Tony Finn
Memphis at Golden State
Play: Memphis +11
The Memphis Grizzlies are on the left coast in Oakland, California to square off against the Western Conference's best record, the Golden State Warriors. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET, at Oracle Arena.
The Golden State Warriors appear to have found their second wind and their primary goal for the remainder of the regular season is to stay healthy and earn the top seed in the West. A six-game winning streak hasn't come easy and has not included easy covers. The Warriors are coming off a hard fought win over Sacramento giving them a 2 1/2-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the race for first place.
The Grizzlies are one of four teams that have defeated the Warriors at Oracle back in early January. Since that overtime win Memphis is an average 17-16 overall and have lost the first two of their current four-game road trip. The Griz' are off a 97-90 loss at San Antonio on Thursday and they head into tonight's game against Curry and company 1 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City for sixth slot in the Western Conference playoff picture. .
Before dropping the first two on their road trip Memphis was riding a 4-game win-and-cover run at home. Defensively the Griz have been solid this month despite the two game slide and are the play today as the underdog. It is obvious by the way the Warriors are playing, sharing game minutes and doing just enough to win that they know with 10 games left in the season, seven of those at home, this is a chance to begin preparing the roster for the postseason.
The Warriors are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games following a non-cover and have not taken Sunday events seriously since the holiday break. Golden State is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 Sunday games.
The Grizzlies are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and are a solid 5-2 ATS in their last 7 when squaring off against the NBA Pacific.
Scott Rickenbach
Blazers vs. Lakers
Play: Lakers +6½
Portland got the best of me here in this spot yesterday because they hit a ludicrous 62.5% of their shots from the field including 11 of 22 (50%) three pointers! That ridiculous shooting performance saw the Trail Blazers outscore the Timberwolves by 27 points from three point land in a game they won by 12 points. Of course you can do the math on that...Minnesota, a sizable underdog, actually outscored the Blazers by 15 points from inside the arc. The point is that we are not getting value with Portland now on the road and laying the same amount of points and highly unlikely to repeat last night's insane shooting performance. The Lakers have some added confidence coming off of a home win versus the same Timberwolves team and though their SU record is ugly, the Lakers have been playing ultra competitive basketball of late and have covered 3 of their last 4 games. The Blazers have a big home game with Denver on deck and the Nuggets are battling with Portland in the standings so don't be surprised if the Trail Blazers are a little "distracted" tonight! The Blazers are 3-7 ATS this season when off of a divisional game. The Lakers are playing for pride here and Portland has had their number in recent seasons. In other words, LA is going to be highly motivated in this one and just might pull off the upset. Either way, the points should prove to be enough!
Brandon Lee
Pelicans vs. Nuggets
Play: Nuggets -5½
Denver is worth a look here at home against the Pelicans. The Nuggets have been playing their best basketball of late and the oddsmakers have been slow to adjust their lines. Denver has won 3 straight and 7 of their last 8 overall. New Orleans is a team on the rise, but they are still figuring out the chemistry with Cousins, which is not an easy task with his style of play. It's been better of late, but I look for them to struggle on the road. Nuggets are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 home games against a team with a losing road record.
Mike Lundin
Grizzlies vs. Warriors
Play: Warriors -10
The Golden State Warriors have won six on the spin and they had covered the spread in four straight games before settling for a 114-100 win as an 18-point favorite against Sacramento on Friday. I think we'll see a fully focused Warriors team tonight when they host Memphis Grizzlies.
Memphis handed the Warriors one of their four home losses this season with a 128-119 OT triumph here at Oracle Arena on Jan. 6. Keep in mind though; the Warriors beat the Grizzlies 122-107 at Memphis last month and I fully expect them to want to put them in their place in front of the home town crowd as well.
The Grizzlies are struggling on offense scoring just 82 and 90 points in losses at New Orleans and San Antonio. This will be another tough test on the road before travelling to Sacramento to take on the Kings tomorrow.
The Warriors are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record and I think they'll cover the spread in this contest.
Andrew Gold
Chicago at Milwaukee
Play: Milwaukee -6½
Two teams going in the opposite direction right now. The Bulls have been a major disappointment to say the least this season. I believe they are starting to throw in the towel and the evidence comes last game as they lost SU to the Sixers at home. Milwaukee is playing red hot right now winning 3 straight and 8 of their last 10. They have owned the Bulls this season winning and covering every game.
Jimmy Boyd
Chicago at Milwaukee
Play: Milwaukee -6½
The Bucks are showing good value here at home against the Bulls. Milwaukee has been playing their best basketball here of late. The Bucks have won 3 straight and are 11-2 in their last 13 overall. Chicago has been a major disappointment this season and are not near the same team on the road as they are at home. Bulls are also just 3-9 in their last 12 games. The Bucks won the most recent meeting 116-96 in Chicago and the Bulls are a mere 4-14 ATS in their last 18 road games when revenging a home loss.
Teddy Davis
Brooklyn at Atlanta
Play: Atlanta -6½
This is a perfect chance for the Hawks to bounce back here. Yes they have been playing terrible because Milsap and Bazemore have been out and both will be here again today. The Hawks are still tied for 5th place in the Eastern Conference and should have plenty of motivation. The Nets are by far the worst team in the league and it isn't even close. There is nothing for them to play for at all. Hawks bounce back get a blowout win!
Harry Bondi
CHICAGO (+6.5) over Milwaukee
Triple revenge spot with playoff implications for the Bulls against Milwaukee today. Bucks are hot winning 5 of their last 6 while Chicago is struggling but the Bulls are still within striking distance of the playoffs and owe Milwaukee big time. In addition, Head Coach Fred Hoiberg went nuts on his team after a pathetic 117-107 loss to Philadelphia Friday night so we look for the Bulls to respond with one of their best efforts of the season. Bucks have won the first three games with the Bulls this season by an average of 19 points giving Chicago extra motivation in a place they have always played well. Bulls 13-6 last 19 in Milwaukee and play with pride this afternoon to make it 14-6!
Bruce Marshall
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi +1
It's been a while since we've seen Fort Wayne...11 days to be exact due to the odd CIT scheduling format. But the Mastodons were done no favors by this trip to Corpus Christi, where host A&M-CC has been tough to beat, winning nine in a row, including convincing wins over capable Georgia State and Weber State in the first two rounds of this event, and the Islanders have a go-to weapon in 68 sr. PF Rashawn Thomas (21.9 ppg). Note that Fort Wayne hardly closed the season with a rush, only 6-8 its last 14 games, and is only 2-6 SU its last eight away form home.
Anthony Michael
Kentucky / North Carolina Over 160
You know these 2 teams will love to play a run and gun type of game and they have shown they can do that against each other with the last 3 games between these teams all going over the number. Carolina is 37-17 to the over in neutral site games and both of these teams are averaging about 85 points per game. Look for this one to be a high flying, high scoring affair here.
Dave Essler
S.Carolina / Florida Over 135
It might come down on it's own - I actually think SC has a GREAT chance to win this game - but we had to hedge (well, we didn't HAVE to) - these teams know each other too well to have a huge "feeling out process" early on (1H over ?) - both teams play quicker than one would think - Florida's got to be a bit more tired than SC after the Wisconsin overtime game, another reason SC has a real shot here. Bottom line for me is that there are too many ways the winner gets to 70 and it ought to be a close game, and if we didn't hedge I'd probably have taken SC + the points, TBH.
Wunderdog
Phoenix @ Charlotte
Pick: Phoenix +12.5
Phoenix is going with the kids, with rookie Marquese Chriss and 20-year old Devin Booker playing well on offense. Booker is of a 70-point game at Boston. The Suns are ninth in the NBA in scoring and 9-2 ATS against the Southeast Division. Up and down Charlotte is a big favorite, but with a losing record the last nine games. They lost two of those as favorites of -7.5 and -3-5 to New Orleans and Chicago at home, giving up 125 and 115 points. Charlotte is 4-11 ATS at home, plus 5-15-1 ATS against a team with a winning percentage below .400. Charlotte has been a double-digit favorite three times this season and is 0-3 ATS in those games. Phoenix beat Charlotte as a dog on March 2 in the only other meeting this season, notching a 120-103 victory behind 17 points from Chriss, with the Suns also 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
Jack Brayman
Just wanted to make sure you knew who was who in my free pick section, as I take the Flames on the road at MD Baltimore County.
This is purely a play on one intangible, as the Flames boast the 17th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing 62.9 points per game. They come into this game after holding Samford 21.3 points below its season scoring average in the second round of the CIT.
At the other end of the floor, we have a team that can dial long distance at any time. Liberty has made 310 3-pointers this season, which ranks no. 33 in Division I basketball. The team currently is second in the Big South and ranks no. 37 in the country, averaging 9.1 three-point field goals per game.
Now they take on a team they've dominated over the years. Liberty is 18-4 all-time against UMBC, which has won by an average of 6.5 points in the CIT, against Fairfield and St. Francis at home.
While my big play starts an hour after this one tips, I'll take the Flames here, as I think they can win outright.
4* LIBERTY
Brad Wilton
The "Youth Movement" is on with the Phoenix Suns, and while the straight up losses are piling up, I think the Suns are in a good spot for another underdog cover on Sunday in Charlotte against a Hornets team that really has no business laying this kind of number.
Phoenix covered plus the points on Friday in Boston, and they have covered 7 of the last 9 in this series. That includes an outright 120-103 home win over Charlotte to start the month of March off.
The Hornets had their 3 game winning streak snapped against the Cavaliers their last time out, and they are just 4-5 against the spread their last 9 games overall, and 16-20 against the spread on their home court this year.
The Suns straight up skid is at 7 straight, but they do sport a respectable 17-19-1 road spread mark this year, and they have covered in 5 of their 8 games played during the day this year.
Grab the generous spot, and go with the Suns to get it respectable on Sunday.
4* PHOENIX
Eric Schroeder
My free play is on the Houston Rockets, laying the points at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Rockets hit the 50-win plateau on Friday, and still have the chance to get to 60 by the season's end in a couple of weeks. They're the third-best team in the Western Conference - record-wise - and can knock off 1 and 2 on any given night.
I wouldn't be opposed to giving Houston's Mike D'Antoni the Coach of the Year award, as he's done a good job in creating the right atmosphere for James Harden and a talented supporting cast.
And this being one final showdown between the leading MVP candidates Harden and Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, and the game being in H-town, my money is on the Rockets here.
4* ROCKETS