Winners Club: Pelicans Stun Suns, Even Series

Plus, NBA playoff spreads, NFL draft prop bets and more.

How about those Pelicans? New Orleans stole a game from the defending Western Conference champion Suns in the desert Tuesday to even the series heading back to the Big Easy.

The Nets-Celtics series picks back up tonight with Game 2. These playoffs have already displayed the unpredictability many were hoping for—three of the six series in which more than one game has been played are tied. It’s an exciting time in the NBA.

And it’s never the offseason in the NFL; we’re only eight days away from the 2022 NFL Draft. Get caught up on the draft order, top prospects and the odds on when the first quarterback will come off the board with today’s Winners Club.

Upcoming NBA Playoff Schedule

Some of the series are shifting venues for the games taking place tonight and Thursday. That home-court advantage for the lower-seeded team is not shifting the lines as much as one might think, though.

The 76ers, Grizzlies and Warriors are all road favorites. Philadelphia and Golden State make sense given how dominant each team has been in its 2-0 start against Toronto and Denver, respectively. But Memphis lost by double digits to Minnesota and then turned around and beat the Timberwolves by double digits in turn. Still, the Grizzlies are a narrow road favorite.

Wednesday 

7 p.m. ET (TNT): Nets vs. Celtics (-3.5) 

8 p.m. ET (NBA TV): 76ers (-2.5) vs. Raptors

9:30 p.m. ET (TNT): Bulls vs. Bucks (-10.5)

Get bets for Wednesday's games

Thursday

7:30 p.m. ET (TNT): Grizzlies (-1.5) vs. Timberwolves

9 p.m. ET (NBA TV): Mavericks vs. Jazz (-5.5)

10 p.m. ET (TNT): Warriors (-1.5) vs. Nuggets

Win like a champion when you bet on the champion this postseason!

Around the NBA

The Monday and Tuesday games produced some surprising results. The Mavericks beat the Jazz without Luka Dončić behind 41 points from Jalen Brunson. That win evened the series as it heads to Utah on Thursday. In Memphis, the Grizzlies bounced back from their Game 1 loss in a big way and blew out the Timberwolves, 124-96, to knot the series.

Favorites like the Heat, Warriors and 76ers winning were much less surprising outcomes, but the Pelicans win over the Suns is truly something to marvel at. Phoenix held New Orleans to 34 points in the first half of its Game 1 win, but the Pels responded Tuesday.

Brandon Ingram went for 37 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a 125-114 win. Suns star Devin Booker was well on his way to a big night himself before he exited with a hamstring injury in the third quarter and did not return.

The Suns' futures odds adjusted ever so slightly after the loss—they fell from +275 to +300 to win it all and from +125 to +130 to win the West. The Warriors are right behind them, though. Golden State went from +400 to win the West to +160 and +900 to win the title to +350.

Jeff Chiu/AP

More NBA postseason reading:

The Third Splash Brother Has Arrived: Jordan Poole has 59 points through two games in the Warriors-Nuggets series, outscoring Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and allowing Golden State to take a commanding 2-0 lead over Denver.

Ben Simmons Cleared for Contact: The Nets guard has been participating in four-on-four in practice and is cleared for contact, says coach Steve Nash. Simmons could return for Brooklyn’s Round 1 series against Boston. The Celtics lead the series, 1-0.

Luka Dončić Could Return for Game 3 or 4: There’s optimism that the Mavericks’ All-NBA guard could be back for Game 3 on Thursday in Salt Lake City or Game 4 on Saturday.

NFL Draft Prep

The 2022 NFL draft begins Thursday, April 28. It’s the event that’s been on people’s minds since the final week of the NFL regular season, when the Jaguars beat the Colts to keep their division rival out of the playoffs and locked up the top overall pick for the second year running.

The offseason has been wild enough with star quarterbacks and receivers changing teams at an alarming rate. Now, we enter a draft with no clear top prospect where the unpredictability will continue.

Before getting into the betting angle of the draft and where there’s money to be made, let’s get a refresher on the draft order and what each team needs. The top 10 is written out below, click here for the order of all 262 picks and here to see what each franchise needs to address.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Detroit Lions
3. Houston Texans
4. New York Jets
5. New York Giants
6. Carolina Panthers
7. New York Giants (from Chicago Bears)
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. Seattle Seahawks (from Denver Broncos)
10. New York Jets (from Seattle Seahawks)

All eyes are on Jacksonville to see what it does with the No. 1 pick a year after drafting quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the top of the draft.

Dale Zanine/USA Today

The favorite to go No. 1 is Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (-333). But is the smart money on the Heisman finalist?

Right now, the answer is no. There’s growing steam that Georgia defensive end and national champion Travon Walker might be the first player off the board—and you can bet him to be at +300 odds. See the breakdown of the possible No. 1 picks and how their odds stack up.

You’ve probably heard by now this is a bad quarterback class. That doesn’t eliminate the possibility of a team reaching in hopes of picking their signal caller of the future. Right now, the favorite to be the first QB taken is Liberty’s Malik Willis (-200), followed by Pitt’s Kenny Pickett (+140).

The rest of the top quarterback prospects—Matt Corral, Desmond Ridder, Sam Howell—all have long odds to beat out their peers. See the odds breakdown with potential destinations for Willis and whether you should go with the favorite in this market or instead seek value.

More NFL draft reading:

Mock Draft 4.0: Who goes No. 1? Is Willis QB1? When will the first receiver fall? See how Conor Orr expects next week’s draft to unfold.

Offensive Lineman Draft Odds: Alabama’s Evan Neal and N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu are neck and neck to be the first tackle drafted and Ekwonu recently passed Neal as the favorite to come off the board first.

Skill Position Over/Under Draft Bets: This isn’t a top-heavy running back or tight end class the way the 2021 draft was. Still, there are a few potential first-round receivers that could drive up the number of skill players taken in the first 32 picks.

In Other News

MLB Power Rankings: The Braves fall, the Giants and Mets rise and the Dodgers remain the top team in the league two weeks into the season.

Mayfield Not Expected to Work Out With Browns: The former No. 1 overall pick who requested a trade during the offseason after Cleveland acquired Deshaun Watson is unlikely to attend the team’s voluntary offseason workouts.

Tracking Rookie QB Fantasy Success: First-year quarterbacks rarely perform up to expectations (or ADP) when it comes to fantasy football. See the recent history of successes and failures for rookie QBs.

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Thanks for reading Winners Club! I’ll be back Friday morning.