Scott Delaney
My free pick is on a Big East Rivalry taking place in Louisville, but I'm not messing with either Cincinnati or Louisville. Not when both are treating this as a must-win game.
A win for Cincinnati, currently 50th in the Ratings Percentage Index, would be go a long way toward solidifying a tournament berth. Though it's not necessarily a must-win situation, the Bearcats might as well get their reservations set with a win. And the only way to seize control of the Cardinals, are by going in with guns ablazing.
Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick (17.7 points per game) is one of the best players in the nation, and can easily take over a game - I've seen him do it personally. He'll be a thorn in Louisville's side all game, and will be the key component in forcing this into an upper-tempo game.
The 'Cats have no choice. See, while Louisville's league-leading offense has been a driving force for much of the season, its defense has been a main focal point during the team's recent surge. Thus, if Cincy wants to come away with a win, offense is key.
And the Cardinals will no how to answer with their explosive game.
Take this one over the posted number, as they're in for a shootout.
2♦ OVER Cincinnati at Louisville
NHL Predictions
Devils / Maple Leafs Over 5
This will be the first meeting between these two teams this year. Last year they faced each other 4 times with each team winning twice (road team was 4-0). In those 4 meetings we saw totals of 8, 5, 7, and 7, with the OVER going 3-1. The OVER is 4-1 in their last 5 meetings overall dating back to the final meeting of 2011. The OVER is 3-1 in the Devils last 4 games as they've given up 16 goals during that span (4 per game) with Martin Brodeur out with an injury. The Maple Leafs have scored 11 goals over their last 3 games, with three straight OVERs (totals of 6, 7, and 9). I think the oddsmakers are being generous here giving us a total set at 5, and I will take the OVER.
Los Angeles Kings -149
If you can remember back to January we had the Kings at home vs the Predators as our GOW pick. The Kings outshot Nashville 24-14 and out chanced them by a ton, yet they fell 2-1 in a shootout. These two teams met again in February with Nashville winning 3-0 at home despite being outshot 32-14. Since those games the Kings have been on a quite a roll, including winning 7 of their last 9 games overall. The Predators have lost 2 straight and 4 of their last 5 games overall. In Nashville's 4 recent losses they've managed just 2 goals combined. Los Angeles has won 4 straight home games to improve to 5-1-1 on the season at home. The Predators are 4-6-2 on the road and have lost 5 straight road games. The Kings are coming off a rough loss in Vancouver, but they are 11-4 in their last 15 games following a loss of 3+ goals and playing at home tonight should give them an extra boost. The Kings are winless against Nashville this season despite out playing them heavily. With the way things are going for each team right now I like Los Angeles to come out on top in front of their home crowd tonight. Take the Kings.
Ian Cameron
New Jersey at Toronto
Play: Toronto
The New Jersey Devils are struggling in all phases right now. They’ve allowed four goals or more in three of their last four games and they’ve scored two goals or less in three of those games as well. The Devils are 1-6 in their last seven games and they’ve yet to win a game since Hall Of Fame bound starting goalie Martin Brodeur went on the IR with a back injury. Johan Hedberg who has started every game so far in place of the injured Brodeur has allowed 19 goals in his five starts. There isn’t a single aspect of New Jersey’s game right now offensively, defensively or in goal that is playing at a high level and I think they will be in tough spot to snap their losing streak tonight in Toronto.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been a surprise story this season with a solid 13-9 record. The Leafs have enjoyed three days off since their last game which was a road win in OT against the New York Islanders. Toronto also won their only game this season following a 3+ days of rest situation. After starting the season poorly at home, Toronto has put together a 3-1 home record in their last four home games. They enters tonight’s game averaging 2.91 goals per game compared to New Jersey’s 2.48 goals scored per game and for all the accolades the Devils receive for being a rock solid defensive unit, it is actually the Leafs who have yielded fewer goals on a per game basis. Toronto is allowing 2.5 goals per game which is slightly better than New Jersey’s 2.52 goals allowed per game. The Leafs have an unblemished 7-0 record facing teams with a losing record this season as they’ve shown an ability to beat the teams they should.
Jeff Scott Sports
4 UNIT PLAY
DENVER -10 over Atlanta: The hawks are off a tough 1 point loss to the Lakers and that has them in a bad situational spot as hey must now travel to the altitude of Denver with no rest. Playing in Denver is no picnic anyway even if you have rest as the Nuggets are 25-3 on the year at home and have outscored their opponents by 9+ ppg. The Denver offense has been putting up points in droves of late, averaging 112.8 ppg in their last 5 games and they average 108.9 ppg at home. Atlanta had averaged 106.3 ppg in their first 3 games of this road trip, but the trip may be taking it's toll as they have put up just 92.5 ppg in their last 2 and that offense should also suffer here as well with them playing a back-to-back. They have played pretty good defense on the trip, but this tired team will not be able to stop the hot Denver offense is this one. I expect Denver to flirt with a 20 point win in this one.
3 UNIT PLAY
Golden State/ Toronto Over 203.5: These teams met back in January, in Toronto and 216 points were scored in that game. Now the scene shifts to Golden State, where games on averaged are much higher scoring than Toronto home games so we should easily get at least 204 points in this one. The Raptors have allowed 104 and 103 points in their last 2 games (Regulation) on the road and The Warriors have averaged 102 ppg at home for the year. Overall this year Toronto has allowed 102.7 ppg on the road. The Raptor offense scores pretty well on the road (97.2 ppg) and Golden State has struggled on defense of late, allowing 106 ppg in their last 10 games. The Warriors need this game in the worst way and that should motivate them to run, run and run some more, making this a very fast paced game, which should put up around 210 points.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
Kansas/ Texas Tech Under 140.5: These teams met back in January and just 108 points were scored. The Red Raider put up just 46 points in that home game and now they are on the road where the score just 57.5 ppg on the year, including just 55.8 ppg in their last 6 away from home. Making matters worse for this offense is the fact that they will be taking on a Kansas defense that has allowed just 59.6 ppg on a mere 33.6% shooting at home for the year. No way the Red Raiders put up more than 55 points in this one. Kansas does average 78.9 at home and Texas Tech allows 73.6 ppg on the road, so I really don't expect more than 80 from the Jayhawks, especially once they get a big lead and with having a road game vs Baylor on deck they should call off the dogs midway through the 2nd half. 80-55 sounds about right for this one.
Andre Gomes
NY Knicks -3
This is a back to back game for the Knicks, who faced Miami at home yesterday on an 1PM EST game. However, only Carmelo Anthony played more than 40 minutes, while four of their players were on the court for about 35 minutes. Cleveland's defense simply doesn't exist nowadays and their interior defense is very fragile, especially with Tyler Zeller out tonight, while their perimeter defense isn't much better. The Knicks will struggle in defending Kyrie Irving, but he is returning tonight from injury and he can't do everything on his own. Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller won't play tonight, so Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights will start tonight, leaving the Cavaliers's bench with no second unit whatsoever. Even though the Knicks aren't on a great spot tonight, they shouldn't have problems in beating the Cavaliers, who won't have any kind of depth tonight. I'll be taking the Knicks tonight.