Denver and Oklahoma City come into the playoffs playing some terrific basketball. Since March 1st, the Nuggets are 15-6 while the Thunder have gone 19-5. Both offenses are also playing superb basketball; Denver has averaged 112 points per game on 49.1% shooting over their last five games while Oklahoma City has also averaged 112 points per game on 49.5% shooting over the same stretch. The teams are also quite familiar with each other as this will be their third game since the beginning of April, and we expect the Nuggets to play a different style here since they lost the other two games because their offense struggled.

Head coach George Karl publicly stated a few weeks ago that he

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

The head-to-head meetings between Portland and Dallas were high scoring this year, but those results were misleading. We can eliminate the first two games because the Mavericks didn

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

Late season NBA handicapping can be challenging, especially when two playoff-bound teams play. It

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 just met in Los Angeles on Saturday night; the Clippers beat the Thunder 98-92 after overcoming a 16-point deficit. Both teams came into that game on a back-to-back set, and the low score and shooting percentages showed that the Clippers and Thunder were fatigued. And both teams once again come into tonight

These two teams come into tonight

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

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

Cleveland is off a huge home win last night over the Miami Heat. The Cavs beat LeBron and company 102-90, and off such a big performance in a special game, Cleveland will regress a ton in this game tonight. The 102 points they scored was the first time they cracked the century mark in their past 12 games, and just the second time they scored more than 100 points in the month of March. We do not anticipate the Cavs to put back-to-back big offensive games together, especially after the way they shot the ball last night.

The Cavaliers shot an incredible 55.6% (35-63) from the field and 52.9% (9-17) from three-point land. They also got to the free throw line 35 times in the game which shows how aggressive they played. But we doubt they will be able to match that intensity, and it

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

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

There

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

Sacramento obviously has nothing to play for as they come into tonight

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

Philadelphia has played a ton of games recently; this will be their finale of a 5-game Western swing and it will be their fifth game in eight nights. They are also playing this game on back-to-back set after playing and winning in Sacramento last night by 22 points (102-80). The Sixers are quite fatigued so we do not expect Philadelphia to push the pace tonight. Head coach Doug Collins knows his team is tired so he will not play Andre Iguodala tonight and he has also given Elton Brand the choice to sit out as well. This game means little to the Sixers in the big playoff picture, so this is basically a

Chicago played in New Jersey last night and they beat the Nets 84-73. That game was played at an extremely slow pace, and we expect more of the same tonight in Indiana. Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau had two distinct patterns when he was Boston

Dallas played in a wild game last night in Portland. The Mavericks lost 104-101 after shooting an incredible 59.7% (40-67) from the field. The pace of the game wasn

This game features a pair of teams that are struggling right now. Philadelphia comes in off a 28-point blowout loss at Milwaukee on Saturday night. That was their second loss in three games, and it appears that their demanding schedule is catching up to them. Utah is off back-to-back road losses, and the Jazz have lost 11 of their last 14 games because they simply haven

These two teams just met last Sunday night; the Celtics won 89-83. The scoring really slowed down after a 53-point first quarter, but there was missing offensive pieces in that game, especially for Milwaukee. The Bucks played without Andrew Bogut and Earl Boykins, and those two guys are an integral part of Milwaukee

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

Dallas is in an awkward position tonight. The Mavericks will be playing their third game in four nights tonight, and then they return home for a game with the Knicks tomorrow night. That will be their fourth game in five nights so the tricky part for them is how to approach tonight

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

Both of these teams are going through some rough times right now. The Clippers suffered through a 2-12 stretch before snapping out their funk by winning their last two games. The Bobcats are on a 4-game losing streak after playing terrible basketball on their recent road trip against some good teams like the Magic, Nuggets, Lakers, and Blazers. There are reasons why both teams are playing so poorly, and those reasons will certainly have an impact on the way tonight

Boston

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

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

Golden St snapped their 4-game losing streak with a 106-102 win at Washington on Wednesday night. That was their third consecutive game in which they scored 100 points or more after suffering through two bad offensive games prior (93 and 79 points scored). The Warriors should once again be good on offense tonight in Boston because the Celtics will be more than willing to play at Golden St

Since Denver

Phoenix and Boston both made recent trades to upgrade their offense. The Suns acquired Aaron Brooks from the Rockets in order to bolster their second-unit. Brooks is a speedy point guard that certainly fits into what the Suns want to do on offense. His addition has given the Suns a major offensive boost while the starters are getting a rest; the second-unit has scored 50 points or more in three of their last four games. Overall, Phoenix has scored 104 points or more in all four games since the All-Star break.

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

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

Sacramento is a mess of a team right now. The Kings are battling injuries, locker room dissention, and fatigue. All three of those issues were evident last night in their 12-point loss (110-98) at Charlotte, a team that only had 8 available players. Sacramento once again played without Tyreke Evans last night as he is dealing with Plantar Fasciitis. He is their go-to scorer, and without him on the court, the Kings really struggle. They shot just 43.4% (36-83) from the field, and against a Memphis defense that has held 36 opponents to less than 100 points this season, the Kings will struggle once again tonight.

The Kings

Denver has played well since they traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks. The Nuggets are 2-0 with wins over the Grizzlies and Celtics. But there are a couple of caveats to those wins. Denver played their first post-All-Star game with 6 days of rest and they also prepared for that game knowing that Anthony would be gone. That was a game for them to prove that they

New Orleans comes in off a win over the Los Angeles Clippers; it was just the Hornets

Both teams limped into the All-Star break; Atlanta lost three of their final four games and Phoenix lost two of their final three games. The Hawks got back into action last night in Los Angeles against the Lakers, but they failed to show-up in a 104-80 loss. The Suns had an extra day of rest to get ready for tonight

Minnesota slumbered through another dreadful first half as the Timberwolves sit at 13-34 coming into tonight

The oddsmakers incorrectly priced this game as they opened it at a Pick. But sharp money has come in on the East and we certainly agree with that move. The Eastern Conference has the better overall teams in the NBA this season, and they certainly have a better roster than the Western Conference in this game.

The East has a formidable starting five with familiarity as the Miami Heat is represented by LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. The East also has a powerful second unit that knows each other real well since there are four Celtics on the roaster including Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo. Their second unit also features another player from the Heat, Chris Bosh, and two guys from the Hawks in Joe Johnson and Al Horford. Not only that, but the East will also be coached by Boston

Dallas came through for us last night in their 16-point home win over the beat-up and tired Sacramento Kings. The Mavericks

Sacramento is a team that cannot wait for the All-Star break to begin. The Kings are battling injuries, locker room dissention, and fatigue. All three of those issues were evident last night in their 30-point loss (126-96) at Oklahoma City. Sacramento played without Tyreke Evans last night as he is dealing with Plantar Fasciitis, and he

Indiana played a terrific home game last night against Miami as they took the Heat to the wire in a 110-103 loss. That was the second time the Pacers just missed beating the Heat; they lost 117-112 in Miami last week. But Indiana

Atlanta comes into this game off back-to-back embarrassing home losses to the Sixers and Bobcats. Philadelphia best the Hawks by 34 points (117-83) while Charlotte hit a buzzer-beater to steal an 88-86 win. Atlanta blew a big 22-point lead in that game after they got out-scored 49-34 in the second half. Going on the road is the best thing for the Hawks right now, and since they are 16-11 in road games this season, we expect a focused effort tonight in Detroit.

The Hawks and Pistons have split the season series so far with both teams winning on their home court. Atlanta

Dallas is in a very difficult scheduling spot tonight. The Mavericks are playing on the road for the sixth time over their last seven games. They are also playing their third game in four nights and their fourth game in six nights. Their road trip stretched from coast to coast as they played a 3-game set in New York, Boston, and Charlotte then a back-to-back set at Sacramento and Denver. And they also made a pit stop at home in between to play a game against the Cavaliers. It was a weird trip and it has taken its toll on Dallas.

The Mavericks won five of those six games, but their play hasn

Los Angeles is in a terrible scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Lakers played in Boston last night in a spotlight game, and now they have to travel and play without rest in another primetime spotlight game in New York. The Lakers are also in a flat spot off their big win over the Celtics last night as that was the one game in which they wanted to win badly after getting embarrassed on their home court by Boston ten days before. Los Angeles got the big win they wanted so we expect them to be a tad short for tonight

San Antonio

Los Angeles and Boston just met about 10 days ago and that game ended with a 109-96 Boston win. That was a much higher scoring game than these two teams normally play, and we expect a return to the norm tonight. Boston shot a whopping 60.3% (44-73) from the filed and they also connected on 52.9% (9-17) from three-point land. Los Angeles shot 44.4% (36-81) from the field and they also made four of their nine three

Charlotte and Indiana have one thing in common; both teams fired their head coach recently and their play improved instantly on the basketball court. The Bobcats are further along as Paul Silas has overseen 23 games already with Charlotte going 13-10 in those games. Indiana

Utah has returned to their normal style of play over their last two games. The Jazz played in two high-scoring games after they scored 113 and 105 points in those games; they scored 96 points or less in 7 of their previous 9 games prior to those back-to-back offensive outputs. Utah

Orlando and Boston just met three weeks ago and that game ended with a 109-106 Boston win. That was a much higher scoring game than these two teams normally play, and we expect a return to the norm this afternoon. Orlando shot 45.9% (34-74) from the field and they also made 11 three

Both teams come in off terrible offensive performances, but we expect much better production tonight from New Jersey and Detroit. The Nets scored just 92 points in their last game after they shot just 30% from three-point land. That bad offensive output by the Nets was somewhat expected since they scored 115 points after shooting 53.2% (42-79) from the field and 60% (9-15) from three-point land in their previous game. Detroit is also off a bad offensive game as they scored just 87 points after shooting just 43.6% from the field and 36.8% from three-point land. That regression was also expected since the Pistons scored 106 points after shooting 50.6% (40-79) from the field and 54.5% (12-22) from three-point land in their previous game.

The Nets and Pistons both figure to bounce back strong with better offensive performances tonight. New Jersey head coach Avery Johnson wasn

We played against the Spurs on Tuesday night in their 99-86 loss at Portland. San Antonio was in a terrible scheduling spot for that game since it was their first road game of their annual

Boston comes into this game off their biggest win of the season. The Celtics beat the Lakers on Sunday afternoon; a game in which the Celtics were waiting for since losing Game 7 of the NBA Finals last season. Boston played their best game of the season in that 109-96 thumping of Los Angeles. The Celtics shot an incredible 60.3% (44-73) from the field and 52.9% (9-17) from three-point land. Six players scored in double digits, and head coach Doc Rivers said point guard Rajon Rondo

San Antonio has the best record in the NBA at 40-7. The Spurs have won 11 of their last 12 games, and they are also an impressive 15-5 on the road this season. So how can we possibly go against the red-hot Spurs? When we dissect their recent run a bit further, it shows us that San Antonio hasn

Orlando has not been a consistent team over the last week. The Magic have alternated wins and losses in their last four games as either their offense or their defense has been bad in one of the games. They can

This will be the first game between the Celtics and Lakers since they went 7 games in the NBA Finals last season. Los Angeles won that deciding game after Boston blew a 13-point lead. But a major reason for that came when the Celtics

Atlanta is in a tough scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Hawks just played in a fast and furious game at home last night against the Knicks and they hung on for a 111-102 win. Atlanta was up by 17 points at the half, but they got out-scored by 8 points in the second half and survived to get the win. The Hawks caught the Knicks at the perfect time as they were just off their big spotlight win over the Heat on Thursday night, and since the Knicks had to make a comeback in that game, they were playing on tired legs.

The Hawks are now the team in the bad scheduling spot as they will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back set. Atlanta had a good shooting game last night as they hit 51.2% (42-82) from the field and 36.8% (7-19) from three-point land. They also connected on 87% (20-23) of their free throws. But those numbers came against a Knicks team that plays little defense, and that certainly is not the case with Dallas.

The Mavericks are playing much better basketball now that they have the majority of their players back from injury. They

Boston began their toughest road trip of the season last night in Portland. The Celtics are only playing a 4-game trip through the West, but what makes it so difficult is the travel and how the games fall on the schedule. Last night was a late spotlight game on TNT in which the Celtics won 88-78 over the Blazers. That was an extremely physical game and also a bit chippy between the two teams. And off that win, the Celtics will now play on a back-to-back set in Phoenix at a huge disadvantage.

The Celtics tried to challenge tonight

Miami

Los Angeles has been two different teams this season. The Clippers have played some good basketball on their home court where they are 14-13 with some big wins over the elite teams in the NBA. But on the road, the Clippers have been terrible as they are just 3-13 away from home with 10 of their 13 losses coming by more than tonight

San Antonio comes into tonight

Los Angeles comes in off a bad loss at Dallas on Wednesday night. The Lakers lost that game 109-100 after getting out-scored 30-17 in the third quarter. Off that loss, we expect the Lakers to bounce back strong tonight in Denver, especially since they blew their last game against the Nuggets. Back in early November, the Lakers took an 8-point lead into the fourth quarter in Denver, but the Nuggets out-scored them by 14 points (33-19) over the final 12 minutes of the game to hand them a loss. And since they come off a similar game in which they lost a fourth quarter lead, the Lakers will be extremely focused for this game.

The Lakers can also put all they have into this game since they do not play another game until next Tuesday. They also do not want to head into three days of practice off back-to-back losses so tonight

Dallas snapped their 6-game losing streak last night after beating the Lakers 109-100. But off that big spotlight win, the Mavericks find themselves in a terrible scheduling spot for tonight. Last night

New York was one of the hottest teams in the NBA from mid November through early December when they ran off eight consecutive wins and also won 13 of 14 over that particular stretch. But since that impressive run, the Knicks have played mediocre basketball at best as they

Washington has won their last two games; they beat Toronto 98-95 and Utah 108-101. But don

Utah comes into tonight

Oklahoma City is one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. The Thunder have won and covered four straight games, and we don

Orlando and Boston both come into tonight

Los Angeles comes into tonight

Both teams played last night so we can expect tonight

Los Angeles comes into tonight

Since Charlotte changed coaches, the Bobcats have gone 4-2. This team is playing with much more passion and desire under Paul Silas, and the whole team comes into each game with a winning attitude. They are playing at a much faster pace under Silas, and the players really like their new style of play. Charlotte has scored 101 points or more in four of the six games under Silas, and their scoring should continue tonight against a weak Memphis defense that allows 100 points per game on 44.9% shooting on the road this season.

Tonight is also a big revenge game for Charlotte after they were embarrassed in Memphis three weeks ago. The Bobcats lost that game by a whopping 33 points (113-80), and they

Minnesota was feeling really good about their potential going forward heading into their last game against the Bobcats. And the Timberwolves were headed towards a nice win as they held an 8-point lead over Charlotte with just 2 minutes left to play in the game. However, they were forced into overtime and ultimately lost that game by 3 points (108-105). But instead of sulking about it, Minnesota got right back at it in practice and had a spirited team meeting in which head coach Kurt Rambis built his team up by telling them it

Charlotte

Many may knee-jerk to the Spurs in this game, but we think that may be a big mistake. San Antonio comes into this game as winners of 12 of their last 13 games, and they are facing a Dallas team without their best player, Dirk Nowitzki. The Spurs are also looking for revenge after the Mavericks beat them in San Antonio 103-94 last month. When you combine those factors, the Spurs appear to be the logical choice, but we

We played the Over in Charlotte

Toronto is not playing with their full compliment of players right now. The Raptors are without their best player, Andrea Bargnani, and Sonny Weems also missed last night

Charlotte fired their head coach Larry Brown after the Bobcats opened the season at 9-19. Replacing Brown is former player and coach Paul Silas, and he has made no secrets that he wants Charlotte to play a totally different style of basketball going forward. Under Brown, the Bobcats were a team predicated on their defense and a team that wanted to slow the pace and play a half-court game, but all that is about to change under Silas.

The Bobcats will now look to push the pace on offense as Silas wants to play a fast tempo game. In his opening press conference, Silas clearly stated that the Bobcats needed to change their stagnant offensive ways.

New Jersey comes into tonight

Dallas came through with an outright win for us last night in Miami, and we

Dallas has been one of the most consistent teams in the league so far this season. The Mavericks are 21-5 including an impressive 8-1 on the road. A key to their success this season has been a phenomenal defense that is allowing only 93 points per game on 43.5% shooting. The Mavericks have held 20 of their 26 opponents to less than 100 points which shows just how good their defense has played this year.

If Dallas

Milwaukee is on our play-on list right now, and tonight looks like another good spot to back the Bucks. This team just beat Dallas and came up 2 points shy at San Antonio, and there

Utah has alternated wins and losses over their last six games. The Jazz won their last game, a 108-95 home blowout over Golden St. The Jazz covered that game, but it was just their second pointspread win in their last six games after covering their previous 7 games in a row. Tonight

When these two teams met last month, the Jazz won 105-87. That game had 192 points scored despite the Hornets only shooting 42% (29-69) from the field and 21.1% (4-19) from three-point land. But New Orleans got to the free throw line 32 times in that game which shows that they were aggressive on the offensive end of the court. They missed 7 shots from the line as well so they actually could

These two teams met three weeks ago, and the Celtics won 99-76. The teams only scored a total of 175 points in that game and we expect a similar type of game tonight, especially the way the Hawks and Celtics come into this game. Atlanta lost their last game by 23 points which means they

Milwaukee came through for us on Monday night as they went into Dallas and snapped the Mavericks 12-game winning streak. The Bucks won that game outright 103-99, and there

Atlanta has been a fortunate team ever since their top player, Joe Johnson, left the lineup. Johnson will miss a few months after elbow surgery, and since he leads the Hawks in scoring (17.1 points), assists (5.2), and minutes (35.5), Atlanta really figured to struggle going forward. And not only on the offensive end of the floor, but also the defensive end because Johnson is the leading rebounder among the team's guards (4.1). Johnson is also versatile on defense as he defends point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards.

The Hawks are 5-2 without Johnson on the court, but they