The Cleveland Cavaliers and Brookyln Nets take to the court for the Wednesday BetDeluxe Preview in the first play-in contest of the 2021/22 season.
All the best bets from that huge game plus the tips and selections from the Clippers’ play-in contest against the Timberwolves.
cleveland @ brooklyn
april 13th 9:00am
The ‘do-or-die’ battle for supremacy and progression into the playoffs begins when Brooklyn hosts Cleveland at the Barclays Center on Wednesday.
This is exactly what the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving live for; cut-throat fixtures where their talents and ‘wow’ factor can come to the fore.
In what has been a strange year for the Nets, they end up here after a season of huge momentum shifts.
Namely, due to the changing nature of its squad on a day-by-day basis, but with that behind them, coach Steve Nash should now have a settled squad to pick with.
Cleveland, on the other hand, is one of the surprise packets of the season.
After losing 50 games through 2020/21, the Cavaliers were considered serious underdogs to make it anywhere near the playoffs.
Alas, a big spike in its performances thanks to the likes of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen has seen the Cavs climb through the Eastern Standings at a rate of knots.
Allen, however, is set to miss this clash with a broken finger.
He will be a huge omission for the Cavaliers with this ability to guard the paint a massive factor in their success this year.
It opens up the door for Durant and Irving to drive their way to the rim for easy points.
The Nets’ win-loss record this season is not a true reflection of how good this squad is.
Irving missed a big chunk of games due to his vaccination status, but with that now not being an issue, his trickery and wizardry with ball-in-hand will be felt here.
Brooklyn has the advantage here with Allen being out.
The Nets boast a 3-1 regular-season winning record against the Cavaliers, which has to be a heavily taken into account here.
Suggested Bet: Brooklyn -8.5 at $1.91
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Brookyln -8.5
Leg 2: K. Durant over 30.5 points
Leg 3: Total points scored over 228.5
Combined odds = $4.60
la clippers @ minnesota
april 13th 11:30am
The Western Conference Play-In tournament will kick off with the number-eight ranked Los Angeles Clippers travel over to Minnesota to take on the number-seven ranked Timberwolves.
There is, arguably, no hotter team in the play-in tournament at the moment with the Clippers bringing in a five-game winning streak.
The Timberwolves do not too look too shabby either having posted a strong 15-8 winning record since the turn of All-Star weekend.
However, Minnesota’s record against the Clippers this season leaves a little bit to be desired.
The Timberwolves stopped a season sweep with a 122-104 win in their most recent clash against the Clippers, but still fell in the season series 3-1.
There were definitely excuses for Timberwolves Chris Finch, with most of those losses on the back of him sorting out rotations and finding ideal roles for his roster.
But the return of Paul George for the Clippers could spell trouble for the Timberwolves.
He did not play in the 18-point loss back on January 4, so his inclusion in this match is a huge boost for the Clippers.
Going to side the winning momentum of the Clippers for this one.
Suggested Bet: LA Clippers +2.5 at $1.91
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: LA Clippers +2.5
Leg 2: P. George over 28.5 points
Leg 3: Total score under 230.5
Combined odds = $7
