The NBA continues to pick up steam in the lead up to the playoffs and so do we! Nine huge games to look forward to tonight and there are a few blockbusters, headlined by the Celtics visiting the Pacers in Indiana and the Spurs hosting the Mavericks in San Antonio.
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Let’s get in to Tuesday’s picks.
Boston Celtics @ Indiana Pacers
7:00PM ET
Top Pick Against the Spread
Pacers +2.5
Tuesday night’s NBA action kicks off with a mouthwatering Eastern Conference matchup, as the surging Pacers host the flailing Celtics at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana notched up their sixth win in their last seven games and eighth in their last 10 on Sunday, coming from behind late to steal a 112-109 win in Dallas. That win closed out a 4-1 road excursion for the Pacers, who now have a stretch where three of their next four games are against teams that enter Monday: in third place in the Eastern Conference (Boston), in sixth place and one game behind Indiana (Philadelphia), and in fourth place team and two games ahead of the Pacers in fourth (Miami).
Needless to say, this is a highly important portion of the season for a team which has been a surprise packet all year. Despite injuries to a variety of key pieces (Malcolm Brogdon, Victor Oladipo, Jeremy Lamb etc.), this team continues to get the job done.Six Pacers scored in double figures at Dallas, led by All-Star Domantas Sabonis’ double-double of 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Boston, meanwhile, are struggling hard with injuries after the All-Star break and have lost four of their last five games. Kemba Walker’s knee continues to cause him huge trouble, while Jaylen Brown tweaked a hamstring in the overtime loss to the Nets on March 3 and hasn’t played since.
Given their 21-10 home record, we’re stunned the Pacers are outsiders in this one. We’re backing Indiana against the spread.
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Houston Rockets
8:00PM ET
Top Pick Against the Spread
Rockets -12.5
Houston have fallen in a slight hole of late, but we’re anticipating a swift turnaround against one of the NBA’s worst teams tonight.
Houston dropped its fourth consecutive game on Sunday, its second in succession in blowout fashion at home, falling to the Orlando Magic 126-106. The Rockets trailed by as many as 32 points and tumbled into a double-digit, first-half hole for a fifth consecutive game.
Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for Houston in this stretch, and it’s resulted in them falling behind the Thunder for sixth place in the West. After missing 23 of 32 3-pointers against the Magic, the Rockets are shooting just 29.1 percent from long range during their losing skid. They have committed an average of 15 turnovers during this stretch, including a whopping 38 while suffering losses in back-to-back games to Charlotte and Orlando.
The Timberwolves, however, continue to struggle mightily. They’ve won just three of 10 games since the All-Star break, including a 120-107 home shellacking to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
Minnesota continues to be without two-time All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns (wrist), although in an interesting quirk the Timberwolves have been better without Towns (9-19) than with him (10-25).
Regardless, the Rockets need this one and will be hungry for a win after their recent failures. We’re backing them to get the job done here comfortably.
Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs
8:00PM ET
Top Pick Against the Spread
Mavericks -3.5
This is our pick of the night, as it’s nearly impossible to see the Mavericks dropping this one on the road in San Antonio given they’re currently 3-0 in the season series between these two teams.
Time is running out for the Spurs to make a playoff push, as their 132-129 overtime loss in Cleveland relegated them to five games behind Memphis in the race for the eighth spot in the West. That was their sixth straight game without LaMarcus Aldridge, and the team has struggled mightily in his stead, going 0-7 ATS in their last seven games.
In that loss to Cleveland, the Spurs were also missing center Jakob Poeltl (sprained knee) for the fourth consecutive game and well as guards Marco Belinelli (illness) and Lonnie Walker IV (left chin injury). They will also be without Dejounte Murray tonight with the rising guard dealing with a right calf strain.
The Mavericks have won each game of this season series by an average margin of 5.7 points, and frankly we can’t see any reason why the margin tonight won’t be at least that high.
We’re confidently backing the Mavericks against the spread.
Phoenix Suns @ Portland Trail Blazers
10:00PM ET
Top Pick Against the Spread
Suns +4.5
Intriguing Western Conference matchup in Portland tonight, as the slumping Trail Blazers try to keep their faint playoff hopes alive against a suddenly-sprightly Suns team.
Portland have dropped eight of their last 11 games, and are coming off a really poor 123-111 loss at home to the Kings on Sunday in the opening game of a six-game home stand. The Kings tied a franchise record with 21 3-pointers and were comfortably ahead 77-54 at halftime while snapping a 12-game losing streak in Portland.
That result dropped the Blazers to nine games below .500, and means they’re 4 & 1/2 games behind the Grizzlies for the eighth spot and only 1 & 1/2 games ahead of the Suns, who have been surging over the last few weeks. Phoenix improved to 26-38 following a thumping 140-131 victory over the league-best Bucks on Sunday in a game which Devin Booker dominated, dropping 36 points overall.
That was Phoenix’s second win in a row, after they also beat the Blazers 127-117 on Friday behind a career-best 37 points and nine threes from Aron Baynes, of all people. Baynes stayed hot two nights later against the Bucks, dropping 24 points.
There’s just not a lot to like about the Trail Blazers at the moment. They’re looking dispirited and out of sorts. We’re backing the Suns to cover the line.
Brooklyn Nets @ Los Angeles Lakers
10:30PM ET
Top Pick Against the Spread
Nets +12
After the euphoria of one of their best weekends in recent memory, we’re backing a bit of a crash back to earth from the Lakers tonight against the Nets.
The Lakers beat two of the NBA’s top teams over the weekend, earning a 113-103 home triumph over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Friday and a 112-103 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Against the Clippers, Anthony Davis scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and LeBron James had 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, however both LA stars are listed as day-to-day on the injury report and are apparently very good chances to miss this game.
The Nets, meanwhile, recorded a 110-107 victory at home over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday a day after they fired head coach Kenny Atkinson. Spencer Dinwiddie had 24 points with six assists, and LeVert and Joe Harris added 23 apiece for Brooklyn, which has now won three of its last four.
Interim head coach Jacque Vaughn seems intent on instant success, starting DeAndre Jordan in place of Jarrett Allen.
This line is simply too large, particularly given the looming threat of James and Davis missing for the Lakers. We’re backing the Nets to cover.
We’ve put in the research so you don’t have to! However, gambling is unpredictable by nature so unfortunately we can’t guarantee any results.
All odds and markets through Caesars unless otherwise stated.
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