Clark's 'Caps: NBA Playoffs Round 2 series bets

Three of the four conference semifinal playoff series are settled with the 1-seed Utah Jazz awaiting the outcome of Sunday's Game 7 between the 4-seed Los Angeles Clippers and. 5-seed Dallas Mavericks. Below, we'll highlight the top NBA Playoffs Round 2series predictions.

The second-round starts Saturday when the second-seeded Brooklyn Nets, featuring the Big 3 of SF Kevin Durant, SG James Harden and PG KyrieIrving, host SF Giannis Antetokounmpo and the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center for Game 1.

Also see:Bucks at Nets Game 1 odds, picks and prediction

Sunday afternoon, the 4-seed Atlanta Hawks tip-off Game 1 of their second-round playoff series at the 1-seed Philadelphia 76ers. Sixers C Joel Embiid missed Philly's clinching game in the first round and remains questionable due to a knee injury.

Monday, probable MVP Nikola Jokic and the 3-seed Denver Nuggets visit SG Devin Booker's 2-seed Phoenix Suns at their self-titled arena for Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

NBA Round 2 series predictions

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports' betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Milwaukee Bucks +1.5 (-135) series spread vs. Brooklyn Nets

The Bucks-Nets regular-season series was fantastic with two of the three meetings ending within a single possession and the third being just a 6-point margin of victory for the Bucks. Milwaukee swept Brooklyn in a home back-to-back at the beginning of May and the Bucks are 2-1 against the spread (ATS) vs. the Nets this year.

This is the best Bucks team in the Antetokounmpo-era. The reigning back-to-back MVP set a career-high in effective field-goal percentage (eFG%) and had his third-highest PER and win shares per 48 minutes. That number trailed only his two straight MVP campaigns.

Not only has Giannis' game not slipped but Milwaukee knocked it out of the park in acquiring, and signing to an extension, two-way PG Jrue Holiday this offseason. It cost them G Eric Bledsoe, and draft capital.

Holiday has the second-highest PER, win shares, and VORP (value over replacement player) on the Bucks, behind Antetokounmpo. His addition has allowed SF Khris Middleton to focus on offense.

Special NBA Betting Promotion!

Place a $1 bet on any team's money line, WIN an additional $100 (in free bets) if either team hits a 3-pointer during the game today. Promotion available in CO, IN, MI, NJ, TN, VA and WV. IA and PA residents, don't miss BetMGM 's risk-free, first-bet offer!

Place your legal, online sports bets at BetMGM! Terms and conditions apply. Bet now!

Holiday's on-ball perimeter defense should be a factor in this playoff series. He is one of only a few guards whose defense could affect Irving or Harden. Antetokounmpo may not be able to stop Durant, but he could play him to a draw.

Moreover, Holiday and Antetokoumpo were awesome in the three regular-season Bucks-Nets meetings.

Holiday averaged 21.0 points per game on 62.6% true shooting (.511/.500/.667) with 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game and a plus-9 net rating. Antetokoumpo put up 39.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per in the three meetings.

Lastly, Milwaukee has a third All-Star-caliber player in Middleton. He could help neutralize the damage done by Brooklyn's Big 3 and Milwaukee has a lot more depth.

The Bucks' bench is averaging the third-most PPG this postseason (40.0). It's double the output of the Nets' backups, who average the fewest PPG in the playoffs.

I'll be "sprinkling" on Milwaukee's outright series price of +165 but will "HAMMER" the BUCKS +1.5 SERIES SPREAD (-135).

Play our new free dailyPick'em Challengeand win!Play now!

Philadelphia 76ers (-190) vs. Atlanta Hawks

All three of the Hawks-76ers games in the regular season were double-digit blowouts with the first two outcomes being influenced by injuries to key players.

Philly prevailed 2-1 straight up and against the spread in the season series. Embiid played in all three meetings and had subpar performances against the Hawks.

His status is the biggest question entering this series. The big man missed the second-half of Philly's Game 4 loss to the Washington Wizards in the first round due to a slight tear of his meniscus and he missed all of Game 5.

If Embiid can play in this series then there's no chance Atlanta beats Philly, but even if he can't, I'd still make the Sixers a -140 favorite to beat the Hawks in a seven-game series.

The beauty of Sixers PG Ben Simmons' game is he can start at center, as he did in Game 5 of Round 1, AND, Simmons can defend Hawks PG Trae Young.

Also, when Simmons played center in Philly's first-round Game 5, with Gs Seth Curry and Danny Green and Fs Tobias Harris and Matisse Thybulle, it meant the Sixers got out in transition.

According to CleaningTheGlass.com, that Sixers lineup got out in transition 28.6% of the time and had an absurd 142.9 points per 100 possessions in the fast-break.

If Philly were "forced" to play like this, it would force Atlanta to sit defensive anchor C Clint Capela, who leads the NBA in rebounding rate and is fourth in blocks per game. That would spell doom for the Hawks defensively.

In addition, Atlanta's defense isn't good, it just looked good against an inept New York Knicks' offense in the first round. Philly's defense is dominant when fully healthy.

For example, the Hawks ranked 21st in defensive rating in the regular season and had the third-worst defensive turnover percentage. The Sixers were second in both defensive rating and defensive turnover percentage, and third in defensive eFG%.

Finally, the one blowout loss Philly was handed by Atlanta was with Embiid in the lineup but Harris, Simmons and Thybulle were sidelined by injuries.

Harris had a 150 offensive rating in his two games against Atlanta this season, and Simmons and Thybulle are two of the best on-ball perimeter defenders in the Association.

The Hawks offense is predicated on Young lighting up their opponent's backcourt. This was especially true in their first-round series against the Knicks, and I don't see that being the case against Philly's top-notch perimeter defense.

BET the 76ers (-190) to defeat the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Denver Nuggets (+170) vs. Phoenix Suns

I'd actually bet Denver's series prices across the board with the Nuggets +1.5 (-105) and Nuggets +2.5 (-225) series spreads on top of NUGGETS (+170) to beat the Suns in Round 2.

My three main factors for liking Denver over Phoenix in this series are the Nuggets having by far the best player (Jokic), Denver's massive size advantage over Phoenix and the Nuggets' edge in continuity compared to this new Suns culture.

There have been several amazing playoff performances thus far, but somehow Jokic's postseason play has been underrated.

He has the third-highest PER in the playoffs and averaged 33.0 PPG on 62.7% true shooting (.528/.429/.917) with 10.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in the first round.

Also, Jokic was great against the Suns in the regular season. He put up 25.7 PPG on 50.8% field-goal shooting (50.0% from three), with 13.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game with a plus-11 net rating.

Plus, Jokic's uptick in production combines with his natural ability to distribute the ball and create plays for teammates to offset the absence of PG Jamal Murray.

Everyone in the NBA community seemingly has written off Denver's chances of winning the West since Murray went down due to a torn ACL, but I've held onto my "Denver Nuggets to win the West" stock I purchased during an April episode of Bet Slippin' Podcast.

The main reason I remain bullish on Denver's short-term future is size wins in the pros and the Nuggets are the deepest team remaining in the frontcourt.

Denver's backup bigs Paul Millsap, JaMychal Green and JaVale McGee are far more accomplished and experienced than Phoenix's backup bigs. If Jokic can get Suns C Deandre Ayton into foul trouble, as he did with Portland Trail Blazers C Jusuf Nurkic, then "The Joker" is going to bully Phoenix down low.

Finally, Denver has paid its dues, the Suns eliminated the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, which was a far tougher matchup for the Nuggets, and Phoenix is less prepared to move on to the conference finals.

All the Nuggets players look like they've found a role and have bought in. Denver's trade deadline acquisition of PF Aaron Gordon adds frontcourt depth, and he can defend Booker in crunch time as he did with Blazers PG Damian Lillard in the last series.

Denver wing Michael Porter Jr. is a flamethrower, averaging 18.8 PPG on 66.6% true shooting (.538/.415/.909) and backup PG Monte Morris is giving the Nuggets quality minutes.

Just because the Suns got past a banged-up Lakers team doesn't mean they don't have their own injury concerns. PG Chris Paul doesn't look right out there. If he is less than 100% healthy, it would take a generational performance from Booker and a series-clunker out of Jokic for the Suns to advance past the Nuggets.

GIMME the NUGGETS (+170) to move on to the Western Conference Finals.

Want some action on these bets? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.

Follow Geoff Clark on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Additional NBA sports coverage:

HoopsHype | Celtics Wire | LeBron Wire | Lonzo Wire | Nets Wire | Rockets Wire | Sixers Wire | Thunder Wire | Warriors Wire | Rookie Wire | List Wire

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.