives the lane and not let him get to the basket untouched.

The Knicks did a great job at extending this series, but the Heat are 4-0 in Miami during the playoffs, and they put it all out on the court in that last game. The Heat will clean up the mistakes from Game 5 and close it out.

Pick: Heat -5.5 (-110)

-John Supowitz

Check out our other NBA Playoffs Best Bets:

NHL Playoffs Best Bets

Florida Panthers (+145) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (-170) | O/U 6.5 (-125/+105)

The Toronto Maple Leafs return home for Game 5 against the Florida Panthers. After avoiding the sweep in Florida, the Leafs continue to hang on for dear life against a Panthers team that is currently firing on all cylinders.

Florida leans heavily on its powerhouse offense, scoring three or more goals in six of its past seven games this postseason. This trend should not be surprising, given the Panthers' hyper-aggressive offensive play and desire to go south-to-north as quickly as possible.

At 5-on-5 in the regular season, Florida finished first in the league in expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60). Featuring three 30+ goal scorers and a roster full of offensive-minded players both in the forward and defensive group, the Panthers receive plenty of scoring help no matter who is on the ice.

Meanwhile, Toronto's blue line has been questionable, allowing three or more goals in six of its past eight playoff games. While the defense is deep, it features six guys who are solid but not spectacular on the back end.

The Leafs attempted to bolster this blue line with the acquisitions of Luke Schenn and Jake McCabe at the trade deadline, but the results have not been there. Since the Christmas break, Toronto ranks in the bottom half of the league in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) at 5-on-5.

Backing up this fade-worthy defense is goaltender Joseph Woll, who is thrust into a tough spot due to the injury to Ilya Samsonov. Through three appearances in the crease this postseason, Woll possesses a mere .902 SV%.

Best Bet: Panthers Team Total Over 2.5 (-155)

-Tony Sartori

Check out our other NHL Playoffs Best Bets:


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