We’re now into the final week of the NBA regular season, which means wins are at an absolute premium for the teams still vying for playoff or play-in positions. Here, we run you through our best spread and player prop bets for the big slate on Tuesday where there are plenty of juicy matchups.
NBA Betting Tips: Tuesday, 11th of May
Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers
Quicken Loans Arena, 9:30am AEST
Indiana Pacers were unable to close out the Wizards in their most recent outing and eventually went down by one point in overtime. It was a crushing blow for the now 31-36 Pacers who are just two games safe from the in-form Bulls who are hunting them down for the 10th spot in the East.
Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off back-to-back 20+ point losses against the Mavericks, which made it 10 straight losses overall. The Cavs have now lost each of their past six games by 15+ points and are doing their very best to finish with the worst record in the East.
The Pacers certainly aren’t in the best of form at the moment, but they won’t have to be to overcome this terrible Cavs team on Tuesday. We’re surprised the line has been set at just 5.5 points and are prepared to go one step further and back the Pacers to win by 11+ points at nearly $3.
Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors
Chase Center, 12pm AEST
Utah Jazz continue to tick the win column over and have now chalked up 50 for the season against just 18 losses. They’ve been the most consistent team from start to finish this campaign and are more than deserving of the #1 spot in the West should they hang onto it in the remaining games.
Golden State Warriors have come on strong in recent weeks, mostly thanks to the scoring explosion that Steph Curry has delivered. They were far, far too good from the rebuilding Thunder with blowout wins in their back-to-back meetings, making it four wins from the Warriors past five games as a whole.
The Jazz have done extremely well to continue to win games without Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley on the court, but we’re predicting a rare loss on Tuesday against the Warriors. The Jazz have struggled on the road over the past month or so, losing five of their past eight away from home and against a Warriors team in desperate need of wins, we expect them to find it tough once again.
Steph Curry has been lighting it up for weeks now and has been getting all the credit he deserves; however, the play of Draymond Green has also been excellent but has flown under the radar somewhat. Green has been a triple-double threat on a nightly basis and always seems to step it up in the big games. His PRA line has been set at 25.5 for this clash, which he has covered in four of his past five games and is likely to do it once again on Tuesday.
Prop: Green O25.5 PRA ($1.91)
Golden State Warriors H2H
$2.10
Houston Rockets at Portland Trail Blazers
Moda Center, 12pm AEST
Houston Rockets have had a nightmare season from start to finish and will be counting down the days until it’s all over. Last time out they were beaten by the Jazz, which made it five straight losses and 10 losses from their past 11 games. The Rockets hold the worst record in the league at 16-52.
Portland Trail Blazers have had a tough run with injuries this season but are starting to get a fair run at it as we approach the playoffs. They were far too good for the Spurs in an important contest last time out, which made it seven wins from their last eight games.
The Blazers have been surging up the rankings in the West and are now in the box seat to finish inside the top six and avoid the play-in tournament. They’re still far from safe however, so expect them to bring the heat once again and put the Rockets to the sword at home.
Damian Lillard went through a rough patch with his form after the All-Star break, but with the pressure on his team to secure important wins over the past couple of weeks, Dame has gone on a tear, as you’d expect. He’s had four straight games of 30+ points on two of those occasions he played little to no time in the fourth quarter due to a blowout. Expect him to get busy again here and put up some more big numbers.
Prop: Lillard 30+ Points ($2.10)
Portland Trail Blazers -11.5
$1.85
