After having a night off on Monday, we’re going to get a jam-packed twelve-game slate of NBA action on Tuesday. Let’s dive into the schedule, odds, and top picks for Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

NBA Odds and Schedule, April 5

Philadelphia 76ers @ Indiana Pacers 7:00 p.m. ET

Spread: PHI -11.5
76ers last 10: 6-4
76ers ATS: 37-40-1 (17th)
Pacers last 10: 2-8
Pacers ATS: 33-42-4 (24th)
Over/Under: 234.5
Over/Under Trends: Four of the Pacers’ last five games (each of their last four) have hit the over, while only two of the 76ers’ last five gave have gone over. The 76ers are also 6th in the NBA in points allowed at just 106.8 per game and given their pace (listed below) it tends to lead to lower-scoring games.
Pace of Play: Pacers are 17th in the NBA in pace, 76ers are tied for 26th.
The pick: Tobias Harris over 1.5 threes
Why?: This started when I saw that the Pacers were 28th in three-point field goal percentage allowed at 37%. I also noticed that Harris has hit this prop in six of his last ten games and has been playing about 35 minutes a game over his last ten. He’s also shooting just under six threes a game over his last seven games and shot 38% from three in March. If he attempts five to six threes against Indiana, I feel pretty good about him hitting this prop. Also, if this game is not close, and it’s not projected to be, I’d expect far less of Joel Embiid and James Harden, which could mean more touches on offense for Harris.

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic, 7:00 p.m. ET

Spread: CLE -8.5
Cavs last 10: 4-6
Cavs ATS: 40-33-6 (9th)
Magic last 10: 2-8
Magic ATS: 35-44 (23rd)
Over/Under: 221
Over/Under Trends: Three of the Cavs’ last five games have gone over the over/under total; however, under two of the Magic’s last five games have hit the over. Yet, both teams are below-average defensively, with the Cavs ranking 24th in points allowed, and the Magic are tied for 19th.
Pace of Play: Magic are 11th in the NBA in pace, Cavs are 26th.
The pick: Moses Brown over 9.5 rebounds
Why?: Let me introduce you to Moses Brown, the new starting center for the Cavs. With Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen both out, Brown has moved into the starting lineup in the last four games and averaged 24.3 minutes per game and 11.8 rebounds. He was able to grab 12 rebounds against Joel Embiid in his last game against the 76ers in just 20 minutes since he was battling foul trouble. The Magic don’t have anybody inside quite like Embiid and give up the 27th-most rebounds in the NBA. If Brown can stay out of foul trouble, I think he can easily hit double-digit rebounds here.

For more NBA odds today and news, visit TailgateSports.com

Houston Rockets @ Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m. ET

Spread: BKN -17
Nets last 10: 5-5
Nets ATS: 30-44-4 (29th)
Rockets last 10: 3-7
Rockets ATS: 33-44-2 (25th)
Over/Under: 244.5
Over/Under Trends: Four of the Rocket’s last five games and hit the over, including each of their last four. Meanwhile, only one of the Nets’ last five games has gone over the total. The Nets are 21st in points allowed, and the Rockets are 30th in points allowed, so they’re both below-average defensive units.
Pace of Play: Rockets are 2nd in the NBA in pace, Nets are 10th.
The pick: Jalen Green over 23.5 points
Why?: We just covered above that the Nets are 21st in points allowed, which is, obviously, below average. We should also note that Jalen Green is coming into this game on a tear, going over this total in all five of his last five games, including four games in a row with 30 or more points. Green is consistently seeing minutes in the high 30s of late, and he’s chucking from three, hoisting double-digit three-point attempts in five of his last six games. Considering he also shot 39.7% from three in March, the more the merrier when it comes to shots from beyond the arc. He’s the featured player in Houston, and we expect that to remain the same until the end of the season.

Charlotte Hornets @ Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m ET

Spread: MIA -5.5
Hornets last 10: 7-3
Hornets ATS: 42-34-2 (7th)
Heat last 10: 6-4
Heat ATS: 44-34-1 (6th)
Over/Under: 227
Over/Under Trends: The Hornets have gone under the point total in three of their last five; however, their last two games have hit the over. The Heat have gone over the over/under in three of their last five games. The Heat are a strong defensive unit, ranking 3rd in points allowed; however, the Hornets rank 26th in points allowed per game.
Pace of Play: Hornets are 6th in the NBA in pace, Heat are 29th
The pick: Mikail Bridges under 6.5 rebounds
Why?: The Heat rank 2nd in the NBA in rebounds allowed per game, which is in part due to their slower pace of play, but also just their strong fundamentals. They don’t allow a lot of second chances on the defensive end. That would appear to be bad news for Bridges who has also only gone over this total in one of his last ten games and has just two rebounds in each of his last two games. Given his recent play and the tough matchup, I’ll take the under here.

Atlanta Hawks @ Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m. ET

Spread: TOR -4
Haws last 10: 7-3
Hawks ATS: 35-43 (22nd)
Raptors last 10: 7-3
Raptors ATS: 45-33 (3rd)
Over/Under: 226.5
Over/Under Trends: Four of the Hawks’ last five games have hit the over, but only two of the Raptors’ last five have gone over the point total. The Raptors are 8th in points against per game, but the Hawks are just 22nd.
Pace of Play: Hawks are 19th in the NBA in pace, Raptors are 25th.
The pick: Raptors (-4)
Why?: Well, first we have the rankings against the spread on the season. The Raptors are one of the best teams in the league against the spread, while the Hawks are below average. The Hawks have also failed to cover the spread in eight of their last nine games as road underdogs. The Raptors have also won eight of their last nine games against the Hawks in Toronto and considering the Hawks are just 15-23 on the road this season, we like the Raptors to take this one.

Washington Wizards @ Minnesota Timberwolves, 8:00 p.m. ET

Spread: MIN -12.5
Wizards last 10: 5-5
Wizards ATS: 31-45-2 (28th)
Wolves last 10: 6-4
Wolves ATS: 43-35-1 (8th)
Over/Under: 225.5
Over/Under Trends: The Wizards have gone over the point total in four of their last five, including each of their last three, while the Wolves have gone over in three of their last five, including each of their last two games. The Wolves are also 23rd in points allowed per game, while the Wizards are 17th; however, they have been trending down of late, allowing 115.8 points per game, which is over four points worse than their season average.
Pace of Play: The Wolves are 1st in the NBA in pace, Wizards are tied for 23rd.
The pick: Tomas Satoransky over 6.5 assists
Why?: Satoransky’s minutes have been trending down a bit over the last two games; however, he has still managed to go over this total in each of his last five games. The Timberwolves also rank 27th in the NBA in assists allowed per game, in part because of their fast pace of play, which lends itself to more possessions. It’s also important to note that Satoransky has seen fewer minutes of late (20 versus Boston and 15th versus Dallas) because both games had 30+ point differentials. Again, he was still able to beat this prop in both of those games, but if this game is a bit closer, we can expect Satoransky to get closer to 25 minutes, which has been leading to double-digit assist totals of late.

Milwaukee Bucks @ Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m. ET

Spread: MIL -6
Bucks last 10: 6-4
Bucks ATS: 37-41 (19th)
Bulls last 10: 4-6
Bulls ATS: 41-36-1 (11th)
Over/Under: 233.5
Over/Under Trends: Three of the Bucks’ last five games have hit the over, including each of their last two games. Only two of the Bulls’ last five games have gone over the over/under, but it has been each of their last two games. Despite both of these teams having solid defensive reputations, the Bulls rank 16th in points allowed per game and the Bucks rank 18th.
Pace of Play: Bucks are tied for 6th in the NBA in pace, Bulls are 16th.
The pick: Bucks -6
Why?: There are whispers that Zach LaVine will miss this game with a knee injury, and the Bulls seem to be moving in the wrong direction lately. However, their early season success has them set up for a playoff bid, so resting LaVine would make sense with a Wednesday game against the Celtics on tap next. The Bucks need this game to try and inch closer to that top seed or at least leapfrog the Celtics for the second spot in the Eastern Conference, so I expect them to come out swinging against a beat-up Chicago team.

Portland Trail Blazers @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8:00 p.m. ET

Spread: OKC -3.5
Blazers last 10: 1-9
Blazers ATS: 30-47-1 (30th)
Thunder last 10: 3-7
Thunder ATS: 47-27-4 (2nd)
Over/Under: 222
Over/Under Trends: Both the Blazers and Thunder have gone under the point total in three of their last five games. Also, four of the last five games between the two teams have also gone under.
Pace of Play: Thunder are 12th in the NBA in pace, Blazers are tied for 14th.
The pick: Drew Eubanks over 14.5 points
Why?: These are two teams that are limping towards the finish line and not trying hard to win so it’s really hard to pick a spread or over/under here. However, these teams did also play last Monday and Eubanks went for 27 points and 14 rebounds in an overtime loss. He’s averaging 33.2 minutes per game over his last five and 17.6 points per game over that span. You can attack the Thunder inside, so I expect Eubanks to have another strong game here.

San Antonio Spurs @ Denver Nuggets, 9:00 p.m. ET

Spread: DEN -8.5
Spurs last 10: 7-3
Spurs ATS: 39-37-2 (14th)
Nuggets last 10: 6-4
Nuggets ATS: 36-43 (21st)
Over/Under: 234
Over/Under Trends: Three of the Nuggets’ last five games have gone over, including each of their last three. Meanwhile, just two of the Spurs’ last five games have gone over despite their fast pace of play. Six of the last eight meetings between these two teams have gone over.
Pace of Play: Spurs are 4th in the NBA in pace, Nuggets are 20th.
The pick: Devin Vassell over 21.5 PRA (Points+Rebounds+Assists)
Why?: Dejounte Murray is out for the Spurs today, so my first thought was to find a scorer to pivot to. The obvious choice is Keldon Johnson, but the 20.5 number for him is pretty high, especially against Aaron Gordon and the Nuggets, so we have to pivot off of that too, which is why we come to Vassell. Vassell has been inconsistent on the season, even in games where he gets big minutes. However, he is a well-rounded player who contributes across multiple categories, which helps here. For example, in 34 minutes against the Rockets, he shot just 3-13 from the field, but still had nine points, eight rebounds and two assists, which is 19 PRA in a bad game. Similarly, against Portland, he shot just 4-10 from the field but had 16 points, four rebounds, and five assists for 25 PRA. His ability to raise this number in a few different ways has me feeling confident we can hit the over here.

Memphis Grizzlies @ Utah Jazz, 9:00 p.m. ET

Spread: UTA -5.5
Grizzlies last 10: 9-1
Grizzlies ATS: 50-27-1 (1st)
Jazz last 10: 4-6
Jazz ATS: 31-45-2 (27th)
Over/Under: 226.5
Over/Under Trends: Four of the Grizzlies’ last five games have gone under the point total as they have a strong defense. Three of the Jazz’s last five games have also gone under the over/under total.
Pace of Play: Grizzlies are 3rd in the NBA in pace, Jazz are 22nd.
The pick: Grizzlies (+5.5)
Why?: Can we stop betting against the Grizzlies? We picked them as underdogs against the Suns on Sunday, so we’ll go back to the well tonight. We know Ja Morant is out, but the Grizzlies, somehow, have an even better record without him. They’ve also been good as an underdog, going 18-9 against the spread in those games and 17-10 straight up. The Jazz have also failed to cover the spread in each of their last seven games and are 4-6 straight up in their last ten, so this is a team that is struggling to gain rhythm, especially on the defensive end, where they are letting up 114.4 points per game over their last seven games, going 1-6 over that span.

New Orleans Pelicans @ Sacramento Kings, 10:00 p.m. ET

Spread: NO -8
Pelicans last 10: 6-4
Pelicans ATS: 39-38-1 (15th)
Kings last 10: 5-5
Kings ATS: 36-40-3 (18th)
Over/Under: 224.5
Over/Under Trends: Two disparate streaks here as all five of the Pelican’s last five games have gone under the point total, but just one of the Kings’ last five games has gone under. Part of that could be due to their vastly different pace of play
Pace of Play: Kings are 6th in the NBA in pace, Pelicans are 21st.
The pick: Davion Mitchell over 7.5 assists
Why?: So Mitchell has gone over this total in each of his last five games and six of his last seven. He’s averaging 39 minutes per game over his last nine games and has been a driving force behind the Kings’ offense. His shot hasn’t been falling of late, which has me off his PRA totals, but I think that the recent string of games and a matchup with an average defense like the Pelicans has me believing in Mitchell’s ability to continue hitting this prop.

Los Angeles Lakers @ Phoenix Suns, 10:00 p.m. ET

Spread: PHO -12
Suns last 10: 8-2
Suns ATS: 42-36 (10th)
Lakers last 10: 2-8
Lakers ATS: 32-44-2 (26th)
Over/Under: 232.5
Over/Under Trends: Three of the Lakers’ last five games have gone over the point total as they play at a relatively fast pace, but only two of the Sun’s last five games have gone over, thanks, in part, to ranking 9th in the NBA in points allowed per game.
Pace of Play: Lakers are tied for 6th in the NBA in pace, Suns are 9th.
The pick: Over 232.5
Why?: For starters, both of these teams are top-10 in pace, which is something we like when attacking the over. We know the Lakers tend to hit the over and they should again push the pace on offense with Anthony Davis and LeBron James both in the lineup. The Suns don’t have much to play for, but if the Lakers make a few runs and keep this game relatively close, you’ll see strong minutes from Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and company, which could mean the Suns keep their foot on the gas a little bit more than we might expect.