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Best Bets Today: Top Picks, Predictions from Wednesday's Sports Slate

Sportsbook Review

Last Updated: May 17, 2023 4:29 PM EDT • 4 min 26 sec read.

We've shopped the odds and lines at our best sportsbooks in search of today's best bets for Wednesday, May 17. Our top picks include offerings from the NBA, MLB, NHL, and golf.

A simply massive end to the week lies ahead. We're looking forward to the beginning of the PGA Championship, and the start of the conference final series in the NHL. All that's happening with the NBA playoffs ongoing, and amid a busy Wednesday night around MLB.

Read on for today's best bets for Wednesday, May 17, based on the odds from our best sports betting apps.  

Wednesday's best bets

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Wednesday's MLB best bet

Yankees ML vs. Blue Jays (-115 via WynnBet) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The New York Yankees are 8-1 in games Gerrit Cole has started and 17-18 in games he has not. That is more impressive when considering the Yankees entered Tuesday having played the second-hardest schedule in baseball so far based on opponents’ winning percentage (.530). Furthermore, The lone loss in a Cole start was an 8-7 defeat to the best team in baseball (the Tampa Bay Rays) in a game the Yankees at one point led 6-0.

Cole’s impressive start to the season largely results from him keeping the ball in the yard. Cole allowed a league-high 33 home runs last year but has given up four long balls in 56 2/3 innings, which is on pace for his lowest HR/9 rate since 2016. That will come in handy in this start at the Rogers Centre, where Cole has been tagged for three home runs in 12 1/3 innings but has otherwise limited the damage with a 1.05 WHIP.

WynnBet is the only one of our best MLB betting sites offering better than -118 for the Yankees to win outright.

MLB Best bets made by Mike Spector

Check out our World Series odds and 2023 MLB MVP odds.

Wednesday's PGA best bet

Rory McIlroy to win the PGA Championship (+1400 via DraftKings Sportsbook)

What makes golf different (and more enjoyable to bet) than the Big Six team sports in North America is that we can keep going back to the well with a popular pick despite a poor recent run because the odds have increased. In the case of McIlroy's odds, the prices have increased to the point where it would be malpractice to not bet on him for a third career Wanamaker Trophy with our PGA Championship outright picks. Oddly, we're getting a much lower number in McIlroy's U.S. Open odds.

McIlroy is third on the consensus oddsboard at our best sports betting apps and is available with odds as high as +1400 via DraftKings and PointsBet. However, we're going to side strongly with DraftKings because its one-time +300 odds surge on any outright pick brings McIlroy's odds up to +1700. That moves his odds above those of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who have logged a combined zero major wins.

Yes, McIlroy completely flamed out with a missed cut during The Players Championship and in the Masters as the betting favorite. And he finished just T-47 in the Wells Fargo Championship. However, the No. 3 golfer in the OWGR won the 2022 Tour Championship, with two other international victories since.

Like the Tour Championship, the 2023 PGA Championship will be played at a course that famed golf architect Donald Ross originally designed. That suited McIlroy well with his T-8 finish at Oak Hill CC in 2013.

McIlroy won't face the same pressures at Oak Hill that he regularly deals with at Augusta National, where he seeks the career grand slam. He's also taken a longer-than-usual break from competitive golf during the leadup to this event and should be well-prepped.

PGA Championship outright picks made by Esten McLaren.

Check out our PGA Championship expert picks, PGA Championship odds, PGA Championship power rankings, and PGA Championship sleepers and long shots.

Wednesday's NHL best bet

Hurricanes series winner (-135 via DraftKings, Caesars) vs. Panthers ⭐⭐

This is a lean because I actually expected to land on the Florida side before the numbers steered me in the opposite direction. Carolina is now penciled in with a 53.9% chance of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, and that doesn’t result in a noticeable edge in the odds for either team.

Hurricanes-Panthers series preview by Neil Parker

Check out our Golden Knights-Stars series preview, and our Stanley Cup odds and Conn Smythe odds.

Wednesday's NBA best bet

Gabe Vincent Over 3.5 assists (-110 via PointsBet) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Celtics have a problem with coughing up some games they should win, which is why their opening-round series against the Atlanta Hawks went six contests, and their semifinal matchup went the distance. Boston should take care of business against a depleted Miami squad. But how confident are we in that happening?

There could be value in Heat-related markets early in the series, especially with bettors underestimating the team's chances in this series. The assist prop for point guard Gabe Vincent really stands out right now.

Vincent has cleared this assist line in eight consecutive games, averaging 5.25 dimes per contest over that span. He averaged 4.7 assists per outing during a six-game series victory over the New York Knicks in the previous round.

That's been a theme ever since Tyler Herro suffered his injury in Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks during the opening round, and he remains sidelined with a broken hand. The Heat need another playmaker to step up in his absence, and Vincent has obliged while averaging 4.7 assists in the 10 games since then.

Vincent is registering a 64% hit rate while covering this assist prop in 25 of his 39 games without Herro over the last two seasons, according to props.cash. That probably helps explain why props.cash is projecting 4.4 assists for Vincent in Game 1.

With those projections, we should be paying a much steeper juice to take the Over with our NBA best bets for Heat-Celtics Game 1. Instead, PointsBet, which Fanatics recently acquired, is offering a standard -110 vig. We'll happily take the discount for this four-star Heat vs. Centics prediction.

Heat-Celtics pick made by Shane Jackson

Check out our NBA best bets for Wednesday, our Lakers-Nuggets Game 2 pick, our NBA Finals odds, and our NBA Finals MVP odds.

Check out all of our NBA best bets, and our 2023 NBA Finals odds and 2023 NBA MVP odds.

Check out our best sports betting apps:

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Sportsbook Review
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