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Tides’ Takes: Free NHL & NBA Betting Picks For Today (4/7/22)

Timothy Buell Thu 4/7 1:22pm PT
(Image Credit: Imagn)

ScoresAndOdds analyst Timothy Buell gives free expert advice and betting picks for Thursday’s NHL and NBA slates.

Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome to this new article for ScoresAndOdds, where we will offer betting picks and advice for multiple sports that are happening on a given day.

Now that the NFL season has unfortunately come to an end, we will be focusing on NHL odds and NBA odds and props. We will also be throwing in some traditional parlays and some same game parlays as we see fit.  

Make sure to use our tools at ScoresAndOdds to find the best lines at your favorite legal sportsbook.  

Today we have seven NBA games and ten NHL games, so let’s get started with the picks!  

Given that we are getting towards the end of the NBA season, I will be focusing on primarily player props, unless there is spread/total for a game that I feel is optimal.

Free NBA Betting Picks For Today

NBA Player Prop – Fred VanVleet

This time of year it’s all about minutes and opportunity. FVV fits both of those criteria and should excel in this home matchup against Philly.  He has at least 15 field-goal attempts in his last four games. In his last two competitive games, he has played 39 and 41 minutes respectively. 

This game currently has a one-point spread and I see no reason why he wouldn’t play massive minutes. There have been some rough shooting games from him this season, but I think he has been hurt throughout much of this season, but now he seems fully healthy and this veteran club will be looking to get into stride heading into the playoffs.  

 NBA Player Prop – Keldon Johnson

The Minnesota Timberwolves play at the fastest pace in the entire NBA and the San Antonio Spurs rank fourth in that same statistic.  We should be seeing some real up and down basketball and there will be a lot of offense in this one. 

Obviously the books have taken that into account when creating their lines for this game, but I think the scoring prop on Johnson is still a little low. I have him closer to 25 points for this game which is worth a bet even at this increased juice. 

The Spurs aren’t guaranteed to be the ten seed and could potentially be the nine seed which would allow them to play their first play in game at home. That’s a long way of saying I think they will give their starters their normal minutes.  Johnson should see around 35 minutes and with this game environment should be able to go over this total pretty easily. 

NBA Player Prop – Karl-Anthony Towns

Just like in the last pick, this is the game that I want to attack for over player props.  Jakob Poeltl is prone to foul trouble and is an undersized center who KAT should be able to exploit. 

KAT put up 60 points against this team one of their two meetings this season which shows the kind of ceiling he has in this matchup. Clearly that is an outlier performance and should not be expected in this scenario but I think that it is worth noting.  If this game stays close, which in my opinion it will, then he should expect to play his normal minutes. The Spurs as a team are only average at rebounding and team defense and are not the old school Spurs who wanted to slow the game down.  

Free NHL Betting Picks For Today

Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Rangers

The Penguins have had a tough schedule this past week. While I certainly don’t blame them for losing two straight to the Avalanche, things won’t be getting much easier heading into MSG. The Rangers have beaten this same Penguins twice in the last couple of weeks and will look to make it three in a row. 

I like this matchup and moneyline price for the Rangers since they have such superior goaltending and get to play on home ice.  The Rangers threw me for a loop when they started Georgiev over Shesterkin in their last game so hopefully that won’t continue.  If we do get confirmation that Shesterkin is in net then play this bet with confidence.  Shesterkin has shown that he is human but is still the best goaltender in hockey ( in my opinion). 

Edmonton Oilers @ Los Angeles Kings

The Oilers have been on fire, winning four-straight games including against a game against this very same Kings team. I think tonight is the night is the night that the Kings get their revenge on the Oilers after losing to them in a shootout in their last meeting. The Kings outplayed the Oilers in Edmonton in that game but just couldn’t find the win. Now, they find themselves as home underdogs. 

The Oilers could be without Leon Draisaitl who is there second best player and one of the best offensive players in all of the NHL.  The Oilers will really struggle without him if he were to miss as they had to play Ryan Nugent Hopkins as their second line center in their last game against the Sharks.  Even if Draisaitl does suit up I like my money on the home underdog in what should be a solid matchup between two playoff bound teams

NHL Player Prop – Kevin Hayes

I wrote up this very same prop in my last article a couple of days ago and it cashed for us at +105. Now the line has gone to -105 against this very same team. I don’t think that line is quite high enough and I will be going back to the over on this prop once again. Hayes has really stepped to the front for his team towards the end of this season and has played with a lot of pride despite playing on one of the worst teams in hockey.  He has easily gone over this prop in three straight games and got up to 22 minutes in his last game. If he plays that much again tonight this bet should come in with plenty of time to spare. 

NHL Player Prop – Timo Meier

Despite the Sharks having nothing to play for this is still a veteran club that has played some good teams tough down the stretch.  Meier is still playing his normal minutes and will be playing on home ice. Meier is a shoot first and questions later type of player and I have him projected for well over 4 shots on goal. They would really need to juice this line to closer -150 for me to want to stay away. I am confident on this bet and will be making this my only two unit wager on the day.