Chicago

Memphis took a 2-1 series lead after their huge fourth quarter and overtime comeback in Game 3 on Saturday night. The Grizzlies trailed by as many as 16 points in that game, and they trailed by 13 points going into the last 12 minutes of play. Memphis out-scored Oklahoma City 23-10 in the fourth quarter to take the game into overtime where they completed the comeback with a 101-93 win. Both teams played terrible on offense as they each shot less than 38% from the field and they went a combined 7 of 31 from three-point land. The Grizzlies won the game at the free throw line as they attempted 21 more shots (44-23) resulting in a +9 margin at the charity stripe.

The Thunder played their worst game of the playoffs so far as they scored just 93 points. And it was their lowest point total in their last 14 games played. The Thunder shot just 36.6% (34-93) from the field and 19% (4-21) from three-point land. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to score 45 points, but that duo only shot 36.9% (17-46) from the field and 30% (3-10) from three-point land. Off such a terrible offensive performance, and now trailing the series 2-1, we expect a big bounce back game from Oklahoma City tonight, especially from Durant and Westbrook.

Oklahoma City has shown a strong pattern of playing extremely well after playing an extremely poor game all season long. In fact, they

Boston got back into this series with a 97-81 win over Miami in Game 3 on Saturday night. Things did not look good for the Celtics as they trailed at the half, but Boston put together a terrific second half to earn the comeback win. The Celtics played a phenomenal third quarter as they out-scored Miami by 13 points (28-15), and that was where they won the game. Boston shot the ball incredibly well all game long as they hit 50% (37-74) from the field and 50% (9-18) from three-point land. They also hit 14 of their 17 free throw attempts for the all-around perfect offensive game. But after Rajon Rondo suffered a nasty elbow injury in that game (he played with noticeable excruciating pain), we have to question just how effective the Celtic

This series has not gone as many expected. Dallas won both games in Los Angeles to take a 2-0 series lead back home to Dallas for Games 3 and 4. And the Mavericks made a big fourth quarter comeback in Game 3 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Lakers. In fact, Dallas has owned the fourth quarter in this series as they

This series did not begin as many expected. Dallas won both games in Los Angeles to take a 2-0 series lead back home to Dallas for Games 3 and 4. The Mavericks did not have a good history of playing well against the Lakers in Los Angeles prior to the last two games so the fact that they won both games is somewhat shocking. The Lakers were in control of Game 1 when they took a 7-point lead into the fourth quarter. But the Mavericks out-scored them 25-16 over the final 12 minutes of the game to win 96-94. And they rode that momentum in a 93-81 win in Game 2 on Wednesday night; Dallas led that game by as many as 15 points so there was nothing phony about their big win.

With the Lakers down 0-2, this is an obvious must-win game for them. Los Angeles couldn

After their shocking 103-95 loss to Atlanta in Game 1, Chicago bounced back with a much better performance in Game 2. The Bulls won 86-73 to even the series as the teams head to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4. Chicago won the last game with their suffocating defense as they held the Hawks to just 73 points on 33.8% (26-77) shooting from the field and 23.1% (3-13) from three-point land. We expected the Bulls to stymie the Hawks in that last game, especially after Atlanta won Game 1 when they shot 51.3% (40-78) from the field and 53.8% (7-13) from three-point land. That performance in the series opener was a fluke, and we just do not see the Hawks coming close to that type of production again, especially since the Bulls have one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.

Chicago earned the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference after their fantastic 62-20 regular season. The Bulls did not play like that record in the first round, even though they beat the Pacers 4-1. Nor did they play like their record in Game 1, but the Bulls brought their

Chicago

The much anticipated playoff match-up between the Celtics and Heat was hardly a contest in Game 1. Miami controlled the game from start to finish; the Heat led the game by 19 points at one point and they also held a 15-point lead at halftime. Boston actually shot 50% (12-24) from three-point land and that still wasn

Both teams went through interesting first round match-ups with their opponents. Atlanta beat Orlando in 6 games while Chicago took care of Indiana in 5 games. The Hawks figured to be in a close battle with the Magic as both teams are rather ordinary clubs, and in a 7-game series, they figured to go back and forth. On the other hand, the Bulls figured to manhandle the Pacers, a team that had a losing record and did not belong in the playoffs. But Chicago took them lightly, and Indiana gave the Bulls a much closer fight than expected. However, we expect this series to go a lot different, especially for the Bulls.

Chicago earned the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference after their fantastic 62-20 regular season. The Bulls did not play like that record in the first round, even though they beat the Pacers 4-1. Chicago won three of those games by 6 points or less before they turned things on in Game 5 and waxed Indiana by 27 points (116-89). That game was a truer reflection of the Bulls

The much anticipated playoff match-up between the Celtics and Heat begins this afternoon. Coming into this season, Boston and Miami were thought to be the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. But at season

Memphis ran away with Game 4 as they waxed San Antonio by 18 points (104-86). The Grizzlies played a terrific offensive game as they shot 50.6% (41-81) from the field and 41.7% (5-12) from three-point land. They also hit 17 of their 21 free throw attempts, so Memphis played an all-around perfect game. That win gave them a 3-1 series lead as they head back to San Antonio for Game 5 tonight. But we do not expect Memphis to repeat what they did in Game 4, especially on the road against a Class-A team like the Spurs.

San Antonio is an incredible 37-6 on their home court this season with one of those six losses coming to Memphis in Game 1 of this series. The Spurs have won the other three meetings with the Grizzlies on their home court; all three wins coming by 6 points or more. After the Spurs lost the series opener, they were an 8-point favorite in Game 2, up from the 6

The Nuggets were basically in a must-win situation on Saturday night when they returned home to their strong home court, down 0-2 in the series. Denver failed to get it done and lost outright as a 5-point favorite, 94-97, and trailed by as many as 10 points in that game. Denver now faces a 0-3 deficit in this series and they know it is over as no NBA team has ever overcome such a deficit, going 0-94 all-time in a best-of-seven playoff series.

Home favorites have historically been a poor play when facing a 0-3 deficit and the underdog covers nearly 70% ATS in this situation. The logic is simple as the favorite is normally a team that should have been more competitive in the series, yet has drastically underachieved. This normally leads to less effort in Game 4, while the underdog remains focused and wants to close out the series since they are playing a decent opponent.

The opposite occurs with home underdogs as these teams normally play hard and we saw two perfect examples this past weekend when both Indiana and Philadelphia won outright as home underdogs. The Knicks did not win as a home underdog in Game 4 on Sunday, but that situation was different as New York was actually favored in Game 3 by -3

Los Angeles took a 2-1 series lead with their 100-86 blowout win over New Orleans on Friday night. The Lakers jumped out early and never looked back; the Hornets only held a 2-point lead over the 48 minutes of play. Despite the big 14-point win by the Lakers, they didn

We saw the truth between these two teams in Game 1. Oklahoma City and Denver battled throughout that game and the game wasn

This has been a pretty even series so far as all three games have been highly competitive. With tonight

New Orleans pulled off a shocking upset in Game 1 when they beat the Lakers 109-100 as 10-point underdogs. The Lakers responded with an 87-78 win in Game 2, and even though they only won by 9 points, Los Angeles controlled that game from start to finish. The Lakers held a comfortable 15-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before the Hornets made the final score somewhat respectable. Los Angeles should come out full throttle tonight as they do not want to give New Orleans any confidence, especially with two games to play on their home court.

New Orleans suffered an unfortunate injury in late March when David West torn his ACL and was lost for the season. Any hopes the Hornets had for a run in the playoffs ended when West left the court. The Hornets

New York let the first two games in this series get away from them. The Knicks led both games with less than 20 seconds left to play, but the Celtics hit two clutch shots to escape with fortunate wins. The Knicks certainly deserved to win both games, and since they return home trailing 0-2 in the series, we don

Denver blew a golden opportunity to steal Game 1 in Oklahoma City after they blew a 13-point lead. The Nuggets played a terrific game despite the loss; they shot 50.6% (39-77) from the field with five different players scoring in double digits. Denver also got to the free throw line 33 times in that game which shows how aggressive they were in attacking the basket. But they failed to cash in on those free throws as they made only 63.6% of those attempts, way below their seasonal free throw average of 74.6%. If the Nuggets play like they did in Game 1 and make their free throws, then they should once again take the Thunder right down to the wire.

Since March 1st, the Nuggets are 15-7 so they

Portland was in control of Game 1 with just about 3 minutes left to play before the win was taken away from them by the refs. Dallas was awarded with free throws on almost every possession down the stretch, and Portland

New York let Game 1 get away from them. The Knicks led by 12 points (51-39) at the half, but they only scored 34 points in the second half and lost 87-85 on a last second Ray Allen three-pointer. New York thoroughly out-played Boston, and the Celtics were very fortunate to win that game. The Knicks are still playing good basketball despite losing on Sunday night; they are 7-2 over their last nine meaningful games. New York is also covering pointspreads (7-2 ATS) during that stretch including three straight-up wins as underdogs. They also beat three playoff teams over those nine games so it

Philadelphia showed a lot of grit on Saturday afternoon. The Sixers jumped out to a big lead (31-19) after the first quarter and they couldn

New York

New Orleans suffered an unfortunate injury in late March when David West torn his ACL and was lost for the season. Any hopes the Hornets had for a run in the playoffs ended when West left the court. The Hornets

Indiana is the only team that made the playoffs with a losing record. The Pacers are also one of only two teams (Hawks being the other) in the playoffs that got out-scored by their opponents over the course of the regular season. Indiana has no business being in the playoffs, and since they are playing one of the best teams in the league, the Pacers will be hard-pressed to be competitive, especially in Game 1 of the series.

The Pacers beat the Bulls 115-108 in overtime in the latest meeting in mid-March so that loss is still fresh on Chicago

Milwaukee is still playing hard despite being eliminated for the playoffs. They

Oklahoma City played in a big game last night in Los Angeles. The Thunder came to play as they routed the Lakers 120-106; OKC shot 55.6% (40-72) from the field and 47.1% (8-17) from three-point land. They were also extremely aggressive as they got to the free throw line 35 times in the game. The Thunder connected on 91.4% (32-35) of those free throws which aided them in their win. But last night

Los Angeles is not playing good basketball right now. The Lakers have lost 3 straight games after winning 17 of their first 18 games after the All-Star break. This team simply has motivational issues right now as they are treading the fine line that most teams face right before the playoffs start. The Lakers really have no need to go out and exert themselves in these final few games since they have little to gain by doing so. And in order to conserve some energy and stay healthy, the Lakers have not been putting forth tremendous effort out on the court.

This is a big game for both teams tonight as the Celtics and Bulls are still fighting for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. This game figures to play-out like a playoff game where we see a ton of intensity:

These two teams come into tonight

There

Dallas is locked in the #3 spot for the Western Conference playoffs so they do not have anything to play for over their last six games of the regular season. The Mavericks have been on a long, 6-game road trip that comes to an end tonight. This will be their sixth game in nine nights, and it is also their fourth game in five nights on a back-to-back set. In fact, this will be Dallas

This game is a re-match from back in late November; Connecticut beat Kentucky in Hawaii 84-67. The Wildcats were actually a 4

Many people thought that Virginia Commonwealth did not deserve a NCAA Tournament bid, but the Rams have proven they belong with impressive underdog wins over USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida St, and Kansas. There was nothing misleading about any of those victories as VCU dominated four of the five games with easy 13, 18, 18, and 10 point wins. Their lone close call came against Florida St in overtime; VCU won that game 72-71. The Rams also defeated fellow tournament teams during the regular season in George Mason by 16 points and only lost to Old Dominion by 5 points in the CAA tournament. VCU has been a strong underdog this season going 12-3 ATS when getting points so they are certainly worth a look in this game.

Virginia Commonwealth relies heavily on the outside shot as the Rams take 41.3% of their total shots (22th highest) and get 35.4% of their total points (22th most among all 345 Division-1 teams) from three-point range. The Rams took 42.2% of their total shots (2nd most) and got 33.7% of their total points (2nd most) from beyond the arc in conference games this season. Butler

Portland has played some terrific basketball since the beginning of February. The Blazers are 17-8 over their last 25 games with only one of those eight losses coming by more than 9 points. They

Alabama benefited from playing three home games in this tournament. The Crimson Tide went a perfect 19-0 in Coleman Coliseum, but they were a much different team on the road. Alabama went just 6-11 in away games this season, and we saw them squeak out a 62-61 win over Colorado on Tuesday night. They needed to hit a layup with just 13 seconds left to play to win that game, and that came against a Colorado team that doesn

These two teams are ending the season in different directions. Phoenix has collapsed; the Suns have won just 3 of their last 10 games. They have no chance to make the playoffs which means they have nothing to play for going forward. Sacramento has been playing good basketball recently; the Kings have won four of their last five games with all of those games coming on the road. And for a team that is just 20-52 on the season that shows that they haven

Wichita St comes into this game at 27-8. The Shockers are an extremely talented team that should have played in the NCAA tournament instead of the NIT. Aside from a few other snubs, Wichita St is the best team that missed the NCAA tournament. The Shockers had high expectations this season, and after their impressive showings in early season tournaments against teams like Connecticut, Wichita St figured to cruise through their conference. But despite being the best team in the MVC on both ends of the court, the Shockers lost their conference tournament and cost themselves a NCAA bid.

The Shockers

The fact that Oregon is still playing basketball this late in March is a surprise. The Ducks were in a rebuilding year as they played with a new head coach (Dana Altman from Creighton) and they were also an extremely young team. Oregon went through a lot of growing pains early, but they picked up on Altman

Portland has played some terrific basketball since the beginning of February. The Blazers are 16-6 over their last 22 games with only one of those six losses coming by more than 9 points. They

This game is a re-match from back in early December; North Carolina beat Kentucky at home 75-73. The Tar Heels were actually a 1-point home underdog in that game, and the fact that this game is priced the same on a neutral court gives us some good value on Kentucky. Now there

Virginia Commonwealth

There

Arizona

This game will be played in New Orleans which obviously gives a big site advantage to Florida. The Gators will have the majority of the fan support for this game, especially since Butler doesn

Many people thought that Va Commonwealth did not deserve a NCAA Tournament bid, but the Rams have proven they belong with impressive underdog wins over USC, Georgetown, and Purdue. There was nothing misleading about any of those victories as VCU dominated all three games with easy 13, 18, and 18 point wins.

The Rams also defeated fellow Tournament teams in George Mason by 16 points and only lost to Old Dominion by 5 points in the CAA tournament earlier this month, both as 5-point underdogs, so tonight

This game has an interesting dynamic to it that clearly points to a side. Charlotte

Richmond has been one of the best teams in the A-10 Conference over the last few years, and they come into tonight

The Big East remains an overrated conference as evident by the fact that only 2 of the 11 teams in the NCAA Tournament made the Sweet 16 this season and both of those teams (Connecticut and Marquette) beat a fellow Big East opponent in the Round of 32 last weekend, so the conference had to have at least two teams playing this week. In fact, during the past seven years, the Big East has put 17 more teams in the NCAA Tournament than any other conference, but no team has made the Finals and only two teams have made a Final Four appearance since 2004.

Marquette was one of the weakest defensive teams in the Big East this season as they allowed 34.8% from three-point range (11th out of 16 teams) and 50.8% from two-point range (14th out of 16 teams) in conference play. This weak interior defense will be a problem tonight against a North Carolina squad that has a lot of size down low and is one of the biggest teams in the nation with 6

Butler

Arizona escaped with a pair of hard fought, but fortunate wins last weekend. The Wildcats were in a dogfight with Memphis in their opening game; Arizona won that game 77-75. Next they jumped all over Texas early and led by 11 points at halftime. But they allowed the Longhorns back into the game, and Arizona was actually trailing with just over 10 seconds left to play in the game. However, the ref called a bogus 5-second foul on Texas which allowed Arizona to steal a 70-69 win in that game. Despite winning those two games, Arizona showed some major weaknesses, and we expect Duke to take full advantage and expose those shortcomings.

Arizona

Connecticut has been on an eventful journey over the last three weeks. The Huskies won the Big East tournament after winning 5 games in 5 nights. They upgraded their seed line by about three or four spots because of their run, so they caught a couple of easy match-ups in their first two NCAA tournament games. But tonight, Connecticut

There

Central Florida made a big splash when they opened the season at 14-0 and found themselves ranked in the Top 25. But since then, the Knights have gone just 7-11 over their last 18 games. They won their last two games at home to advance in this CBI tournament, but don

This will be the third and final meeting of the season between Chicago and Atlanta. The series is tied at one after each team won on their home court; the Hawks won 83-80 in Atlanta while the Bulls won 94-76 in Chicago. Both of those games were played just this month, so Atlanta

Oklahoma St is fortunate to still be playing basketball this late into March. The Cowboys are not really a good team at all, and after numerous suspensions and off-court incidents, their tumultuous season should come to end tonight in Pullman, Washington. The Cowboys suspended Darrell Williams in mid-February after he was accused of sexual assault and then two weeks later head coach Travis Ford suspended point guard, Ray Penn, for violating a team policy. Those two guys were key contributors for Oklahoma St, and their absence showed in the Cowboys

Florida St is a one-dimensional team; the Seminoles have a very good defense but absolutely no offense. In fact, Florida St has the worst offense of any of the major conference teams in the tournament. They rate close to teams like Hampton, St. Peter

Arizona

After watching Kansas St beat Utah St on Thursday night, we saw absolutely nothing from the Wildcats that should change our thoughts on them. We played against K-St often earlier this season as we simply think this team is severely overrated and not that good. Their win over Utah St was unimpressive, and if the Aggies knocked down just a few of their wide open looks then they would be playing in this game tonight. Kansas St got a ton of second-chance points and they simply got the fortunate bounce of the ball all game long. They

The oddsmakers didn

This game will be played in Tampa which obviously gives a big site advantage to Florida. That fact is even more dramatic since UCLA is from the opposite coast and not many of their fans traveled across the country. This will be the closest thing to an actual home game for Florida as you can get in a tournament setting, and that only adds to the troubles UCLA will have in this game. The Bruins

Memphis has a deceptively good 25-9 record. The Tigers are really not that good of a basketball team. They played in the terrible CUSA, a conference which has seen its teams get crushed in postseason play recently. UAB got blown out a few nights ago, and three other league teams also lost in some lower-tier tournaments during the week. And despite winning the CUSA conference tournament, Memphis was one of the worst teams in the conference based on efficiency ratings; they were actually out-scored by league opponents.

The Tigers have an extremely weak offense that cannot generate points easily. Memphis gets the majority of their points inside the paint, but they aren

Texas-San Antonio is in a difficult scheduling spot for this game. The Roadrunners had to play and win on Wednesday night just to get a chance to play in today

Utah St is a tough match-up for any team; the Aggies run a ton of half-court sets that are almost impossible to prepare for. And unlike in year

Gonzaga has been the class of the West Coast Conference for the past decade. The Zags have run roughshod over their league opponents, and they did it again this season with a 13-3 record in league play. But it was one of those three losses to St. Mary

Connecticut was the story of conference tournament week. The Huskies won the Big East tournament after winning 5 games in 5 nights. They upgraded their seed line by about three or four spots because of their run, but that run now sets them up in a big flat spot for this game. Their effort in New York was taxing, and the fact that they have to wheel back and play tonight leaves them little recuperation time. Aside from junior Kemba Walker, Connecticut is a young team that starts 3 freshman and 1 sophomore so they also have the inexperience factor working against them in this game. This is not an easy spot for Connecticut, especially when we look at their opponent.

Bucknell fits the profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in the NCAA tournament. The Bison play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Bucknell has held 27 of their 33 opponents this year to less than 70 points, and that fact alone makes them a dangerous underdog in this pointspread range. The Bison also hit their free-throws down; they connect on 78.6% from the line.

That

Princeton has the exact profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Princeton has held 25 of their 31 opponents this year to less than 70 points, and that fact alone makes them a dangerous underdog in this pointspread range. The Tigers also knock their free-throws down; they hit 73.4% from the line. Princeton

Montana has the exact profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in tournament games. The Grizzlies play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Montana has held 24 of their 31 opponents this season to less than 70 points, and only 1 opponent scored more than 70 points on their home floor. And Montana

One of these teams belongs here, while the other team does not. Nebraska comes into tonight

There

Dayton is the higher seed in the NIT tournament at # 3, but this game will played at # 6 Charleston because the NCAA tournament games will be played on Dayton

This wasn

The Big East championship game figures to be an excellent display of basketball just like all of the other games have been in this tournament. Connecticut and Louisville have both been ultra impressive in their games, and both teams will once again put on a good show tonight. However, we see some significant edges for Louisville in this game, and we certainly expect the Cardinals to get the job done tonight in Madison Square Garden.

Connecticut will be playing their fifth game in as many nights, and since they also went to overtime in their game against Syracuse on Friday, the Huskies are at a big disadvantage. Louisville will be playing just their third game in as many nights, and this is the type of situation in which their double bye for this tournament becomes such a key factor. The Cardinals also played into overtime last night, but again, they still should have fresher legs than Connecticut. Louisville also matches-up well with the Huskies which gives them another major factor for this game that should propel them to victory.

In the two regular season meetings, Louisville won both games. The Cardinals

This will be the third meeting between San Antonio and Houston this season. The Spurs won the first two games on their home court, but both of those games were close as San Antonio won by 3 points in overtime and won the other by a misleading 13 points. The Spurs held just a 5-point, fourth quarter lead in the second game before stretching out their lead late. Houston has proven twice that they can be competitive with the Spurs, and we expect it once again tonight, especially with this game coming on their home floor.

San Antonio beat the Kings last night at home 108-103. That was a fast-paced game, and since the Sours have to play at Houston tonight on a back-to-back set, they are not in a good situational spot. The Spurs also have much bigger games on their horizon as they travel to play at Miami and at Dallas after tonight

Detroit has had a wild up and down season. The Pistons have gone through some extreme rough patches all year, and they hit rock bottom when half of their team decided to skip a practice in protest. Those players were disciplined, and that episode is in the rear view mirror according to the players and coaches. In a weird way, that revolt actually ignited Detroit

Oklahoma pulled off a big upset last night when they knocked off Baylor. The Sonners

South Florida played their game of the season last night against Villanova. The Bulls trailed by 16 points (49-33) at the half, and the end of their season was just 20 minutes away. However, South Florida somehow made a miraculous comeback and beat Villanova 70-69 after out-scoring the Wildcats by 17 points (37-20) in the second half. That win was improbable, and since South Florida used up a ton of energy to win that game, we expect the Bulls to be completely out of gas for tonight

These two teams will get the CUSA tournament underway in El Paso this afternoon. Central Florida is the #9 seed and they are favored over lower seeded #8 East Carolina. And despite this game being played on a neutral court, the Knights own a huge site edge over the Pirates. Central Florida is in El Paso for the third time in six weeks. The Knights had to travel there twice this season after one of their scheduled games with UTEP was postponed due to weather and power issues. And when they did play that game against UTEP, the Knights had one of their best offensive games of the season in a solid win.

Central Florida is staying in the same hotel and playing on the same floor where they

These two teams appear to be heading in opposite directions. The Lakers have won all 7 of their games since the All-Star break; they

One of the biggest rivalries in college basketball takes on even more meaning tonight as the winner of this game will win the ACC regular season title. The game figures to be a dandy, just as the first meeting was in Durham. The Blue Devils were able to win that game 79-73, but they needed a huge second half to get it. North Carolina controlled the first half as they took a commanding 14-point lead (43-29) into halftime. But Duke owned the second half by out-scoring the Tar Heels 50-30 on their way to a 6-point win. Tonight is the rematch, and after the way North Carolina blew that first game, they

These are two of the worst teams in the NBA; Minnesota is 15-48 on the season while Washington checks in at 15-45. It sure is one ugly game on the surface. However, there are a couple of powerful situations that greatly favor the Wizards in this spot tonight. There

These two teams come into their regular season finale much differently. Purdue is playing some of the best basketball in the country; the Boilermakers are 25-5 on the season and they are on a 7-game winning streak. Iowa comes into this game at 10-19 and on a 6-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes have just 3 wins over their last 17 ballgames. On paper, this game is a certified mis-match in favor of Purdue. And unless Iowa plays way above their capabilities and Purdue pulls a no-show, this game shouldn

If Notre Dame wins this game, the Irish will have a shot at sharing the Big East regular season title. They also need Pittsburgh to lose to Villanova, but that is unlikely to happen considering how much Nova has regressed in recent weeks. And since Notre Dame just beat Nova by 21 points on Monday night, they also realize that their chance for a league title is extremely slim. Notre Dame will obviously still come to play in this game, but they are in a very difficult situation in which it

Miami suffered a monumental collapse last night at home against the Orlando Magic. The Heat blew a 24-point lead in the third quarter after getting out-scored by 21 points (54-33) in the second half. Many may think Miami will bounce back strong tonight off that embarrassing result, but that is a lot easier said than done. The Heat will most likely suffer a hangover effect here which will obviously not be a good thing since they are taking on a San Antonio team that is 50-11 on the season including an incredible 28-2 on their home floor.

San Antonio is without Tony Parker, but Miami

Washington

There

These two teams just met on Sunday night in San Antonio with the Spurs winning 95-88. That game was a lot closer than the 7-point winning margin indicates as Memphis actually held an 85-84 lead with 1:34 left in the game before San Antonio closed the game on an 11-3 run to win. The Spurs and Grizzlies went back and forth in that game as there were a total of 10 lead changes and 7 ties throughout the game. Memphis put-up an incredible effort despite missing 15 of their first 18 shots which had them trailing by 20 points (41-21) in the second quarter. The Grizzlies also had 14 less free throw attempts (33-19) and made 4 less three

This is a huge game in the SEC as the winner will own at least a share of the regular season title. Alabama and Florida both own outstanding defenses, and this game figures to be a low-scoring, defensive struggle for the full 40 minutes. There

When Boston made their big trade on Thursday afternoon, the team went through some emotional times. Kendrick Perkins was an integral part of the Celtics

When you look at this game from a simple current form perspective, there appears to be a clear-cut choice in Notre Dame. The Irish have won 9 of their last 10 games, and they are also a perfect 16-0 on their home court this season. Villanova is off back-to-back home losses, and the Wildcats have also lost 4 of their last 6 games. However, when you dig a bit deeper into this game and match-up, there