Black Widow
1* on Philadelphia 76ers +6.5
Philly is one team that has proven they do not quit at the end of the season even when eliminated from the playoff race. They have posted back-to-back victories over the Bucks by 15 on the road, and over the Hawks by 7 at home, both Eastern Conference playoff teams. Now they face a Western Conference playoff team in the Oklahoma City Thunder and they'll relish this opportunity at home again tonight. The young Thunder have lost 3 of their last 5 and they are starting to feel the pressure of trying to make the playoffs for the first time since the team moved to OKC. The Thunder are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as a road favorite of 5.0-10.5. The 76ers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. Western Conference. The home team is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings. The 76ers are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 meetings with OKC overall. Take the 76ers and the points.
Glenn McGrew
Wizards at Rockets
Where is the offense going to come from? Both teams have been decimated by injuries. The Wizards have scored 95 or fewers points in 15 of the last 16 games. They’ve scored 87, 96, 82 and 86 points the last four games. Rockets coach Rick Adelman is going with younger players not because they are out of the playoff race, but he has no choice with all their injuries. “They're playing anyway,” he said. “That's who we have. They're in the rotation.” Kevin Martin (sore left shoulder) is questionable, but Jared Jeffries (left Achilles' strain), Shane Battier (sprained left ankle) and David Andersen (sore back) are out. Washington is on a 7-1 run under the total, Houston is on a 4-3 run. Play the Wizards/Rockets Under the total.
Insider Angles
The Pacific Tigers have reached this Championship Game of the CIT vs. the Missouri State Bears by winning three straight games on the road, and at the very least, we are looking for them to take this game right down to the wire, with a fourth straight outright road win not impossible.
The Tigers have played good defense all year, limiting Division I foes to 60.5 points per game on just 40.3 percent shooting, and they have held Appalachian State and Northern Colorado to 56 and 59 points respectively in their own buildings in the last two wins. In fact, the 76 points they allowed to Loyola Marymount in the first round of this tournament marked the only time in the last eight games that Pacific has allowed at least 70 points.
In fact, the Tigers rank an impressive 16 in the country in two-point defense, allowing only a 43.1 percent success rate. Missouri is not a goof two-point shooting team to begin with at 48.8 percent, so if the Bears fall short of that percentage as we expect, they could be in trouble if their perimeter shots are not falling.
Missouri State had an easier path getting here with all three of their wins coming at home, and yet they failed to cover the spread in two of the three wins. The Bears are shooting just 41.1 percent from the field over their last two games, which is an ominous sigh vs. this good Pacific defense. Also remember that while Missouri State is 17-2 at home, they are just 10-9 against the spread in those games.
We have doubts whether or not the Bears can score enough points here to cover this spread either, so we will take the points with a Pacific team that is definitely capable of winning this outright.
Pick: Pacific +6