We are well and truly past the halfway point of the NBA season with Tuesday morning games gracing the airwaves.
A handful of conference leaders do battle on the court as we scour through the fixtures to find the best bets in our daily NBA preview.
Let’s do it!
Wizards @ Raptors
April 6th 9:00am
The Washington Wizards take the trip to Florida to face the Toronto Raptors for an Eastern Conference battle on Tuesday morning.
The Wizards are on the hunt to stop a three-game slide after a 109-87 defeat at the hands of the playoffs bound Dallas Mavericks.
Meanwhile, the Raptors managed to add some solace to a horrific run of form after smashing the Golden State Warriors with an enormous 130-77 victory – the biggest winning margin of an NBA fixture this season.
The win made it the Raptors second victory in 15 fixtures with Pascal Siakam registering 36 points in the 53-point trouncing of the Warriors.
NBA leading point scorer Bradley Beal will be a welcome inclusion to the Wizards squad but he is still in some doubt after missing the last two games with a hip complaint.
If Beal misses again, the Raptors should be able to make it consecutive wins for the first time since February.
Suggested Bet: Toronto Raptors head to head at $1.50
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: P. Siakim Under 9.5 Rebounds
Leg 2: Total Points under 230.5
Leg 3: M. Flynn 2+ 3 Pointers
Leg 4: Raptors Win
Combined Odds: $4.20
New York @ Brooklyn
April 6th 9:00am
Brooklyn continues its homestay when it faces the New York Knicks at the Barclays Centre on Tuesday morning after accounting for the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
The Nets improved their impressive season record to 34-16 with the 111-89 thumping of the Hornets and have the chance to surpass Eastern Conference leader Philadelphia with a win.
New York has proven a tough outfit to come up against for Brooklyn this season.
Having already played each other twice, the Nets did prevail on both occasions but were made to work tirelessly for the wins.
A 116-109 victory in the first contest was followed up by a 117-112 win in the reverse fixture.
The Nets did it with Kevin Durant present for the first contest then managed to repeat the dose without him.
New York played some of its best basketball this season in both losses and with Durant still likely to miss as well as an injury cloud hanging over James Harden, the Knicks could make it a case of ‘third time is a charm.’
Suggested Bet: New York Knicks +5.5 at $1.91
Sacramento @ Minnesota
April 6th 9:00am
Sacramento are out to address a three-game losing streak when it faces the embattled Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Centre.
Losses to the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and most recently the Milwaukee Bucks have put an end to a run of six wins in seven games to end the month of March.
The Kings were outclassed by two of the best teams in the NBA as the 120-106 loss against San Antonio was followed up by a 115-94 loss to the Lakers and a narrow 129-128 defeat against the Bucks.
That form alone, though, would easily account for a Timberwolves roster who are ranked last in the Western Conference with a 12-38 win-loss record but did impress in the 122-113 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Timberwolves were simply outclassed but showed signs of a return to form against a genuine finals contender.
The match is the first of three fixtures between the two rosters this month with the Timberwolves needing to pay close attention to De’Aaron Fox who averages 24.5 points per game as well as 7.1 assists.
Suggested Bet: Minnesota Timberwolves to cover the +3.5 point spread
Phoenix @ Houston
April 6th 10:00am
The Phoenix Suns embark on a quest to continue their rise up the Western Conference when it heads to Houston on Tuesday morning.
The Suns have swept aside all before them in their last five fixtures with the most recent win being a 140-103 belting of the Oklahoma City Thunder as Devin Booker notched up 32 points alongside Chris Paul’s 17-point and 12-assist game.
Having been dealt four consecutive defeats, the Rockets season sits in tatters at 13-36 with a terrible 6-18 record at the Toyota Centre.
The loss of James Harden has left a hole in the Rockets roster too big to patch up this season with John Wall trying his best to hold up things from offensive point of view.
Unfortunately, for the Rockets, Wall has missed the last three games with soreness in his left knee and is likely to miss against the Suns.
Despite losing to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Rockets did show improvement in the 122-115 loss and if not for a final quarter fade out may have very well won.
With a Grand Canyon-sized gap separating the the two teams on the NBA table, it’s expected the Suns will easily tally up its 35th win of the season.
Suggested Bet: Phoenix Suns to cover the -10.5 point spread at $1.91.
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Phoenix Win
Leg 2: Phoenix -8.5
Leg 3: K. Olynyk 13.5 + Points
Leg 4: M. Bridges 2+ 3 Pointers
