Sports Picks & Predictions

We like this pick for many of the same reasons we took the Bulls in Game 1 of their series with Miami. Chicago ended up winning that game straight up, and we expect the Pacers to start strong here as well, and at least keep this game close. Miami has had a long layoff, and they showed in the Bulls series that that long layoff can really halt their momentum. We think that will be the case tonight. And that

We have always liked the Knicks in this series. It hasn

It has been a great run for the Warriors, and we think this team will be a force in the coming years if they can stay healthy, but we think that tonight is the end of the line for this team. Curry and Thompson have had a couple lackluster games in their last two outings, and we think that the former

We still think that the Knicks are the better team in this series although they have been slumping a bit. But we think that they have a great chance to win this series or at least extend it to seven games, but this is probably the most crucial game in this series for them. We expect a much better game out of them here tonight. It is very telling that the bookies set this line at fewer points than Game 3 after the Knicks got beat down. It seems they want people to bet the Pacers here. We think that this will be a very competitive game that the Knicks have a chance to win straight up. New York should get more minutes tonight from Smith and Martin, and we expect them to dictate the tempo early and do a lot better offensively than they did in Game 3. But, like we stated, we think the Knicks are the better team here and we like them getting this many points in a must-win situation. Taking the Knicks beatdown of the Pacers in Game 2, we think this series has a great chance to go back and forth and possibly go the distance.

We have made quite a bit of profit betting with the Warriors this playoffs, including a series play over Denver in the first round, and this team is on an 11-0 ATS run that stretches back to the regular season. But now we think the oddsmakers have caught up to this team and the general public has caught on. We don

We wanted to wait and see what happened in Game 1 here before diving into this series, and we were hoping that the Pacers impressed at MSG with a cover, but a win is even better! We still like the Knicks here in this series and we think that they bounce back in a big way tonight. We think the Game 1 loss was more about the Knicks just having a bad game than it was Indiana dominance. The shots just didn

Just think that the Bulls can keep this one close tonight. We think that they come into this one with some momentum after their Game 7 win against the Nets, and they are more in

The Grizzlies have clearly taken over the momentum in this series with three straight wins. We were in attendance for Game 5 in Los Angeles, and it was striking to see the Grizzlies dominance up close. The Clippers, except for a couple players, notably Chris Paul, really looked like deer in the headlights. And Chris Paul can

The Warriors have been the much better team in this series, yet the bookies are still lining their games like the Nuggets are overwhelming favorites. This line opened at

Just think the Celtics are toast here. This Boston team is probably the worst version we have seen since the team became playoff-caliber again, and the Knicks would be a real threat to make the NBA Finals this season if they were not in the same bracket as the Miami Heat. The Knicks haven

We always thought that the Rockets would win a game in this series, and tonight is their last chance unless they extend the series. And now this is even more of a reality now that Russell Westbrook is out of the lineup for OKC. This team is really hurt by that injury, and we think they will have their hands full in the second round against either the Grizzlies or Clippers. And we also think they will have their hands full tonight against a Rockets team that has played real well all said in this series except for Game 1. I have to give them a lot of credit for bouncing back after that bad win and being real competitive in this series. When a key player goes down with injury, the team normally rises up and plays above its head in the first game without that player, and we think that motivation for a fallen comrade was one of the keys to their Game 3 win. And Game 3 is always a crucial one for both teams when the home team returns after dropping both on the road. We just think that makes the Thunder primed for an upset here. They have the series in the bag now, and we just don

We think anything under 15 in this one is a gift. The Lakers had a chance to salvage the series on Friday, and if they were going to put up any sort of fight in this series that would have been the night to do it. They lost by 31. This team knows it is toast, and now the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest is also out for this game. Although it will be hard for them to match the blowout from Friday, we still think that this one will be a very easy win for the Spurs. The Spurs do have one major injury with Thiago Splitter out for this game. But this Spurs team is incredibly deep, and they have shown throughout the season that they can excel with pieces of the machine missing. And this Spurs team is a machine. They just go out and play hard every night. They aren

This line is a complete joke. We have the Spurs as 12-point favorites for this one. We did actually put a lone unit on the Lakers for this playoff series, but we even stated in the writeup that this was a longshot bet and that we thought the Spurs would likely take the series. But that was before a rash of injuries. Now the Lakers two point guards are likely out for this game (Steve Blake is out, Stave Nash is highly unlikely. The Lakers are paper thin with Kobe Bryant out of the lineup, and now Jodie Meeks is missing as well and is listed as doubtful for this game. This team was just no good with a full roster, but they are not even a playoff-caliber team with the lineup they have facing San Antonio tonight. The Spurs have their mojo back after two straight wins in this series. They are one of the best ATS teams in the league, and they are built to cover a line like this as a road dog against an overmatched team. This San Antonio team is pretty healthy right now. And they are reaping the rewards of Gregg Popovich

The Clippers have won five of six meetings in this series this season, not to mention that close, hard-fought seven-game series last season, but we think these teams are closer than those lopsided results indicate. This series is over if the Grizzlies lose tonight, and we think that they will play their best tonight and should be able to cover this number. We still think that the Clippers win this series, but we think that it will go at least six games. Like many teams in the NBA, the Grizzlies are a much better team at home than on the road, and they have been excellent as a small favorite like this as they are 21-7 ATS this season as a favorite of 4.5 or less. The Clippers have had tons of luck in this series. They had that Game 1 comeback last season where every single thing had to go right for LAC and every think wrong for the Grizzlies. If they hadn

We took a small play on the Warriors for this series, but with David Lee now out for the season and the Warriors blowing a chance to steal Game 1 in Denver, we don

Just think this line is a big overreaction to the Kobe Bryant injury. This team still has Dwight Howard, and he has led worse teams to big playoff wins. And even though Steve Nash is listed as questionable for Game 1, this guy is a warrior and we are fairly certain that he will fight through the pain and play in this game. The Spurs have not looked good down the stretch, They went 0-7 to end the season, and they covered in only two of those games. This is a big change from last season where the Spurs came into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league. Just don

We think the Warriors have a great chance to win this series. The Nuggets are real banged up. Although this team is very deep, they already lost Danilo Gallinari for the season, and he was a huge part of this team

We don

We took the Wizards with our big pick last time out against Miami and lost

Really like the Knicks in this spot tonight. This team is playing its best basketball of the season right now. And that

We have been eying this game for over a week. Everything has fallen into place and we got the number we wanted. We loved this pick at anything under than -6, and we knew it would not be anywhere close to that. And we were hoping that Miami had a dominating win at home last night against the Bucks and that the Wizards struggled on the road against the Knicks, and both of those outcomes came to fruition. The Heat don

So many reasons to like the Clippers here. Most importantly, they are the better team in this matchup. They have so many different motivational factors in play here this afternoon. A win here would complete their first-ever season sweep of the Lakers. It would also cement their first-ever Pacific Division title. And after this franchise has been the laughingstock of the NBA for so long and the afterthought of the LA basketball scene, we don

10 Unit Play. #816 Take Syracuse over Michigan (Saturday 8:50 pm CBS) This appears to be the most competitive game of the evening and it features two teams from the best two conferences this season. What this game will come down to is Michigan

Detroit is one of those teams that seems to be already looking forward to a vacation, while the T-Wolves seem to want to finish the season on a high note. The Pistons are 2-14 straight up in their last 16 games. They have covered a handful of games lately, but this team has done that over more traditional rivals and facing very generous spreads. We see only one win on the rest of their schedule

NBA Game of the Month: Absolutely love the Knicks in this spot. New York is the hottest team in basketball right now, and the Bucks are the coldest playoff team around. New York has won 10 straight games, and they have covered 10 of 11, which shows the oddsmakers are slow to catch on to how well this team is playing right now. This team always seems to be at its best when one of the stars

Cleveland has not been playing great lately, but we think that they can definitely keep this one within double digits tonight. The Cavs have been bouncing back nicely from bad games lately, and they are 5-1 ATS in their last six after an ATS loss. They didn

We really like the Spurs in this matchup on Easter Sunday. Miami is just coming off their huge winning streak. They can now relax a bit and we just don

10 Unit Play. #878 Take Kansas over Michigan (Friday 7:37 pm TBS) NCAA Tournament Game of the Year. The Wolverines have certainly looked much more impressive than has Kansas; however, South Dakota State and VCU do not have Jeff Withey in the middle. Michigan is a very young team in the front court and Kansas will exploit that in a big way. The Jayhawks were led in scoring by Ben McLemore and he is coming off two terrible performances in Kansas City scoring just a combined 13 points in two games. For Kansas to win this game he will need to play better and I fully expect that to be the case, as the pressure will be off since he has a couple of games under his belt. Michigan is still a guard oriented perimeter team and they shot a lot of three point shots. Playing in this mammoth arena with poor sight lines will affect their shooting as well as Kansas, but the Jayhawks are not as reliant on the three ball as is Michigan. Jordan Morgan has been benched for the Wolverines and that is a big loss and will hurt Michigan by not having that extra body down low. Kansas is much bigger than Michigan and over the course of 40 minutes that will become evident and allow the Jayhawks to March on. Kansas will also have a major edge in the crowd, as Arlington is part of Big XII country. Michigan is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games overall. Kansas is 11-2 ATS in their last 13 games overall. Play the experience and size on Friday night.

Love the home dog in this one. The Sixers have been playing better lately, but this team has won only one of their last 17 road games, and that win was at Sacramento. Tonight they face a much better club, although the Cavs are a bit banged up. But this team has shown a lot of heart down the stretch of the season despite many injuries, and this is an extremely winnable game for them tonight. Even though they have lost six straight and eight of nine, they are still playing hard. They have covered 15 of their last 23 games overall, and many of those covers were with Kyrie Irving out of the lineup. You get the sense that they are building something nice here in Cleveland, and the players seem to be buying in and want to show they deserve to stick around. Just still think this Philly team is a mess despite the recent surge. They have underachieved all season, and it can

Neither of these teams is any good. But the Pistons are at home, and this is their most winnable game they have played in quite a while (Even moreso than their last one against Charlotte, a win, because that game was on the road where they really struggle). While this Pistons team has not been playing well, they have had a ridiculously tough schedule recently. They have either been on the road or playing playoff-caliber teams at home. In fact, that Charlotte game was the most winnable game they had played in over a month, and they gained some confidence from that one and should be primed for a nice performance at home in a game that, to us, looks better on paper than the Bobcats game. The Timberwolves have dropped nine of their last 10 road games. Detroit has done well at home against losing teams at 9-6 ATS this season. They are also 6-1 ATS in their last seven home games against teams with a winning percentage less than .400. We think the Pistons are a bit undervalued right now because of the brutal schedule they have played lately.

10 Unit Play. #718 Take Duke over Creighton (Friday 9:40 pm TBS) Still believe that Duke is not getting enough respect in this game and I expect them to roll to a double digit victory and advance to take on Michigan State in the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils are not a good match-up for the Bluejays, as Creighton does not have the guards to keep up. Duke is a completely different team with Ryan Kelly back in the line-up and he allows everyone to play their natural position on the floor. Creighton is 1-5 ATS (1 push) in their last 7 NCAA Tournament Games. Duke is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games. Talent decides this game and we collect big with Duke.

Took a shot on the Kings at home last time out against the Timberwolves, and they won but did not cover. But we have to stick with our laurels here as we think that the Kings are a very underrated team at home. They are better at home than most of the

10 Unit Play. #526 Take Arizona over Harvard (Saturday 6:10 pm TNT) Generally teams that pull big upsets as 14 or 15 seeds get blown out in the next round and that is what we will expect to happen tonight in Salt Lake City. The line is steep, but Arizona has been a cash cow for us all season long and we will not be hesitant to lay the wood. Unlike New Mexico, the Wildcats do not have any issues when it comes to scoring points and sooner or later they will go on a run and put this game out of reach. Harvard is nowhere near as good as they were last season and they have already accomplished a lot this season by winning the Ivy League and winning a game in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona is bigger ambitions and that will become evident on Saturday. Arizona is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 non-conference games. Lay the wood with the more athletic team on Saturday.

10 Unit Play. #829 Take Oklahoma over San Diego State (Friday 9:20 pm TBS) This is not a vintage Aztec team like the past couple of years and I truly believe that they are 100% overrated this season. They have a bunch of volume shooters and they are playing a team with a coach that is very familiar with their style. Lou Kruger coached at UNLV before making his way east to Norman and he has a veteran team that has been underrated all season long. Oklahoma is 4-0 in their last 4 games against Mountain West teams. San Diego State is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall. We will side with the better coach and getting points is just icing on the cake.

The bookies must be paying too much attention to March Madness, because we think this is a very weak line. The Kings are a pretty darned good team at home, as is evidenced by their big 15-point win over the Clippers on Tuesday and a 42-point shellacking of the Bulls last week. This team has extra incentive to play well at home because of their current situation with a possible move to Seattle next season. Even though this team is not going to the playoffs, I am sure it is a massive priority for this squad to play all out at home and give the fans a massive show. This team is 18-15 at home this season. They have been playing very well lately mostly by virtue of an offense that is clicking as well as it has all season. This team can score 115+ without breaking a sweat, and they can simply outrace opponents when they are playing well. Minnesota is pretty much hopeless on the road, where they have lost eight straight. And the oddsmakers are way behind with this team as they have only covered two of those games despite some massive lines. Now we are getting a short line

10 Unit Play. #730 Take Arizona over Belmont (Thursday 7:20 pm TNT) This game is getting a lot of pub as a possible upset but I just do not see that happening. Arizona has a ton of talent and underachieved a little during the regular season. Belmont has an impressive record again this season but they have been bounced by BCS teams the last two years in the tournament and tonight will be no different. Belmont lost by 14 points in 2011 to a so-so Wisconsin team and by 15 points in 2012 to a so-so Georgetown team. The truly believe that Arizona is better than both of these team and I fully expect a double-digit victory by the higher seeded Wildcats. Arizona is pissed off after the way they were bounced from the PAC-12 Tournament and expect them to take out their frustrations on a different type of Bruin. Belmont is 3-13 ATS in their last 16 neutral site games. Arizona is 11-4 ATS in their last 15 NCAA Tournament games.

Like the home underdog to keep this within double digits tonight. Of course, there is the LeBron angle, and Cleveland will want to play its best tonight against its old leader. Miami has only covered 50% of its games in its last eight, so the bookies are really shading these lines too much. Even with Miami playing its best they are not covering a lot of lines. The Cavs played real tough in the first two meetings in this series this season, losing both games in Miami by a combined six points and covering both. Yes, the Cavs are battling injury right now and won

The Pacers are slumping right now, having lost four of six games, and we think that this is another game where they should have trouble against a Cleveland team that is playing some pretty good basketball lately. The Pacers only recent wins have come against Orlando and Minnesota, and we think that this Cleveland team is playing better than both of those clubs right now. The Pacers have been real lousy lately in a road loss to the hopeless Sixers and also at home to the Lakers in a game where Kobe Bryant was limited because of his ankle. The Cavs are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games, and many of those games were without star Kyrie Irving, who has been out quite a bit lately and will miss the game tonight. But this team is definitely underestimated by the bookies right now. We think they are being lumped in the same category as the Magics and Bobcats of the league, but this is a team on the rise and one that seems to want to finish the season on a high note, and they are playing hard almost every night. We expect that same kind of effort here at home against a slumping team in what is a very winnable game.

We don

Just don

I just believe that Michigan State has a better starting five than does Ohio State and getting points makes this one of our strongest plays on the season. Parlay that with the better coach who beat a much more talented OSU team one year ago in the Big Ten Tourney and this is too good to pass up. Ohio State has the best player on the floor in DeShaun Thomas but he is the only player that averages double figures for this team. Aaron Craft has come of late and expect the strong Spartans defense to keep him in check for 40 minutes. He is not a great outside shooter.

As for Michigan State they had a much more difficult game on Friday playing a bubble team in Iowa. They did not play well in that game yet found a way to win it down the stretch. I expect them to shoot it much better in this game and you can always rely on their strong defense to win game for them. Both of these teams split during the regular season with each of them winning close games at home, but come March it is hard to like Tom Izzo. Michigan State has three players averaging double figures and getting points is just too good to pass up.

10 Unit Play. #682 Take Georgetown over Syracuse (7 pm ESPN) The Cuse have shown some life against teams with flaws but they will not be able to knock off the Hoyas tonight at the Garden. Expect Georgetown to guard James Southerland and not let him get going from long range and the Hoyas will keep the scoring low and that is how they like to play. Georgetown is 11-3 in their last 14 games overall. Syracuse is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 neutral site games. Playing the extra game finally catches up with Syracuse in this game.

The Spurs have dominated the three previous meetings this season. However, Dallas played their best game of the series last time out in a six-point loss at home, and we feel they will bring their A-Game tonight in order to try to avoid the season sweep. And the Spurs sure look vulnerable right now. They have lost two of three, and one was a 20+-point blowout at injury-riddled Minnesota and by 30 at home against Portland. Even though for the Minnesota game the Spurs were missing a couple key players, we think that those scores indicate that this team is not completely focused right now, and we think there is a reasonable chance that the Mavs can steal a straight up win here. Dallas is playing some of their best basketball of the season right now. They have won five of their last six games, and four of those games were on the road. Dallas hasn

We watched every minute of the Pistons/Clippers game last night, and we have to say that the Pistons are not in a good place right now. The Clippers toyed with them like a cat playing with a mouse attached to a string. They won by 32. If they hadn

This one is easy. The Magic and Sixers are both bad teams. But Orlando

10 Unit Play. #830 Take Virginia over Maryland (6 pm ESPN U) Virginia has done everything in their power to not make the NCAA Tournament losing numerous times to bad teams but yet they sit on the bubble and expect them to take care of business tonight in Charlottesville. Virginia dominated when these two teams met in College Park and to be frank, Virginia is not a good match-up for Maryland. The Cavaliers will lock down inside the three point line and force Maryland to beat them from long range and this is just not a good shooting team. Virginia is 17-8 ATS (1 push) in their last 26 games overall. Maryland is 4-10 ATS (1 push) in their last 15 road games. Virginia makes a statement on Sunday and gets back into the tournament conversation.
Best of Luck

10 Unit Play. #629 Take Duke over North Carolina (9 pm ESPN) We have not had much luck using Duke of late but that was before Ryan Kelly came back into the line-up. This is just a completely different with him in the line-up and it gives the Blue Devils another shooter on the perimeter. North Carolina has been playing outstanding of late but their leading scorer (James Michael McAdoo) is banged up with a sore back. He will likely play in this game but I do not believe he will be anywhere near 100%. Expect Duke to jump out early since UNC will start their seniors and many bench players. Duke needs this victory to ensure a No. 1 seed and they get it in comfortable fashion.

We think the Cavs are a real strong play here on Wednesday night. They have dropped two straight pretty tough games at home to the Clippers and Knicks, but before that this team had won four of five and covered six straight. This is a team that is really improving as the season goes on and as some of their young players gain their footing in the league. Utah is slumping right now, and they have lost four of their last five, with the only win coming against hopeless Charlotte. This team has lost five of its last six road games, including losses at Sacramento and Milwaukee. Right now we think the Cavs are playing better than both of those teams. Utah is only 10-20 on the road this season. We just think that the bookies have been slow to adjust to this Cleveland team playing better, and if the Cavs had not lost these last two we are sure this line would be closer to Cleveland -2.5, which is what we think the more appropriate line should be tonight. Cleveland has the best player on the court in Kyrie Irving, and he can take over a game like this and win it on his own strength, especially against a bad road team like Utah. We think the Cavs get back on the winning track tonight.

The Bulls are the worst ATS team at home this season at a staggering 8-22 ATS. We are always looking for spots to go against them at home, and this one fits the bill. We were very tempted to take Philly against them on Thursday, but, thankfully, we passed on that one since the Sixers have been so awful. That was a rare cover at home for the Bulls. We just don

10 Unit Play. #660 Take Louisiana Tech over San Jose State (8 pm) This is truly a match-up of David vs. Goliath. Only this time David has not chance of keeping this score under 20 points. The Bulldogs are 15-0 in the WAC and coming off a dominating performance against Utah State on Thursday winning by 23 points. This same Aggies team beat the Spartans 27 points last month in Northern California holding them to just 36 points. Throw in the fact that SJSU is without their best player and leading scorer in James Kinney and this will be a 30-point victory for the home team. The Bulldogs already won by 22 points in San Jose State on 1/24 and they are an underrated team that is just starting to get noticed. They are 25-3 and 15-0 in the WAC and have great balance behind leading scorer Raheem Appleby. SJSU is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against teams with a winning record. La Tech has covered 12 of their last 16 home games. As another handicapper said, you, me and three guys from the Y can beat this San Jose State team and Louisiana Tech is a sleeping giant.

10 Unit Play. #539 Take Duke over Virginia (9 pm ESPN) Duke is overrated this year; however, Virginia is a good match-up for them since the Cavaliers do not have the athletes to exploit Duke

Boston went on a nice little streak once Rajon Rondo went down for the season, but that burst is now way in the rear-view mirror, and this team is just not playing well right now. They have dropped four of six, including losses at Charlotte and last night to a Portland team that had lost seven straight. This team has been battered with injuries, and they have a pretty daunting task tonight in a very tough place to play in Utah. Boston is always a team to look to play against in back-to-backs, as the core of this team is old. They are better than normal in back-to-backs this season at 5-8-1 ATS, but since some of the youth on this team is now out with injuries we think that they become even worse in these situations. And tonight they face a Jazz team that will be running all night, and we just don

7* Pick: Portland has lost seven straight, but this team is not as bad as that losing streak would indicate. Six of those losses were on the road, where Portland just generally stinks. They also started off slow against Phoenix at home and got behind early and could not make up the difference despite a valiant effort at the end of the game. So not only is this team desperate for a win, but we think that public opinion is at an all-time low with this team and that we are getting a very good number here tonight. If this game would have taken place last month the Blazers might be closer to six-point favorites. Portland is 17-9 at home and Boston is only 9-17 on the road. Boston is 3-6 ATS as a small dog in this point spread area this season, and they are 3-8 ATS on the road against sub-.500 teams. Portland is 9-2 ATS at home against above-.500 teams. The general public will be looking to take Boston here tonight but we think a play on Portland is about as sharp as they come.

10 Unit Play. #615 Take Providence over Rutgers (9 pm ESPN U) The Friars struggled their last time out against Syracuse because they just could not make a shot from the field, but they should find scoring much easier tonight at the RAC. Providence has won 4 of their last 5 game including impressive victories against Notre Dame and Cincinnati. The Scarlet Knights have won just one game since January 18th and that includes three home losses including one against St. Johns. Take make matters worse, they will be without their leading scoring for the second consecutive game, as Eli Carter has a fractured right fibula. This is a loss that the Scarlet Knights will not be able to overcome and I do not expect them to win a game the rest of the season. The Big East plays an unbalanced schedule and Providence has had a gauntlet this far but the schedule lightens up now and they have 4 winnable games to close out the season. Providence has three players averaging over 13.5 points per game including Bryce Cotton, the best player on the floor tonight. Providence has covered 4 of their last 5 games. Rutgers is 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games following an ATS victory in their previous game. That games fits the top play blueprint that has given us success all season long. Go against a team that has a key injury and also has trouble scoring points. Providence can outscore their way to a victory this evening.

This one fits into a system we love to play when teams play on consecutive nights back-to-back at each other

10 Unit Play. #542 Take Arizona over Washington State (3 pm FSN) The Cougars cannot wait for this season to end and they will be down big at some point in this game and I do not see them mustering enough energy to even get a back door cover. Washington State got beaten badly by ASU on Wednesday night trailing by 21 points in the second half and Arizona is a much better team than ASU. Wazzou is a much better team when playing in Pullman and Arizona already beat them by 14 points this season in the state of Washington. Washington State does not have any quickness to stay with the Cats especially without a healthy Mike Ladd, the team

10 Unit Play. #838 Take Long Beach State over Stephen F Austin (9 pm ESPN U) Bracket Buster Weekend has arrived and tonight features one of the more intriguing match-ups of the weekend. The Lumberjacks are an outstanding 22-3 on the season, but they play in a one bid conference and they have lost two road games during Southland play with-in the last month. The Beach is 13-2 in the Big West Conference and this is a strong conference than the Southland. They are 11-2 at home this season and will enter this game with just one loss since January 4th. The 49ers have three players averaging over 11 points per game and I expect a strong output from them this evening @ Walter Pyramid. SFA is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games. The Beach is 18-5 ATS (3 pushes) in their last 26 home games against teams with a winning road record. The home teams generally do well in Bracket Buster games and tonight we will lay the wood with the better team.

This one is pretty straightforward. The Raptors are streaking and the Knicks are slumping. The Knicks are the big public team here and the Raptors are the opposite. This is a very public line, and we think the Raptors are deserving of being favored by a couple points here, and we expect them to win this game. The Knicks have lost four of five games, and they lost three of those by double digits. The one non-double-digit loss was to these same Raptors, and the Knicks were at home in that one. We think revenge is a way overrated handicapping aspect, and since these teams are not rivals we don

Love the Clippers in this spot tonight. This team is the last squad back in action after the all-star break, and we feel they will be focused and motivated for this game tonight. Most of the core members on this team remember the 4-0 sweep out of the second round of the playoffs last year by the Spurs, and for that reason they will be playing their best tonight. When healthy, and with the new editions in the offseason, we think this Clippers team is better than the Spurs, despite the teams' current records. They have solid wins and covers in both meetings this season already, and with the extra rest and preparation time we think they have a big edge here tonight, and this line pretty much only accounts for home court advantage. The Spurs are winning, but they have only covered in two of their last five, and we have a sense that they are not playing their best basketball right now, while we think this fully-healthy Clippers team is peaking right now. Definitely some nice value in this short line tonight.

10 Unit Play. #786 Take Arizona State over Washington State (10 pm PAC-12 Network) Washington State is one of the most disappointing teams in the country this season. In past years they were always a tough team to beat at home but even that magic has fallen by the wayside, as they have lost 7 games in Pullman this season. That goes nicely with their 1-6 record in true road games compared to ASU

First of all, we have to say that we are not big believers in the Houston Rockets. Yeah, they are exciting to watch. They play at a fast pace and score a bunch of points. But their defense is atrocious, and, even if they do make the playoffs, they are going to have a hard time doing anything once they do get there. You have to play defense in the playoffs, and this team plays none. The Thunder have an offense that can run toe-to-toe with the home team here, but the big difference is the defense. If you look at the PPG allowed by the Thunder, you would not initially think that they are a good defensive team. They are in the middle of the pack defensively for points allowed per game. That is just a result of their system; since they like to run, too, opponents get more points by virtue of the pace. But when you look at their field goal defensive percentage, they are ranked No. 2 in the entire NBA, right behind Indiana. This team is built for playoff success with their proficiency on offense and their shut-down defense. And they are built to win games like this against overachieving opponents. The Thunder limped into the all-star break with two bad losses to probable playoff clubs. But the break came at just the right time for OKC as they had the luxury of stepping back from the game and regrouping. We think that they will be primed for a top performance here. This will be the third meeting this season between these two clubs, and the Thunder won the first two by 20+. There is no reason to think this one will be any different.

10 Unit Play. #636 Take Troy over North Texas (8:30 pm ESPN 3) The Trojans are coming off a victory on Thursday against FIU and expect them to complete this two game home stand with another victory on Saturday against North Texas. Both teams are below .500 in the Sun Belt but Troy plays in the eastern division that features the two top teams in the league. The Trojans will also have revenge on their minds since they lost to North Texas by 17 points earlier this season. The Mean Green have won just one game since January 20th and they have all but thrown in the towel on this season. Their last 4 losses have come by 9 points or more. Troy is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 Sun Belt Conference games. North Texas is 3-9 ATS (1 push) in their last 13 road games.

The Clippers are finally healthy, and they are just a much better team than the Lakers right now. Yes, the Lakers are the

10 Unit Play. #729 Take La Salle over St. Bonaventure (7 pm) The Explorers are squarely on the NCAA Tournament Bubble and if they have visions of making the big dance, these are the type of games that they must win on the road games bad A-10 teams. La Salle can really get it done on the offensive end of the floor, as they are one of the top teams scoring wise in the Atlantic-10. They have won two straight against St. Bonaventure and expect them to complete the trifecta on Wednesday. St. Bonaventure is just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games.

Memphis has been slumping lately, and if it were not for their recent play this line would be closer to 12 or more points. We see this team as one on an upswing, and we think they should have no problem beating one of the worst against the spread teams in all of basketball this Tuesday night. The Grizzlies are getting back on track. They beat the Warriors and blew out the Timberwolves in their last two games, both at home, and they also covered both lines. This is another game like the Minnesota game that can help a team get its confidence back in a hurry. The Kings are in the Bottom 5 of the ATS standings this season. And they have received favorable spreads all season, which just shows how bad this team is if it can

Can

10 Unit Play. #826 Take Maryland over Virginia (1 pm ESPN 3) Top College Hoops Play of the Weekend. The ACC is very weak this season and thus this is an important game for both teams who still have visions of being in the top three in the conference. We will side with the home team this afternoon, as both teams are very deliberate on offense, I just believe that Maryland has the edge on the board especially with some key injuries to the front line of Virginia. The Cavaliers have already lost some shaky road games to Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and a neutral site game to Old Dominion and Maryland is much better than all of those teams. Maryland is No. 1 in the nation in rebounding with over 42 per game and that will play a big role in this affair. Virginia is 2-9 ATS (1 push) in their last 12 road games. Maryland is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 home games against teams with a losing road record. Maryland gets the job done at home and we collect big in the process as well.

This line is so large because the Warriors have played so many games lately

The Cavs are an unlikely team to be huge chalk like this on Friday night. However, we think that this line is totally justified and might even be a bit short. Cleveland is playing its best basketball of the season right now. Kyrie Irving is back and is finally in tune with his teammates, and this team has won five of seven. They have covered in every one of those wins, and the oddsmakers have not adjusted to how this team is performing on the court. Irving is a star. If he stays healthy he will become one of the marquee players in the league. This is a player that can beat teams singlehandedly, and he makes all of his teammates better. That is what is going on in Cleveland right now. Their recent wins include victories in Portland (a very tough place to play) and at home against Boston and even Oklahoma City. They have also shown they can put a whuppin

The Nuggets are completely healthy right now and one of the hottest teams in the league (seven straight wins entering tonight

10 Unit Play. #775 Take Marshall over Tulane (8 pm) This will be the third straight game we will go against Tulane as our top play and we expect a similar result tonight since they are a sinking ship at the moment. The Green Wave will win a game at some point this season but it will not be tonight, as Marshall has talent, they just have not played up to it this season. The Thundering Herd have won four straight games the Green Wave. Tulane win loss record is all about their non-conference cupcake schedule. They have been turning over the basketball at an alarming pace. Finally, Tulane is 4-23 ATS in their last 27 following a loss in their previous game.

Everyone is down on the Sixers since they have been a major underachiever all season long. We think this team is trending up and playing their best basketball of the season right now. This team has now played five really good games straight and have covered six of their last eight overall. This team has a chance to climb back into the playoff race with this current homestand, and they have been taking every game very seriously, and we think that continues tonight. Indiana is all the sudden looking like the best team in the east, but this team faces the toughest scheduling quirk in the NBA this season as this will be their third game in three nights. No other team will play a back-to-back-to-back this season. This is a result of their game against the Bulls earlier in the season being rescheduled to Monday. And the Pacers looked great in the first two. They thumped division foe Chicago and also Atlanta last night. But they had crazy energy in both of those games and both were at home. Now they face a road contest and we just don

Indiana is one of the most dominant teams in the NBA at home, and we think they will put in work against a banged-up Bulls club tonight. Chicago has a pretty good club. But they have been overrated by the oddsmakers all season and are one of the worst ATS teams in the league this year. The first thing we thought when we saw this line, that was released early this morning, is that this is another public line. And, true to form, it seems like the public is pounding the visitors in early betting action. But we think that Indiana will take care of business tonight. They are almost unbeatable at home, with a 18-3 mark this year. They are also 8-2 ATS at home against top teams. The Bulls have been playing with a lot of injuries, and they have played pretty well considering. But we think they are in tough tonight in their toughest recent game and playing their third game in four nights. Indiana has won their last three at home all by double digits, including a game against a better Miami club, and we think they can do the same to the Bulls tonight.

10 Unit Play. #674 Take UTEP over Tulane (9 pm) The Miners cannot wait to get back onto the court and get the overtime loss taste out of their mouths. UTEP already beat Tulane in New Orleans by 9 points and expect a double digit margin tonight in El Paso. We went against Tulane for our GOY on Wednesday and won relatively easily and expect another easy winner on Saturday night. The Green Wave

These two teams played a couple weeks ago in Charlotte, and the Bobcats played very well in that game. They led most of the game, and they had a horrible fourth quarter where they were outscored 26-13 and they lost by six. That six points was Houston

We are just not believers in this Boston team right now. They beat Miami recently in a game where the Heat were on the road, where they have been mediocre, and they blew out a Sacramento team that took the night off last time out. But before that this team lost six straight, including losses to some of the worst teams in the NBA. This Orlando team hasn

We are just not high on Minnesota right now at all, and we think LA takes care of business in a big way here in this road contest. The Timberwolves are the first team to have really given up on the season. The word of Kevin Love

The Bucks are hot and have won seven of 10, but their schedule has been pretty easy for the most part. Their losses in that stretch include a loss to Cleveland and also a 16-point home drubbing at home against this same Pistons team. Forget about revenge here. That loss was over two weeks ago and the Bucks are concentrating more on getting into the playoffs instead of obsessing over a game two weeks ago. The Pistons started off real slow this season, but they have been playing much better as of late. They have covered four of their last five. They are also 10-6 straight up in their last 16 games. Just think this team is being underestimated by the oddsmakers right now. This team is much better than their record indicates, and we think talent-wise that this team matches up very well with the Bucks even though Milwaukee has a much better record. So we think there is some nice value on this line as home-court advantage has not been factored into this number in our opinion. Detroit has a shut-down defense at home, and this team allows just over 93 points per game on its home court. Those numbers are as competitive as any team in the NBA. We think they will be able to slow down Ellis and Jennings, and those are really the only main threats for Milwaukee. The Pistons play great team basketball and they can get contributions from a number of guys. And the whole Rodney Stuckey situation? We feel like we talked back to his coach and was benched last game (the team is being real secretive about his status), but we expect him to be back for this game. Even if he doesn

Just don

We think that anything under 10 points is a gift here. This one fits into one of our best systems, when teams play back-to-back, home-and-homes on consecutive nights. The team that loses always comes back and plays stronger the next night. And when that team is back at home on the second night that makes the play even stronger. And there are some other great reasons we love this play so much. First, the Blazers are one of those NBA teams that is so much stronger at home than on the road. They should have lost last night at home, but they had a miracle comeback to claim the win. But they are in for it rough tonight at Staples Center, where the Clips hold a strong home-court advantage. Also, the Clippers are probably the deepest team in the NBA and they are much more well-suited to do well on a back-to-back. This team has a second unit that can rival Portland

10 Unit Play. #568 Take Nebraska over Northwestern (3 pm ESPN U) The Wildcats have been overachieving of late but that will end in a big way this afternoon in Lincoln. Nebraska has played a brutal schedule this far to open up Big Ten play but they did beat Penn State, a team very similar to Northwestern since both teams are without their best players. Brandon Ubel is back in the line-up and that gives the Cornhuskers an edge down low that Northwestern will not have an answer for. Northwestern has alternated wins and losses in the last six games and that will hold true again on Saturday. Nebraska is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS loss in their previous game. No Drew Crawford finally catches up to the Cats.

This game reminds us a bit of the San Antonio playoffs series for the Clippers last season. They went into that series banged up and a bit shellshocked after a tough, physical 7-game series with Memphis. And the Spurs were the metaphorical buzzsaw for the Clippers. After seeing the Clippers lose to the Golden State Warriors last night in the Bay Area, we were reminded of that game. This time it was Chris Paul limping around. They obviously brought him back too soon from his injury, and we had one of his worst games of the season last night. Blake Griffin looked worn out as well in the fourth quarter. And the team as a whole had that defeated look in their eyes that we saw in the two home playoff games against the Spurs last season. Now they have to dust themselves off and face the team with the best record in the league tonight. Actually, the winner of this game will have the best record, but right now that belongs to the Thunder. OKC had the day off yesterday, so they are coming in rested. And the Clippers really looked fatigued last night at the end of that game and we think that carries over here tonight. Plus, we just think this OKC team is a bit better than the Clippers, and we expect them to come into this game with their A-game. The Thunder are as hot as any team in the NBA right now, and they are playing their best basketball of the season right now. If this was the playoffs and the Clips were coming in off normal rest, this probably would not be a play. But after watching that game last night, we think that the Clippers are in for a rough night tonight.

These two teams played Wednesday in Atlanta, and the Hawks got a big 14-point win. However, they had lost six of their previous seven games, and this team is just not playing well right now overall. And the Hawks, just like the Nets, are a different team on the road then they are at home. And while we don

10 Unit Play. #793 Take Purdue over Nebraska (9 pm Big 10 Network) College Basketball Game of the Year. Both of these teams are defensive driven, but what this play really comes down to is that Purdue just have better talent than does Nebraska. The Cornhuskers lost four starters off of a team that finished in last place and their lone returning starter is Brandon Ubel, who is out for this game with a broken right elbow. Second chance points will be plentiful in this game since neither side shoots it very well from the field and it is hard not to favor Purdue in this department. Matt Painter team

Denver is really good this year. Of course, the Thunder have proven they are probably the best team in the NBA right now, but we have to look real hard at any Nuggets line that is over seven points no matter who the opponent. Yes, the Nuggets are coming in on a back-to-back after playing late in an OT game last night and they had to travel late for this game. But this team is young and deep, and at 7-2 ATS in back-to-backs, we are not really worried about that factor in handicapping this game. But the Nuggets are hot. They have won six straight games, and they are playing with tons of confidence right now. Their offense has been really good, too, and we are confident they can keep up with the Thunder on the scoreboard. OKC has been playing well, too, but they have had a pretty easy schedule lately and there have been a couple hiccups on the way this month

The first thing we thought when we saw this line was that it should have been closer to 4.5 for the home team and we would probably lean to the Raptors at that line. The Bucks won their first two after a coaching change

10 Unit Play. #114 Take Atlanta Falcons over Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 1 pm FOX) NFL Playoff Game of the Year. Seattle was certainly on the ropes last weekend in Washington, and had RG3 stayed healthy I believe that Washington would be the team playing Atlanta and not the Seahawks. Nobody believes in Atlanta, and even the line tells you that many people expect the Seahawks to win this game. But I am not one of those people, and I feel that this is a perfect matchup for the Falcons. Seattle is making their second cross-country flight and will be without the services of Chris Clemons, who tore his ACL last week. Both of these things are devastating to this team. Atlanta is very balanced on both sides of the football, and I just do not believe that the Seahawks passing game is strong enough to threaten the Falcons secondary. Seattle is just 10-22 ATS in their last 32 games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game. Atlanta is 22-7 ATS in their last 29 games following a loss in their previous game.
Atlanta by 13

NBA Game of the Month: This Houston team has been hot, there is no doubt about that. But we are just not big believers in this team and we think that this is a bad spot for them tonight. The Rockets have won 12 of their last 16 games. But a closer look at their schedule shows seven of those wins coming at home and not a lot of quality wins on the road. They have mostly beat bad teams in the road and the good opponents they have beat on the road have been slumping and/or dealing with a lot of injuries. Their biggest win, in our opinion, during that stretch was at Chicago, and that was a game where all of the shots were falling for the Rockets. They shot better than 56 percent in that game, and when you shoot that well you are going to beat any team in the NBA. Last time out they lost in New Orleans in a pretty poor effort against a pretty bad team. We don

Think the Pacers have a real edge here tonight and that this line should have been closer to 7, and we would still lean to Indiana at that number. But think there is awesome value here at this number. The Pacers are playing some of their best basketball of the season after a slow start. And this team is really underrated right now. They are on an 11-3 run and as hot as any team in the NBA right now, and they are almost unbeatable at home at 13-3. They have also been covering a lot of lines lately and their confidence is sky-high after a huge win against Miami at home on Tuesday. This team is doing all the right things. They have a shut-down defense which is the best overall in the NBA and they are beasts on the boards as the No. 2 rebounding team in the league. The Knicks are a mess right now. Carmelo Anthony is suspended for this game after his shenanigans with Kevin Garnett last game against Boston. Not only will the Knicks miss their best player on the court, but this situation is also a huge distraction for the club. Raymond Felton is also out, and these two players were key to the Knicks hot start. And it is safe to say the Knicks have officially cooled off now. They have one win against San Antonio last Thursday in a night where the Spurs didn

Orlando has lost nine straight games. You would never think a team on a 0-9 run is playing well, but we like what we have seen from this team and they are really fighting hard every night and we think that will be the case again tonight. This team is just not as bad as this losing streak would indicate. Their last four games were against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season started today, and they lost two in overtime (Portland and Miami) and they lost the other two by a combined 10 points. In fact, this team has only one double-digit loss during this losing streak. We think this team will put up a fight tonight and we think they will definitely keep this game within double-digits. Orlando has been one of the best bets in the league as a big underdog this season as they are a perfect 6-0 ATS as a dog of 8 or more points. They are 10-4-1 ATS on the road this season and they also are 4-1 on the road against above-.500 teams. This number is too good to pass up with an Orlando team that has been so good in this underdog role.

The Sixers are just returning off one of the toughest road trips that any team will have to endure all season. This road trip consisted of eight games, and six of the eight games were against Western Conference playoff contenders and three of those were against likely Top 4 seeds in the west (10 of their last 11 games have been on the road). Considering that slate, it is no surprise that a middle-of-the-road team from the east is going to slink back home with its tail between its legs. But now this team has had a couple nights to regroup and look forward to some home cooking, as 13 of their next 15 games are at home. Even at 15-20 this team is only a couple games out of playoff contention, and with some wins here at home, they can play themselves right back in the mix. This is a team to buy on in the near future, in our opinion. Confidence in this team is low right now, but this team is better than their record indicates and we expect them to start racking up some wins, and it starts tonight against a Brooklyn team tonight in a very winnable game. The Nets have won five of six, but there was only one quality win in that group, at OKC, in a game that has

10 Unit Play. #270 Take Notre Dame Fighting Irish over Alabama Crimson Tide (BCS Championship Game, Monday, 1/7, 8:30 pm ESPN) The last game of the College Football game is the most intriguing as it features two of the most storied programs in college football history. I truly believe that the SEC was overrated this season evident by the fact that Florida got destroyed by Louisville last week and as a whole the SEC is just not as strong as it has been the last decade. If Nick Saban were not the coach of Alabama, this spread will be around 6 points and thus we are getting great value with this selection. All the Notre Dame has done this season is win and it would not surprise me if their defense controls this game again for 60 minutes. It is important that Notre Dame withstand the first quarter and not get blown out. If they accomplish that I believe that they have a great chance to win this game straight up and getting around double digits it too good to pass up. Alabama is just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games. Notre Dame is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games. This game goes down to the wire and the underdog is never in danger of not covering this number.
Notre Dame by 1

Think this is a good spot to take the Lakers in what almost seems like a must-win game for them. They are now two games below .500 after losses to the Clippers and Sixers. In that Clippers game they looked pretty good in the second half, mounting a big comeback that fell a bit short at the end. But we think that momentum should carry over into tonight

10 Unit Play. #108 Take Washington Redskins over Seattle Seahawks (Sunday 4:30 pm FOX) I really believe that the wrong team is favored in this game, as the Seahawks are not as strong of a team without the 12th man backing them up. Washington has won seven straight games in route to winning the NFC East and I believe that they have the more dynamic quarterback in RG3. He has the ability to beat you with his arm or his legs. The Seahawks are just 3-5 on the road this season and that includes losses to Miami, Detroit, Arizona, and St. Louis. Washington is 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games overall. Seattle is 6-16 ATS (1 push) in their last 23 games on grass. Washington stays hot and we collect big in the process as well.
Washington by 6

10 Unit Play. #629 Take California +1 over USC (11 pm FSN) The Golden Bears have better talent than what they have showcased thus far and I think they put it together tonight against a team that has trouble scoring points. What this play comes down to is that I do not believe USC has enough offensive firepower to keep up with California by scoring in the high sixties. The Bears have the two best players on the court in Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs and USC does not have anybody on the floor that comes close to matching this output. Cal

Think this is a great spot for the Warriors tonight. We were hoping this line could come out over 7 and that might have been a step-out play for us but we still think there is great value here tonight. The Clippers have been getting all the press this season, but Golden State is right there on LA

NBA Game of the Week: These two teams come in with the same records, but the Raptors have been playing much better than the Kings lately. Toronto has won eight of its last nine games, and they have covered eight of 10, to make them one of

Just think this is a real nice spot to go against the Kings on the road with a decent line. The Kings are coming in on a back-to-back while the Cavs have had a rare 3-night break. That rest is crucial at this point of the season and we think it will make a big difference here tonight. The Kings have been playing well at home but they are hopeless on the road at 1-13. Cleveland does not have a good record at home, or anywhere for that matter, but they have missed Kyrie Irving for much of the season, and he is back in the lineup now and this team is much better with him on the court. He is a player that can win a game, especially against an opponent like the Kings, singlehandedly. The Cavs have enjoyed great success in this series. While they have had better teams over the years, we think the Cavs should win this one and should do it comfortably with the extra edge they have with the extra rest.

We know we said we were not going to go against the Clippers again, but after a 3-0 Saturday and a real nice line on this game we just can

10 Unit Play. #45/#315 Take Dallas Cowboys over Washington Redskins (Sunday, 8:20 pm NBC) The final game of the NFL Regular Season has two traditional rivals set to battle in the nation