NBA Knowledge
Hot Teams
-- Pistons won/covered four of their last five games (1-3-1 AF).
-- Clippers won their last five games (3-8 last 11 AF).
-- 76ers are 5-5 in last ten games, covering four of last five (10-4 last 14 HU).
-- Lakers are 3-2 in last five games; they covered 12 of last 16 (7-0 last seven AU).
-- Cavaliers won eight of their last nine games (8-1 last nine AF).
-- Nets won five of their last seven (3-0 last three HU).
-- Sacramento won its last four games (2-4 last six AU).
-- Rockets won five of their last six games (7-3 last ten HF).
-- Golden State won its last six games, covering five of them (3-8 last 11 AF).
-- Memphis won three of last four games (0-1 HU).
-- Spurs won four of their last five games (7-1 last eight HF).
-- Suns won/covered four of their last five games (5-4 HU).
Cold Teams
-- Magic lost eight of their last nine games (3-5 last eight HU).
-- Charlotte lost seven of last nine games (10-5 last 15 AU).
-- Wizards lost last four games (5-2 last seven HF).
-- Toronto lost three of its last four games (2-5 last seven HF).
-- Miami lost five of its last six road games (3-5 last eight AU).
-- Hawks lost three of their last four games (2-4 last six HF).
-- Celtics lost three of their last four games (1-3 AF).
-- Knicks lost seven of last eight (3-6 last nine HU).
-- New Orleans lost five of its last six games (0-8 last eight HF).
-- Minnesota lost eight of its last ten games (3-0 last three AU)
-- Mavericks lost five of last six road games (1-9 last ten AU).
-- Utah/Denver both lost four of their last five games (Utah 6-3 last nine AU; Denver 1-5 last six HF).
-- Portland lost five of its last six games (2-5 last seven AF).
Series Records
-- Pistons are 5-3 in their last eight games with Orlando.
-- Clippers won their last six games with Philadelphia.
-- Hornets won five of last six games with Washington.
-- Lakers won seven of last nine games with Toronto.
-- Nets lost their last four games with Cleveland.
-- Hawks won their last five games with Miami.
-- Celtics won three of last four visits to Madison Square Garden.
-- Kings won four of last five games with New Orleans.
-- Rockets won seven of last eight games with Minnesota.
-- Grizzlies won eight of last ten games with Golden State.
-- Home side won last six Dallas-San Antonio games.
-- Road team won five of last seven Denver-Utah games.
-- Suns won five of last seven games with Phoenix.
Totals
-- Six of last eight Detroit road games stayed under.
-- Five of last seven Philly home games stayed under.
-- Last eight Washington home games went over total.
-- Six of last nine Toronto home games stayed under.
-- Five of last seven Brooklyn home games went over.
-- Last four Atlanta home games went over total.
-- Four of last five Boston road games stayed under.
-- Six of last seven Sacramento road games went over.
-- Under is 6-2-1 in last nine Minnesota road games.
-- Last two Memphis home games went over; previous 12 went under.
-- Six of last seven San Antonio home games went over.
-- Seven of last eight Utah road games stayed under.
-- Last seven Portland road games went over the total.
Back-to-Backs
-- None
East vs West
SU: West 235-166 ATS: West 206-192-3
East teams HF vs West: 49-56
East teams HU vs West: 45-46
West teams HF vs East: 81-78-3
West teams HU vs East: 24-19
Armadillosports.com
Game of the Day: Warriors at Grizzlies
By Covers.com
Golden State Warriors at Memphis Grizzlies (+3.5, 198.5)
The Golden State Warriors are breaking franchise records and running away with the Western Conference. The Warriors will try to set the franchise record for road wins in a season when they visit the second-place Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Golden State is under no real threat from the Grizzlies, who sit 8 1/2 games back in the West, and clinched the Pacific Division title on Tuesday by starting the four-game road trip off with a 122-108 win at Portland.
The Grizzlies are coming off a 111-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday that marked their worst home loss of the season. Memphis tends to control the interior with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph but was beaten up on the glass and could not get anything going on the perimeter in the loss. While the Warriors have all but wrapped up the No. 1 spot, the Grizzlies have played their way into a battle for the No. 2 spot and lead the Houston Rockets by 1 1/2 games.
LINE HISTORY: Vegas opened the Grizzlies +3 before quickly moving them to +3.5. Books opened the total anywhere from 198 to 199.
INJURY REPORT: Warriors - Shaun Livingston (Ques-Hand) Grizzlies - N/A
POWER RANKINGS: Warriors (-15.7) + Grizzlies (-8.9) + Homecourt (-3) = Grizzlies +3.8
WHAT CAPPERS SAY: "Memphis put up a very disappointing performance on Wednesday night. The Grizzlies got blown out by 22 points (111-89) on their home court by Cleveland. It was Memphis’ worst home loss since 2013, and off that poor effort, look for a strong bounce back game from the Grizzlies. The presence of Golden State should ensure that, however the Warriors are red hot as they come into this game on a 7-game winning streak while going 6-1 ATS in those games. The line value is certainly on Memphis in this game, but betting against Golden State is tough since they are 42-28-1 ATS in all games this season." - Covers Expert Steve Merril
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (58-13 SU, 42-28-1 ATS, 34-37 O/U): Golden State took some time to acknowledge its first Pacific Division title since 1976 while pointing toward bigger goals. “Obviously, we all know the main goal, but it takes baby steps,” forward Draymond Green told reporters. “You reach certain milestones to get to the main goal, and this is one of them. … The goal is still the goal, so the focus must remain the same.” The Warriors have won seven straight and turned close games into routs by dominating the third quarter in the last two contests.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (50-22 SU, 34-36-2 ATS, 32-38-2 O/U): Memphis began a string of three straight games against title contenders with the loss to the Cavaliers and is hoping to put the bad performance behind it quickly. “It makes you have a sickness in your stomach because you know that you are better than that,” Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph told reporters. “It’s the NBA, so it’s a good thing because you always have a game the next day. You have to prepare – it’s tough.” Randolph, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 105-98 home win over the Warriors on Dec. 16, was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting by Cleveland.
TRENDS:
*Warriors are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
*Favorite is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
*Over is 5-0 in Warriors last 5 vs. Western Conference.
*Under is 5-0 in Grizzlies last 5 vs. NBA Pacific
NBA: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs taking it on the chin Tuesday losing 101-94 as 3-point road favorites in Dallas will be out for revenge when they host state rival Mavericks on AT&T Center Friday. San Antonio is a tough place to play, they own a very impressive 27-8 home record and with Spurs enjoying success last thirteen meetings in their own back yard (11-2) pay-back looks to be in the cards. But, you do bet Spurs at some risk. Our stat crunching machine tells us Spurs were only 6-7 ATS in those thirteen encounters and that San Antonio has not been a good bet revenging a division loss this season cashing only once in five attempts (1-4 ATS). Further, Spurs off a 130-91 thrashing of Thunder dropping a whopping 58% of their shots also gives pause. Favorites after shooting 55% or better the previous outing are a money-burning 17-26-1 ATS including a cash draining 1-6 ATS with Spurs in the situation.
Friday's NBA Essentials
By Tony Mejia
VegasInsider.com
Hornets at Wizards
Charlotte has lost seven of nine games to find itself outside the East’s top eight. Al Jefferson is playing through a sore knee that the Hornets say likely won’t be 100 percent the rest of the way. To his credit, he’s posted double-doubles in two of the last three games and will be the focal point of the offense in the post. This will be Charlotte’s final road test of March since its next three games are back home. Kemba Walker is shooting just 34 percent since returning from missing 18 games after January surgery on a torn meniscus, averaging 13.8 points and four assists. Five of Charlotte’s last six games have gone under the posted total.
John Wall and the Wizards began a five-game homestand on Wednesday by finding yet another way to lose. The same formula of starting promisingly and failing to show up for the second half reared its ugly head as Indiana rallied from a 90-80 deficit with just 6:11 to go in handing Washington its fourth straight defeat. Another controversy has engulfed head coach Randy Wittman, who was already in the process of leaving the court while the Wizards final desperation shot was still in the air, leading to many accusing him of quitting on his team. He was reportedly more furious with his team post-game than he’s been at any point this season. Wall scored a season-high 34 points and six assists against Indiana to snap out of a 14-for-44 shooting slump. Bradley Beal was limited to just 11 minutes after spraining his ankle and is considered day-to-day, so monitor his availability closer to tip. The Wizards had won five consecutive games prior to this current run and have slipped to the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. They’ll be looking to split the season series with the Hornets. All three games have gone under the posted total.
Cavaliers at Nets
Although the Cavs have big road wins at San Antonio and Dallas this month, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call Wednesday’s 111-89 win in Memphis the team’s most impressive victory of the season. Not only did Cleveland bully a Grizzlies team that normally reprises that role in their own building, out-rebounding them 49-32 and outscoring them 50-38 in the paint, it did so thanks to a huge lift from Kevin Love. His 22-point, 10-rebound effort was the most complete performance the former All-Star has had in weeks, shooting a season-best 10-for-13 from the field. Love had been in a 13-for-41 shooting slump. LeBron James has only topped the 30-point mark twice this month but is shooting a season-best 41 percent from 3-point range through March’s 13 games. A victory would give the Cavs their third winning streak of five games or more this season. Cleveland has won eight of nine (6-3 ATS) and seen six of eight go over the posted total.
After topping the 120-point mark in three of four outings, Brooklyn has managed just 91 points in each of its last two games, splitting the results. They just suffered a 117-92 loss to the Cavs in Cleveland on March 18, allowing them to shoot 55 percent as seven scored in double-figures. Center Brook Lopez was limited to just 10 points in Cleveland but has been on a tear since, averaging 19.8 shot attempts over his last four games as the focal point of the offense. He’s averaging 30.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks since last facing the Cavs, so it will be interesting to see whether he’s more assertive or hits a stop sign. Thaddeus Young has been ruled out after straining his left knee in Charlotte, so the Nets won’t have the player they would prefer to have out there defending LeBron. He was limited to just 16 minutes due to foul trouble in the most recent loss in Cleveland. The Nets are 4-2-1 ATS in their last nine seven. Six of their last nine have gone over the posted total.
Warriors at Grizzlies
The Warriors have won 12 of their last 13 games and have only been held under 100 points once all month. Golden State is looking to put the finishing touches on the top seed in the Western Conference during this run of seven road dates in eight games, a stretch that got underway on a winning note in a 122-108 Tuesday night stomping of Portland. MVP frontrunner Stephen Curry comes off a brilliant 33-point, 10-assist night against the Trail Blazers and is averaging 22.4 points and 8.9 assists through GSW’s current seven-game winning streak. Since he sat out the Warriors’ last loss to Denver, the team has won the last 12 times he’s played and is 13-1 with him on board in March. Klay Thompson returned from a significant ankle injury earlier this week and scored 16 points against Portland, getting through the second night of a back-to-back without incident.. Golden State has covered in each of its last five games and has seen overs hit in seven of its last eight contests.
The Grizzlies look to respond after their embarrassing loss to Cleveland and have only lost consecutive games twice since the All-Star break. Considering they’re losing their grip on the Southwest Division lead and No. 2 seed they’ve earned thus far, having the Western Conference’s top team come into FedEx Forum presents a major opportunity to get back on track. Marc Gasol grabbed just three rebounds against the Cavs, tying a season-low, but had 24 points and seven boards in his only game against Golden State this season, a 105-98 home win. The teams will meet in Oakland on April 13. Zach Randolph added 17 points and 10 rebounds in that win, but it is worth pointing out that Andrew Bogut didn’t participate due to injury. Jeff Green had not yet been acquired by Memphis either, so this will be a telling game in a potential Western Conference Finals preview. Four of the Grizzlies last five games have gone over the posted total. Memphis just lost for the first time as a home underdog and are right back in that position here.
Mavericks at Spurs
This is a rematch from Tuesday’s huge 101-94 home victory, so it definitely carries a playoff feel. Monta Ellis, who was beginning to catch blame as the reason for the Mavericks struggling since he’d shot 7-for-31 from the field in consecutive losses, dropped 38 points on 16-for-27 shooting in an epic performance. Rajon Rondo, another popular choice as scapegoat for the Mavs struggles, had nine rebounds but only five assists and four turnovers last time out against San Antonio. Dirk Nowitzki’s15-point, 13-rebound night marked the German’s first double-double since before the All-Star break, just his sixth of the season. It will be compelling to see whether he can put together another strong performance, building momentum down the stretch. Richard Jefferson (back) and Jose Barea (ankle) may miss this contest. Dallas has only covered two of its last 10 games and have seen the over win in six of eight, though its last two have gone under.
The Spurs recovered from losing in Dallas by blasting Oklahoma City 130-91 in perhaps their most impressive performance of the season. By now it’s obvious that the health of Tony Parker is the key to it all, so coming off a 21-point, six-rebound, six-assist night against the Thunder, it’s important that he continue getting everyone involved. Over the last five games, Parker is 24-of-35 against in wins over the Bucks, Celtics, Hawks and Thunder and 3-for-11 in Dallas. Tim Duncan also slumped to a 3-for-7 night in the loss to the Mavs, so look for him to try and be aggressive early. San Antonio has won and covered five of its last six games at home. Nine of the Spurs last 11 games have gone over the posted total.