We have a small slate of five NBA games to look forward to today. I have selected the best NBA bets for April 11 for you to jump on. Relax, enjoy the games, and let’s improve our hot form. We are 5-1 over the last two days.
Best NBA Bets For April 11, 2024
Bulls @ Pistons
Bulls over 112.5 (-125)
The Chicago Bulls travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons in the final game of their season series. The previous match ended in a 10-point win for the Bulls.
The Bulls are ninth in the East. That means they would have home advantage for their 9th vs 10th seed play-in game. The tenth seed, the Atlanta Hawks, have a 21-20 record at home while on the road. Their record is 15-24.
The Pistons have dealt with so many injuries this season. Perhaps Monty Williams will cite that as a major reason they fell below expectations this season.
Still, recording only 13 wins through 79 games is a franchise record low for wins in a season. They are projected to have a top-three draft pick as they have the worst record in the NBA. Unfortunately, this year’s draft doesn’t have a ton of potential all-NBA prospects.
The Pistons have Cade Cunningham as a game-time decision. The Bulls have Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, and Nikola Vucevic listed as doubtful for this game.
The Pistons have been pretty poor defensively over the past 10 games. During that span, they are in the bottom 10 in defensive rating. Their opponents are averaging 113 points.
On a closer look at that run, six of their nine opponents scored at least 113 points. The opponents that didn’t score up to this total? The injury-riddled Grizzlies, Wizards, and anemic Timberwolves.
Over the last 10 games, the Pistons are top 10 in the NBA in pace. The Bulls have shown a willingness to play faster when facing faster teams. Higher pace equals more possessions which should equal more points scored.
In this bet, we’re picking the prop market for the Bulls because of how unpredictable the Pistons offense can be.
Rockets @ Jazz
Rockets -10.5 (-110)
The Utah Jazz welcome the Houston Rockets to the Delta Center. This will be the fourth and final meeting of the season between both sides. The Rockets won the most recent encounter in Salt Lake City by just a point, 101-100.
The Rockets have cooled in the month of April. They won their previous game. Before that, they were on a five-game losing streak. In March, they won 11 straight games before that streak.
The Utah Jazz have embraced their rebuild for several months now. They are comfortably 12th in the West. They will get a mid-lottery pick in this year’s draft. It will be interesting to see how they add assets to build around their franchise cornerstone in Lauri Markkanen.
The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun and Tari Eason remain out. For the Jazz, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, and Kris Dunn are all ruled out from this game.
As mentioned earlier, the Jazz are embracing their rebuild. They are resting so many players for the rest of the season.
It’s hard to win games in the NBA when you don’t have enough veterans in your rotation. In their previous game, they lost by 17 points to the Nuggets team just going through the motions.
The Rockets have been winning a lot of games over the past few weeks. They have been scoring points with relative ease. Even when they have lost, they are still putting up points in bunches.
Over the last five on the road, they have scored at least 132 points in three of those games.
In this NBA bet, we are backing the Rockets to cover on the road against a depleted Jazz team.
Pelicans @ Kings
Pelicans ML (-106)
The Sacramento Kings host the New Orleans Pelicans in the fifth and final game of the season series. The previous game ended in a 33-point win for the Pelicans at the Golden 1 Center.
This matchup is one of the most meaningful games down the stretch in the West. These two teams meet in a game with serious implications for both.
For the Pelicans, they go closer to sealing an automatic spot in the playoffs as the sixth seed. The Suns will be hoping the Pels drop this game so they can supplant them.
The Kings have suffered at times in the absence of Malik Monk . A win here would get them closer to home advantage for their likely play-in game. A loss makes things complicated for them in the final two games of the season.
The Kings continue to deal with the absence of Kevin Huerter, and Keegan Murray is a game-time decision. The Pelicans have Naji Marshall as a game-time decision.
The Pelicans have had the Kings’ number all season. They are 4-0 in the season series and will look to close out the sweep.
The Kings have been patchy for the past couple of weeks. They have just been .500 over their previous 10 games. They have struggled against teams with top-15 defenses in terms of defensive rating.
Their wins against these defenses have been opportunistic. They beat a Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers, Khris Middleton-less Bucks, Joel Embiid-less 76ers, and an injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies.
The Pelicans have been dominant on the road. Over the previous 15 games on the road, they have lost just three. Helps that the Pelicans are so long and will absolutely pester the lone ball handler of the Kings in De’Aaron Fox.
In this bet, back the over.
The Last Word
These are my best NBA bets for April 11, 2024. Let’s repeat some recent successes.
Good luck with your bets.
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of approximately 4:00 p.m. EST on April 11. These are for entertainment purposes only and by no means a guarantee. Wager responsibly.
The post Best NBA Bets For April 11, 2024 appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.