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Heat vs. Cavaliers Game 1 Parlay Picks & Predictions: Today's Best NBA Playoffs SGP Odds

Brenden Schaeffer

Last Updated: April 20, 2025 1:07 PM EDT • 2 min 49 sec read.

Heat vs. Cavaliers Game 1 Parlay Picks & Predictions: Today's Best NBA Playoffs SGP Odds
Pictured: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell reacts after a basket. Photo by Ken Blaze via Imagn Images.

Our Heat vs. Cavaliers parlay picks for today's Game 1 of the NBA playoffs don’t give the Heat much of a chance to start this first-round series on a positive note. The No. 8 seed Miami Heat (37-45) visit the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers (64-18) in just hours, fresh off needing overtime on Friday to clinch their postseason berth. Tipoff from Rocket Arena in Cleveland is at 7 p.m. ET (TNT).

We're predicting the Cavaliers to cover the 12.5-point spread to kick off our Game 1 same-game parlay based on our best NBA SGP odds. We'll also target a Cavalier overwhelming trend one side of the total, and have identified a player prop to cap off our three-leg SGP.

🚀 Best Heat vs. Cavaliers parlay picks & SGP odds

🧪 Want to make your own SGP? Check out our NEW parlay calculator to get the best odds for any same-game parlay.

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⛹️ Best Heat vs. Cavaliers same-game parlay picks

🔎 Our NEW NBA player prop odds tool can help you find the best NBA odds across legal sportsbooks in your area!

🔥 Cavaliers -12.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cleveland has been dominant against the spread this season, going 48-33-1 ATS to tie for the second-best cover rate in the NBA. The Cavaliers have the top scoring average in the league at 121.9 points per game and will oppose a Heat team that ranks 24th in scoring average at 110.7 PPG.

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The Heat are 18-23-1 ATS as a road team and are sub-.500 as a road underdog at 10-12-1 ATS.

Though the number is a little higher than we prefer in Game 1, considering the Cavs only covered this line once in three games against the Heat during the season, the Cavs are too good at home (34-7) for a team that has struggled on the road to reasonably compete.

🔢 Heat vs. Cavaliers odds

🔥 Over 214.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cavs games have gone Over at a blistering rate of 62.2%, with the Over hitting in 51 out of 82 games. Cleveland home games are 25-16 on Overs, a trend that outweighs Miami’s 20-22 mark on Overs in road games this season.

Given the Cavaliers’ scoring prowess, the Heat may not need to contribute much to push this total Over. Miami averages just 109.8 points per road game, with the Cavs allowing just over 112 PPG defensively at home.

In 13 of Cleveland’s last 15 games, the Cavs have cleared a total of 214.5 points, and since we project them to control this game, we’re leaning toward the way their games trend on totals when that happens.

🔥 Donovan Mitchell Over 24.5 points ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If the Cavs are going to put together the type of offensive performance that we’ve billed against a solid Miami defense, it seems like an outlier game for Donovan Mitchell would be a likely component.

Mitchell has deposited 24 or more points in five of his past six games. In three games against Miami this season, he scored 26 or more points twice. For a star in a tone-setting Game 1, we like Mitchell to elevate beyond his season average of 24.0 points per game.

🔢 Donovan Mitchell player prop bet odds

📺 Game info & where to watch Heat vs. Cavaliers live today

📅 Date: Sunday, April 20
🕗 Time: 7 p.m. ET
📍 Location: Rocket Arena (Cleveland)
📺 TV: TNT
💻 Streaming: Max

🏀 Best NBA Playoffs predictions & expert picks today

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Written By:
Brenden Schaeffer
Brenden has covered the St. Louis Cardinals as a credentialed baseball writer for KMOV-TV since 2016. His sports writing has appeared in outlets including the Austin American-Statesman and Columbia Daily Tribune. Since 2021, Brenden has co-hosted 'The Big Show' during the afternoon drive for KTGR, the ESPN radio affiliate in Columbia, MO. He has appeared on radio stations around the country, including KMOX, and hosts a daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast. In the sports betting content space, Brenden has covered the NFL, college football, NBA, and college basketball for outlets including SBR since 2019. For his football handicapping, Brenden looks to target NFL player prop markets as well as sharp underdog lines in college football. Brenden looks to reference FanDuel for his sports betting articles because of its consistently competitive odds on parlays. FanDuel's boost offerings are also customer-friendly, and its odds on the NFL Same Game Parlay articles he's written for SBR have historically been consistently competitive compared to other books.