NBA Playoffs: 2 Best Bets and Top Player Prop for Tuesday, April 22
There are two big stories tonight across the NBA. Damian Lillard returns for the first time in a month to help the Bucks potentially even the series against Indiana, who has looked incredible as of late. In Los Angeles, the Lakers look to put an abysmal Game 1 performance behind them against a Minnesota bench unit that is playing some of their best basketball of the season.
Pacers-4 over Bucks
Damian Lillard will officially return to the court tonight against Indiana as the Bucks try to split this series before returning home for Game 3 later this week. Dame hasn’t played since March 18th, and since then, the Bucks have struggled to find their rhythm on the offensive side of the floor.
While this return might mean some limited minutes for the former All-Star, Lillard led the Bucks to a 3-1 regular season record against their newly formed rival. He scored just 18.3 PPG but acted as the key playmaker with 9.3 APG. After watching Indiana decimate the Bucks on both sides a few nights ago, it is tough to envision a game where the Bucks take over on the defensive end to stop Haliburton and this juggernaut of an offense.
The key stat that I think might stay the same in Game 2. The Bucks had a 15:10 AST/TO ratio while Indy’s was 28:5. These guys are playing at a high level, and now with a healthy Mathurin, the sky’s the limit for this young team.
T’Wolves +5.5 over Lakers
While the Lakers could easily tie this series up as we head to Minnesota later this week, I don’t think it will be in a blowout. Minnesota can hang with anyone when Anthony Edwards is hot and like many of us thought, these role players are starting to click at the right time.
McDaniels and DiVincenzo had extremely positive nights while Naz Reid poured in 23 bench points while sporting a +13 +/-. LeBron showed signs of age in this one while Luka’s mere one assist is extremely concerning for a Los Angeles team that can’t afford an ‘off shooting night’ against the team that went to the WCF just one season ago.
The Wolves constant ball movement and 25 fastbreak points won them Game 1 and should allow them to make it close again tonight in Game 2.
Chet Holmgren (OKC) OVER 15.5 Points
After scoring 19 points in just 21 minutes on Sunday in what was never a fair basketball game against the Grizzlies, Chet should be able to have another big night against a frontcourt that he matches up extremely well against.
When playing 30+ minutes since the start of March, the OKC big has gone 6/7 when his points prop is set at 15.5. I expect Memphis to keep the first half of this one close which should give Chet some more playing time to increase his usage and attempts throughout this Game 2 that should once again, end in a Thunder victory.
Jaden Vann
Sports Betting Contributor
Jaden Vann is a Sport Management and Creative Writing student at Syracuse University. Originally from Los Angeles, he covers sports betting and daily fantasy sports with a focus on the NBA, College Basketball, NFL, and College Football.
