JACK JONES
Indiana Pacers -7.5
The New York Knicks have been even worse since they fired head coach Derek Fisher and replaced him with Kurt Rambis. They have gone just 2-12 in their last 14 games overall, and they have shown no sense of urgency since the All-Star Break to turn it around.
They have lost two of their three games since the break. They lost by 11 at Brooklyn despite being favored in that game by 5 points. They also were blown out by 27 at home to the Raptors with their only win coming at lowly Minnesota. This team just doesn't want it.
Indiana, on the other hand, has made a statement coming out of the break. The Pacers went on the road and beat both the Thunder and Magic before losing in overtime to Miami on the road. Now they get to play their first home games since the break. The Pacers are 17-9 at home this season, while the Knicks are just 10-18 on the road.
The Pacers have owned the Knicks, going 7-1 SU & 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings. They have won four straight meetings by 16, 6, 23 and 21 points. They are also 36-11 SU & 29-17 ATS in their last 47 home meetings with the Knicks. The Knicks are 0-7 ATS in their last seven visits to Indiana. The home team is 10-2 ATS in the last 12 meetings.
ARI ATARI
Raptors -9½
The Raptors are breathing down the necks of the Cavs as they are clearly the next best team in the East. The unity and confidence is showing for a legitimate contender in the East and they're coming off a 122-95 win in NYC. A return home against the Timberwolves should spell an outright blowout against a team that caught them on their heels back in Minnesota on the 10th of this month when they lost 117-112. Expect the Raptors to turn it on defensively and keep the Wolves at bay.
Vegas Butcher
Los Angeles Lakers +9
Back on 12/27 the Lakers visited Memphis and were listed as +9.5 road underdogs. That game featured Marc Gasol, Courtney Lee, and Jeff Green in the starting lineup. None will be suiting up for the Grizzlies for the rest of the season. In addition, defensive ace Tony Allen, will be out today as well. Grizzlies were on a b2b in that game, so you can assume that the spread was brought down by a point or so, but still it wasn’t that far off from today’s number. Memphis is a much weaker team than they were back in December, yet they are still being priced similarly by the bookmakers. Lakers are 7-1 ATS in the last 8 and I believe they’re once again undervalued tonight. I expect a competitive game in this one.
Bruce Marshall
Marquette +7.5
With these two Big East squads owning the same overall mark of 17-10, recommend taking three or more baskets with tallish, unselfish Marquette (16.3 apg), itching to get even following its 65-62 home series loss on Feb. 13. Defensively-pliable CU (72.7 ppg) will be more challenged on the stop end this time now that the Eagles' prized 6-5 frosh G Haanif Cheatham (11.7 ppg) is oozing with confidence after scoring a season-high 20 pts. (along with 3 assists & 3 steals) in MU's 73-60 cruise over DePaul on Saturday. Last 3 in the series have been decided late.
ASA
Colorado +6
Arizona is 3-3 SU & ATS in its last six road games. The Wildcats find themselves in a tough situation here on the road against a desperate conference rival. Colorado has dropped back-to-back games and finds itself squarely on the bubble. The Buffaloes could enhance their resume greatly with a win over No. 10 Arizona. Colorado is 14-1 SU at home this season and we expect a close game start-to-finish on Wednesday night.
Harry Bondi
HOUSTON (-5.5) over Central Florida
Typically we would not want to lay points on the road with Houston against a team it already blew out by 24 points just two weeks ago, but since the Cougars are coming off a loss to Temple in their last game, we expect a fully focused effort and no signs of a letdown. Central Florida is a disaster right now and has been non-competitive against winning teams this year, going 2-7 ATS. In fact, the Knights have lost eight of their last nine games overall, and those eight losses have come by an average of 12 points per game. As mentioned, the Cougars cruised to an 82-58 win over UCF on Feb. 13 and in that game they held a dominating edge on the boards and in assist/turnover margin and we'll call for a similar disadvantage tonight for the Knights. Road chalk rolls!
Dr. Bob
Opinion – TORONTO (-9½) over Minnesota
Toronto has a score to settle with the Timberwolves, who beat the Raptors at home at couple of weeks ago. Minnesota is coming off a 124-122 upset win over Boston but the Timberwolves are just 5-26 ATS after scoring 110 points or more, including 2-19 ATS if they won the game. I also see some line value here, as my ratings favor 11 points. I’ll lean with Toronto at -10 or less.
College Basketball Totals Opinions
OVER (147.5) – Marquette at Creighton Over 149 or less.
Opinion – NC STATE (+8) over North Carolina
NC State lost by 12 points as a 16 point dog at North Carolina last month and the Wolfpack apply to a 144-66-2 AST home underdog revenge situation tonight. North Carolina is just 12-24 ATS as a conference road favorite of 4 points or more after a victory the last 11 years and NC State is 15-2 ATS the last few years as an underdog of 6 points or more, including 5-1 ATS this season. The line is fair (I get UNC by 7½ points) but the situation and team trends point towards a closer than expected game. I’ll lean with the Wolfpack at +8 points or more.
Opinion – L.A. CLIPPERS (-10½) over Denver
Denver played a hard fought game last night against the Kings and tonight they travel to play a very good Clippers squad that’s playing their best basketball of the season the last couple of months without Blake Griffin. My ratings favor the Clippers by 12½ points and I’ll lean with LAC at -11 or less and I’d take Los Angeles in a 1-Star Best Bet at -10 or less.