NBA Bets and Odds Today: Heat try to eliminate Hawks; Grizzlies, Wolves, Pelicans and Suns all do battle in Game 5s

Tuesday brings us two critical Game 5s in the NBA Playoffs and an elimination game. First up, the Miami Heat look to close out the Atlanta Hawks after Atlanta got run out of the gym in Game 4. Minnesota looks to steal another game on the road and potentially close out the series at home when they face the grizzlies. Memphis is a 6.5-point favorite at home. That spread seems like a lot given the first four games of the series.

New Orleans takes on Phoenix in the other critical Game 5. The Pelicans are a tough out for the Sun’s right now with Devin Booker injured. Despite the injury, the Suns are still 6.5-point favorites at home on Tuesday night.

Here’s Tuesday night’s schedule:

• Game 5: Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat — 7 pm ET — NBA TV — Heat lead series 3-1
• Game 5: minnesota timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies — 7:30 p.m. ET — TNT — Series tied 2-2
• Game 5: New Orleans Pelicans at Phoenix Suns — 10 p.m. ET — TNT — Series tied 2-2

Every day during the NBA Playoffs, The Athletic’s writers will make their picks, straight up. We put our picks and all series coverage, plus the latest odds, all in one place for fans to easily digest and follow. Our in-depth NBA coverage is linked below the picks. Game recaps and previews by Zach Harper. For live NBA odds from BetMGM, click here.

Hawks at Heat

Game 4: Heat 110, hawks 86 | Heat lead 3-1

Who was the guy? Jimmy Butler. Remember when Butler was outscored in a playoff series by Bryan Forbes and the Miami Heat were swept in Round 1 last year? This is the opposite of that. Butler has proven he’s by far the best player in this series, and he’s reminded the Hawks time and time again they’re not playing Charlotte or Cleveland. Butler had 36 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals without a single turnover. He made as many free throws (11) as the Hawks did as a team.

Keystat: 0-26-25. That’s the number of Hawks fast-break points (0), points in the paint (26) and points they gave up off their 15 turnovers (25). The Hawks were completely dominated. There was seemingly very little fight in them, and they never seemed to be on the right end of getting or preventing easy points.

What can the Hawks do to win Game 5? They have to get Bring Young going. Kevin Knox outscored him in this game. That can’t happen, really ever. Even in Game 3, Young was good, but he wasn’t amazing. He needs to have one of those all-encompassing clinics he can put on with his shooting and passing. He has as many assists as he does turnovers for the entire series, so we really need to see him get loose with the basketball, or we won’t see him again until October.

Timberwolves at Grizzlies

Game 4: Wolves 118, grizzlies 113 | Sets tied 2-2

Who was the guy? Karl-Anthony Towns. After the minnesota timberwolves star center had an embarrassing Game 3 at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, he bounced back with a monster game. He had 33 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. He went 8-of-17 from the field and 14-of-17 from the free-throw line. Towns played pretty good defense throughout the night, but more importantly, he imposed his will on offense to force the Grizzlies into a ton of bad foul decisions. That’s what a star center is supposed to do in the postseason.

Keystat: 40 free throws. The Wolves were so aggressive in getting to the basket, and they forced the Grizzlies to defend them. Sometimes when you force the action like that, especially as a young team, you can be out of control and find yourself in some precarious situations. The Wolves had a lot of control going toward the rim, and they made the Grizzlies be physical, often too physical. It resulted in the Wolves drawing 33 fouls and going 31-of-40 from the charity stripe.

What can the Grizzlies do to win Game 5? Stop fouling, and stop letting the Wolves do whatever they want from the perimeter. A lot of stretches in this series have seen the Wolves expose some weaknesses in the Grizzlies’ defensive efforts. In this game, they fouled way too much (as mentioned above), and they allowed 18-of-36 from 3-point range. That’s way too many 3-pointers and free throws to give up. The Grizzlies have to play a much more mature brand of defense and adjust to what playoff basketball becomes in the trenches. Make the Wolves make mistakes; don’t make the mistakes before Minnesota can.

What can the Wolves do to win Game 5? Keep establishing Towns early and often in this matchup. Maybe they can’t expect the same calls in Memphis they received in Minneapolis, but the Wolves have to keep going to Towns and realizing he’s a mismatch every time down the floor. If they give proper spacing, they can take advantage of that on and off the ball. But the Wolves have to quit losing focus and allowing Memphis to stalk these wins.

Pelicans at Suns

Game 4: Pelicans 118, Sun’s 103 | Sets tied 2-2

Who was the guy? Brandon Ingram. It felt like he was unstoppable in the second half of this game. Ingram was destroying some of the best defensive players on the Suns like it was a stroll in the park. He got to the rim for dunks. He pulled up in the middle of the floor to rise over anybody. Ingram was in such a great rhythm, and his scoring kept the Suns from truly making a big run to put pressure back on New Orleans. I have finished with 30 points on 11-of-23 from the field. His 16 points in the third quarter kept the Pelicans rolling.

What was the key here? The Pelicans just seemed to have more energy, and I think the Suns were waiting for them to either run out of steam or lose their focus. The Suns didn’t really try to impose their will. They settled a lot, and I think a big part of that is the activity from the Pelicans on both ends of the floor. Herb Jones and Joseph Alvarado they were galvanizing them every second they were on the floor. Jonas Valanciunas matched everything Deandre Ayton did and then some.

What can the Suns do to win Game 5? Two things: 1) Stop fouling so much. I’m sure the Suns fans and team will feel like the officiating wasn’t fair, and maybe it was a little one-sided. You can’t get outscored 32-10 at the free-throw line, and you can’t allow the other team to get to the line at nearly triple the rate you did. It’s not totally in their control, but the Suns did not play with force the same way the Pelicans did. If they can fix that in Game 5, they’ll have a chance to win the series in six. 2) Get Chris-Paul going. He has to be more of a scoring threat without Devin Booker.

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(Photo of Brandon Ingram and Chris Paul: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)