Today's picks: Why the Celtics will cover against the Nets, plus more NBA, MLB and soccer for Monday, April 25

Jonathan Coachman is joined by expert sports bettors John Bollman, Zack Cimini and Alex Selesnick on The Early Edge podcast. They give you their best bets for the NBA, Major League Baseball and soccer for Monday, April 25.

Coach starts things off with three SportsLine Plays of the Day. The first is in the NBA: The Mavericks (-2.5) to cover against the Jazz in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series (9:30 p.m. ET). "They are 7-1 against the spread against Utah this season," he says. "Utah has played with zero passion, zero heart, zero effort. And tonight, with Luka back, the Mavs cover."

The second SportsLine Play of the Day is the Nets (-0.5) in the first half against the Celtics in Game 4 of their series (7 p.m. ET). "They have to come out fast, they have to come out with a lot of passion. And they will tonight," Coach says of the Nets. "They average 62 points a game in the first half in their last five games."

The final SportsLine Play of the Day, courtesy of Jon "Buckets" Eimer, is in soccer: Both teams to score (-150) in the Serie A match between Juventus and Sussuolo (2:45 p.m. ET). "Sassuolo, 58 goals in their last 33 matches," he says. "Juventus, they're playing for a top-four spot in their league. What comes with that? A Champions League spot. That's high, high, high motivation."

Cimini is up next with an NBA play. He likes the Celtics (+1.5) to cover against the Nets. "This series is essentially over," Zack says. "What I love about this Celtics team, they are 29-6 over their last 35 games. … This would be their sixth straight win over the Brooklyn Nets this season. What we're seeing from the Celtics right now is, they have that degree of confidence to close out games. … When it comes down to crunch time, the Boston Celtics are the true better team."

Bollman follows with an MLB play. He likes the Giants (+180) to defeat the Brewers (6:10 p.m. ET). "The Brewers' top two relievers, Josh Hader and Devin Williams, both pitched each of the last two games, so they should both be unavailable tonight," John says. "Sam Long is expected to just be an opener for the Giants, but he faces a Brewers team that's ranked third-worst in weighted on-base average against lefties. The Giants also have the best bullpen in the league, so whenever Sam Long comes out, they have them ready. Corbin Burnes is starting for the Brewers, and I think he'll continue to pitch well, but this is also the toughest lineup he's faced yet this season. … Both teams traveled last night, but the Brewers traveled after a late Sunday night game."

Coach jumps back in with an MLB play of his own. He likes Over 8.5 runs (-113) in the Rockies-Phillies game (6:45 p.m. ET). "The Phillies have been dynamic," he says. "The two pitchers today have not been good. You put those two together, I'll take the Over."

Selesnick wraps things up with an NBA prop play. He likes Under 6.5 assists for Brooklyn's Kevin Durant (-114) in the Nets-Celtics game. "This is a tall order for KD, even after averaging a career-high 6.4 assists per game this season. Durant's arguably playing the worst playoff series of his career right now," Alex says. "He's been held under seven assists in the first two games of the series, averaging 5.3 assists per game through the series so far. … He has yet to dish out seven assists in an elimination game. He has played in 13 of those, averaging just 3.1 assists per game. The Celtics also are a very stingy opponent. They have allowed the fewest assists on a per-game basis during the regular season, just 21.6 per game."

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