Our free NBA picks are out for Tuesday, April 12th, 2022! Make sure you check our expert NBA picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free NBA picks for the two play-in games on today’s schedule!
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Brooklyn Nets – 7pm ET
Game one of the NBA Playoff Play-In round features the seven and eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. As the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Brooklyn Nets in this game. Both teams finished the regular season with identical records of 44-28.
Jeffery Thomas
The play-in tournament is finally here and will kick off with two teams that just played each other on Friday. The Cleveland Cavaliers will hope this one goes better for them, however, as they dropped that game in Brooklyn 118-107. Cleveland had no answers for Kevin Durant, who dropped 36 and helped the Nets outscore Cleveland 36-19 in the fourth quarter. The Nets won the season series 3-1 over the Cavs and that’s why they own the tiebreaker to host this game after both teams finished with identical 44-38 records. All-Star Jarrett Allen has already been ruled out for this game, and it continues to be a huge loss for Cleveland, who went just 7-11 down the stretch without him. The winner of this game will go to face the 2 seed Boston Celtics, while the loser will get another crack at making the postseason as the 8 seed, and will take on the winner of the Hawks/Hornets game.
If Jarrett Allen was playing and the Cavs were at full strength, I’d like this game to be more compatible but I just don’t see it now. I think we get a repeat performance of what we saw on Friday, where Brooklyn won 118-107 on this same floor. Kyrie Irving will want to stick it to his old team and Kevin Durant is always a threat to take over a game and drop 40+ so give me the Nets who have loads of playoff experience on their side.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets -8.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
The Play-In is finally here, and our first game gives us a game that has the potential to be a really good matchup, but could also get out of hand, depending on which Brooklyn team shows up. The Cleveland Cavaliers started the year hot and held strong through much of the middle part of the year, but in the end, injuries looked as if they played a huge role, as they fell off late, largely due to fatigue and lack of depth, and ended up as the eighth seed in the East. Darius Garland can take over for the Cavs, but with his youth and inexperience, I’m not sure he does that in this situation, especially against the backcourt that the Nets bring to the table.
Brooklyn has very clearly had a disappointing year, at least based on expectations, as they entered the season as many people’s favorite to win a title. However, with a significant Kevin Durant injury that sidelined him for 20+ games, and Kyrie Irving unable to play at home for much of the season due to Covid mandates in New York, they’ve spent much of the year struggling, and find themselves as the seven-seed. I am going to take Brooklyn here though, as they do have KD and Kyrie back full-time now, and with this one at home, it just feels like a Nets win. I don’t think it gets ugly, but I don’t look for it to be too close, either. Brooklyn by 10-12.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Brooklyn Nets -8.5 (-110)
Los Angeles Clippers @ Minnesota Timberwolves – 9:30pm ET
Game two of the NBA Playoff Play-In round features the seven and eighth seed in the Western Conference. As the Los Angeles Clippers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in this game. Los Angeles finished the regular season with a record of 42-40, while Minnesota finished with a record of 46-36.
Jeffery Thomas
The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to make the playoffs for just the second time since the 2004-05 season and the only thing standing in their way is the Los Angeles Clippers. Karl-Anthony Towns is having one of the best seasons of his young career and the rise of last year’s #1 pick Anthony Edwards has gotten them to this spot and big games from them should be expected on Tuesday night. If it wasn’t for a 4-6 stretch to end the regular season, Minnesota would probably be a top 6 seed and not have to go through the play-in so I’m sure they are feeling a bit upset at themselves. The Clippers won’t be an easy out though and own a 3-1 record against the Wolves, with the victories coming by an average of 19.3 points. The most recent meeting went to Minnesota though 122-104 on January 3.
This is an interesting matchup, as the T-Wolves are a team on the rise that has never been here while the Clippers were just in the Western Conference Finals last year. Of course, there’s no Kawhi Leonard this year for them, which was the only reason they were there, but they still have Paul George. There’s also no Luke Kennard for the Clippers after he suffered a hamstring injury right before the regular season ended. Both teams have proven to be unreliable at times this year, but Minnesota is healthier and will be at home. I think they are also hungry for that crack at the playoffs so I’m rolling with the young Wolves to handle business on Tuesday.
Jeffery’s NBA Pick: Minnesota Timberwolves (-154)
Noah Dunlap
The second and final matchup of Tuesday’s play-in slate gives us the 7-8 game from the West, with the eighth-seeded LA Clippers traveling to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. This is a game that about a week and a half ago I would’ve gone with the T’Wolves with ease, as the Clips were struggling, and were still without Paul George. However, they’ve since gotten PG-13 back in the lineup, and have won five straight, partially as a result of his return. This was already a team that was playing better than expected given their injury situation, but with George back in the lineup, they’ve looked extremely solid.
Minnesota on the other hand, comes in as the seven seed, though they lost their last game of the regular season, and are playing mediocre ball, to say the least, as they’re 4-6 in their last ten. From a star standpoint, I think this Wolves roster is stronger, with Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D’Angelo Russell leading the way, but from a whole team perspective, it’s hard to bet against LA with PG back. I’m going to take the Clippers in a close one here, as I think they sneak past Minnesota on the road, and lock up the seven seed in the first round, to take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
Noah’s NBA Pick: Los Angeles Clippers (+130)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
