[Gunaf Manji] (0:10 - 0:57)
Welcome everyone to the NBA podcast on RJ Bell's Dream Preview. I'm your host, Gunaf Manji, back in the saddle here for another episode of the NBA podcast. Round one is in full swing here.

Games three kicking off on Friday night and Saturday night. We'll get to those games here on the episode for the Friday night and Saturday games. We'll preview those games for you and also give out our best bets, give you guys a coupon code for pregame.com and of course our player prop best bet for the weekend here for the NBA playoffs. But joining me here to help me break everything down on the hardwood, it's my main man, Sleepy J. Sleepy, what's going on, brother? How are you doing this Thursday evening?

[Sleepy J] (0:57 - 2:45)
I'm doing good. Cashed an early ticket here on Thursday. Had the Philadelphia 76ers.

I actually played that one live. I played it over 209.5 and that got there. The pace picked up quite a bit in that game.

I think that that's something that you and I could probably discuss on the podcast. We had so many unders come in, games one and two, and now it seems like the books just kind of over adjusted because they were just getting hammered with so much money. There was a game, I think it was the Pacers and Bucs, game one, line opened like 238, got bet down to like 230.

And then game two, I think it came out at 228 and got bet down all the way to 220. So the money's been coming in here on the unders. I actually think it's just totally incorrect that the market has dropped down this much.

I understand going ahead and trying to lower these totals for the playoffs, but the NBA today is geared to go ahead and have teams score a certain amount of points, much shorter shot clock. These players have been playing for what, the last couple of years now, you know, at a much higher speed and much higher pace, getting shots up, shooting a ton of threes. The game has just developed completely different.

And I think the books, you know, they went back to like a 1999 type of game where, you know, we're still in 2024, last time I checked. So some of these games I think are just moved down a little bit too much now. So I think we're going to see at least a half decent run here on the over.

So I decided to go ahead and fire on that one. I think I gave that on the last podcast. I like the under to go ahead and start out and just watching the game after a couple of minutes.

I'm like, yeah, this, this isn't going to stay under. These guys are just, they're flying up and down the court now. So happy about that.

That was a, that was kind of my, my early Thursday winter there. And then watching the Lakers and the Nuggets as we go ahead and do this podcast.

[Gunaf Manji] (2:45 - 4:58)
Yeah. Two games in the book on Thursday night, both teams that were down Oh, to get on the board, getting back at home where the Orlando magic, they put up 121 points after just absolutely struggling in the first two games in Cleveland. And then the Philadelphia 76 just led by Joel Embiid 50 burger that he put up, got the Philadelphia 76ers on the board here to be down two games at one.

They'll look to even it up here on the believe it. The next game will be on Saturday between those two series looking to get even at two and two. But speaking of betting and picks here, let's recap our picture quickly.

Sleepy from our last episode. I'll start with my best bet. I get out the Sixers first quarter minus the one and a half and beat the market.

I had the CLV, this number closed at minus three. And I felt really good about it, especially, you know, we've talked about teams being down. Oh, to come back at home, coming out, firing out of the gate.

That just wasn't the case for this. Let's fill it up as Sony Sixers team. They showed up in the second half.

And unfortunately for me, I didn't get to the window, at least for the best bet that I gave out for the first quarter, but they did cover the cover the full game as they close close to the money. I won't say yet. It was minus six for the Sixers, but they got the victory there.

But unfortunately for me, didn't get there. I know we're still in the midst of your best bet. You took Michael Porter Junior's PRA to go under twenty six and a half.

Hopefully that gets us to the window for your best bet. But of course, our player prop best bet sleepy Nicola Jovic over five and a half rebounds. Another sweat free winner for us had three rebounds in the first quarter.

He played eight minutes in that first quarter, got sent to the bench to get his rest and he comes back. I want to say this was cashed by halftime sleepy. You could correct me if I'm wrong, but another sweat free winner that's now eighteen and two over our last twenty player prop best bets.

Ninety percent. We get to keep our jobs here for a little bit longer, firing at 90 percent here. Sleepy.

[Sleepy J] (4:59 - 6:35)
Yeah. I mean, if you're cashing tickets before halftime, you should be able to keep your job for a little bit longer. So that was nice.

That was a I felt like it was a really good pick. Yeah. And a lot of it was due to one of the last things that I said for the handicap for that particular game that I felt like Boston and Miami were going to go out there and gun up a bunch of threes.

And sure enough, there's Jovic out there, you know, stealing some some cheesy rebounds. So that really helped us. But yeah, it was a nice cash before halftime as far as, you know, your best bet goes down in flames.

But I really like that pick. I thought you had a really good handicap on that one. And the only thing I could say is that, you know, watching the game, it's just the next play.

They just try to muck you up so bad, try to get you to play dirty basketball. And that's kind of what happened to the Sixers there. You know, they fell into a little bit of a tussle where guys were kind of getting chippy and stuff like that, and they weren't playing their most fluid basketball.

And I felt like that's what they look like in the second half. You know, they went out there, they let their offense burn and turn. But in the first quarter there, I really liked that pick with you.

I tried to make that bet. I was out on the road. I was unable to get it in.

So, you know, fortunately for me, I didn't end up losing, but I was going to fire on that same wager because I felt I felt pretty strong with that. But that's kind of what I saw. I just saw the Knicks just going out there just, you know, muddying up the waters and Philly just couldn't seem to really get their footing.

But they didn't, you know, in the second half there, as far as my best bet, Michael Porter Jr., we're going to have to go ahead and wait on that one. That one's pending. But again, I like that pick quite a bit.

[Gunaf Manji] (6:36 - 8:46)
Yeah, I would make that same pick again with the Sixers. I mean, we saw Orlando case in point. They came out in the first quarter.

They were up by double digits. I want to say they were by 10. And then at the halftime, they were up by a significant amount as well.

Worthy Orlando magic. And, you know, it's okay. I mean, you know, I would make that same bet again, like I mentioned, like you said that at the handicap that we or I give at least for the best bet was pretty spot on and it just didn't get to the window.

So that's okay. Hopefully we can get another best bet here tonight for the Friday and Saturday games for the NBA playoffs. So yeah, let's turn the page here.

I think, yeah, again, one thing I did want to mention here sleepy before we get into the games for the Friday and Saturday night card is I think you probably 100% agree with this is that I just get a lot of joy when we win these player prop best bets or our best bets overall. And we get the tweets from our listeners saying they cash with us. And there's one in particular and I should, I got the gentleman's name and he said he had laddered up the rebounds for Joe Vic.

I think he said over seven and a half was the number at a nice plus price. And, you know, it's always fun when we're winning like we have been. And, you know, it's great that we fill our pockets as well when we're cashing these player prop best bets, but I just, it's just, I don't know the exact word, what exact words for it, but I just get a lot of joy out of other people also clashing along with us.

It just feels like, you know, where we're talking about betting and sports betting and things like that here. But I just get a lot of joy when other people are cashing in with us. I don't know if you have the same feeling there as well but I just love getting those tweets that people are cashing in with us and I get a lot of DMs and I'm sure you do as well.

Just people appreciating what we've been doing here as far as player prop best bet run here. As far as how hot we have been, I mean 90% of the last 20 picks, it's just been a lot of fun. Not only handicapping this, giving them out, but also cashing along the way.

It's just been an absolute pleasure sleeping.

[Sleepy J] (8:46 - 10:32)
I agree with you a hundred percent. It's motivating. It's motivating to go ahead and get right back on the podcast because we feel like we're going to be able to keep continuing to go out and give out winners because of the process that you and I have.

I love that process. We do a lot of discussions and stuff like that but I love the discussions with the people on X and on Twitter when they're out there and they're like, hey, I bet this and I bet that and I took this and I hit this and I hit that. I bet it at five and a half and it closed higher or whatever the case might be.

It's nice to go ahead and have those conversations and it's important too to have as many ears and eyes out there because these guys are watching a lot of the same stuff that you and I are watching and we can't see it all. These people alert us like, hey, this guy just showed up on the injury report even though we had Jovich over and it cashed nice and easy for us. There were guys tweeting at us immediately like, hey, he just hit the injury report.

What do you guys think? That's important. It's not just one guy going out there and saying, yeah, do this, do that and we win and we pound our chest.

The way I look at it is this is a community and we have a lot of listeners for this podcast and a lot of you guys are cheering us along and making the same bets that we are. As long as we're continuing to go ahead and share information and just lift each other up when we lose and be happy when we go to win, that's really what it's all about. If we can keep that same mojo and that same vibe going, I think we'll go ahead and we'll continue to go ahead and keep giving out winners.

I really like the pick that we have picked out tonight. Absolutely love that one. I know we're on an 18 and two run.

I wouldn't be surprised if we go ahead and we sweep right through the week and the way that you and I are feeling right now.

[Gunaf Manji] (10:33 - 12:18)
Yeah, 100%. Again, what you exactly mentioned, what our process has been for these player props, we're not just throwing shit and hoping it hits the sticks on the wall for us, but we actually have a process that we go through, especially this time of year in the postseason, we're throwing about three or four or five different guys out there discussing, hey, you know, what's the edge here? What's the game flow going to be?

What's the game script going to be for these players? And I think that's what's really been really profitable for us during this run here, not only back to the regular season, but also to start the playoffs here. So hopefully we continue that into the weekend here for the Friday and Saturday games.

So let's get right into the Friday and Saturday games. We'll handicap the six games outside of the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, because again, they are playing right now very early on in the first quarter. But we'll start here on the Friday schedule.

Just go in chronological order here. First game on the schedule. An interesting start time here.

Sleepy. It's going to be a 530 Eastern time start. It's going to be on ESPN, the four letter network.

We've got the Milwaukee Bucks. They are in Indiana to take on the Pacers. Pacers currently a six point favorite at home in this game with a total of 222.

And take a look at the entry report for both of these teams and more in particular for the Milwaukee Bucks. We still believe that Giannis is going to be out for this game. I personally believe he'll be back for a game for between these two teams in Indiana.

Chris Middleton did pop up on the injury report. He left, I want to say last game with an ankle injury on Thursday. He did not participate in shoot around and that's officially.

So that's questionable right now for the Milwaukee Bucks. I think that has a lot to do with where the line is right now at minus six in favor of the Pacers. You're sleepy, but serious tied up one to one.

We shift to Indiana here. What are you thinking about this matchup here?

[Sleepy J] (12:19 - 14:12)
Interesting time slot that they picked for this one, as you had mentioned, this is only because of the NFL draft. So the draft is going to kick off after this. So, you know, if you're sitting down with your popcorn and stuff, getting ready for the draft, you're going to be able to probably catch the fourth quarter of this game.

And that's probably what they're going for, because you don't want to compete with the Clippers and Mavericks or the Teewolves and Suns on a Friday night. So that's why they ended up doing that. I like the Pacers in the last game.

I still like the Pacers in the series. I'm a little bit opposite of you. I'm not sure if Giannis is going to make it back for game four.

Like I said, when I see him on the court, I'll believe it and I'll assess and I'll judge what percentage, you know, I think that he's at. I do not believe he's going to be a hundred percent when he goes ahead and he hits the floor. But I think the Pacers with the pace in which they play, especially in the last game, that's just going to create a lot of problems here for the Bucs.

Outside of Dame Lillard, there's not a whole lot of talent. Chris Middleton's now banged up. Do we really think that Brook Lopez is going to be able to go ahead and have the game like he put together in the last game?

I don't believe so. I actually think the Pacers come into this one and this is going to be one of the craziest crowds that this franchise has had in a long, long time. I like the Pacers here laying the five and a half points.

I think the Bucs get run out of the gym. I think they call the dogs off here, probably late in the third, early in the fourth. Like we had mentioned on the last couple of podcasts, you know, these home teams are playing really, really well.

And we saw that in games one and two where all the home teams end up winning. Now we're switching over to game three and four and we're starting to see the home teams win again. I think the Pacers win this game.

As far as player props, I haven't really dug into anything. Not going to go into mess with the total. I felt fortunate the last time these two teams played.

I played the over give that I was a premium play came in rather easily. I don't know if I want to push that button again, but I like what I saw from the Pacers. Give me the Pacers minus the five and a half.

I like them here at home.

[Gunaf Manji] (14:12 - 17:32)
Yeah, this is going to be a situation where I want to see how Chris Middleton looks if he ends up playing in this game for the Milwaukee Bucs, because you take a look in the two games, at least particularly in game one, he had 23 points, 10 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucs, providing that scoring support to Damian Lillard game to 36 minutes, six of 14 from the floor, 15 points out as efficient as he was in game one. And you talk about some of the depth.

I think that at that point, the Milwaukee Bucs will really be relying on their three point shooting in this game to keep them in the game against the Indiana Pacer. I think the Pacers are going to have the same script like they did in game to get up and down the floor, play your side of basketball, play what got you here in the NBA playoffs as this as a seed right now as the six seed. And I think right now what I've been really impressed with, with this Pacers team has been the play of Pascal Siakam, because he's been fantastic for this Indiana Pacers team.

Take a look at the first two games. He's had 36 points in game one in 40 minutes. He had 37 points in game two for the Indiana Pacers.

And now I've said this a lot that I expect the role players to play a lot better at home. And I think we've seen that in the first two games on Thursday night for the Sixers and for the Orlando Magic. I think that continues here for the Indiana Pacers as well.

So I like the Pacers here with you. I think it might be something similar to what we saw with the Oklahoma City Thunder, where in game two, they absolutely blew the Pelicans out of the gym and they're going to be behind this crowd. Like you mentioned, it's going to be a ruckus environment.

It's going to be an electric environment for the Indiana Pacers there at home. So I'm with you on the spread here. I would also mind a team total over for the Pacers, because again, if they're going to play their brand of basketball, getting up and down the floor and being efficient offensively, I could see them scoring another 110, 115 points here again against the Milwaukee Bucks.

So right there with you, I would also look at the Pacers team total as well. Like you haven't done really much into player props. I want to see what the exact status of Chris Middleton is going to be before I can get there.

But I couldn't talk you off again, Pascal Siakam doing what he did, because again, the minutes are going to be there for Pascal Siakam and the shot attempts are going to be there as well for Pascal Siakam. That's where I'm at with this game here. Sleepy.

We'll go to the next game on the schedule here. It's going to be a 810 Eastern start. We are going with the Clippers.

They are in Dallas to take on the Mavericks. This series also tied up one to one. We saw the 96, 93 victory for the Dallas Mavericks in that game.

Kawhi Leonard did return for the LA Clippers, but now they shift back to Dallas. Dallas right now a four and a half point home favorite in this game with a total of two 11 and looking at the injury report, some news in this game that Kawhi Leonard is questionable officially on the injury report for the Dallas Mavericks. They will be without Tim Hardaway Jr. In this game, he is dealing with an ankle injury. Sleepy minus four and a half is a number right now for the Dallas Mavericks in game three at home. What are you thinking?

[Sleepy J] (17:33 - 19:22)
I'd probably go ahead and side with the Clippers again, four and a half points here. I think a lot of it is due to the questionable tag that's put on Kawhi and the way that they looked with Kawhi on the floor. The fact that Dallas went into LA and beat them, I think that that's inflating the line a little bit.

Great pick by you. You liked Dallas in that last game. I was on the opposite side of you, so you got me on that one.

I think that the Clippers are going to show up here with a full effort. One, you're going to get another game with Kawhi back, and that was one of your things that you had mentioned. Were they going to have a little bit of a hitch in their step bringing him back?

I didn't think that they would. I actually don't think that they did. I just thought that Luka and Kyrie just played very, very well.

I expect the Clippers' offense to come in here and play really, really well. That's one of the things that I don't mind doing is playing a good defensive team on the road in this particular game here, that it's going to be Dallas' first game at home in the playoffs. I think that the Clippers can hang here.

I think they can keep it close. I think they could actually win this game. Four and a half points, I'll do that.

If Kawhi mysteriously gets rolled out, then I'll probably end up not making that wager, but I think the Hardaway Jr. injury is going to impact Dallas a little bit just because it's not a guy that they were going to take out of the rotation or go ahead and really lessen his minutes. He's been a key cog in that wheel for the Mavericks all year long, so he could be a little bit missed here. Maybe it opens up more opportunities for guys like Luka, guys like Kyrie, maybe some of the other starters.

I worry that maybe there's a little bit of a hitch here for the Mavs with that instead of what the Clippers are. Give me the Clips plus the four and a half. I like it.

I don't love it, but I'll probably end up betting that, believe it or not.

[Gunaf Manji] (19:22 - 22:04)
Yeah. I should have mentioned that also Daniel Gafford is questionable in this game here for the Dallas Mavericks. He's dealing with back spasms, but I'm not sure if that will be a significant injury for the Dallas Mavericks.

I know Derek Lively did return for this Dallas Mavericks team. I'm going to go the other way. I'm going to go with Dallas here.

I like Dallas at home here. They've been pretty good winning game straight up at home. And again, and I keep harping on this is I feel like that this is going to be a game where I see some of the role players for the Dallas Mavericks have a pretty good shooting night.

And whether that's going to be Maxie whether that's going to be. I know Tim Hardaway June, like I said, is injured. That's PJ Washington for this Dallas Mavericks team.

And I still expect Luca and Kyrie to get the majority of the shots here. Obviously they should be because they are the two best players by far on that Dallas Mavericks team. But I think they're going to be a little bit more efficient at home as well.

And I think that is an opportunity where I still feel like a guy that's come back after missing 10 straight games. I still think it might take him another couple of games, maybe this game and the next game to kind of get up to game speed here. And again, we're not talking about the regular season here.

We are talking about the playoffs that those one or two games may just be the difference if they advance or they get behind in the series and they're either they're going home. And I just feel like I don't think that Kawhi Leonard is going to be fully healthy if they do advance further in the playoffs. And I know we mentioned that Kawhi Leonard would not come back if he wasn't fully healthy because we've seen that story before with him.

But I feel like this Dallas team at home getting behind this crowd, I think there's going to be a spot where they are going to be able to knock down their shots from the other guys. And I think that's what's going to be the difference in this game. Again, defensively, Dallas has been absolutely fantastic, not only to the regular season because year over year, that was something that they wanted to improve upon was the Dallas on the defensive side of the basketball, because we know what they can do offensively with Luca, with Kyrie, with the guys you have around them.

It's just the fact that now, hey, can we play defense and limit the shot opportunities and close out on three point shots for this L.A. Clippers team? So I'll go. I'll lay the lumber here.

I'll go minus four and a half here with the Dallas Mavericks. Did you have anything on this total? Because I know we talked about at the early in the episode that some of these totals are being maybe or maybe over adjusted by some of these books because we've seen a seven and a half to eight and a half point adjustment from game ones to game two to game three now.

So do you have any thoughts on this total here to eleven?

[Sleepy J] (22:04 - 22:39)
I kind of lean to the over for some reason. I think that these teams could go in either direction like they can go. I don't want to say they can go well over, but I could see these two teams being in a game that doesn't even crack, you know, 200 points.

The home team generally dictates the pace. And if the Mavericks want to play a little bit quicker, then the total is probably going to go over. And if they want to play slow, then you won't even get close to this number.

So it's just something I have to sit down and think about. Lean over probably won't bet this one as right now.

[Gunaf Manji] (22:39 - 23:36)
All right. The last game on the Friday schedule is going to be a 1040 Eastern Star at the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are in Phoenix to take on the Suns in this game.

Suns down to headed back home. They are a four point favorite in this game with a total of 207 injury report. The big question mark for the Phoenix Suns is going to be Grayson Allen.

He is sitting with the right ankle sprain and also Kyle Anderson is listed as questionable as well for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He is sitting with a right hip pointer injury for the Timberwolves. Timberwolves, like I mentioned, have been great on the defensive side, really limiting the big three of the Phoenix Suns.

But now Phoenix Suns are in a do or die situation here because getting down all three, it's not going to be an easy hill to climb out of, especially right now, the since they're already down two games and nothing here, sleepy, but the Suns minus four right now at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. What are you thinking?

[Sleepy J] (23:36 - 25:05)
You probably think I'd more than likely probably jump on the Suns here, but my gut feeling says that that's probably a mistake. The Timberwolves have a very, very good defense. Not only that, now they have enough offense to go ahead and compliment themselves.

I think the Suns should have been able to keep game one and game two much, much closer than they did. I worry right now about their offense not being a well-oiled machine. I think that they need to sit down and really make some pretty basic adjustments in order to get that offense going.

I do think that they'll look better here, but I can't trust what that offense looks like right now to go home, win the game, let alone cover four, four and a half points. So if I were actually, you know what I'm going to do? I'm not going to pick a side because I feel like three is probably maybe the right number.

Maybe even four is like the right number right now. I'm not confident enough to lay points with Phoenix, but I'm not confident to go ahead and really fade what these home teams have done. So I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to pass at least a side.

I'll look for a player prop or maybe go ahead and look at the total on this one. The total has gone down from 209 to 207 and a half. So I was leaning a little bit under at first glance.

So I'll pass the side right now. I'll look a little bit more in the props and the total. That's really all I want to get into maybe for that game.

Yeah.

[Gunaf Manji] (25:05 - 28:42)
I think number one, the big thing here for the Phoenix suns is, is returning back home and getting behind this crowd. Um, when you have this type of talent, especially offensively with Kevin Durant, with Devin Booker, with Bradley Beal at some point, it's going to click for them and they're going to be able to start knocking down their shots. And I think this is a game for the Phoenix suns.

Uh, that's gonna, that's going to happen in this game. And I, and I always go back to last season. I know you mentioned that Minnesota has been the best defense in the entire NBA during the course of the season.

And that's stayed pretty consistent for them throughout. And then obviously into the playoffs here against the sons of the first two game where they've limited them to 95 and 93 points. And they've made the Phoenix suns, a jump shooting team.

We saw Kevin Durant had a great game one, but outside of that, and game two, all three of the players of the, uh, the Phoenix suns went under their points prop total. But I think this is a spot here where they can bounce back here in this game. They're going to have to respond back.

And we saw in the first two games of the Thursday night where Orlando looked like a team that couldn't throw a ball into the ocean. The first two games against Cleveland, they come back home. They put up 121 points.

Same thing with the Philadelphia 76ers offensively. They look decent. I will say against New York Knicks, but New York Knicks are also in that conversation as one of the best defenses in the league, uh, with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And we saw what the six were able to do tonight, putting up 125 points against that team. And I think that the Phoenix suns come back home here with this superstar and offensive firepower that they do have led by Devin Booker led by Kevin Durant. And I'll throw you a, a player prop that I do like here, uh, as a, as a bonus one as my pick here, I'm going to go with Devin Booker on his points prop to go over 26 and a half.

And this is, I think, feel like this feels like to me, a similar situation to last season sleepy, where the Phoenix sons were in Denver. They got down. Oh, two came back home and we just saw Kevin Durant.

And in particular, Devin Booker go absolutely bananas in that game. Kevin Durant had, I want to say he had 37 points in that game. Devin Booker had 47 points in that game.

He was 20 of 25 from the floor. And this is a guy that I know is, it can be very efficient from the floor. And I think this is an opportunity for them to come back home and coming out of the gate, you know, something similar to what we see with the Lakers here tonight, that they got out to a 80 run that Anthony Davis, LeBron, and those guys are all playing well here tonight.

So, uh, for me, I think this is going to be a game where we do see Devin Booker have a 30 plus point game. So I'm going to give Devin Booker as a, as a bonus pick here for myself over 26 and a half. And it's kind of telling, right?

Because the last game, his player prop was at 24 and a half, and he went under the total of his points prop at 20. So why would the books put this at 26 and a half and increase it when he went under in his, in that first game or that second game, I should say in game two, any under a game one as well. So I'm expecting a huge bounce back night from Devin Booker in this game.

I would, I think he gets 30 plus points in this game. Here's sleepy. It's going to be led by him.

It's going to be led by Kevin Durant. So I do like Devin book in this game over 26 and a half points. You could get that right now at plus one Oh five over on draft Kings.

There may be some 25 and a halves out there. Definitely shop out for the best number, but I do think Devin Booker will be in the range of 30 points here in this game.

[Sleepy J] (28:43 - 29:11)
Yeah, I wouldn't be against you with that. I think Booker's one of the guys that's certainly going to have to wake up here for the sons. You know, one of the reasons why I don't want to go ahead and bet against that team is because I think that they have the best home court advantage out of all the teams left in the playoffs and that that crowd will ignite you.

And that's just something that I don't want to go against. And if you can get a guy like Booker, you out there heating up, playing to the crowd, he can easily go off. So I'm not against that pick at all.

Kind of, kind of like that one myself.

[Gunaf Manji] (29:11 - 30:00)
All right, let's get over to the Saturday games here. We got four games on the schedule, but we'll cover three of those games because we won't have a line up for the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets game. But we'll start here with a one o'clock Eastern start between the Orlando magic in game for hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers line right now after game three has been posted of minus two and a half in favor of the Orlando magic total is sitting at two Oh one and a half in this game sleeping.

Like we mentioned that the Orlando magic put up 121 points on Thursday night. They got the, let's see, 38 point victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. What do you think about this game?

Minus two and a half in favor of Orlando.

[Sleepy J] (30:01 - 32:21)
I like Orlando here. I think this is going to be the bookies trap of the playoffs here. I think you're going to see people just flock to Cleveland.

And I think that that's a mistake. And you know, one of the things that I, that I like to do is I like to look at particular performances and say, you know, why did this happen? And this is, in my opinion, it's an adjustment that was made by the Orlando magic that the Cleveland Cavaliers simply had no answer to.

And it started right in the beginning of the game. So you get the crowd to get the team playing well, something that the Orlando magic were doing, at least on defense, it completely had Cleveland all screwed up. Cleveland at 61 points going into the fourth quarter.

How often do you see the Cavaliers and not be able to break, you know, 60 points, 65 points going in the fourth quarter. You probably haven't seen that all year long. So something worked for Orlando.

And if Cleveland can't figure that out, they're going to end up in a similar situation where they're going to end up having a battle all game long, potentially could be down, you know, double digits in this game. I would strongly look at and I'll give you guys my best bet. I don't currently have the line in front of me, but it's probably going to be Orlando, maybe minus a half.

I would take Orlando in the first quarter in this game. I'm going to make that my best bet because I'm not sure Cleveland's going to be able to figure it out until they're out there on the floor for a little bit and say, okay, cool. You know, water adjustments that we were making, you know, it's starting to work a little bit, but don't be shocked if the Cavs come out here, look a little bit kind of distraught again.

And it takes them a little bit of time to go and get things going. And the fact that Orlando had the offense going as well as they did. And the crowd realizes like, Hey, you know, if we're, if we're in this game with these guys, you know, we could have a similar result to what would have happened in the last game.

And we might be able to even this series up. So I think the magic come out here, looking to go and swing again, same type of result. And I wouldn't really think that, you know, I would be on this particular pick because I can tell you right now that the pros and the Joes, I have a gut feeling.

They're all going to go ahead and start, you know, back in Cleveland here, but I really think that's, that's the wrong pick to make. I want to be with the bookies in this particular game, but I'll make my best bet Orlando first quarter. Let's just play them on the money line.

I'm going to guess it's probably like minus one Oh five. They might even be getting, you know, a half a point in the first quarters. Yeah.

I liked that a lot. I'll make my best bet.

[Gunaf Manji] (32:22 - 34:54)
Yeah. Orlando going back to the regular season where the best home team against a spread 28 and 13 as home favorites during the regular season. Also the best team 20 and six in that span.

And we'd like, we said we saw what they did on their home floor in game three, blowing Cleveland Cavaliers out by 38 points. So yeah, I could, I could only be with you guys. Well, I think you're spot on that.

This could be a, a, a spot where everybody comes in on the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know, people are trying to zag while we're zigging here. Um, I, I think that this is a great opportunity for Orlando may not necessarily repeat the offensive performance that they had. They a hundred percent can do it again.

Uh, but I think that, you know, they've got that sour taste out of the mouth of how bad offensively they were in games one and two, and also sleepy. I think the key part as well for this matchup and this maybe for both sides, but I think for Orlando in particular, because it was a blowout, you didn't see a lot of guys, these guys playing in the fourth quarter, most minutes played by an Orlando magic player was Franz Wagner at 30 minutes for the Orlando magic. So there's still should be somewhat fresh in this game.

I think defensively there'll be a, their intensity will be up again as well. And I think they just have that confidence now going into game four with the young guys that they do have with Paolo Pancare who at 31 points, 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs bounced back. Very nicely.

He scored 24 points on only 13 shot attempts. Uh, Franz Wagner was efficient as well. He had 16 and he got contributions off the bench as well from Markel Fultz and Cole Anthony.

So, um, yeah, I would be with the Orlando magic first half or full game in this matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hopefully they tied up at two games a piece before they do head back to Cleveland for game five. Next game on the Saturday schedule here.

It's going to be a three 40 Eastern start the Oklahoma city thunder. They are traveling to new Orleans to take on the Pelicans. Currently of thunder are a one point road favorite here with a total of two Oh nine and a half.

Um, no significant injuries in this game here. Uh, at least on the injury report, we do know that Zion is going to continue being out for this Pelicans team here, but thunder up two games to nothing right now. We saw them blow the Pelicans out of the water in game two here, but now the series shifts to new Orleans here.

Sleepy Pelicans catching a point here at home or your thoughts on this game.

[Sleepy J] (34:54 - 36:47)
I'd really like to go ahead and play the thunder again. I liked them in game one, laying the, uh, what was it? Eight and a half points or whatever it was.

I came up short in that one. And then I went ahead and I fired, you know, a big three-star pick on them because I felt like the market was overreacting, dropping that line down to seven and a half and that we would get a little bit of a better effort at it. Okay.

See, I felt like, you know, the fact that they had a tussle in game one, that that was a wake-up call for them. But I think that this is one of those situations where the Pelicans actually have all the pressure now, uh, not only because okay. Sees up of two games, but okay.

Season number one seed. They know if they can get one here, let's say they drop one, no big deal, but they're going to be able to either go home and relax or go home and win one and then be able to relax again because they're going to be hosting, you know, they're going to be hosting another, another playoff series. You might actually see maybe pros and Joe split on this.

I think that the OKC thunder is probably going to be the pick that I would go with in this one. I know the Pelicans are going to come out swinging. I looked at the under, and I noticed that the under is taken a little bit.

I think went from like 211 down to 209. I would be in support of maybe an under pick here, but I just think Oklahoma City, when they kind of have the offense that we saw in game two, if they bring that offense here to New Orleans, I just don't know how New Orleans can keep pace with them offensively without Zion or defensively go ahead and be able to slow this team down. So, um, I'll take OKC here.

Um, I think they're laying on one point or they're actually, they're getting a point. I'll take them getting the point. I'll actually hold out and see if I can get, you know, plus one and a half.

Cause I think that we'll see some money come in here probably on the Pelicans, but I think the wise guys actually believe it or not will be on OKC for this game. So give me the thunder. I'll hold out for plus one and a half, kind of like the under there as well.

That's where I'm at for that game.

[Gunaf Manji] (36:48 - 39:24)
Yeah. I'm going to go Pelicans in the first half year. And this has been something that has been a theme with the Pelicans during the regular season that they are a great team in the first half at home.

I believe they were the best team ATS in the first half at home. I'll double check that year, but there's been plenty of times where I've seen this team just blow double digit leads in the second half and not, not only double digitally to a leads that they've had at the half, um, this season, the Pelicans at home against a spread where the, uh, sorry, the fifth best team, 24, 16 and one, only one game behind, um, the Boston Celtics of the Milwaukee bucks who are the best at home against a spread.

But I think they come out behind this crowd defensively. I think this is where Willie green is going to have to earn his money and see if he can make any type of adjustment, uh, for this, uh, offense of the thunder where we saw SGA had a great game to Jalen Williams. Had a great game as well.

So it'll be interesting to see what the adjustments are for this Oklahoma, sorry, for this new Orleans Pelicans team. So I'll take them in the first half. I would not be surprised again, if they cough up another lead in the second half and okay.

See makes a run there, but I do think they can come out, clamp down a little bit on the defensive side here. And I do expect at least a role players to play well in this game where there's the Trey Murphy's of the world, the herb Jones, the Jose Alvarado is coming off of the bench. I can't trust Brandon Ingham right now.

It's either that that injury is still bothering him. And I do expect CJ McComb to bounce back in this game here as well for the Oklahoma city center. So I'll, I'll, I'll take the, uh, I'm sorry for the new Orleans Pelicans.

I'll say I'll take the Pelicans in the first half in this game here. Uh, sleepy last game on the Saturday card is going to be the Boston Celtics. They are in Miami to take on the heat heat coming off of an impressive 14 and a half point outright victory.

They were 14 and a half point dog in that game against the Boston Celtics in a franchise record, I believe 23, three pointers to propel themselves to a one 11, one Oh one victory evening up the series here at one a piece. Now heading back to South beach here, sleepy Celtics laying nine with a total of two Oh four in this game. What are your thoughts on the matchup here?

[Sleepy J] (39:24 - 41:36)
Total disrespect minus nine. So you get blown out and on your home floor and then you're laying nine points. I think that the market's pretty much telling us that, you know, Boston thought they could just roll the ball out there and just run right over Miami.

And, you know, one of the things that you had talked about in game one and game two was, you know, that you liked the coaching advantage here for Miami. And I think that that's, that's a real important thing to kind of consider here with Miami coming back home. I think the Miami fan base and the Miami home court is actually one of the better ones out of all the teams left here in the playoffs.

I don't know if I would lay nine points here with, with Boston, but I do worry about taking them here with Miami because I think that that's a wake up call. Like I was just talking about with Oklahoma city, it's a wake up call to Boston though, you know, wake the hell up and go out there and play a good full four quarters of basketball. I would look maybe at the first quarter under, because if Boston comes out, I think they're going to run a lot of scripted plays.

They're going to buckle down on defense. And I think you're going to see the same thing from Miami. I think we're going to see a much slower paced first quarter in this one.

And the game total is something that I probably won't get involved in because it's low enough already. But I would look maybe at that first quarter under, I think we see both of these teams coming out, you know, kind of like just guarding themselves because you know, the series now is, is one, one, you know, I went ahead and I said, look, if you're, if you're thinking about going ahead and messing with the Celtics, go ahead and sweep. You know, you were going to have to do it before the last game.

Obviously we saw what happened, the sweeps out of the picture. So, you know, that that's a dead wager. I would say maybe if we can get that at like 53 and a half, 52 and a half, I think that that's fine.

I think we're going to see one of these teams go ahead and struggle to go ahead and put up quite a bit of points. So I'll go ahead. I'll give you that.

I'm not going to lay nine and I don't want to take nine here with the heat because we know if the Celtics go out there with the head of steam and they're on and they're on their game, offense and defense, you know, they can go ahead and they can, they can beat you up. So I'm going to pass the game. I'll pass the side.

I'll pass the total. I'll go ahead. I'll just play the first quarter under.

I like that most.

[Gunaf Manji] (41:36 - 45:25)
Yeah. I'm not sure if I can trust Boston here. I do expect them to bounce back here though.

And I also don't expect Miami to continue shooting that the way that they did in game one. Would I be surprised if they continue the shooting the way that they did? Maybe not at the percentage that they did, but still with the knockdown shots.

No, I wouldn't be surprised because again, like I mentioned that Eric's bolster is just an absolute fantastic head coach when it comes to the playoffs of making those game to game adjustments. And I would, I would lean here with the Miami heat plus the nine. But I do think that this will probably be more of a defensive game, but maybe we go back to game two sleepy.

They knocked down 23, three pointers. And this game, I want to say got over the total by what eight to nine points, even after the fantastic shooting that we did see. So, and that was a game, obviously that the Celtics didn't really help to get towards the over because Miami did the bulk of the scoring.

They're scoring 111 and then limiting to this Boston Celtics team to 101 points. So I, again, I can see this game turning into a half court game again, the pace slowing down as well. And we do see, you know, points at a premium and, and a little bit more half court offense, because I know the Miami are a team that don't like, traditionally don't like getting up and down the court as far as, you know, with pace, but if they need to, like we saw last year against Milwaukee, where they were getting up and down the floor and hitting their three point shots.

I wouldn't be surprised. You could get into Eric's bolster. It's just a genius.

We just don't know what to expect from him at times. He makes those in-game adjustments that just makes them so good. And he catches the other team off guard.

So all in Miami heat plus the nine here in this game total I'd lean towards the under as well, but yeah, nothing really definitive. I want to see how Boston really responds in this game after what transpired in game two. So that is the six games on the breakdown here.

We're going to do on the episode, obviously no line yet for the LA Lakers and the Denver Nuggets game for matchup, because again, they are playing right now on Thursday night. So those are the six games that we did go through here. So maybe you gave out your best bet on the Orlando magic in that first quarter, and I'll give out my best bet.

I'm going to go back to the Phoenix suns and I'm looking at their team total to go over one Oh five and a half in this game. And you know, people might think I'm a little crazy here and rightfully so because how great the Miami, sorry, the Minnesota defense has been limiting the offense of the Phoenix suns to 93 points and 95 points respectively. But I think this is a spot here for the Phoenix suns just to come out on their home floor.

And I do expect number one, that the offense to be a lot more efficient in this game. And again, Devin Booker has been a guy that a guy that's been absolutely fantastic at home for this Phoenix suns team. Same thing with Kevin Durant.

I think those two guys are one of the two best scores in our league. Bradley Beal should contribute his as well. But I just think there's going to be another game that we similar to what we saw last season where Kevin Durant and Booker just went off and really carried that team to the victory.

And we're able to put up 121 points in that game. But I think this is a game where we do see those two guys step up. I do think that if they're going to beat this Minnesota Timberwolves team sleepy, it's not going to be in a defensive battle.

It's going to have to be that this offense is going to have to make those adjustments. They're going to have to put up the points here. So Phoenix suns team total for me over one Oh five and a half as my best bet here, sleepy for the weekend card.

[Sleepy J] (45:25 - 46:26)
Well, I hope he cashed that one. We know that this team could put points up. It's not that I'm against your pick, but like I said, when we were talking about this game, I kind of just need to see an offense that looks like a much better, well-oiled machine.

But I think you have the right team. And I think you have the right crowd, certainly the right home court advantage to go in and get this offense rolling. And I don't think we're going to see a suns team that I don't want to say that they look dead in game one and game two, but they certainly didn't look like themselves.

So if they come in here salty and they have the game plan figured out on exactly what they want to do. And I actually think what they want to do here in my office that they're going to have to, they're going to have to go fast. They're going to have to get somebody up and down the court as quick as they possibly can putting up shots.

That's just, that's just, it's a pace in which Minnesota is not going to be able to thrive. And so, I mean, I would be with you then before I'd be against you, but it's a pick that I just, I need to, I need to see the suns operate a lot better.

[Gunaf Manji] (46:27 - 46:57)
Yeah. I could definitely see that argument. All right.

Sleepy before we do get over to our player prop, best bet for the game of the weekend here. A lot of great things happening right now on pregame.com. NFL draft is wrapping up this weekend.

NBA playoffs are in full swing. NHL playoffs as well. Got golf going on spring football, but let our listeners know what can they take advantage of right now on pregame.com.

[Sleepy J] (46:57 - 47:25)
Yeah, pretty simple stuff here. Go over to pregame.com, enter code shoot 10. That's S H O O T 10.

Save yourself $10 off any best bet there. And I believe that is included still for the NFL draft. So anything that's going to be up for Saturday and Sunday and Friday, you guys can go ahead and use that code shoot 10 or anything for the NBA.

So get over there to pregame.com, save yourself 10 bucks on any best bet. Simply enter code shoot 10.

[Gunaf Manji] (47:26 - 47:57)
There we go. Make sure you guys use that promo code shoot 10. Get yourselves $10 off of anything on pregame.com.

One order of business left here, sleepy. That is going to be our player prop, best bet for the weekend card. Again, like I've mentioned, we've now hit 18 at our last 20 player prop, best bets here.

So we've been on a roll here. Hopefully that continues into the weekend here. I will give you the floor here, my man.

Where are we going with our player prop, best bet?

[Sleepy J] (47:57 - 49:47)
All right. So let's go right back to that Phoenix game. Uh, we're going to go ahead.

We're going to play Bradley Beal over his assists at five and a half currently right now on draft Kings. This is at minus one 20. Uh, I do see this on fan dual tours.

This was up to like minus one 30. So, you know, shop around for that five and a half to make sure you get that. And I think it's pretty simple here.

I mean, we kind of expect the sun's offense to at least get out and run a little bit more, but you can't have Kevin Durant going out there scoring 14 points and Booker going out there scoring 20 points. Like these guys need to be, you know, in the high twenties flirting with the thirties, going out there, putting up the, uh, the best shots that they possibly can. And you can't have NERC at, you can't have Beal, uh, going out there and taking up a lot of shots.

Grayson Allen's not going to be on the floor either. So you got to wonder if do they stick like a stick figure out there, take a little bit of the offense away, but it's really going to put focus on KD and Booker. And I think that the coach is going to sit down and say, look, we need to get our best players, the basketball here at home.

We need to keep this crowd in it. Uh, these guys shoot at such a high percentage. And I think Beal's going to be asked to be more of a distributor.

They did not bring them to this team to go out there and be a guy who scores 25 points a game. That wasn't, that wasn't why they brought him here. They brought him here to get KD and Booker the ball in their best spot.

So they go out there and do what they do best. And that's scored the basketball. So I think that he's going to end up going over this number five and a half seems like a fair number, but I think a lot of it's, I think it's kind of like depressed a little bit here because of the, what the totals in this series, you know, I've been thus far, but I do expect a little bit better of a pace.

I expect Beal to kind of have the, uh, the memo from the head coach, get the ball to KD, get the ball to Booker and a five and a half is just not going to be enough. So we're going over that for a player prop best bet. Bradley Beal over five and a half assists.

[Gunaf Manji] (49:47 - 52:40)
Yeah. I love it. Uh, first two games of the series with how bad the shooting has been for the Phoenix suns.

He still has had at least six assists in both of the first two games. In fact, six assists in each of the first two games, uh, exactly for the Uh, Phoenix suns there. And I went back and looked at how many potential assist that, uh, Bradley Beal has could have incurred in these first two games.

And that number was at eight, uh, for this, uh, Phoenix suns teams are the first two games of this series with the Minnesota timberwolves. And like you mentioned, I think it's going to be spot on that. They're going to be playing with a little bit of more pace here at home.

And Bradley Beal is going to be that guy that's going to be the offense for this are the guy that's going to initiate this offense and handling the ball and getting the ball to Kevin Durant and more, uh, and hopefully, uh, Devin Booker in particular as well. And I think this is an opportunity where I do think the offense really does show up for the Phoenix suns. And I think that leave the scoring responsibility to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and let Bradley Beal, uh, facilitate this offense.

I think that's where he's going to rack up these assists. And I keep going back to that game last season. I know this Minnesota timber will seem as defensively is a lot better than what we saw from Denver last year, but we saw that, you know, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker had monster games that starting point guard in that game last season for this Phoenix suns team was Cameron Payne.

And obviously Bradley Beal is significant upgrade over Cameron painting campaign in that game in 30 minutes had six assists. Um, so I do expect number one, Bradley Beals to be out there for 40 plus minutes. Like he was in game two, along with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, unless it turns into a blowout, but I think the opportunities for those assists are going to be there in this game for a Bradley Beal.

So I'm 100% on board. I know we talked about this offline and this was honestly something I was looking at prior to the day early on Bradley Beals assist. Uh, can I, I was kind of going through the box scores and things like that.

And so I'm glad that was the first one that you brought up. I know we mentioned some other guys that we did like, but we came upon, uh, agreeing on Bradley Beal here. Um, and the handicapper just makes a lot of sense for us to, you know, get to the window to make it 19 of our last 21 here.

So again, player prop best bet for this weekend, it's going to be in that game three between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix suns Bradley Beal over five and a half. That's widely available right now. Make sure you get the best odds on it.

Uh, because the big is varying for anywhere from minus one 20 on draft Kings, all the way up to minus one 45 on other books as well. All right. That is going to wrap it up for this edition of the NBA podcast on RJ Bell's dream preview, sleepy, anything else we want to mention to our listeners before we go our separate ways?

[Sleepy J] (52:40 - 53:01)
Yeah. Make sure you guys go ahead to use that code at pregame.com. Shoot 10, like subscribe to the podcast.

Make sure you guys follow them. And often I on exit, sleepy Janus score pregame at sports nerd, eight to four. Hopefully we go ahead.

We extend this run there and went off maybe 19 and two. Hopefully we'll have a lot of chatter there. Uh, when this one cashes, I'm looking forward to it.

[Gunaf Manji] (53:01 - 53:45)
Yeah, a hundred percent. Hopefully, uh, we get another one to the window here. Hopefully it's another one that me maybe cash by halftime, maybe midway through the third, uh, quarter.

Hopefully it's not another, uh, or it is hopefully another, uh, rocking chair win for us. And it's not a sweat going into that fourth quarter for us with our player brought best bet. And of course, uh, hopefully we had our, uh, game best bets as well that we gave out, uh, for the weekend card here as well.

So definitely looking forward to the hoops this weekend. And like CP mentioned, we'll be back sometime next week. We'll recap the action, uh, what we saw this past weekend and hopefully recapping some more winners that we gave out to you guys here on this episode.

All right. We'll talk to you guys next week. Enjoy the games this weekend.

And we'll talk to you guys down the road.