NBA Knowledge
Sunday's hot teams
-- Clippers won four of last five games (7-5 last 12HF).
-- Celtics won their last five games (5-1 last 6AF).
-- Miami won its last three games, all on road (10-11HF).
-- Dallas won three of last four home games (6-2 last 8HF).
-- Warriors won their last six games (4-5 last 9AF).
-- Portland won seven of its last nine games (6-0 last 6HF).
Cold teams
-- Bulls are 4-6 in their last ten games (6-8AU).
-- Orlando lost its last eight games (1-7 vs spread).
-- Hawks lost four of their last five games (1-3 last 4AU).
-- Suns lost nine of last ten games (1-12 last 13AU).
-- Knicks lost four of last five games (3-1 last 4HU).
-- Minnesota lost five of its last six games (3-8 last 11AU).
-- Charlotte lost last two games, by 29-18 points (1-5AF).
-- Lakers lost their last nine games (8-10HU).
Series records
-- Clippers won five of last seven games with Chicago.
-- Home side won last nine Boston-Orlando games.
-- Hawks won seven of last eight games with Miami.
-- Mavericks won their last three games with Phoenix.
-- Warriors won four of last five games with New York.
-- Portland won its last three games with Minnesota.
-- Lakers lost three of last four games with Charlotte.
Totals
-- Seven of last ten Chicago games went over the total.
-- Last four Orlando games went over the total.
-- Last four Atlanta-Miami games stayed under.
-- Over is 6-3 in last nine Dallas-Phoenix games.
-- Four of last five New York games stayed under.
-- Over is 5-0-1 in last six Minnesota games.
-- Four of last six Charlotte games stayed under.
Back/backs
-- Golden State is 9-2 vs spread if it played night before.
Armadillosports.com
Sunday's Tip Sheet
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
Celtics at Magic
These two teams wrap up a home-and-home set in Orlando after the Celtics crushed the Magic at TD Garden on Friday, 113-94 to cash as eight-point favorites. The home team has won nine consecutive matchups since 2013, including Orlando’s 110-91 rout of Boston in late November, the fourth straight home win by the Magic in the series.
Brad Stevens’ team has won five straight games, including two road blowouts of over 20 points at Philadelphia and Washington. The Celtics’ (27-21 SU, 26-21-1 ATS) offense is rolling of late, eclipsing the 100-point mark in 11 straight games, resulting in seven ‘overs.’ Since losing at Orlando in November, Boston owns a solid 6-3 SU/ATS record as a road favorite, but the Celtics are 1-4 SU/ATS the last five away games when playing with rest.
It’s been a rough month for Orlando (20-25 SU, 23-21-1 ATS), losing 12 of 13 games including eight straight defeats. During this current cold skid, the Magic has dropped three games in overtime, while posting a dreadful 1-7 ATS record the past eight contests. Orlando last won at Amway Arena on December 30 against Brooklyn, while going 1-3 SU/ATS as a home underdog in the last four opportunities since December.
Hawks at Heat
Miami (26-21 SU, 23-23-1 ATS) has racked up the frequent flyer miles this month, playing 11 of the last 12 games away from South Florida. Following Sunday’s contest against Atlanta, the Heat hit the highway again for three more games starting Tuesday at Houston. Miami has rebounded from a four-game losing streak to win their last three contests, capped off by Friday’s 107-103 victory at Milwaukee as one-point favorites.
Erik Spoelstra’s squad has lost each of their last two home games against the Knicks and Bucks, averaging a mere 84.5 points per game. The road team has won each of the first two matchups between the Heat and Hawks this season, as Miami knocked off Atlanta at Philips Arena in their most recent meeting in mid-December as six-point underdogs. Atlanta has captured each of the past three matchups at American Airlines Arena, including a 98-92 triumph in November.
The Hawks (27-21 SU, 23-24-1 ATS) are seeing their lead atop the Southeast division slip by the day after losing four of their last five games. The most recent defeat came at Indiana on Thursday, their fourth loss in five tries this season with no rest on the road. Rest won’t be a problem for the Hawks, but Atlanta has posted a 2-5 SU/ATS the last seven games away from Philips Arena, while scoring 95 points or less in four of those losses.
Suns at Mavericks
Things fell apart fast for Phoenix (14-34 SU, 18-30 ATS) when its starting backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight were sidelined due to injuries. The Suns have lost 21 of 25 games away from the Valley this season, including 13 straight since upsetting Chicago in early December. Each of the last eight road losses for Jeff Hornacek’s club have come by double-digits, including Friday’s 102-84 rout at the hands of New York.
Phoenix has lost each of its two matchups with Dallas this season, as the Mavericks ran out the Suns on opening night, 111-95 as six-point underdogs. The Mavs took care of business the second time around at the American Airlines Center for Dallas, holding off Phoenix, 104-94 as four-point favorites, while taking a 19-point advantage into the fourth quarter. Prior to that ATS loss in December, the Suns had covered in its previous four visits to Dallas since 2013.
Dallas (27-22 SU, 28-20-1 ATS) has struggled on the front-end of back-to-back sets, as Rick Carlisle’s team heads to Atlanta on Monday. The Mavericks are 5-7 SU/ATS in this situation, as Dallas is fresh off a 91-79 victory over Brooklyn on Friday as eight-point favorites. This pointspread area is brand-new for the Mavs, who haven’t been listed as a favorite of nine points or more this season, while the Suns own a 2-6 ATS record as double-digit ‘dogs.
Warriors at Knicks
The runaway train known as Golden State (43-4 SU, 28-18-1 ATS) pulls into Grand Central Station on Sunday as the Warriors play with no rest. Steve Kerr’s team heads to Madison Square Garden following Saturday’s three-point victory at Philadelphia, going for their 22nd road win in 26 tries this season. This Golden State offense continues to scorch the scoreboard on the road, topping the 109-point mark in seven of the past nine away contests, while going 6-3 to the ‘over.’
The Knicks (23-26 SU, 29-20 ATS) were running out of healthy bodies on Thursday at Toronto, as Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jose Calderon all sat out due to various injuries. New York managed a cover as 12-point underdogs, 103-93 to suffer its fourth straight loss. Derek Fisher’s team snapped that skid in Friday’s 102-84 home blowout of the Suns as Anthony and Porzingis combined to score only 26 points on 8-of-22 shooting.
New York continues to play well at Madison Square Garden, winning seven of its last nine home games with the two losses coming to a pair of Western powers, the Thunder and Clippers. The Knicks lost both meetings with the Warriors last season, including a 106-92 home defeat to Golden State in February as Anthony didn’t suit up due to a knee injury.
Game of the Day: Bulls at Clippers
Covers.com
Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Clippers (-5.5, 204.5)
The Los Angeles Clippers’ internal issues are not spilling over to the product on the court, and the latest winning streak is at three in a row. The Clippers will try to make it four straight and 15 of 18 without Blake Griffin when they host the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
Griffin is expected be out at least a month longer after breaking a bone in his hand during an altercation with a member of the team’s staff, but Los Angeles is filling the gap any way it can. Lance Stephenson got a rare chance to step up and delivered with 16 points in a 105-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The Bulls took advantage of the Lakers the previous night with a 114-91 triumph in the opener of a seven-game road trip. “I think we played extremely well, played together, rebounded the ball well,” Chicago guard Jimmy Butler told reporters. “We just gave the ball to the open guy and were making shots. Guys were spacing the floor well. The right play was to make the pass and they made the shot.”
LINE HISTORY: The Clippers, who havea played well without Blake Griffin, opened as 5-point home favorites and were bet to -5.5. It has been the total tha has seen a bunch of action moving up 2-points from 202.5 to 204.5.
INJURY REPORT:
Bulls - SG K. Hinrich (probable Sunday, quadricep), PF N. Mirotic (Mid February, appendix), SG M. Dunleavy (Early February, back), C J. Noah (out for season, shoulder).
Clippers - PF B. Griffin (Late March, hand).
POWER RANKINGS: Bulls (-3.6) - Clippers (-7.3) + home court (-3) = Clippers -6.7
ABOUT THE BULLS (26-19, 18-27 ATS, 23-21-1 O/U): Butler was named as Chicago’s lone All-Star Game representative before Thursday’s game against the Lakers and showed why with 26 points, 10 assists and four steals. “We are putting the ball in his hands a lot, not just in isolation situations, but also we're putting him in a lot of ball screens,” Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters. “And he's just making the right play and the right read, he's continuing to get better in that role." Butler was limited to 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting at home against the Clippers on Dec. 10, but the Bulls pulled out an 83-80 triumph.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (31-16, 22-22-3 ATS, 21-26 O/U): Stephenson has been an afterthought on the bench for most of the season but got a chance on Friday with Griffin out and Paul Pierce taking the day off to get some rest. The former Indiana Pacers star went 6-of-7 from the field in 22 minutes off the bench – his longest stint and highest point total since posting 19 points in 28 minutes against the Pacers on Dec. 2. Stephenson’s big game was part of a 56-point effort from the reserves.
TRENDS:
* Bulls are 0-4 ATS in their last four games following a straight up win.
* Clippers are 6-0 ATS in their last six games following a ATS loss.
* Over is 8-1 in Bulls last nine road games.
* Under is 5-0 in Clippers last five games overall.
CONSENSUS: Fifty-seven percent of the public are backing the Bulls in this matchup, with 64 percent of wagers on the over.