NBA Parlay Picks for Tuesday, April 4, 2023

There is less than a week left in the NBA regular season. Ten teams will see their seasons come to an end after this coming Sunday, and it will be interesting to see who finishes strong and who is ready to mail it in over the last few games.

Unfortunately for me, I struggled on Friday and Saturday after a strong performance through the first half of last week. I lost both of my NBA betting picks on Friday night, and I went 1-1 on Saturday as I was proven right with the Miami Heat but proven wrong with my decision to back the Los Angeles Clippers over the New Orleans Pelicans.

However, I was able to turn things around yesterday with two great calls. I noted that the Toronto Raptors would easily beat the Charlotte Hornets in the Queen City on Sunday simply because this was the best spot for Toronto to get a win down the stretch given its remaining schedule. Toronto ended up closing as a whopping 15.5-point road favorite by the basketball betting odds, but the Raptors covered all numbers in a 20-point win.

My call for the San Antonio Spurs to cover the number against the Sacramento Kings was even better though. San Antonio was an enormous 16-point underdog by the NBA lines, but the Spurs were one of two underdogs of 15+ points to win outright on the day. Sacramento wasn’t fully locked in after celebrating its postseason berth, and San Antonio was hungry for a win now that a bottom-three spot is locked up.

NBA Betting Odds at BetRivers Sportsbook

Minnesota Timberwolves at Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets can essentially lock up the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Brooklyn lost six out of seven games late last month, but the Nets have responded with three straight victories to make sure they stay ahead of the Miami Heat to claim the No. 6 seed.

Brooklyn has been pleasantly surprised with the play of Mikal Bridges. He was seen as a defensive stopper during his time with the Phoenix Suns, and Bridges was one of the key players that Brooklyn received in the Kevin Durant trade. Since being acquired though, he has shown that he can be the top scorer on a playoff team too. Bridges is averaging 27.6 PPG while making 49.7% of his field goals and 41.8% of his threes for Brooklyn. This team has a sneaky amount of talent, and the Nets could really surprise in the postseason given the right matchup.

Minnesota has lost three straight games and fell as a massive home favorite against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. The Timberwolves were favored by a whopping 19.5 points per the NBA betting odds as Portland sat all its starters and played a collection of reserve players. However, the T-Wolves have been dealing with a flu bug, and it sounds like it could impact the status of certain players in this game on Tuesday night too.

Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz

Suddenly, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking like one of the scariest teams in the Western Conference. After languishing under .500 for most of the season, the Lakers are finally hitting their stride with a healthy Anthony Davis and LeBron James. They are now just a half-game out of the playoffs proper at this point, and they have a very winnable game on Tuesday night against a Utah Jazz team that is probably ready for the offseason.

Utah has been one of the most overachieving teams in the league this season. The Jazz traded away their two best players and were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA, but they have been continually competitive. Lauri Markkanen is having the best season of his career as Utah is 36-32. The Jazz are now in 12^th place though after losing seven of their last 10 games, so it’s time for this front office to prioritize draft position. Their four remaining games are all against teams with better records than them, so Utah should start to think about ensuring itself of a top ten pick.