{"id":28456,"date":"2026-05-01T20:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/?p=28456"},"modified":"2026-05-01T22:36:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:36:01","slug":"us-basketball-tips-preview-saturday-2-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/05\/us-basketball-tips-preview-saturday-2-may\/","title":{"rendered":"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Saturday 2 May"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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\n \n
\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
\n
Orlando<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Detroit<\/div>\n
Saturday, 11:10am<\/div>\n
Orlando +3.5 ($1.90)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

Orlando weren’t able to complete the comeback on Thursday in a 109-116 loss in Game 5. With the series score now at 3-2, Orlando will be treating Saturday’s contest as a near must-win, being their last home game of the series, but after Paolo Banchero’s nuclear showing in Game 5, they will feel like they have the tools to get it done. The young star finished with 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and gave Orlando some life after trailing 86-99 early in the fourth to bring the score back to 109-112 with one minute to play. Orlando’s defence couldn’t get the crucial stops in the final minute though, seeing the comeback fall short, and they really could have done with Franz Wagner in this contest. Instead, Anthony Black stood up with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals and Desmond Bane had a solid 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. However, the likes of Jalen Suggs, Jamal Cain and Wendell Carter Jr weren’t able to provide much offensively and Cain, Tristan da Silva and Goga Bitadze were particularly disappointing defenisvely.<\/p>\n

It was another Cade Cunningham masterclass that got Detroit the win, with their superstar dropping 45 points and five assist to keep his team’s season alive. Tobias Harris was again reliable with 23 points and eight rebounds, and although Ausar Thompson was again quiet offensively, his defensive contributions certainly impacted the game as he finished with 15 rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks. Jalen Duren was kept relatively quiet again with just 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks and although Duncan Robinson also had just 12 points, his buckets seem to come at important moments when Orlando were starting to threaten. That helped Detroit record their best offensive game of the season when they needed it most, and they will need to produce a similar effort to force a Game 7 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

We are set for a thriller in Orlando in this game six, with a lot on the line for both teams. With Wagner again out for this contest, Orlando is significantly undermanned, but they have shown time and time again that they can go toe-to-toe with the number one seeds. With home court advantage this time around, I am picking them to close the series out as underdogs.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Bet Now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
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\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
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Toronto<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Cleveland<\/div>\n
Saturday, 11:40am<\/div>\n
Toronto +4.5 ($1.87)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

Toronto let themselves down on Thursday, producing a 17-25 fourth quarter to let the game slip away from them and fall to a 2-3 series deficit. Up 102-93 with two minutes to play in the third quarter, Toronto found themselves in a good position to win their third consecutive game and go up in the series, but their offence quickly faded to nothing as Cleveland mounted a 9-29 run to take the lead and ultimately win the game. While it was their offence that struggled late, it was their defence that hurt the most throughout the duration of this game, with just a 123.8 defensive rating as Cleveland got off a tonne of open looks and enjoyed 28 free throw attempts at home. Offensively, RJ Barrett was the star with 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Scottie Barnes came close to a triple double with 17 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and three blocks. Jamal Shead was also a valuable contributor with 18 points, seven assists and two steals, and Ja’Kobe Walter had his best game of the series with 20 points and four steals after Brandon Ingram exited the game with a heel injury.<\/p>\n

Cleveland will be relieved to have won that crucial home game to regain the series lead, but it was far from convincing, as they had to rely on an offensive collapse from Toronto to get the job done. There were certainly some defensive aspects from the hosts that forced Toronto into their tough fourth quarter, but their general lack of defensive cohesion throughout the contest was alarming and continued a theme from Games 3 and 4. Evan Mobley was one of the exceptions as he defended excellently to finish with three blocks and one steal, while also having his best offensive night of the series with 23 points and nine rebounds. James Harden had a few hiccups late as he finished with six turnovers, but led the offence with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. Dennis Schr\u00f6der played a key role off the bench and received fourth-quarter minutes ahead of Donovan Mitchell, as Schr\u00f6der finished with 19 points in just 21 minutes, while Mitchell also had 19 points in his 31 minutes.<\/p>\n

With this series heading back to Toronto for Game 6 on Saturday, I have to side with Darko Rajakovic’s team here. They have managed to make this Cleveland defence look very average, and at home they have been a different team this series. Barnes and Barrett will be the focal points of the offence with Ingram (questionable) unlikely to suit up, and they have proven to be solid options against this Cleveland defence, which has me fancying the hosts.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Bet Now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
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\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n
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Houston<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
Los Angeles Lakers<\/div>\n
Saturday, 1:40pm<\/div>\n
Los Angeles Lakers +3.5 ($1.92)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n

<\/p>\n

Houston extended their season with a 99-93 victory in Los Angeles to bring this series back to life. Now down just 2-3, Houston have Game 6 at home ahead of them, with a chance to force Game 7 and put all of the pressure back on Los Angeles. With Kevin Durant again sidelined, Houston was forced to lean on their defence to pick up the win and they recorded their best defensive performance of the series so far with a 102.2 defensive rating to clamp down this Lakers offence. Houston was able to limit Los Angeles to just a 46.7% eFG%, forcing their opponents into a lot of contested mid-range jumpers, and got 15 turnovers out of the hosts which resulted in 18 points to play a crucial role in the win. Amen Thompson was the key defensive piece with four steals on the night, and although he struggled offensively with just 15 points on 4\/14 shooting, he was crucial in Houston leaving with the win. The same goes for Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn, who had 14 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and one block, while Jabari Smith Jr had 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a tidy showing.<\/p>\n

The Lakers welcome back Austin Reaves from an oblique injury on Thursday, but he looked rusty in his return and struggled to add much value in his 34 minutes of game time. The guard finished with 22 points but shot just 4\/16 from the floor, along with six assists, while LeBron James also had a below-par shooting night, going 9\/20 for 25 points and seven assists. Deandre Ayton had plenty of good spells on his way to 18 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks, but Marcus Smart wasn’t able to leave his mark on the game as he has often done in this series, finishing with just 11 points and no steals or blocks to see the Lakers come up short.<\/p>\n

Durant has already been ruled out for Game 6 but the momentum has turned in Houston’s favour in this series, even with KD sidelined. That sees them go into this game as the favourites but I’m not ready to dismiss the Lakers’ early success in this series. Reaves will be improved in Game 6, and with Ayton finding his feet in this matchup, along with a sharper offensive performance from LeBron, I don’t expect Houston to have the scoring to keep up with the Lakers in this contest. I think we see the series come to an end on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Bet Now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orlando weren’t able to complete the comeback on Thursday in a 109-116 loss in Game 5. With the series score now at 3-2, Orlando will be treating Saturday’s contest as a near must-win, being their last home game of the series, but after Paolo Banchero’s nuclear showing in Game 5, they will feel like they have the tools to get it done. The young star finished with 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and gave Orlando some life after trailing 86-99 early in the fourth to bring the score back to 109-112 with one minute to play. Orlando’s defence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,232],"tags":[576,234],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-28456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-basketball-tips","tag-basketball-tips","tag-nba-tips"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"01\/05\/2026","event_country":"New Zealand"},"yoast_head":"\nUS Basketball Tips & Preview | Saturday 2 May - TAB NZ Punters Lounge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Visit the TAB NZ for our expert US basketball tips, NBA previews for the major matches, NBA best bets & tips today!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tab.co.nz\/punters\/2026\/05\/us-basketball-tips-preview-saturday-2-may\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Basketball Tips & Preview | Saturday 2 May - 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