Teddy Covers
L.A. Clippers @ L.A. Lakers
PICK: L.A. Clippers
The Lakers are going through a very difficult transition from Phil Jackson's triangle offense -- an offense that they ran successfully for more than a decade -- and Mike Brown's more conventional offensive approach. The Lakers have reached the 100 point mark only once in their first 18 games. Even with Kobe Bryant pouring in points on a nightly basis -- he's scored 30+ seven times in the Lakers last ten games -- the rest of the team simply hasn't found any sort of offensive flow.
That lack of offensive production is likely to be a problem again tonight as the Lakers match up against the LA Clippers. The Clippers beat up on LA in a pair of preseason meetings, and continued that domination in the first regular season meeting between these two teams, a 102-94 Clips victory that wasn't really as close as the final score would indicate. But because this meeting is a 'home' game for the Lakers and a 'road' game for the Clippers -- even though they are playing at the Staples Center, a venue that both teams call home -- this time around, we've seen a six point line move compared to the last meeting. In my opinion, that six point line move isn't warranted one iota!
The Lakers are going to have the exact same problem in this meeting as they had in the first meeting -- an inability to shut down Chris Paul. Without Steve Blake in the lineup, an aging Derek Fisher couldn't hang with Paul in the first meeting: 33 points, four boards, six assists, three steals and only one turnover. There's no reason to think that changes tonight, with Paul expected to return to his starting role after missing five games with a hamstring injury. And with the Clips rested and ready -- they've been in LA for more than a week and haven't played since Sunday -- look for the 'road' team to pull off the minor upset tonight. Take the LA Clippers.
Alatex Sports
Villanova at Louisville
Play: Villanova +9.5
Since losing at home to South Florida on January 5th, Villanova seems to have made some major improvements. The young team is picking up on what it takes to play in the Big East, and their talent is emerging. As a result, they are 3-2 SU and 4-1 ATS since that loss, and faced three of the top teams in the league during that stretch. Maalik Wayns has become a star at the point and freshman Jayvaughn Pinkston is rapidly improving on the block. They are a team that could be a money maker down the stretch, and judging by tonight’s line, no one has caught on to their improvements. Louisville is off a win at Pitt in which Kyle Kuric returned to lead them on the offense, but this is still a flawed team. They are 15-5 on the season, but just 3-5 in their last eight games since the schedule got tougher. Underdog has some value here.