The NBA regular season is winding down, but playoff spots are still up in the air.
The Brooklyn Nets are a game ahead of the Miami Heat for the sixth seed with three games to play. Tonight, the Nets are double-digit favorites on the road in Detroit. A few 3s from Cameron Johnson could help Brooklyn secure a key victory to avoid the play-in tournament.
Memphis is locked into the second seed in the West, and it will be in New Orleans tonight. New Orleans will clinch at least a spot in the play-in tournament with a win tonight. However, it has its eyes on the sixth seed as well, so expect Brandon Ingram to lead the way.
Speaking of the sixth seed in the West, it’s occupied by the Los Angeles Clippers. Tonight, the Clippers have a massive game against the rival Lakers, who played an overtime game last night in Utah.
The statuses of LeBron James and Anthony Davis are uncertain, but one player who will definitely play tonight is Russell Westbrook. It will be his first time facing the Lakers since joining the Clippers midseason. He could have a bone to pick with his former team.
NBA Player Props & Picks
Cameron Johnson Over 2.5 3s (+135)
| Spread | Nets -11.5 |
| Time | TV | 7:10 p.m. ET | NBA League Pass |
| Best Line | DraftKings |
Since arriving in Brooklyn as part of the Kevin Durant trade, Johnson is averaging 16.6 points per game. He’s averaging 2.3 3s per game and shooting 36.7% from deep. His make percentage is down (45.5% in Phoenix), but the volume is up; he’s attempting 6.4 3s per game as a Net.
Johnson has been feast or famine on 3s of late. He has hit three triples in just two of his last 10 games. However, he made five in both of those games. He also has three other games with two treys in that span.
He has a chance to break out against Detroit.
Last night, the Pistons started Jalen Duren and James Wiseman together in the frontcourt. Both of them are true centers and more comfortable on the interior. They’re also still very young and learning the game defensively.
Johnson could get a few more open looks from deep just off defensive lapses. Leaving a shooter of Johnson’s caliber wide open is a bad idea, and he could get hot very quickly.
Though he was a Sun then, Johnson had three 3s in his lone meeting against the Pistons this season. I would not be surprised if he hit four or five tonight.
Brandon Ingram Over 6.5 Assists (-125)
| Spread | Pelicans -5 |
| Time | TV | 8:10 p.m. ET | NBA League Pass |
| Best Line | FanDuel |
In an unstable Western Conference, the Pelicans have stabilized themselves by winning seven of their last 10 games and are currently in eighth.
Ingram has led the way, averaging 29.5 points per game over his last 10 games. As the Pelicans continue to play without Zion Williamson, Ingram is also one of the team’s primary facilitators along with C.J. McCollum.
Over his last 10 games, Ingram is averaging eight assists per game. He has had at least seven assists in seven of those games. He also finished with six with two others in that span.
Against Memphis, Ingram is averaging just 2.5 assists in two meetings this season. However, those games were in November with Williamson playing in one of them. The ball has been in Ingram’s hands much more of late.
Memphis ranks second in defensive efficiency, so Ingram may have a hard time getting to 30 points tonight. However, it also ranks 25th in assists allowed.
In its last two games, Portland (Shaedon Sharpe and Skylar Mays) and Chicago’s (Zach LaVine and Demar DeRozan) primary scorers went over their assist lines. Mays, DeRozan and LaVine each had seven assists. I like Ingram’s chances of joining that group tonight.
It’s also worth sprinkling on Ingram to secure a triple-double. He has had three in his last 10 games, and Memphis is 22nd in rebounds allowed as well. FanDuel has the best odds for Ingram to get a triple-double at +2400.
Russell Westbrook Over 16.5 Points (-125)
| Spread | Clippers -4 |
| Time | TV | 10 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Best Line | DraftKings |
In his last six games, Russell Westbrook has scored 17 points three times. In the three he went over, he scored over 20 points in all of them, including 38 against Memphis.
Westbrook also scored 24 against Oklahoma City, which was the game that Paul George was injured in. That’s 24 points that the Clippers have to replace without George, and they need Westbrook to provide some of them.
That game against Oklahoma City would also qualify as a “revenge game” for Westbrook, though he is one of the most beloved players in Thunder history. That’s not the case for Westbrook’s time as a Laker, though. His brief tenure with the Lakers was rocky from the start, and he received much of the blame for it.
While some of it was deserved, I expect Westbrook to play with a massive chip on his shoulder tonight.
The Lakers rank 22nd in 3s allowed with 12.6 per game. Westbrook is shooting 30% from beyond the arc this season, but he gets a couple of wide-open looks per game when teams dare him to shoot. He has made two 3s in each of the three games in which he’s scored 20 points.
However, Westbrook has always been at his best throughout his career when he can get downhill and into the paint. That might be easier in transition, and Westbrook remains one of the fastest players in the league. The Lakers rank fourth in pace, and an up-and-down game suits Westbrook’s game just fine.