“Buckets” NBA Best Bets Monday: Expert Picks for Suns vs Pelicans

The NBA features a six-game slate on Monday night, and our basketball betting experts Joe Dellera and Matt Moore broke down their best bets for the slate on the Monday edition of the BUCKETS podcast.

Find their NBA Best Bets for Monday, April 1st below.

By Joe Dellera

The Pelicans' first-half spread has been an absolute banger this season.

Since the All-Star Break, the Pelicans have the second-best Net Rating at +12.8 in the first half. The Suns aren't bad in the first half, but they are only 12th, which is a pretty wide margin. I like that the Pelicans play so much better in the first half because none of their players try to be a hero in the first 24 minutes, which is an issue in crunch time.

They play much more loosely in the first half and hit opponents with so many more looks. The Suns have letdown games and tend to come out hotter in the second half when they are trailing. I like the Pelicans to start hot and they are 12-7 in the first half straight up since the All-Star break.

By Matt Moore

My concern is that the Suns sometimes go out and shoot 3s, but sometimes they don't.

The Pelicans give up a high volume of 3s but are second in Defensive 3-point Percentage. The Suns defensively have big gaps and have some problems with certain teams. Fortunately, the Pelicans are an inside-out team which should slow the pace down.

I think we will see a lot of half-court offense tonight instead of a game with lots of transition opportunities, and I feel confident about under 224.5.