@KeepTheJuice21 NBA Playoff Picks - 4/28

The Suns are clearly missing Devin Booker but in a chance to ice the series, this one shouldn’t be as close as the spread suggests. It took a lot of things going right for the Pelicans to win that Game 4 matchup and the Suns in Game 5 look like they’ve corrected most of those issues. The offense is still extremely effective even without Booker, but runs into relentless defensive effort from young players like Herb Jones. That effort can be turned against them though as we’ve seen and if the Suns run fast break points like they did in Game 5, they should win by multiple possessions.

This is a tough pick because the eye test goes to the Mavs every time. They competed well without Luka and have been even better once he got back. But the numbers are really big in favor of Utah. In close matchups, a home playoff underdog in Game 6 is extremely tempting. There’s no major injuries (Mitchell will definitely play) or changes from the last game but this has been a close series. Lean towards the home team even in a bit of a chaotic situation looking to the future.