The National Basketball Association (NBA) has a pair of NBA Play-In Tournament games on Tuesday night. At 7:30 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video, the Miami Heat travel to meet the Charlotte Hornets in a clash between the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds in the Eastern Conference. At 10:00 p.m. ET, the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns battle at Mortgage Matchup Center, also on Amazon Prime Video. Let’s build our bankroll with our best NBA picks & predictions for Tuesday, April 14th’s game Trail Blazers vs. Suns.
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Tuesday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions: Trail Blazers vs. Suns
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Portland Trail Blazers (+132) at Phoenix Suns (-156) | O/U 216.5 (-110/-110)
The Trail Blazers (42-40) and Suns (45-37) meet at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix in the late game. Phoenix won two out of three meetings in the regular season, with the road team going 3-0 straight up (SU)/ATS in each of the meetings. The over has cashed in two out of three matchups this season, too. The over is 4-1 in the past five in the series.
Portland won 92-77 on February 22nd in Phoenix in the most recent battle, cashing as a 4-point favorite, as the under (224.5) hit. The Blazers have won three of the past five in the series, while going 6-2 ATS in the past eight in the series.
Portland is making its first appearance in the NBA Play-In Tournament since 2020 against the Memphis Grizzlies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trail Blazers advanced to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed that season. That was their first and only appearance in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Phoenix is playing in its first-ever play-in game.
The Trail Blazers were impressive down the stretch, going 5-2 SU in the final seven games, while also going 5-2 ATS. The under is 6-2 in the past eight outings.
The Suns beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in their regular-season finale, with the No. 1 seed Thunder resting most starters with nothing to gain. They covered as 7.5-point underdogs, halting a 0-6 ATS skid. Phoenix tumbled into the NBA Play-In Tournament by going 6-10 SU in the final 16 regular-season games. The over is 7-3 in the past 10 outings.
Let’s take Portland catching a little bit of points, while going over on the total.
Picks: Trail Blazers +3.5 (-108) & Over 216.5 Points (-110)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe