Ben Burns
Boston vs. Toronto
Pick: Boston
The Bruins are on a 5-game slide. The Leafs have won three straight and five of six. Yet, its the Bruins who are listed as favorites, despite the fact that the game is being played at Toronto. Mistake? Or, is Boston really that much better? I'd tend to side with the latter. This years Bruins may not be quite as good as some of their recent teams, however, the Leafs are as bad as ever.
Its been a pretty safe bet to go against the Leafs over the years, when they've been on a 3-game winning streak. Indeed, Toronto is a terrible 57-87 (-43.8) its last 144, after winning its previous three or more games. This is the third time this season that the Leafs have won three straight. They proceeded to lose the next game, on each of the previous occasions.
The Bruins, who are 23-14 (+10.6) on the road, remain a respectable 4-2 after losing their previous three or more consecutive games. They're a profitable 76-67 (+14.9) in that situation, over the years.
The Bruins are healthier and they need this game more. They've got a great shot at "stopping the bleeding" tonight.
Jim Feist
Cleveland at New York
Pick: New York
New York is a home dog and has its two big offensive guns rolling, off a pair of wins against the Bulls as a dog each time where the offense topped 100 points. The Knicks are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record. A wacky Cleveland team is in town, up and down, working on its second coach. The Cavaliers are on a 1-6 ATS run and 3-12-2 ATS in their last 17 road games vs. a team with a losing home record. The Underdog is 7-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings and the Cavaliers are 1-5 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
Marc Lawrence
Atlanta at Detroit
Pick: Detroit
Edges - Pistons: 4-0 ATS in non-rest rest situation games. Hawks: 0-4 ATS ATS in double no rest situation games. With Atlanta off as double revenge affair at home against Milwaukee last night, look for Detroit to get revenge from a pair of same season losses n this series her tonight. We recommend a 1* play on Detroit.
Scott Spreitzer
Chicago at Orlando
Pick: Chicago
Tough spot for the Magic for a few reasons. Orlando played last night, their final game in a four game, six night road trip, losing by 11 points in Miami. Also, Chicago will be extra motivated, not only looking to avenge a 13-point loss to Orlando earlier this month, but because they just lost back-to-back tilts to the lowly New York Knicks. Pau Gasol may not play on Saturday, he's listed as questionable, nursing a sore knee, but the Magic are banged-up, also, and again off the quick turnaround at the end of a road trip. Orlando has dropped six straight games and their poor defensive numbers are getting worse, allowing 111 ppg over their last eight games. We believe this is "just what the doctor ordered," for the Bulls to remove the stench of their two straight losses to the Knicks.
Bob Harvey
Jazz vs. Wolves
Play: Jazz -6
The Utah Jazz look to move back into playoff consideration when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Northwest Division rivals have split two meetings this season, with Minnesota earning a 94-80 home win and cover on December 30.
The Jazz (35-37, 35-37 ATS) past the Rockets for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference playoffs with an 89-87 win in Houston on Wednesday but dropped a 113-91 decision in Oklahoma City the next night. That leaves the “Salt Lake City 5” tied with Dallas for the final playoff spot in the West. Utah catches a Timberwolves team that is playing the second night of a back-to-back after earning a 132-129 win in double overtime at Washington on Friday. If any team in the NBA can handle the second night of a back-to-back it’s Minnesota which starts five players age 26 or younger.
All five of those 26-and-under starters played at least 40 minutes for the T-Wolves (24-48, 35-36 ATS) with rookie of the year favorite Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way with 27 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in 48 minutes. He also hit the game clinching shot with 11 seconds remaining in the second OT.
The Jazz are 6-2 ATS in the past eight meetings in Minnesota while the Timberwolves are 5-0 ATS in their last five.
Mike Lundin
Cleveland at New York
Play: Under 203½
The Cleveland Cavaliers are off a humbling 104-95 loss at Brooklyn Thursday night. They've defeated the Knicks in three low-scoring games already this season (96-86, 90-84, 91-81) and neither team will have much incentive to make this a run-and-gun fest. Tyronn Lue and the Cavs have their eyes on the playoffs already and the players fitness and health is their only concern right now.
The New York Knicks swept a home-and-home set against Bulls Wednesday/Thursday and the under is 5-0 in their last five games following a straight up win. We can also note that the under is 10-2 in New York's 12 games so far in March, 18-7 against good offensive teams that are scoring 99+ points/game here in the 2nd half of the season and 5-0 in its last five games as a home underdog.
Each of the last six meetings have stayed under the total, a trend I think will hold true tonight.
Dave Cokin
Flyers -125
Is this the same Philadelphia team that muddled its way through much of the season? Certainly not, as far as their quality of play is concerned. The Flyers have surged all the way to making the playoffs as of today's standings, and they've even got a chance to move up a couple more notches.
Philly looks to continue its stellar recent play tonight at Arizona. The Coyotes are technically still alive for a playoff berth, but realistically they're not. Nevertheless, 'Yotes fans should be excited about what's in store for next season. Their young talent has really delivered this season, and I won't be surprised to see Arizona be an upwardly mobile entry next year.
But as of right now, the Flyers are the better team and they're playing at a clearly higher level. Steve Mason has been terrific in goal and make no mistake, when a team has a hot goalie, the skaters are generally going to play aggressively as they're not as fearful about a gamble killing them. If you've been watching the Flyers games lately, you know exactly what I mean.
Obviously, the Flyers cannot afford to get complacent here. I'll admit I'm mildly concerned about that. Philly has rolled into that last playoff spot as it stands right now, they're playing a weaker team and there's always that small chance they could relax mentally. But I'm more of the belief the big momentum currently running through this team has them hitting the ice firing tonight. I like the Flyers to pick up another important two points as they close out their road trip with a win against the Coyotes.
Ken Thomson
Kansas -2
Kansas has yet to play their "A" game yet in this Tourney but they'll need to do just that if they are to take out #2 seed Villanova and get back to the Final Four in Houston. The Jayhawks were sluggish out of the gate vs. Maryland and the ball handling skill of Melo Trimble gave them some early game troubles. The depth that Kansas has sometimes takes a little while to kick in. The Jayhawks have gone against Oklahoma's 3-point shooting barrage twice and as good as Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart & Ryan Arcidiacono are, none of the trio is better than Buddy Hield of OU.
Kansas has guards that excel on the defensive end as well as score themselves. Seldon Jr., Mason III and Graham are all solid defensively and they can not give up open looks from three point range to Jay Wright's round ball assassins. Perry Ellis is playing his best ball of the season and his leaderssh in this game is much needed. Kansas cannot afford to get out slowly or they will get beaten. Daniel Ochefu is coming off an ankle sprain but played well enough last game and has been cleared to go-
Look for Kansas to make one of their runs in the game. That should give them a solid lead down the stretch and the Jayhawks should move on. I expect Landon Lucas to control the defensive glass and for Kansas to open things up down the stretch. If Villanova continues to shoot lights out they may win the whole thing. I like Kansas by 5 in this one
Bob Balfe
Oregon -1
Oklahoma has great starters, but not much of a bench. This is a team the other night that all chipped in when Hield only had 17 points. I say only because the guy averages 25 a night. I am not taking anything away from this team, but as games get tougher here on out you need some kind of bench. Oregon showed us in the last game that they can get teams into foul trouble. Duke had no bench and it showed down the stretch. Oregon is aggressive and if they get Oklahoma players in trouble they are going to win this game. Great individual efforts sometimes work out, but basketball is a team game. The better players might be on Oklahoma, but the better complete team is the Ducks. Take Oregon.
Kansas -2 & Over 145
Kansas has won 17 games in a row and yet Vegas makes them just a 2 point favorite. Seems like a trap doesn’t it? Fine, so be it. There is no logic reason to wager against the #1 team in the nation right now. If Nova pulls off the upset so be it. I have been impressed with Nova and they are going to battle tonight, but this is Kansas tournament to win. This arena seems to be very friendly towards the shooters. Nova scored over 90 points, but still allowed Miami to shoot 53%. If they do that tonight against Kansas it will be themselves getting blown out. This game is going to be a thriller however in the end I believe Kansas has more talent and their superstar future NBA players will take over this game. Take Kansas and the Over.
Sleepyj
Cleveland -8
I made my number for this contest -11..So I'm off here by a wide margin...Cavs got lit up in the last game Vs. Brooklyn...A real bottom feeder of the league for sure..Now the Cavs take on the Knicks...They have been winning games, but for the most part I think it's smoke and mirrors...I look for a rock solid effort here out of Cleveland..I see them winning this one by double digits today.
Harry Bondi
CHARLOTTE -3 over Milwaukee
Not only are the Bucks on a miserable 1-5 straight-up run, but the Bucks are in a real difficult scheduling spot here tonight as they play their fifth game in seven days, including a fourth-straight loss last night to Atlanta. The trends also point to the Hornets here tonight as Charlotte has covered seven of its last 11 away from home and the road team has covered eight in a row in this series. Lay the points on the road!
Michael Black
Villanova vs Kansas
Play: Villanova +2.5
Kansas and Villanova square off tonight with a spot in the Final Four on the line and we're backing the Wildcats to pull the slight upset in this one. It's like I said when Nova was taking on Miami, Jay Wright is sick and tired of all the media giving his team a hard time about underperforming. The fire appears to be lit under Nova this year so I'm calling for them to advance to the Final Four. Let's grab em with the insurance at +2.5.
Jesse Schule
Charlotte vs. Milwaukee
Pick: Under
The Milwaukee Bucks will return home after three straight losses on the road, and they host the red hot Charlotte Hornets. While the Hornets came up just short in Detroit last night, they've won 17 of their last 22 overall. One reason for Charlotte's success in it's top 10 ranked defense, that allows opponents to average just 101 points per game. The Bucks don't often reach the century mark, and they come in averaging just 92.5 points per game while losing five of their last six overall.
These teams have failed to reach the total in each of the last four meetings, and despite that the number in tonight's game is actually higher than it was in any of those previous contests. The Hornets have gone under in five of their last seven overall, and Milwaukee has failed to reach the total in six of it's last seven. The under is 6-0 in Bucks last six versus teams with a winning record. One contributing factor to Milwaukee's trend of low scoring games is that it ranks dead last in the NBA in made three-pointers.
Power Sports
Philadelphia vs. Arizona
Pick: Arizona
A rare ML underdog recommendation from me in NHL here, but due to the fact that they are in the playoff race (and the 'Yotes aren't), the Flyers clearly come into tonight overpriced. It was just two games ago that they lost in Columbus. Now tied for the final Wild Card spot, I see the same thing happening again in the desert.
Something else to consider is that Arizona has actually been playing quite well of late. They've come out victorious in five of the last seven games, including B2B wins here at home over Edmonton and Dallas. Unexpected strong play between the pipes has keyed this run of theirs. In six of their last seven games, they've allowed two goals or less and only seven goals have been scored against them the last five home games. Goalie Mike Smith boasts a 1.25 GAA his L4 starts.
Philly was a 4-2 winner its last time out, in Colorado, and has had little problem scoring of late. But they've been surprisingly bad against teams with losing records (just 14-21) this season and I can't see their recent offensive surge being maintained. They are also due to drop one on the road (4-0-2 L6). Allowing far too many shots has been an issue all season (34.4 L5 games) and netminder Steve Mason is just 5-8 straight up vs. Arizona in his career.
Larry Ness
Toronto vs. New Orleans
Pick: Toronto
Expect the Raptors to should over this ‘JV’ version of the Pelicans...
Toronto gained ground slightly on Cleveland in the race for the East's No. 1 seed by winning four straight prior this current three-game road trip but the Raptors have fallen 2 1/2 games behind the Cavaliers following defeats at Boston and Houston. Toronto played an ‘ugly’ game in Wednesday's 91-79 loss at the Celtics (shot 34.8 percent as a team, including 6 of 22 on threes), then faltered in the fourth quarter of Friday's 112-109 setback at the Rockets. Houston opened the 4th quarter last night on a 13-2 run, as the Raptors fell behind 92-80. Any comeback hopes were then dashed after DeMar DeRozan AND Kyle Lowry were both ejected in the final three minutes for arguing with the officials, as Toronto lost by three points.
Toronto is now hoping to avoid the team’s first three-game skid in four months, as the Raptors conclude this short road trip with Saturday’s game in New Orleans. Toronto figures to have less trouble against the injury-riddled Pelicans. New Orleans owns FIVE players averaging 15.2 PPG or better but ALL five could be unavailable for this game. Swingman Evans (15.2-5.2-6.6) and SG Gordon (15.2) are out for the season plus the Pelicans are set to play their fourth consecutive game without Anthony Davis (knee surgery) and Ryan Anderson (groin). Davis (24.1-10.1) will be shut down for the season and it’s possible Anderson will receive the same treatment. As for PG Jrue Holiday (16.7-6.0 APG), New Orleans may not have him for a second straight game due to a toe injury.
New Orleans has lost 11 of 14 but has been mostly competitive (6-8 ATS), despite the injury situation, as several role players have stepping up in increased roles. However, this Toronto team could REALLY use a win and I expect that DeRozan (23.7-4.4-3.9) and Lowry (21.8-4.9-6.5) ought to get things straightened out. Lowry was a woeful 4 of 19 from the floor last night, after being rested Wednesday against Boston and as for DeRozan, he’s shooting just 38.8 percent over his last five contests. The Raptors have won SEVEN of the last nine meetings with the Pelicans and should roll over this ‘JV’ version of the team. Lay the points.