SCORE
400 CONNECTICUT
300 Villanova
JIM HURLEY
3* Missouri (+5½) over Connecticut
2* Villanova (+2) over Pittsburgh
Kelso
25 unit Heat -8.5
Tim Trushel
20* Portland Under 193.5
Stephen Nover
Houston / LA Clippers Over 190.5
The Clippers are playing their sixth road game in a row. They are a tired, demoralized team that has given up on playing defense. They've allowed an average of 110.1 points in their last nine games.Los Angeles has allowed six of its last eight foes to shoot 50 pecent or better from the field. The Rockets have shot 47.2 percent from the floor during their past 16 home games.The Clippers are going to be missing their lone solid defender and top shot-blocker, Marcus Camby. Look for Yao Ming to go to town.The pointspread is huge, but the Rockets shouldn't be letting up or playing their subs too much. They've been off since Tuesday and won't play again until Tuesday. This is going to be a fun game for the Rockets.Not only will the Clippers be missing Camby but Baron Davis is out, too. This is good for the 'over.' Camby is strictly defense, while the disinterested Davis is a low percentage shooter.Rookies Eric Gordon and Mike Taylor will be doing a lot of scoring for the Clippers. So will Al Thornton and Zach Randolph. These guys think offense first and are statistically inclined with their hopeless team far out of the playoff picture.
Indiana +8
Indiana will be taking this matchup very serious trailing Chicago and Detroit by 4 1/2 games with 10 left to play for the final playoff spot in the East.The Pacers are playing their best defense of the season. They've held their past four foes to an average of 90 points per game.Indiana has covered six of its past nine away matchups. The Pacers are rested, having been idle since Wednesday.Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro has shortened his rotation down to primarily seven players. Fatigue might hurt the Bulls, especially with this early start time. This is Chicago's fourth game in six days.Derrick Rose and John Salmons are not at 100 percent for the Bulls.Indiana has the higher scoring average, averages more rebounds and commits fewer turnovers than Chicago.
Pittsburgh -2
Villanova has played two outstanding games in the NCAA Tournament. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, hasn't been sharp.The result is Pittsburgh is just very short chalk. The Panthers were 3 1/2-point road favorites when they lost to the Wildcats back in January. Home-court and DeJuan Blair getting in foul trouble had a lot to do with that Villanova victory.I see Pittsburgh playing its finest game, while Villanova is unable to produce a third straight "A" game effort.Blair gives the Panthers a huge inside edge against the smaller Wildcats. The Panthers have the three best players.Since taking over at Pittsburgh in 2003, Jamie Dixon has only lost twice to the same team during a single season. It won't happen for a third time here.
Big Al
3* Pistons
3* Pittsburgh
Frank Patron
10K Pittsburgh
Executive
450% Pittsburgh -2
NBA
250% Detroit -4
250% Charlotte -6'
Teddy June
Pittsburgh
Dr Bob
No Best Bets for Saturday (unless Detroit goes down to -3).
Saturday NCAA Analysis
Pittsburgh (-2) versus Villanova
Villanova beat Pitt 67-57 in Philly earlier this season as Panthers’ star big man DeJuan Blair was limited to just 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Blair only averages 2.7 fouls per game, so I don’t see him getting in foul trouble again and having him on the floor more will certainly help Pitt in the rematch. Hitting some shots will also help the Panthers, who were a randomly bad 3 for 16 from 3-point range and only 59% from the free throw line in that game. My ratings favor Pitt by 2 ½ points with a total of 142 points and I have no opinion on this game.
Connecticut (-5 ½) over Missouri
Both of these teams have been very impressive during the tournament, but Connecticut has been the better team over the course of the season and Missouri’s run to the Final Four is likely over. The Tigers aren’t likely to get to the rim much against Connecticut’s shot blocking C Hasheem Thabeet and Mizzou is not a great 3-point shooting team (35.5%), so forcing turnovers for easy buckets would seem to be the answer. U Conn, however, takes care of the ball very well (just 12 turnovers per game). My first instinct was that the line on this game was a bit too high, but my ratings using only games against quality opposition favors the Huskies by 5 ½ points (with a total of 146 points), so the line is fair. U Conn applies to a negative 4-20 ATS round 4 situation while Missouri applies to a negative 27-82-2 ATS situation (that angle is 1-0 ATS when intersecting with the situation that applies to Connecticut), so I don’t really want either side here. I have no opinion on the side and I’ll lean with the under (150 ½ points).
Saturday NBA Opinion
Detroit (-4) over WASHINGTON
Washington is coming off a rare victory but the Wizards are just 2-9 ATS this season after a win when not getting more than 10 points (1-5 ATS at home) and they apply to a negative 45-107-3 ATS general letdown situation. Detroit has been on a slide lately without Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton, but both return today (they are better without Allen Iverson and he is still likely out). Washington’s Caron Butler is also returning from injury today and the difference between him being in or out is 2 points and my ratings only favor Detroit by 3 points with Butler playing. I’ll lean with Detroit at -4, but I’d only take the Pistons in a 2-Star Best Bet at -3 or less.
Steam On-Line Guaranteed Selections
EAST REGION ELITE EIGHT PLAY OF THE YEAR
Pittsburgh -2
WEST REGION ELITE EIGHT PLAY OF THE YEAR
Connecticut -5.5
C-Stars Sports
5000 Units super play Pittsburgh over Villanova
1000 Units Top Play Missouri vs Connecticut over the total
50 units Villanova vs Pittsburgh under the total
John Fina
2.5 units on New York Knicks +6.5
2.5 units on Milwaukee Bucks +9.5
2.5 units on New York/Charlotte Over 206.5
Kelso
25 unit Heat -8.5
20 units Villanova
20 units UConn
10 unit Parlay
Best Sports Picks
Knicks +6.5
UCONN -5.5
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