Today's picks: Why the will Celtics will cover against the Nets, plus more NBA, MLB, PGA and USFL for Sunday, April 17

Jonathan Coachman is joined by expert sports bettors Mike McClure, Alex Selesnick and Micah Roberts on The Early Edge podcast. They give you their best bets for the NBA, MLB, the PGA and the USFL for Sunday, April 17.

Coach starts things off with two SportsLine Plays of the Day. The first, in Major League Baseball, is the Padres (-130) to beat the Braves (7 p.m. ET). The second is in the USFL: The Houston Gamblers (-3) to cover against the Michigan Panthers (noon ET).

McClure is up next with a prop play in the NBA. He likes Over 29.5 points for Brooklyn's Kevin Durant (-125) in the opener of the Nets-Celtics first-round playoff series (3:30 p.m. ET). "Kevin Durant hasn't played less than 41 minutes in any of the last four games, and that's not going to stop now," Mike says. "I think in this spot, it definitely projects as one where he's going to look to score. He's done so previously in this matchup with Kyrie Irving on the floor back on March 6. He put in 37 points in that game."

Roberts follows with a trio of picks. The first is in MLB: The Giants (-115) to beat the Guardians (1:40 p.m. ET). "(San Francisco's) Alex Wood has been tremendous," he says. "We've seen (the Guardians) be held to one and two runs in the first two games of the series. I look for the starting pitching to be the key again for the Giants in getting this win."

Micah's next two plays are in the NBA Playoffs. First, he likes Over 224 in Game 1 of the Nets-Celtics series. "All four of the meetings this season between these two teams went Over the total," he says. "I think that's the way to go here. Four of the last five for Boston, despite being the No. 1 defense in the NBA, have gone Over."

For his second play in that contest, he likes the Celtics (-4) to cover. "There's just better chemistry and organization of flow with the Celtics' game plan," he says. "The Nets, it's just a pick-up game every night with this team, with different parts all season long. It's go time now, but can they just flip the switch on and dominate? I think the Celtics get 'em."

Selesnick jumps in with a prop bet in MLB. He likes Under 4.5 strikeouts for Los Angeles' Jose Suarez (-115) in the Angels-Rangers contest (2:35 p.m. ET). "Like most pitchers, he's not fully stretched out after an abbreviated spring training," Alex says. "The Rangers have the third-lowest strikeout rate this season against opposing lefties at just 17 percent. The Rangers also have the fifth-fewest strikeouts overall this season, averaging just 7.13 per game. Suarez has only recorded at least five Ks in five of his 15 career starts."

Coach wraps things up with a PGA play. He likes Justin Spieth (-142) over Joel Dahmen in the final round of the RBC Heritage (1 p.m. ET). "He is only three shots back of the lead, and he is playing much better this week off an off-week at The Masters," Coach says.

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