Saturday NBA Picks
Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their NBA picks and predictions for Saturday, February 28.
New York Knicks at Miami Heat, 7:35PM ET
Already an MVP candidate, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been playing some of his best basketball since the All-Star break. Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks has been nearly as hot.
Neither player, however, has been able to keep his team from struggling.
In a matchup pitting two of the NBA’s highest scorers since the All-Star break, Wade and the Heat look to avoid their fourth loss in six games Saturday night when they host Robinson and the Knicks, losers of three of four.
Wade, the league’s leading scorer with 28.7 points per game, is also first since the break with 32.8, while Robinson ranks fourth with 27.2. That individual success, however, hasn’t translated to the Heat (30-27) and Knicks (24-34).
Miami has dropped three of five, including a 91-83 defeat at Atlanta on Friday night. Wade had 21 points and 10 assists while going 9-for-17 from the field in a key matchup with a division rival competing with the Heat for the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The rest of Miami’s starting lineup combined for 24 points and 10-for-31 shooting.
NBA Free Pick: Miami – View Game Matchup | Best Line:
Oklahoma City Thunder at Memphis Grizzlies, 8:05PM ET
In a meeting between two of the worst teams in the Western Conference, about the only highlight in Saturday’s contest between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies was expected to be Kevin Durant.
Now, he may not even play.
Durant is day-to-day after he sprained his right ankle in the first quarter when he came down on the foot of Mavericks forward Josh Howard after taking a jumper during the Thunder’s 110-108 overtime loss to Dallas on Friday – their seventh straight loss. He finished with a season-low six points in less than eight minutes.
Durant is the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer at 26.0 points per game. X-rays on his ankle came back negative, but he did not speak to reporters afterward and was on crutches, wearing a protective boot as he left the arena.
NBA Free Pick: Memphis – View Game Matchup | Best Line:
Sacramento Kings at Utah Jazz, 9:05PM ET
The Utah Jazz have had little trouble beating the Sacramento Kings in 2008-09, but Saturday’s meeting may be one of their most emotionally difficult games of the season.
On the same day of late owner Larry Miller’s funeral service at EnergySolutions Arena, the surging Jazz look to extend their winning streak to seven games and sweep the season series from the Kings for the first time in a dozen years.
After dealing with injuries over the first few months of the season, Utah (35-23) is finally getting healthy and is in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
In his second game back after missing the previous 44 with a knee injury, Carlos Boozer had 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting in 21 minutes of Wednesday’s 120-103 win over Minnesota.
The Jazz have won six straight games and nine of their last 10, but the real test comes in March, when eight of their first 12 games will be away from home.
NBA Free Pick: Over – View Game Matchup | Best Line:
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Posted: 2/28/09 9:41AM ET