New Orleans Pelicans Led the Scoreboard

This recap looks at two things: how the teams played, and how close Vegas came to getting the slate right.

The biggest team story was New Orleans Pelicans leading the slate in scoring with 156 points. The biggest market story was that a few games were close to the betting line, but others missed badly on the spread, the total, or both.

Slate Snapshot

  • Date: April 7, 2026
  • Games: 10
  • Teams: 20

Team Takeaways

New Orleans Pelicans scored the most points on the slate with 156. Los Angeles Lakers scored the fewest with just 87.

Oklahoma City Thunder had the best offense by efficiency at 130.0 OEFF. Chicago Bulls had the best defense by efficiency at 90.7 DEFF. The fastest game environment was New Orleans vs Jazz at 119.3 pace.

Highest-Scoring Teams

  1. New Orleans Pelicans 137 points
  2. Chicago Bulls 124 points
  3. Oklahoma City Thunder 87 points
  4. Milwaukee Bucks 95 points
  5. Brooklyn Nets 98 points

Best Rebounding Teams

  1. LA Clippers 56 rebounds
  2. Houston Rockets 54 rebounds
  3. Chicago Bulls 38 assists
  4. Chicago Bulls 34 assists
  5. New Orleans Pelicans 29 assists

Fastest Pace Environments

  1. New Orleans vs Jazz 108.1 pace
  2. LA Clippers vs Mavericks 103.0 pace
  3. Toronto vs Heat 130.0 OEFF
  4. Boston Celtics 120.4 OEFF
  5. Chicago Bulls 114.8 OEFF

Best Defensive Efficiency Teams

Lower DEFF is better here, so these teams defended the best on the slate.

  1. Chicago Bulls 91.9 DEFF
  2. LA Clippers 101.0 DEFF
  3. Dallas Mavericks 156 points, 48 rebounds, 32 assists, 15 steals, 5 blocks - Chicago Bulls 137 points, 41 rebounds, 38 assists, 12 steals, 1 blocks - Toronto Raptors 123 points, 46 rebounds, 29 assists, 15 steals, 2 blocks

Vegas Recap

Vegas was close on a few games, but not on all of them. A team can win the game and still fail to cover the spread. A game can also go far over or under the projected total. Both matter if you are following sides, totals, or props.

Underdog Wins and Upsets

  • Brooklyn beat Milwaukee 96-90 as the underdog.

Biggest Over Results

  • New Orleans vs Jazz finished 50.5 points over the closing total (293 vs 242.5).
  • Houston vs Suns finished 2.5 points over the closing total (224 vs 221.5).

Biggest Under Results

  • Milwaukee vs Brooklyn finished 32.5 points under the closing total (186 vs 218.5).
  • Toronto vs Heat finished 24.5 points under the closing total (216 vs 240.5).
  • Bulls vs Wizards finished 22.5 points under the closing total (227 vs 249.5).

Biggest Spread Results

  • Strongest favorite cover: Chicago Bulls covered by 25.5 points.
  • Biggest favorite failure: Golden State missed the spread by 9.5 points.

When Vegas Was Closest

  • Closest total: Houston vs Suns finished just 2.5 points away from the closing total.
  • Closest side: LA Clippers vs Mavericks finished just 1.5 points away from the closing spread.

Final Takeaway

The simple version of this slate: New Orleans Pelicans had the best scoring night, Oklahoma City Thunder was the most efficient offense, and Chicago Bulls was the best defensive team by efficiency.

On the betting side, Vegas got a few spots right, but there were also clear misses. That matters because games that blow past the line can tell you a lot about pace, offense, defense, and where the market may have been off.