Our free NBA picks are out for Friday, April 8th, 2022! Make sure you check our expert NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the best five games on today’s schedule!
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Brooklyn Nets – 7:30pm ET
This game could be a potential playoff play-in round preview. As both of these teams are locked into play-in spots with only a couple games left in the regular season. The Cavs are 7th in the East and the Nets are 8th. At the moment they are slated to face each other in the first play-in game.
Jeffery Thomas
Two of the teams that will be participating in next week’s play-in tournament meetup on Friday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets. Neither team was expected to be in this position before the season, but for different reasons. The Cavs were not expected to be very good this year but ended up being one of the surprise teams this season, led by first time All Stars Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland. They have trailed off a bit as the season has progressed but are still in a fight for the 7 seed in the East. The Nets came into the season as the favorites for the NBA championship but due to a multitude of injuries and Kyrie Irving only being a part-time player for much of the season, disappointed greatly and will now have to take the long path through the postseason.
Brooklyn is coming off a nice win over the New York Knicks, in a game where they had to storm back from being down 21 points. That’s the part I want to focus on more than win, why are you fighting for playoff positioning and getting down 21 to the hapless Knicks? This Nets team has no consistency and that spark that is needed when your back is against the wall just hasn’t been present. I can’t in good faith back them with this many points against a Cavs team that has shown they can hang with some of the better teams. Give me the Cavs and the points.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers +7.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
Our first matchup from Friday’s slate of games gives us a good one between two teams who are likely to be together once again early next week in the East’s play-in tournament, as currently it looks as if they’re going to end up as the seventh and eighth seed respectively. The Brooklyn Nets come in having a bit of a disappointing year so far, as they had hopes of being one of the higher seeds in the East, but a lengthy injury to Kevin Durant and the Covid mandate surrounding Kyrie Irving’s playing time and not being allowed to play at home for much of the year created a disastrous season for them, relative to expectations. The good news is that with both guys healthy and playing now, they have the potential to win every game, regardless of seeding.
Cleveland, on the other hand, has been a massive surprise, as many people had them as one of the bottom feeders of the league this year, but instead they spent much of the year in the top half of the Eastern Conference, though injuries and depth issues has caused them to fade just a bit as of late. They’ve had a great year, but I think the injuries have ended up crushing their chance of a deep run, as they don’t have enough depth to make that run. Give me Brooklyn here, as I think KD has a big night, leading the Nets to a win at home.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets (-300)
Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat – 8pm ET
The Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat both came into this season with big expectations, unfortunately only one team lived up to those expectations. As the Heat have been one of the best teams in the league and the Hawks are set for the playoff play-in round.
Jeffery Thomas
The Miami Heat can clinch the top seed and home court through the Eastern side of the playoffs with a win at home over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. Miami is coming off their highest scoring output of the season, putting 144 on the Hornets in their blowout win on Tuesday. Sixth man of the year front runner Tyler Herro put up a career-high 35 points in the win and led a quartet of Miami players scoring at least 21 points. They will look to stay hot against an equally hot Hawks team that has won six of their last seven games. Their last game out was a 118-103 win on Wednesday over the Washington Wizards. Trae Young had another 30-point 10-assist game, which was his 20th of the season (most in the NBA).
The Heat will have a lot of motivation to take down this Eastern Conference foe and I think that’s exactly what they will do. The Hawks are playing really well right now but they aren’t unstoppable by any means and we’ve seen all year from Miami that they can show up in certain spots and look like the best team in the league. Coming off a 40 point win I think the Heat will be confident and ready to deliver another blowout victory.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (-146)
Noah Dunlap
The Miami Heat look like they are going to hold on to the one-seed in the Eastern Conference, though things got tight for a while. A win over Atlanta in this one would secure that spot, and I like their chances to get that done. In their last game, they went crazy, by dropping 144 on the Charlotte Hornets, including 23 three-pointers, and now taking on another team that doesn’t play great defense, I think this Heat team may be looking to keep the momentum going.
Despite a shaky defense, the Atlanta Hawks are still hanging around this year, as Trae Young is doing a good job of leading the way. The problem is that he’s getting virtually no help from the rest of the roster, which makes me nervous about their chances in the Eastern Conference play-in, which they’re locked into at this point, though their final seeding isn’t known yet. They’ve won six of their last seven, and are playing well, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough in this one, against a balanced Miami team that is playing really well right now. Give me Miami at home, likely by double-digits.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat (-146)
Charlotte Hornets @ Chicago Bulls – 8pm ET
The Charlotte Hornets will travel to the Windy City to play the Chicago Bulls in this game. This game could be a potential Eastern Conference playoff series preview. As both teams will be playing in the postseason this year.
Jeffery Thomas
It’s been a pretty bittersweet week for the Chicago Bulls franchise. Tuesday they were able to clinch their spot in the postseason, even though Chicago lost to the Milwaukee Bucks that night and then on the back-to-back the next night, it was another loss to the Boston Celtics. Both losses were by over 21 points and the losing streak goes back even further to Saturday’s game against the Miami Heat, where the Bulls lost by 18. There’s nothing to celebrate on the court right now but hey at least they made the playoffs right? The Charlotte Hornets will be on the back-to-back after taking down the Orlando Magic 128-101 on Thursday night.
The Bulls aren’t playing a top team so this is a game where we can actually back them. The Hornets already aren’t too great on defense and with tired legs, I expect them to have a hard time stopping the Bulls offense. DeMar DeRozan should get what he wants at will and Nikola Vucevic is going to feast on this weak interior defense like all centers have this season against Charlotte. All this will add up to a nice bounce-back win for Chicago.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls (-132)
Noah Dunlap
The Chicago Bulls have something to celebrate, though it isn’t their play on the court right now. They’ve dropped three straight contests by 18+, but have managed to secure a playoff berth in the process, as they used their great start through the early and middle parts of the year to cruise to a playoff appearance. Right now, I’m not sure how long they’ll be in the postseason, as they’re playing atrocious basketball, and DeMar Derozan is the only one playing consistently well, which just won’t be enough to make a run through the postseason.
The good news is that they get a Charlotte Hornets team in this one that has also lost two straight, and while they are locked into a play-in berth, I’m not optimistic about their odds to advance out, largely due to the fact that they play truly abysmal defense. With LaMelo Ball leading the way on the offensive end, they can score with just about anyone, but the defense has remained miserable. This poor defense is why I’m taking Chicago to end the losing streak here, as I think Derozan has a monstrous day to lead the Bulls at home. Bulls by 10+.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls (-132)
Phoenix Suns @ Utah Jazz – 9:30pm ET
On a normal night this would be the best game of the evening. But the Suns are likely to rest their starters. While the Utah Jazz are still in the middle of a division title race when these two teams meet in Salt Lake City.
Jeffery Thomas
With two games left in the season, it appears the Phoenix Suns are content with their franchise-record 63 wins and best record in the league and will not be playing any starters the rest of the way. That was the case for their game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, a game they still only lost by 4 points. They’ll once again let the bench get some work in on Criday against a Utah Jazz team that also rested their starters on Wednesday for their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even with the bench guys playing, Utah shot 59% from the field and outrebounded OKC 64-38.
If the Suns do end up playing their starters then I’m all about backing them like we have all season. I’m going to work under the assumption that they do play and with that being the case I don’t see a way the Jazz win this one. Their inconsistencies will be taken advantage of by a very intelligent Suns squad and even on the road Phoenix will be able to get this one done ahead of their playoff run.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns (+126)
Noah Dunlap
As we round out the end of the regular season, after having the best record in the league locked up for roughly two weeks, the Phoenix Suns have finally let off the gas in terms of the regular season. At first, it looked as if they were going to play with the same energy and enthusiasm that got them there, but they’ve now gone to resting their starters for what looks like is going to be the rest of the regular season, which makes betting on them a bit problematic.
Utah similarly comes in virtually locked into their five seed, and I’m not sure that they plan on playing their starters the rest of the way either, which has turned this once great matchup into a game of backups. With everyone starting, I think it could be close, but I like Phoenix’s bench to be much deeper than the Jazz’s, so give me Phoenix with a deep bench to get the job done on the road.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Phoenix Suns (+126)
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Los Angeles Lakers – 10:30pm ET
This game is basically meaningless to say the least. As both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers are already eliminated from the playoffs this season.
Jeffery Thomas
The Oklahoma City Thunder had their two-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday when they traveled to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz. Utah beat them 137-101 without Donovan Mitchell or Mike Conley Jr., taking advantage of a shorthanded Thunder team. Nine players were inactive for OKC for various reasons and that will again be the case when they face the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The good news is, the Lakers also have nothing to play for and will be without LeBron, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis.
This is a game everybody should stay away from and don’t even think about watching it. If you want to bet it though, I think this is a rare situation where you can take the Lakers. The Lakers still have quality players, it just didn’t work together over the season but against this Thunder team composed of G-League guys they should have issues.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: LA Lakers -8.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
To round out the Friday slate, we have a game that is virtually impossible to judge, as we find ourselves with two teams that have nothing left to play for. The Los Angeles Lakers have had one of the more disappointing seasons in recent memory, and without LeBron, Russell Westbrook, or Anthony Davis in the lineup, there’s no way to think that they’ll find a way to get anything going, which potentially makes this pick a little easier, although the fact that they’re playing one of the worst teams in the NBA doesn’t give me much comfort.
Oklahoma City has been bad all year long, but despite having been eliminated from playoff contention a long way back, they’ve still at least attempted to play competitively, even winning back-to-back games, before getting trounced by Utah in their last outing. I normally would put little faith in this Thunder squad, but this is a prime chance for them to pick up a win over the Lakers in LA, and season over or not, I think they come out motivated enough to slide past the Lakers B-team. Give me Oklahoma City in a tight one on the road.
Noah’s NBA Pick: OKC Thunder (+295)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
