KEEPTHEJUICE21: NBA Picks Tonight – Nets vs Rockets & Jazz vs Grizzlies – April 5th, 2022

Brooklyn Nets (40-38) vs Houston Rockets (20-59) Betting Pick

Rockets +18 -130 at DraftKings

Brooklyn had their moment when everyone started to believe they were the chosen team and once Kyrie was playing every game, they would be the scary high seed no one wants to play. They might still not be a team you want to face, but they’ve come down to earth.

As it turns out, Kyrie’s insane performances were easier to come by when he got to play only 1 game a week. The team isn’t as deep as they need to be, and you can almost let Kyrie and KD do their thing and live with beating the rest of the team, and that’s kind of been working.

The loss of Seth Curry is definitely affecting the team, so this pick looks better if he remains out. The Rockets are irrelevant but Jalen Green is hitting a stride and scoring very well. They don’t win a lot but they are in games until late and I don’t feel nervous about this big of a spread, despite the deficiencies. 

Utah Jazz (46-32) vs Memphis Grizzlies (55-23) Betting Pick

Memphis Grizzlies +5.5 -110 at Caesars

The Grizzlies have been nothing short of astonishing this season. The way they’ve managed without Ja Morant, a one-time potential MVP candidate, and with a litany of other injuries has been outstanding.

On this 7 game win streak without Ja, they’ve beat teams much more put together than the current Jazz, including the four odds on favorites to win the NBA finals (The Suns, Bucks, Nets and Warriors). But the trust in this Grizzlies team doesn’t even match my distrust in this Jazz team.

Down the stretch they’ve really struggled to look like a cohesive team. They look like individuals forced to play together, no one more so than Gobert and Mitchell. In the last two weeks, the only team they’ve managed beat is the Lakers. Go with the momentum over the star power, as these Grizzlies prove they’re the deepest team in the NBA.