Sam Martin
Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks
Prediction: New York Knicks
Huge revenge spot for the Knicks as they host a Cleveland team that has already beat them three times this season. That includes two wins since Carmello Anthony made his debut in a Knicks uniform, and we look for New York to exact their revenge in a big way here tonight. Cleveland is one of the worst road teams in the league, and a focused Knicks team should be able to run up the score with ease here. 5* Play on New York.
Wunderdog
Phoenix Suns vs. San Antonio Spurs
Play: Phoenix Suns +1.5
The San Antonio Spurs have lost four straight games and watched their lead over the Lakers shrink. The Spurs lost Duncan and then Manu Ginobli, and that has led to the worst run since Tim Duncan joined this team. On March 21, they were sitting pretty at 57-19 with a seven-game lead over the Lakers. They now enjoy only a 1.5 game lead over LA for home court advantage in the West. The Suns are a .500 team and their defense is atrocious, but they can hang on the road as they are 19-15 ATS away from home this season. In their last six road games vs. winning home teams, the Suns have gone 5-0-1 ATS. San Antonio is just 1-6 ATS in their last seven home games. I like Phoenix to cover the spread.
Craig Trapp
Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Play: Portland Trail Blazers -4
Mavs are looking for finish line and the playoffs to start, that approach has cost them the last two games and in neither of those games did Dallas look good. Blazers are finally healthy and are starting to roll beating Spurs and Thunder in two of last three. The hot streak continues tonight as Portland takes advantage of Dallas age, and the fact that the Mavs are in a back to back to boot.
LARRY NESS
San Diego @ St. Louis
PICK: St. Louis
The Padres led the NL West for the better part of last season, only to collapse in the last month. The Padres have opened the 2011 season by taking the first two games of their three-game series with the Cards in St Louis, 5-3 in 11 innings on Thursday and then 11-3 on Saturday. The Padres trailed 3-2 heading into the fourth inning on Saturday but then 'exploded' for nine unanswered runs! A win today and the Padres would have their first three-game sweep in St Louis since May 23-25, 1980. Wow! However, besting Jamie Garcia, will be no easy chore. He was just terrific last year, going 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA (he finished in NL rookie of the year voting). However, the Cards went just 15-13 in his 28 starts, despite the fact that he allowed three ERs or less in 24 of his 28 starts. For that reason, I'm not making a bigger play on the Cards in this spot. I sure don't expect them to be swept at home, especially with Dustin Moseley on the mound for San Diego. He will be making his first start for San Diego after going 4-4 with a 4.96 ERA in 16 appearances (including nine starts) with the New York Yankees in 2010 (Yanks were 5-4 in his starts). He has been mostly a reliever during his career, making 46 appearances with the Angels in 2007 (just eight starts) but then hardly being used in 2008 and 2009 (15 appearances, including 10 starts), before getting traded to the Yanks. The Cards were excellent vs right-handers at home last season (36-17), including going 13-7 in day games while averaging 4.6 RPG. I see no reason that the Cards won't reach the right-handed Moseley and will play Garcia but I'm bothered by the fact that Cards rarely seemed to support him last year. However, this spot does warrant at least a small wager.
Jack Jones
Los Angeles Lakers -7
No team is playing better than the Los Angeles Lakers right now. The surging Lakers suddenly find themselves very much within reach of the top spot in the Western Conference thanks in part to a season-best winning streak. The Lakers (55-20) entered All-Star weekend on a three-game losing streak and sat in third place in the conference - 8 1/2 games behind first-place San Antonio. Los Angeles, though, improved to 17-1 since the All-Star break and extended the longest active run in the league to nine games with a 96-85 victory at Utah on Friday night
The Lakers are 13-2 in their last 15 home games against the Denver Nuggets. No question Denver is playing well, but their lack of size inside puts them at a huge disadvantage against the Lakers. Los Angeles is 23-9 ATS after 2 straight games committing 11 or less turnovers over the last 2 seasons. The Lakers are 14-6 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season. Denver is 31-56 ATS versus very good teams - outscoring their opponents by 6+ points/game - 2nd half of the season since 1996. The Lakers are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record. Take L.A. Sunday.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Houston Rockets -5.5
Houston will play with a greater sense of urgency and desperation this evening as it continues to push for a playoff spot. Atlanta is in already and will be feeling fat and happy after a win over Boston. Houston is 12-2 SU and 11-3 ATS in its last 14 home games in this series. The Rockets are 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16 games as a home favorite of 5.0-10.5 points and 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. the Eastern Conference. The Hawks are 0-7 ATS in their last 7 vs. the NBA Southwest division and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog of 5.0-10.5 points. Take the Rockets.
Jimmy Boyd
1 Unit on New Jersey Nets +11
Since starting the month of March with 5 straight wins, the Nets have dropped 9 of their last 10. Their recent funk, however, isn't enough to keep me off them here. Over the last few weeks, New Jersey has a win over Boston and it has played Chicago, Orlando and Atlanta to within 11 points or less. In other words, the Nets have gotten up for the big boys. They should especially be motivated in this spot following a forgettable performance at Philadelphia Friday. Deron Williams had a miserable game with four points in 23 minutes. Expect his competitiveness to drive him to a much better performance in this one. New Jersey is an impressive 14-6 ATS in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season. It is only losing these contests by an average of 3.6 points. In addition, the Nets are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog of 11.0 points or more. We'll take the points.
Freddy Wills
Pirates vs. Cubs
Play: Under 12½
The winds in these early games are the reason you see a total so high, but the starting pitchers are reason for this line is off and way off in my opinion. Ohlendorf is successful against teams that are not a top offense. Against the 10 worst offenses in 2010 he had a 2.77 ERA. He has three career starts vs. the Cubs and has given up 3 ER in 20 innings. 42 AB against him the Cubs have managed a .190 average. He had 11 of 21 quality starts a year ago so he is not terrible he also only gave up 8 ER in 5 day starts a year ago. Garza meanwhile had a 2.06 ERA in April and a 2.63 ERA during his day starts a year ago. The anemic bats of the Pirates have never seen him so it's going to take a couple of innings before they have a chance and I really like the way Garza competes. I think he has a solid year now being in the NL getting to face the pitcher once every 9 at bats. Under is 20-5-2 in Ohlendorfs last 27 starts as an underdog.
Black Widow
1* on Detroit Pistons +11
The Detroit Pistons do not like the Boston Celtics, and they will show up today to try and prevent the Celtics from inching closer to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Detroit has played Boston tough this year, beating them at home 104-92 and losing on the road 82-86 in their two most recent meetings. We like them to keep this one within double-digits Sunday to get the cover. Take the Pistons and the points.