Pick against the spread, best player prop for Trail Blazers vs. Pacers on Tuesday

The Trail Blazers (32-28) are heading to Indiana to take on the Pacers (29-31) while both teams are jockeying for playoff positioning. The Pacers are a semi-comfortable 2.5 games ahead of the 10th-place Wizards, but anything can happen before the end of the regular season. The Blazers need to scramble as they’re only one game behind the sixth-place Mavericks, while also only one game ahead of two teams hot on their trail, the eighth-place Grizzlies and ninth-place Spurs, with the 10th-place Warriors only sitting 1.5 games behind. Unfortunately for Portland, they’re in the midst of a five-game losing skid, winning only twice in their last 10. They just lost back-to-back games against the Grizzlies, and will face them again tomorrow night in another incredibly important match-up.

Trail Blazers vs. Pacers, 7:00 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass

Pick ATS: Pacers +5

On the other side of the coin, the Pacers are in much better form, winning their last three straight and looking to extend that winning streak to four tonight. They’re a full 2.5 games behind the sixth-place Celtics, so every win counts going forward if they want to bypass the play-in games. Damian Lillard has been underwhelming for the Blazers as of late, averaging only 22.1 points per game through April, which is a stark contrast to previous months (29.8 in March, 30.2 in February, and 31.5 in January). It’s even worse that there really aren’t any big injury concerns, meaning the Blazers are finding a hard time winning with a full-strength squad. The Pacers are without big men Domantas Sabonis (back), who hasn’t played since April 18th, and Myles Tuner (foot), who also hasn’t played since the 18th and will be out indefinitely. This should create a problem for the Pacers, but players like Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert have been able to pick up the slack and help carry Indiana to three straight wins, and back into playoff contention.

The Pacers at home against a struggling Portland side has all the makings of a close affair, but don’t be surprised if the home side takes advantage of the Blazers’ poor form and gets away with this one.

Player Prop: Malcolm Brogdon O2.5 three-pointers (-124)

Brogdon has been on a tear lately, averaging 25.2 points throughout his last five contests. On top of that, while he’s only been shooting just about 37 percent from downtown in that same stretch, he’s only failed to hit under three long-range shots once in his past five games. He’s gone three games in a row draining triple three-pointers, so there’s no reason to expect tonight will be any different.

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