Our free NBA picks are out for Saturday, April 2nd, 2022! Make sure you check our NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the five games on today’s schedule!
Charlotte Hornets @ Philadelphia 76ers – 12.30pm ET
We kick things off in the NBA for Saturday with a nice lunchtime game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Hornets have been playing very well as of late, and they have only lost two of their last 10 games, taking their record on the season to 40-37. The 76ers will be looking to get back into the winners column, after dropping their last three games on the trot, as they have gone down to the Suns, Bucks, and most disappointingly, the Pistons.
Jeffery Thomas
When the Philadelphia 76ers traded for James Harden at the deadline, they were envisioning themselves peaking at this time of year heading into the playoffs but instead they are heading in the opposite direction. They’re in the midst of a three-game losing streak after dropping their last game in Detroit to the Pistons 94-102. The Sixers didn’t trail the entire game until the 5:05 mark in the 4th quarter, but once they gave up that lead it never came back. Joel Embiid had 37 points and 15 rebounds in the loss, keeping himself in the thick of things for the scoring title battle with LeBron and Giannis.
He’ll look to take advantage of an easy matchup for centers against Charlotte Sunday afternoon, but the Hornets as a team are surging, winning 8 of their last 10. They’ve been off since Wednesday, when they took down the New York Knicks in the Garden 125-114. Miles Bridges still holds a grudge against the Knicks for failing to select him in 2018 and led the way with 31 points. Charlotte is the 9th seed and now tied with the Nets record-wise but are below them because of the tiebreak situation. The Hornets will come into this one feeling like they have a great chance of winning and rightfully so. The 76ers have not been showing much life recently and will struggle with the pace these young Hornets bring on offense. I think this spread is showing a little too much respect for Philly, so I’ll gladly take it with the underdog Hornets who have all the capabilities to keep this one close.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Charlotte Hornets +5.5 (-110)
back at it Saturday.
📝⤵️ | @NJMIns
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 1, 2022
Noah Dunlap
We get an early start to this week’s Saturday slate in the NBA, as the Charlotte Hornets head north to Philadelphia to take on Joel Embiid and the Sixers. Charlotte has been a bit of a disappointment for much of the year, as they were looking to build on last year’s play-in tournament appearance, and automatically qualify for the first round this year. That won’t be the case however, as they are once again going to have to go through the play-in if they want to make it to the first round.
The good news for Charlotte out of this is the fact that they’re picking up their play in a major way as we round out the regular season, as they’re 8-2 in their last 10. They get a Philly team in this one that is going to end the year in the top half of the East, though they have been struggling a bit lately. They’ve lost three straight, including their last game in somewhat embarrassing fashion to the Detroit Pistons, and will be looking for a win in this one to get them back on the right track heading towards the postseason. They’re still getting good play from Embiid, but guys like James Harden are going to have to play better if they plan on making a legitimate run in this year’s playoffs. As for this matchup, give me the Sixers at home, as I think Embiid proves to be too much, but I do think it ends up being close.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Philadelphia 76ers -5.5 (-110)
Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks – 1pm ET
The second game of the day will see the Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Madison Square Garden and take on the New York Knicks. The Cavaliers have been in real struggle mode for the last week or so, they have dropped five of their last six, including last time out when they lost to the Hawks, 107-131. The Knicks were building a nice winning streak, which stood at four games, but last time out they went down to the Hornets, 114-125.
Jeffery Thomas
Things have just been going so wrong for the Cleveland Cavaliers and it is looking more and more like this season will go to waste after a promising start. Injury after injury derailed what could have been a special season and now they’re just trying to salvage a little momentum and maybe steal a play-in game win. The Cavs have lost five of six games, with the lone win coming against the Orlando Magic who have the worst record in the league. The Knicks are trying to finish the season out strong and have won four of their last five but are coming off a loss to the Hornets at home.
Had it not been for a 3-17 slide from Jan 17 to March 4, the Knicks would be squarely in the play-in conversation as well, but it’s too little too late. Based on recent form, the Knicks being underdogs here makes little sense. Couple that with the Knicks being at home and it’s really head-scratching. The Cavs at their full potential would have no problems in this matchup but they’re nowhere near that full potential at the moment and it’s really hard to back them in this spot. I think we’ll continue to see some inspired ball from this Knicks club.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: New York Knicks +2 (-110)
A look at this month’s leaders 👇
📊 @Infosys pic.twitter.com/ixZqoHeQEX
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 31, 2022
Noah Dunlap
The second matchup of the day gives us the once again disappointing New York Knicks hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks find themselves with nothing to play for, except for potentially tanking to try to improve their lottery chances, as they’ve once again had a miserable season with no hope of making the postseason. A lot of this is due to the fact that the talent they thought they had in NYC just hasn’t panned out, at least not this year, even with proven guys like Julius Randle, who have also struggled, relative to expectations, this season.
Cleveland is at least going to qualify for a play-in spot, though they won’t get much deeper than that if they don’t start playing better in a hurry. They spent much of the year in the top half of the Eastern Conference, despite injuries to key players, but it’s finally starting to look like those injuries, and just overall fatigue, could be playing a factor, as they’ve now lost five of their last six, and can’t seem to get anything going. At this point in the year, I don’t see that changing, as it looks almost like a one-man show with Darius Garland right now for the Cavs, and I don’t think that’s enough. Despite having nothing to play for, give me New York at home in this one, as I think they sneak by with a win.
Noah’s NBA Pick: New York Knicks (+110)
Brooklyn Nets @ Atlanta Hawks – 7.30pm ET
The Brooklyn Nets have just one game on the road when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks, who themselves are wrapping up a two game homestand. The Nets have been trading wins and losses for the last six games, taking their overall season record to 40-37. The Hawks are playing surprisingly well at the moment, and tonight will be looking to build on their current four game winning streak.
Jeffery Thomas
The Nets will be disappointed in themselves after letting their last game against the Milwaukee Bucks slip away. Brooklyn led 108-99 when Kevin Durant caught a lob from Kyrie Irving with 3:52 left in the game but weren’t able to hold that lead as Giannis and company forced overtime. They then led by two with 8.7 ticks left in overtime but couldn’t hold that lead either and dropped the game despite 26 points and 11 assists from KD. They’ll now shift their focus over to the Atlanta Hawks who are coming in on a four-game winning streak and peaking at the right time of the year, much like last year.
Trae Young and the Hawks caught fire late in the year and rode that to a run to the Eastern Conference Finals and while that’s unlikely to happen this year, they are still one of the most dangerous teams when things are clicking. The Nets will try and shake off the bad loss at home to Milwaukee and take care of this Eastern Conference foe. I like Kevin Durant to take things into his own hands more this game and come out firing. He had 11 assists last game, letting his teammates do the scoring but now in this must-win situation he won’t let anybody else determine this outcome. Look to take his points props and also look for the Nets to get this win on the road.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets (-130)
“First in courage, last in fear.” @ATLFireRescue #Forever404 #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/G9kLjdld0J
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 1, 2022
Noah Dunlap
This game gives us a matchup that could very easily be a preview of one of the play-in matchups that we see in a few weeks, as both of these teams are included in a three-way tie at the bottom half of the East playoff standings currently. Brooklyn has been playing mediocre ball lately, which is somewhat concerning, seeing as they have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both playing full time now, but as they’re basically stuck in the play-in, with no way to creep up to sixth to get out, I’m not actually sure it’s that big of a deal currently.
Atlanta is in a similar spot, as they’re locked into a play-in spot, but they’re actually playing well lately. I’m still a little nervous about this Hawks team though, as I think they’re a bit too one-dimensional with Trae Young being the vast majority of their offensive production. As they showed last year in their run to the Eastern Conference Finals, they’re a team that can make a deep run if they get hot, as it’s virtually the same roster, but with what we’ve seen so far this season, I’m not confident that it will end up happening. The same goes for this matchup, as despite the struggles, I like Brooklyn and their more balanced attack getting the win on the road in this one.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets -2 (-110)
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls – 8pm ET
The Miami Heat are in the middle of their three game road trip on Saturday when they face off against the Chicago Bulls. The Heat seem to be back on track, after dropping four games in a row, they have since gone on to win their last two against the Kings and Celtics. The Bulls have split their last six games, but are currently riding a modest two game winning streak.
Jeffery Thomas
The Miami Heat have responded well to their four-game losing streak by winning their last two games over the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics. That was good enough to get them back in first place in the East with just five games remaining in the regular season. They’ll now look to get another win when they travel to Chicago for a date with the Bulls on Sunday night. The Bulls are on a two-game winning streak of their own after beating the Clippers and Wizards in their last two games. The win over the Clippers was their last time out and Demar DeRozan put up a monstrous 50 points in the overtime win.
Now sitting at 45-32, the Bulls are sitting comfortably at the 5 seed as the season wraps up. Even though the Heat won those two games, I’m still not too convinced that things have been figured out. This Bulls team is trying to bounce back into form and let DeMar lead the way again. When he was playing at his MVP candidate level earlier in the year, the Bulls were racking up wins and he’s looking to reclaim that form as we head into the playoffs. It’s been a real struggle for Chicago against the league’s best teams, but catching this Heat team at this moment is a good time to keep it close or even steal a win.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls +2 (-108)
Ayo finds Flight 8 for the alley-oop 👀@RushMedical | #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/DYB13gqe0V
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 1, 2022
Noah Dunlap
After playing atrocious basketball for about a week and a half, the East-leading Miami Heat have responded by playing the kind of ball that shows why they currently lead the conference. If healthy, I think this is one of the best teams in the league, and one that could definitely compete for a title, and as they’ve been healthy once again lately, they’re showing that. Tyler Herro has been an absolute menace off the bench, and with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler leading the way amongst the starters, look out for this Miami team if they can keep up the hot play.
They take on the Chicago Bulls in this one, and it’s a Bulls team that is hard to figure out. Chicago spent much of the year looking like one of the best teams in the conference, but stumbled at about the halfway point, although have managed to stay afloat and find themselves currently at the five spot in the East, but depending on how they, and the teams around them finish out the last week and a half, they could climb to the four or drop to the six. They’ve won two straight, and are finally playing better after an atrocious three-week stretch, especially with DeMar Derozan leading the way, but against a Miami team that looks to be back on track, I’m going with the Heat in this one, even on the road, as I think they sneak away with a close one.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Miami Heat -2 (-112)
Utah Jazz @ Golden State Warriors – 8.30pm ET
The fifth and final game of the day will see the Utah Jazz hit the road and travel to San Francisco to hit the court against the Golden State Warriors. The Jazz managed to put an end to their five game losing streak last time out, as they beat a LeBron-less Lakers squad, 122-109. The Warriors haven’t had much to cheer about since Curry went down with an injury, as they have lost seven of their last eight games.
Jeffery Thomas
These two teams will meet up in the Bay in desperate need of momentum building performances ahead of the playoffs. The Jazz had lost five straight games before taking down the Los Angeles Lakers 122-109 on Thursday night, on the back of 29 points from Donovan Mitchell. Utah now sits at 5 in the West and gets the 3 seed Warriors on Saturday. Golden State has been off ever since their 103-107 home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
That loss extended their losing streak out to four games and things won’t get easier, after it was confirmed that Stephen Curry will miss the remainder of the regular season. The Warriors lost to the Suns last time out, but it was one of their most competitive performances recently. Jordan Poole has really been in a scoring groove recently and actually led the entire league in 3-point field goals made in the month of March. I liked what I saw from Golden State in the loss to Phoenix and I think after a couple days off to regroup they’ll show a great effort at home and get the win.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Golden State Warriors (+104)
Dray & Klay’s on-court chemistry is special.#NBABreakdown pic.twitter.com/dH68D7awjF
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 1, 2022
Noah Dunlap
Can Steph Curry (hopefully) return soon enough for the Golden State Warriors? The clear answer is no. Since he went down, they’ve lost seven of eight, and now only find themselves half a game up on Dallas for the three-spot in the West, after spending most of the year as the two. Luckily for Dubs fans, I think they have the kind of talent that can flip the switch almost immediately once they get healthy once again, but for the time being, that’s proving to be problematic, as they just can’t get anything going without Steph leading the way.
Now they take on a Utah team that is in a similar spot, though the Jazz are struggling greatly despite already being basically fully healthy. They had lost five straight before finally taking down the Lakers, without LeBron, in their last game, though it’s starting to look like there are some similar problems with this Jazz team. The talent is there, and the balance is certainly there, but there seems to be a lack of energy or mental toughness in Utah right now that’s problematic, as I’m not sure they have the ability to just flip that switch whenever they want to. Even though they’ve been awful lately, I’m taking Golden State here, as even snapping the losing streak, I think there may be serious problems with the Jazz. Warriors in a tight one at home.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Golden State Warriors (+104)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
