NBA Best Bets For Tuesday, April 22: Minnesota To Cover The Spread

The NBA playoffs continue this Tuesday, April 22, with three matchups headlined by the Timberwolves versus Lakers at 10 p.m. ET on TNT. Keep reading for NBA best bets below, and bet with your favorite sportsbook apps. 

NBA Best Bets For Tuesday, April 22

Check out three bets below for Tuesday’s NBA games.

Minnesota Timberwolves +6 (-110 DraftKings) 

Minnesota’s size advantage was crystal clear in Game 1. The Timberwolves bullied Los Angeles’ small-ball lineup and leveraged their physicality to generate a whopping 27 wide-open triples. 

Lakers fans can justifiably argue that Naz Reid and Julius Randle combining to shoot 10 for 15 from deep was an outlier night, but can’t the same be said in the other direction of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo going a combined 2 for 11? 

The Lakers may decide to double Anthony Edwards less frequently in order to stay home on spot-up shooters, but it would allow Edwards to hunt Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at will — an extremely unappealing option for the Lakers. 

At the end of the day, Minnesota’s size and willingness to embrace kick-outs will be a consistent issue for Los Angeles and should lead to a plethora of clean 3-point opportunities. The Wolves finished the regular season fourth in 3-point percentage, so they have the shooters to capitalize. 

On the other end, they are not constructed to defend Doncic. However, Minnesota can somewhat limit LeBron James’ isolation and rim scoring due to Randle and Rudy Gobert’s strength. The Wolves also possess a number of elite perimeter defenders to throw at Reaves. 

Essentially, Minnesota will struggle mightily to handle Doncic but can perhaps limit Los Angeles as a whole should James and Reaves have an off night on jumpers. 

There are too many avenues for the Wolves to exploit, so six points is simply too much of an advantage to give Minnesota. I would play the line at one unit. 

Isaiah Hartenstein Over 13.5 Points+Assists (+100 FanDuel)

Oklahoma City absolutely obliterated Memphis by 51 points to open the series. It was like watching the Mike Tyson versus Marvis Frazier fight on repeat. 

Despite only logging 21 minutes, Isaiah Hartenstein scored 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting and dished out five assists. Memphis had no answer for his push-shot or passing out of the short roll, and he received a ton of usage in this action because the Grizzlies were determined to limit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring.

I expect Memphis to live with Hartenstein’s scoring if it means fewer opportunities for SGA because that’s the superior long-term option across hundreds of possessions. 

Zach Edey’s size and rebounding also mean OKC will be forced to play Hartenstein heavy minutes barring a quick blowout. 

In five matchups this season (including Game 1), Hartenstein has averaged 17.4 points plus assists and reached 14 in four of five contests. Look for the Thunder to run a significant number of possessions through Hartenstein in Game 2.

I suggest playing this line at one and a half units. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo First Bucks Basket (+195 FanDuel)

Indiana’s defense is highly vulnerable to elite rim scorers, and Giannis Antetokounmpo remains the most dangerous threat across the association. He led the league in restricted area attempts per game and rim shot attempts per 75 possessions this season. 

Antetokounmpo has averaged 34.3 points per game in his last 20 matchups versus the Pacers, which is an absurd level of consistency. The former Finals MVP also took Milwaukee’s first shot in 28.3% of his starts this season. Only Kyle Kuzma topped this mark on the team. 

I recommend playing the line at half of a unit.