Donovan Mitchell will be extra motivated to carry the Cavaliers, plus other best bets for Tuesday

Greetings sports fans, it’s Chris Bengel arriving back in your inbox on this Tuesday. First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with you if you, like me, sprinkled some money on TCU in Monday’s national championship game.
UGA put on one of the most dominant performances ever in a championship game. Say it with me: we all learned our lesson and won’t ever doubt Georgia again.
Let’s dive into Tuesday’s picks and win some of our money back.
All times Eastern, and all odds via Caesars Sportsbook
🔥 The Hot Ticket
Cavaliers at Jazz, 8 p.m. | TV: NBA.TV
Latest Odds: Cleveland Cavaliers -2.5 Bet Now
Key Trend : The Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a ATS win
: The Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a ATS win The Pick: Cavaliers -2.5 (-115)
There’s few bigger motivators than when a professional athlete is facing his old team. You can guarantee Donovan Mitchell will be motivated to stick it to his former team and it’s hard to go against a spread this small with his Cavaliers facing a struggling Jazz squad.
Mitchell is enjoying a terrific first season with the Cavaliers, which has included an insane 71-point performance last week against the Bulls. Over his last three games, Mitchell is shooting an impressive 53.0 percent from the field while scoring at least 20 points in each of those contests. In his first meeting against the Jazz after being traded, he scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting in a 122-99 win.
It also doesn’t hurt here that the Jazz have really struggled in recent weeks, with seven losses over their last eight games. Five of those seven defeats have come by a margin of three or more points. With Collin Sexton and Kelly Olynyk slated to miss Tuesday’s game due to injury, betting the Cavaliers’ side of the spread is an absolute no-brainer.
💰 More NBA Picks
Getty Images
Thunder at Heat, 7:30 p.m. | TV: TNT
Latest Odds: Oklahoma City Thunder +2 Bet Now
The Pick: Thunder +2 (-110) — The Heat are scheduled to be without Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin for Tuesday’s contest due to injury. Considering those injuries, plus the Heat’s recent struggles, I’m hammering the underdog Thunder in this spot (I also don’t hate a moneyline sprinkle with the line being so small).
The Heat have dropped two of their last three games, including losing a 112-109 contest to a Lakers team that was missing LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Miami currently ranks dead-last in scoring with just 108.7 points-per-game while shooting just 34.0 percent from three (25th in the NBA). On top of missing those four players that I mentioned above, sharpshooter Duncan Robinson is also out of the lineup for the foreseeable future due to an injured finger.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are winners of three of their last four games, including an impressive 120-109 against the Mavericks on Sunday. Oklahoma City continues to hover closer to the .500 mark and their offense is one of the biggest reasons for that. The Thunder are averaging 116.5 points-per-game, which is good for eighth in the league. While the Heat are one of the league’s better defensive teams, not being at full strength should allow the Thunder to thrive on the offensive end.
Key Trend: The Thunder are 18-8 ATS in their last 26 road games against a team with a winning home record.
Hornets at Raptors, 7:30 p.m. | TV: NBA.TV
The Pick: Scottie Barnes Over 15.5 Points (-113) — After scoring eight points over a two-game stretch in late December, Raptors phenom Scottie Barnes has rebounded in a big way. He’s registered at least 16 points in five of his last eight contests, including scoring at least 22 points in two of his last four games. Barnes has scoeres 48 second half points over his last four games, including scoring all of his 19 points in the second half and overtime period against the Bucks on Jan. 4.
The Hornets are one of the league’s worst defensive teams, as they’re currently yielding 118.1 points-per-game (28th in the NBA). Barnes should have no problem reaching the 16 points that we need in this spot.
Key Trend: Barnes has scored at least 16 points in five of his last eight games.