Today’s top games to watch, best bets: Thunder and Pacers open NBA Finals; Yankees eye series win and more

Basketball fans, rejoice. In 2025 Nba The finals release from Thursday night in Oklahoma City with two new franchises in the largest phase. The Western Conference Champion, Oklahoma City Thunder, has not been in the finals since the 2012 season. Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference Champion, Indiana Pacers, has been in the final for the first time since 2000. Party 1 of the seven -year series is expected to be proposed at 8:30 pm.

Directed by the MVP League Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the thunder was dominant in the regular season, surpassing teams by 12.9 points per game, a NBA record. During the regular and post-season season, 80-18 have passed. As a result, they are the overwhelming favorites to win the series and are the 9.5 points favorites in match 1, for Fanduel sports book. We will share our best bets on this game and the other action on Thursday.

We begin our snapshot to see and bet tonight on hard wood. …

Final NBA GAME 1: PACERS AT THUNDER

• Sportsline Model Pick Less than 230 (-108, Draftkings)
• Sportsline Expert Pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of more than 6.5 total assists (Mike Barner, 176-121 In the last 297 PlayS NBA Player App).

Sportsline’s projection model is projecting 223 points to match 1 and says that less than 230 reaches 62.5% of the time. This causes it to be less than 230 to -110 value, but the audience continues to bet on it. According to Sportsline data, 92% has passed. Barner, meanwhile, states that Gilgeous-Alexander has at least seven assists in eight of his last 12 playoff games.

MLB Best Bets, Games to see Thursday

Mets to Dodgers, 16:10 ET (MLB network)

On Wednesday night, the Mets won two ridges at home and five RBI by Pete Alonso and 6.0 tickets without score from the Griffin Canning Starter for a 6-1 victory over the Dodgers. New York has won two of the first three games in the series entering the end of the Thursday series. The Mets (39-23) now have the second best record for all basketball, only behind the tigers (41-22). However, Los Angeles crushed the left layers all season, with a .786 Ops against Southpaws (second best for seniors), and on Thursday the Dodgers face David Peterson (4-2, 2.69 was). Sportsline’s projection model also likes Alonso to stay warm. He has won seven points in his last 10 games, with an average of 2.3 total bases per game.

Guardians in Yankees, 19:05 ET (MLB Network)

The Yankees and the tutors play the rubber game of their three -game series when the clubs collide at the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. New York won the first game of the series on Tuesday 3-2; Cleveland responded on Wednesday with a 4-0 victory. On Thursday, Yankees Lefty Max Fried (7-1, 1.92) will try to become the third winner of eight games in the elderly, but Sportsline’s projection model likes guardians to keep this game unique. Cleveland covers the propagation of 1.5 Run 61.0% of the time, which is a substantial value on the implicit probability of 47.8%. The model also has a game of 5 star in Chisholm that exceeds 0.5 total bases. He has passed his total basic market in each of his last five games, with an average of 2.0 total bases per game.

MLB’s best gambling

WNBA Best Bets, Games to see Thursday

Valkyries at Mercury, 22:00 et (Amazon Prime Video)

• Pick Expert CBS: Valkyries +6 (Max Meyer)
• Selection of CBS expert players: Kayla Thornton More than 16.5 points and rebounds (Meyer)

Alyssa Thomas, Mercury All-Star’s front, remains with a calf injury, and his return is still uncertain. But it is not the only reason that Max Meyer of CBS Sports likes Valkyries to cover as 6 -point subdogs. He points out that the expansion Valkyries have played two of the best teams in the league, Liberty and Lynx, hard. Golden State has also been exploited only twice this season. “They make an effort to the Cup, they play the defense of the area more than any other team and they love to take three leaders,” says Meyer. Is also taking thorntton more than 16.5 points and bouncesHighlighting that Phoenix has the third lowest bounce percentage (46.9) of lost shots in the WNBA, a number that could be even worse with Thomas.

More WNBA Best Bets

• Valkyries first half +3 (Meyer)

Looking forward

End of the Stanley Cup 2: Panthers in Oilers (Friday at 8pm)

The Oilers won a 1-0 in the Stanley Cup finals with an extraordinary 4-3 victory on Wednesday. Leon Draisaitl scored a game goal with less than a minute to compete with Edmonton’s comeback of a 3-2 deficit. But the game may have been an anomaly. The panthers had won 31 consecutive playoff games under coach Paul Maurice when he kept at the helm at an intermission break until Wednesday. Sportsline’s projection model likes Florida even in the series on Friday.

French Open: The semifinals continue

• Sportsline Expert Pick Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner of more than 35.5 games (Jose Onorato)

Djokovic reached its 51st Grand Slam semi -final eliminating Alexander Zverev in four sets on Wednesday. This party included an incredible manifestation of 41 shots, which Djokovic finally won. Now leads his attention to seed number 1, sinner and Onorato is waiting for a tight match. The two have divided their eight race meetings, 4-4. “Sinner has been impeccable through the draw, without dropping a set and expanding his great victory to 19 games,” he says. “Meanwhile, Djokovic is reaching the right time, winning a four -set victory over Zverev and showing vintage flashes.”