The teams just met Wednesday in LA. The Kings won, 124-115. That put their record at 3-3 under interim coach Alvin Gentry, who replaced overmatched Luke Walton. The Kings are a better team under Gentry. They also have been idle since that Wednesday victory.

The Clippers, however, will be playing for the sixth time in nine days. They are off a highly-satisfying, 119-115, tough win against the Lakers last night. 
Paul George rolled his ankle against the Lakers. So he may be out. He's LA's best player with Kawhi Leonard sidelined. The Clippers haven't been consistent all season adjusting to life without Leonard. 

The rested Kings could get back Harrison Barnes, who is having a career year averaging 19 points and 7.2 rebounds. 

This game sets up well for Sacramento with the situational aspects outweighing the Clippers' revenge spot. 

I don't think the oddsmaker quite realizes what an intense in-state rivalry this matchup is because this total is much higher than what I believe it should be.

Wisconsin has a long tradition of being a great defensive team. That's true again so far this season. The Badgers rank 11th defensively holding opponents to 56.7 points a game.

Shaka Smart is off to a great start in his first season as coach of Marquette. The Golden Eagles are 7-1. They've held their past two foes to an average of 60 points. The Badgers don't figure to score much from beyond the arc ranking 283rd in 3-point shooting at 30.1 percent. Marquette has struggled, too, with its long-range shooting ranking 218th in 3-point shooting.

These teams are going to have to work hard to get clean shots. I made this total 10 points lower than what the oddsmaker did. So I'm on the Under.

Both teams have started the season slow. But I liked what I saw from the Lakers during the second half of their 117-92 win against the Kings this past Tuesday night. LA won that game without LeBron James, who is expected to play here. The Lakers are showing signs of getting better going 3-1 in their last four games. Their bench looked good against the Kings.

I'm not seeing this type of improvement from the Clippers. They are 2-6 in their last eight games, including losing their last three. The Clippers have dropped down in class without injured Kawhi Leonard. The Lakers have a huge superstar edge now on the Clippers with James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.

Rutgers has never won during its five all-time road games against Illinois. Don't expect that string to be broken here.

Illinois has won nine straight home contests, including going 4-0 this season. All of the Illini's home wins have come by at least nine points, including an impressive 10-point victory against Notre Dame in their last game this past Monday.

The Illini showed a lot of team cohesion in that victory. I don't believe Rutgers can stay within single digits of Illinois. The Scarlet Knights have a tough matchup dealing with Illini center Kofi Cockburn, who is in the argument for best player in the nation.

Phoenix is having a great year. But this is a flat spot for the Suns sandwiched around games against Golden State. The Suns returned home from a four-game road trip and defeated the Warriors this past Tuesday.

Following this game, the Suns travel to Golden State for a rematch against the Warriors on Friday. That's the game they are pointing to.

The Suns won't have their leading scorer, Devin Booker. He suffered a hamstring injury and will be out several games.

The Pistons have lost seven in a row. They are a young team and they play hard. Detroit has covered four of its last six. The Pistons often are undervalued. That's the case here given that the Suns will be minus Booker and are in a letdown/lookahead spot.

A battle of two mediocre Big Sky Conference teams isn't going to excite too many people. I rate Idaho State the better team plus the Bengals are home. So I find value in backing Idaho State at this short number. That makes this game worthwhile, at least, for me. 

Idaho State was picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky. Portland State was chosen to finish seven in conference by the coaches and eighth by the media. This helps reinforce my belief that Idaho State is the superior team. 

The Bengals went 8-6 in the Big Sky last season. Portland State went 6-8. Idaho State won the lone matchup last season beating the Vikings, 64-57, on the road. 
The Vikings are in transition with a new coach, Jase Coburn, and only one returning starter from last season. The Vikings are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country ranking 356h. 

Miami ranks 340th in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage at 27.1 percent. The Hurricanes are going to have problems going against Penn State's physical defense especially if they can't hit from long range to loosen that pressure.

Penn State doesn't score that much - ranking 250th - because the Nittany Lions like to milk the clock. That's been a noticeable trademark of new coach Micah Shrewsberry. Only six teams play at a slower tempo than Penn State.

The Nittany Lions held LSU to 58 points in regulation during their last game. That was 23 points under the Tigers' season scoring average.

Look for the Mavericks to bounce back against the Pelicans, a team they beat at home, 108-92, as 9-point favorites on Nov. 8. That was the sixth time in the last eight meetings Dallas has covered against New Orleans. 

The Mavericks are 1-5, though, in their last six games and off a 114-96 home loss to the Cavaliers two nights ago. The Cavaliers are improved and Dallas had open looks in that game. The Mavericks just couldn't hit their shots.

The Pelicans rank 26th in defensive field goal percentage and 27th in 3-point defense. I see the Mavericks hitting their shots in this one. They catch the Pelicans returning home following a successful 2-1 West Coast trip. Both of those wins were against the Clippers. The Pelicans seem to have the Clippers' number.

But this isn't a good spot for New Orleans. The Pelicans last were home on Nov. 24. So their focus could be off. They remain without Zion Williamson. 

Mississippi should be able to take advantage of a bad Rider defense to post a big point total here. If you discount a 50-point performance against Boise State, the Rebels are averaging 78.8 points in their other five games. 

Rider ranks 235th in scoring defense and 239th in 3-point defense. The Broncs also are a very poor defensive rebounding team. 

The Broncs are a better offensive team than they showed, though, in their last game a 65-58 road loss to South Carolina. The Broncos made just 36.8 percent of their field goals in that game. They have three returning starters and four Division I transfers and are expected to contend in the MAAC.  

Davidson is a big scoring team. But I'm not sold that the Wildcats should be road favorites here against an in-state rival that has the capability to frustrate them.

This is Davidson's first true road game. The Wildcats win with offense. Their defense isn't that good. Charlotte plays at a slow pace and doesn't commit many turnovers. That's going to limit Davidson's opportunities.

I'm surprised at this low point spread. Detroit is 0-5 and one of the worst defensive teams in the country. Northeastern gives up 19 fewer points per game than Detroit.

The Huskies are 3-4. This is only their second home game of the season. Detroit is their easiest opponent so far.

The Titans lost, 98-84, to Hofstra in their last game this past Saturday. The Titans shot 51 percent from the floor and still lost by 14! That tells you how bad Detroit is.

I would feel confident laying double-digits with Northeastern against this foe. So this is a bargain price.

The Clippers have short revenge for a 94-81 road loss suffered to the Pelicans 10 days ago. The Clippers also have motivation after playing poorly on Sunday at home in a 105-90 home loss to the Warriors.

LA is usually very good in these bounce back situations. The Clippers played during the day on Sunday so there is less of a fatigue factor. They step down in class drawing the Pelicans. New Orleans still won't have Zion Williamson and holds a worse fatigue factor in action for the fourth time in six days.

New Orleans is 1-8 ATS in its last nine road contests.

The Clippers are 17-6 ATS the past 23 times following a loss of more than 10 points.

LA has the long range shooters to take advantage of the Pelicans' 27th-ranked 3-point defense. The Clippers also won't be seeing the nightmare of Stephen Curry hitting from all over the court. New Orleans ranks 27th in scoring.

I didn't see enough out of Notre Dame in the Maui Invitational, which was held in Las Vegas this year, to believe the Irish can keep within this point spread at Illinois.

The Irish went 1-2 in the tournament beating Chaminade, but losing to St. Mary's and Texas A&M. Notre Dame had trouble with the Aggies' full court pressure in the second half. The Irish have only broken the 70-point barrier once in five games this season.

Illinois is getting outstanding play from its superstar 7-foot center Kofi Cockburn and from Alfonso Plummer. They'll be too much for Notre Dame.

Expect a lot of intensity in this one. It was just a week ago that Isaiah Stewart took after LeBron James after James struck Stewart in the face with a blow that was or was not accidental. It caused a fracas and resulted in short suspensions for both players.

The Lakers won that game, 121-116, in Detroit. The Lakers shot 49 percent from the floor, well above their season 44 percent mark. The Pistons hit 44 percent of their field goals while their season shooting percentage is 40.5 percent. There were a combined 48 free throws taken.

I don't expect the teams to shoot nearly that well. Since that loss to the Lakers, the Pistons have averaged 93.6 points in their last three games. Detroit ranks last in many of the major offensive categories, including scoring, field goal percentage and 3-point shooting percentage.

The Lakers aren't going to lack motivation after blowing a 13-point fourth quarter lead on Friday in a 141-137 triple overtime loss to the Kings. LA is feeling embarrassed about a 10-11 record.

The Pistons know they don't have the scorers to keep up with the Lakers so expect a slow tempo, methodical game from them.

This game is part of the Wooden Legacy Tournament being played in the Anaheim Convention Center, which is notorious for its difficult shooting background. There isn't much crowd support either. 

I went Under on both of the Thursday games and each did go Under. I'm going to follow through with another Under here. St. Joe's went Under by 25 points against USC last night. 

St. Joe's and Georgetown are East Coast teams, too, playing in a weird time zone for them at a very late hour. 

Scheduling dynamics heavily factor into this one. Both teams are hot. Minnesota is on a five-game win streak, its longest in four years. Charlotte is 7-1 in its last eight games. 

This is the Hornets' lone home matchup during an eight-game span. Charlotte just concluded three road games. The Hornets go back on the road for four more away games following this matchup. So the urgency definitely is with Charlotte.

The Hornets are 6-2 SU and ATS at home this season, winning and covering their past four. The two home losses occurred to the Celtics in overtime a month ago and to the Cavaliers by three points on Nov. 1. Charlotte had just upset Portland the day before playing the Cavaliers. The Hornets are not in a letdown spot here. 

Charlotte has been strong as a favorite covering 15 of the last 22 in that role. 

The Timberwolves are 1-4 ATS during their past five games against Charlotte. 

This is my NBA Game of the Month.

Being a small market team on the West Coast isn't great for attracting national attention. Maybe that's why Chris Paul and his Suns teammates play well in their annual visit to Madison Square Garden.

The Suns have beaten the Knicks in New York three straight times with their winning margin being by an average of 16.3 points. Going back to their last 11 times visiting the media center of the U.S., the Suns are 9-2 ATS.

Phoenix is red-hot, winners of 14 in a row. The Suns are doing it with a total team effort. They have one of the deepest rosters in the league. Paul is healthy and putting up excellent numbers. Devin Booker is hot. Deandre Ayton is pulling down double-digit rebounds. When all this is happening, the Suns can take their place among the best teams in the NBA.

The Knicks are struggling to achieve consistency. They are 3-4 in their last seven games. New York defeated the Lakers, 106-100, this past Tuesday. The Lakers were missing LeBron James. New York is 0-6 ATS the last six times following a victory.

These two teams just met two days ago and the Clippers won, 97-91, for a combined 188 points. The total on that game was 208 1/2. Now it's slightly higher. I don't understand why?

There's talk Luka Doncic could play after missing the last three games. However, Doncic aggravated his knee/ankle injuries during Monday's practice. So he's a long shot to play. Even if Doncic were to play, which I highly doubt, he figures to be rusty.

The Clippers give up the fourth-fewest points and rank No. 2 in defensive efficiency allowing 99.8 points per 100 possessions.

Dallas is an above average defensive team with a strong tendency to go Under. The Under has cashed in 68 percent of the Mavericks' last 20 games.

The Clippers are still trying to figure things out offensively minus Kawhi Leonard. LA is averaging fewer than 97 points in its past five games.

Oregon lost some of its major talent from last season's team that won the Pac-12 title and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. But the Ducks don't rebuild under Dana Altman. They reload. That's the case again this season. The Ducks look strong again thanks to recruiting and transfers to go with their existing talent. 
I have the Ducks power-rated much higher against Saint Mary's than the oddsmaker does. 

The situation here is good, too, for the Ducks. They had an easy win yesterday beating Chaminade, 73-49, while Saint Mary's had a close one with Notre Dame pulling out a 62-59 win. That was the Gaels' first real nonconference test. 

Oregon has something to prove after a loss to BYU last week. This is the Ducks' chance. Each team shares a common opponent, Texas Southern. St. Mary's beat the Tigers by nine points while Oregon defeated Texas Southern by 17 points. 

The rebuilding Pistons aren't going to win many games this season. They had a great opportunity to beat the Lakers at home this past Sunday, but blew a 17-point lead to drop to 4-12.

But that wasn't the major takeaway.

Detroit's second-year center Isaiah Stewart tried to attack LeBron James after James caused Stewart to suffer a facial cut that required eight stitches. The benches cleared and Stewart had to be held back numerous times attempting to fight James.

It was an emotional game for the Pistons. I doubt they can bounce back and keep this one close against a much superior and what should be motivated Heat squad. Stewart drew a two-game suspension for his actions. The Pistons also are short-handed in the backcourt with Killian Hayes out another two games due to a thumb injury.

There's a fatigue factor working against Detroit, too. This marks the Pistons' seventh game in 12 days.

The Heat opened their four-game road trip in bad fashion losing to the Wizards, 103-100, this past Saturday. Miami blew a 10-point lead during the final five minutes. The loss halted a four-game Miami win streak.

So the Heat shouldn't lack incentive. They are 8-2 ATS the past 10 times when facing an opponent with a winning percentage below .400. The Pistons are 2-10 ATS the last 12 times they've met an above .500 foe.

Miami's previous three victories have been by 15, 15 and 13 points.

The Grizzlies certainly aren't going to lack motivation for this matchup. Not only are the Grizzlies off a highly-embarrassing,138-95, road loss to the Timberwolves two days ago that Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins called unacceptable, but they have playoff revenge. Utah eliminated Memphis in five games during the first round of the playoffs last season.

Historically the Grizzlies have been strong in this type of situation going 19-7 ATS (73 percent) following a loss of more than 10 points.

The Jazz, on the other hand, are fat and happy with three straight wins and covers. Those victories came against the banged-up 76ers, who were missing Joel Embiid, the Raptors, who were minus their leading scorer, OG Anunoby, and the Kings in their final game before they fired Luke Walton.

Before losing to the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies had rolled past the Rockets by 34 points and defeated the Clippers by 12 points. Look for the Grizzlies to get back on track with a competitive performance here.

The Pacers are in stop-the-pain mode, losers of three in a row. They draw the 3-14 Pelicans at home.

New Orleans is off a rare win, defeating the visiting Clippers, 94-81, last night. The Pelicans aren't good and they are in a letdown situation. New Orleans won't be respectable until Zion Williamson returns. Of their last eight losses, seven have been by eight or more points.

The Pacers nearly pulled out a road win against Charlotte last night after trailing by 25 points in the third quarter, but fell three points short. Indiana received a season-high 78 points from its bench.

None of the Pacers logged more than 23 minutes last night, while three Pelicans played major minutes against the Clippers. Indiana holds a huge talent edge with Malcolm Brodgon, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner and Caris LeVert. The Pacers' starters will be highly motivated to play well after their poor performance last night.

Short price here to back the Hornets, who have won four in a row and been playing better defense. 

Charlotte is mixing in more zone defense than before. The result is the Hornets have held their last four foes to an average of 98.2 points. 

Consequently, Indiana is enduring its worst two-game scoring stretch of the season. The Pacers have produced just 89 and 84 points during their past two games. 
There's also a fatigue factor for the Pacers as this marks their sixth game in nine days. 

Indiana has failed to cover in 11 of its last 14 visits to Charlotte. 

Toronto is well coached under Nick Nurse and getting healthy with Pascal Siakam rounding into shape. That's why it's difficult for opponents to blow the Raptors out. Only twice in their last 14 games have the Raptors lost by more than eight points.

The Raptors should be rested and well motivated here having lost their last two games and having had two full days off.

Utah, on the other hand, is coming off a 120-86 home blowout of the undermanned 76ers from two days ago.

Then there's the history between these two teams. Toronto has owned Utah point spread-wise covering nine of the past 10. The Raptors are a perfect 8-0 ATS during their last eight visits to Salt Lake City.

UC Riverside is underrated and dangerous. Riverside already has an upset road victory against Arizona State. The Highlanders are 6-2-1 ATS as a road 'dog.

If you go by KenPom rankings, Riverside is better than San Diego. I have the Highlanders power rated above the Toreros, too.

Matchup-wise, the Highlanders' strength is hitting their 3-point shots and defending from beyond the arc. San Diego's weakness is defending the 3-pointer.

So I'm going to take the better team in an underdog role.

The Suns return home following a three-game, four-day road trip that concluded Monday night in Minnesota. The Suns are fat and happy, winners of nine in a row. Feeding into the Suns' relaxed mind is knowing they don't have to worry about Luka Doncic. He's out with knee and ankle sprains. 

Florida State fell out of the Top-25 rankings by losing, 71-55, to Florida this past Sunday.

Tulane is off a 73-70 loss to Southern this past Saturday.

Each team is capable of playing better - and scoring better. I believe that happens here.

The Seminoles are breaking in a bunch of new players. They've had a couple of games to get acquainted.

Jaylen Forbes, Tulane's top scorer from a year ago, is averaging fewer than 12 points a game. He's due for a big performance.

The Over is 15-7-1 in Florida State's last 23 home games.

Reinvigorated after a four-game West Coast trip, the Hawks are averaging 124.5 points during the first two games of their current homestand.

The Hawks are an explosive, high-energy team with youngsters Trae Young and John Collins to go with Clint Capela inside, long range sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic and instant offense off the bench from Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari, neither of whom play good defense.

Atlanta could catch a break if Boston center Robert Williams can't play due to knee soreness. That also would be a plus for the Over.

The Celtics are minus Jaylen Brown. However, the Hawks are giving up an average of 115.1 points in their last 10 games. The Celtics are off consecutive road games against the Cavaliers. This will be a welcomed change of pace, faster tempo game for Boston, which has played a number of half-court type opponents lately.

Former Nebraska coach Tim Miles had a successful San Jose State debut as the Spartans opened its season with a 78-76 upset win at home against Cal State Fullerton. The Spartans were six-point underdogs. The Spartans built a 16-point lead and never trailed in that game. 

The Spartans are better than perceived, while Stanford isn't as good as some people think at least during this early going.

The Cardinal lost, 88-72, on the road to Santa Clara this past Friday. Through two games, Stanford ranks 311th in defensive two-point field goal percentage. The Cardinal rank 242nd in turnover ratio, too. 

Right now Stanford is mainly relying on a pair of freshmen. The Cardinal have failed to cover the past five times when laying points. 

I think the oddsmaker is putting too much emphasis on how Oregon State finished last season. The Beavers shocked a lot of people by winning the Pac-12 Conference Tournament and then reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. But it's not so easy to recapture that magic so early in the season. The Beavers lost Ethan Thompson and Zach Reichle from that team. They've begun this season 1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS with a 60-50 road loss to Iowa State in their last game.  Now Oregon State is laying points at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane are 21-6 the past 27 times as a home 'dog.  Tulsa has a number of key transfers, including Jeriah Horne. He played well at Colorado last season and has looked good for Tulsa so far this season. The Golden Hurricane were limited to just 23 games last season and had a disappointing year. They won't lack motivation here and have the talent to win straight-up. Oregon State is trying to find the right combinations so the Beavers are far from peak form. This is what Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said, ''Expectations can be a tricky thing for team that overperform in March.'' 

There's not much to say in defense of Orlando. The Magic are the youngest team in the league, rank second to last in scoring and have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

So when you're playing on the Magic, like I am here, it's almost always a fade against the opponent. That's the case with the Hawks, who should not be favored by this many points.

Atlanta opened its homestand beating the Bucks, 120-100, on Sunday. That halted a six-game Hawks losing streak. Not to take away from that Atlanta win, but the Bucks were short-handed minus Kris Middleton.

Before that victory, Atlanta had failed to cover in any of its losses during its six-game losing skid with five of those defeats occurring by at least nine points.

The Hawks simply aren't that strong of a team to just blow out an opponent when the situation isn't right. The spot isn't right here for Atlanta.

This marks the Hawks' eight game in 13 days and second in two days. Atlanta is 0-3 SU and ATS when playing without rest this season, losing those games by an average of 13.6 points.

Orlando, on the other hand, will be playing for just the third time in eight days. The Magic will be battle tested. Their last five games have been against the Wizards, Nets, Jazz - who they beat by seven points - Spurs and Celtics.

Two bad teams get together here for a Sunday night game. I'm expecting a loose game with more scoring than the oddsmaker is projecting.

Seattle is giving up 76.3 points in its last 13 games going back to last season.

The Redhawks, though, have a good guard in Darrion Trammell.

I haven't been this excited about St. Bonaventure basketball since Bob Lanier played for the Bonnies. That was more than 50 years ago.

The Bonnies are ranked in the top 25 and the choice of many to capture the Atlantic 10 Conference. They displayed their tough defense in their opening game beating Siena, 75-47, this past Tuesday.

Next up for St. Bonaventure is long-time rival Canisius. This should be an intense matchup. The Golden Griffins are 0-2 with losses to Miami and East Carolina. The Under is 11-5-1 the past 17 times Canisius has been an underdog.

The teams last met two seasons ago and there were just 118 points scored in Canisius' 61-57 victory.

The oddsmaker opened with a wrong favorite. Florida State lost four players to the NBA, but is still loaded. The Seminoles have tremendous depth.

Florida needs Keyontae Johnson to beat Florida State. Unfortunately for the Gators, Johnson isn't playing yet.

The Gators never recovered against Florida State last year after Johnson unexpectedly collapsed during their game. The Seminoles went on to win, 83-71. It's the seventh straight time Florida State has defeated Florida.

San Diego earned some respect upsetting California on the road as a double-digit 'dog this past Tuesday. The Tritons have had ample time to rest and prepare for their opening home game.

George Washington, though, is making the long trip West. The Colonials are playing for the third time in five days so there is a fatigue factor.

The Colonials hung tough against 21st-ranked Maryland on Thursday, losing 71-64. They weren't so impressive in their opener, though, defeating St. Francis (PA), 75-72, as 6 1/2-point home favorites.

That dropped George Washington's point spread mark to 3-13 when favored. The Colonials also have failed to cover in seven of their last 10 road contests.

Both teams played Friday night and lost. The Grizzlies are the more talented and deeper team. I like them to bounce back and cover this spread.

Memphis has proven it can beat much better teams than New Orleans on the road owning victories against the Clippers and Warriors.

The Pelicans have dropped nine in a row going 3-6 ATS during this span. Their last six losses all have come by at least eight points. The Pelicans gave a strong effort last night in falling to the Nets, 120-112, but that's not always a given with this team.

New Orleans might get Brandon Ingram back today, but clearly miss Zion Williamson.

No LeBron James, no problem. The Lakers have some momentum for really the first time this season following consecutive overtime wins against the Hornets and Heat.

Now LA is stepping down in class. The Timberwolves opened 3-1, but are showing signs of reverting back to their bottom-feeding ways. They have lost six in a row, including a 123-110 road loss to the Warriors in their last game two days ago. The Timberwolves' defense remains bad, ranking 23rd in scoring defense. 

This marks Minnesota's third road game in five days. 

The Wildcats are a high scoring team that is showing signs under new coach Tommy Lloyd of playing even faster than last season. 

Rio Grande has a new coach, too, Matt Figgers. He's an offensive guru. Rio Grande doesn't play good defense. Rio Grande is going to play at Arizona's pace and try to match the Wildcats' scoring.

Fast tempo and two strong offensive teams make this total an overreaction to Arizona going Under in its first game against pathetic Northern Arizona after the total was steamed up. This is an overreaction by the oddsmaker opening this total too low. 

The two teams have opened their respective seasons each of the past two years playing each other. Arizona scored 96 and 91 points in those games. The combined totals were 149 and 143. I don't see why this matchup doesn't fall into that range either especially with Tommy Lloyd taking over from Sean Miller at Arizona.

The Wildcats are loaded again and Lloyd wants to play fast. Lloyd is used to high-scoring efforts having been a long-time assistant to Mark Few at Gonzaga.

Northern Arizona has no choice, but to push tempo. It has the players to do that. The Lumberjacks won't be afraid to take 3-pointers either.

New coaches, new players. That's the situation with these two teams.

Utah's new coach Craig Smith built strong defensive programs at South Dakota and Utah State. He brought in eight new players along with a new coaching staff. The Utes lost four of their top five scorers. He wants to establish a strong defensive mindset right from the beginning.

Abilene Christian is tough defensively, too, and plays at a slow pace. The Wildcats held their last six foes to an average of 59.3 points.

I'm looking for Nebraska to be better than its 7-20 record last season. The Cornhuskers struggled in the rugged Big Ten going 3-16 in league play. But they've added several important players, including former Arizona State guard Alonzo Verge Jr.

Nebraska looked good in its preseason games, including beating Colorado, 82-67, at home this past Sunday.

Western Illinois last beat a Power 5 conference opponent back during the 2015-16 season. The Leathernecks finished seventh in the nine-team Summit League with a 5-9 conference mark last season.

I have Nebraska power-rated to win this game by more than 20 points.

Miami holds a huge backcourt edge here led by Isaiah Wong, who was named a first-team All-ACC player in the preseason poll. The Hurricanes are deep at guard. They have had problems in the ACC, but are stepping way down in class here.

Canisius only was able to play 13 games last season because of the pandemic going 7-6.

The Hurricanes have looked good in their preseason games. I have them power rated by more than 20 points in this matchup.

I see Providence dominating this matchup against a middling Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team.

The Friars could have the top center in the Big East, Nate Watson. The Friars tuned up for this matchup burying Stonehill, 95-71, in an exhibition game.

Playing Fairfield means a little something extra to Providence coach Ed Cooley. He coached the Stags for six years before coming to Providence.

Portland returns home following a disappointing 0-3 road trip capped off by an upset loss to the Cavaliers this past Wednesday.

The Trail Blazers should play with a sense of desperation. They also should play well having won their last three home games in blowout fashion against the Suns, Grizzlies and Clippers.

Indiana is off a satisfying, 111-98, home win against the Knicks from Wednesday.

The Pacers have been at their worst on the road going 0-4 SU, 1-3 ATS. This is their first away matchup in a week.

Indiana does not have a good history at Portland either having lost in 11 of their past 12 visits.

The Nets have gone Under in each of their seven games. But they are coming off a season-high 117 points against the Pistons in their last game this past Sunday. Nobody even reached the 30-minute mark in that game either, including James Harden and Kevin Durant. 

So I'm looking for a rested Nets squad, with their potent offense, to produce a big scoring effort against an average Atlanta defense. It's a good sign for Brooklyn that Harden is going to the free throw line a lot again. He's shot 22 free throws in the last two games. 

The Hawks are off an 118-point performance against the Wizards, their highest total in four games. Trae Young hit 7 of 16 shots from the floor and got to the free throw line a season-high 11 times in that game after missing 22 of 33 shots during his previous two games. So he should be back on track. 

The two teams averaged a combined 246.7 points during their previous four meetings. 

 The Cavaliers do seem improved this season. But they aren't better than the Trail Blazers and this spot sets up well for Portland.

The Trail Blazers are trying to salvage the final game of a three-game road trip. They lost, 125-113, to the improved Hornets this past Sunday and followed that up with a disgusting, 113-103, loss to the 76ers on Monday. Philadelphia was minus Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons.

Cleveland last played at home on Oct. 23. The Cavaliers concluded a five-game road trip with a 113-110 victory against the Hornets Monday giving them a 3-2 mark on their away journey. ''To go 3-2 on this trip is a hell of an accomplishment,'' Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff was quoted as saying.

So the Cavaliers come into this matchup fat and happy. They also might not have their focus being away from home for the past 11 days. Right after this game, the Cavaliers go back on the road for away games on Friday and Sunday. Such is the quirkiness of the NBA schedule.

Cleveland will be playing with a short rotation as Kevin Love is in the NBA's health and safety protocol. He isn't expected to play today.

The Trail Blazers dominated the Cavaliers last season winning by 19 points at home and 36 points on the road. They have covered five of the last six times versus the Cavs.

Now that the Grizzlies are home underdogs - which they shouldn't be - I'm going to get involved with them against Denver.

Toronto isn't going to be very good this season. The Raptors are especially lower tier without Pascal Siakam, who is their main offensive weapon. 

Boston and its new coach, Ime Udoka, are in need of a victory at 0-2. The Rockets are off a rare victory. Houston isn't going to win many games this season, but it did beat another bottom-feeder, Oklahoma City, in blowout fashion two days ago. 

Short revenge for Detroit. The teams just met four days ago in Detroit and the Bulls won, 94-88. The Pistons shot 40 percent from the floor and 21 percent from 3-point range yet lost by only six points.

Losing the first two games of this championship series, the Bucks have rallied to win three in a row. The Bucks beat the Suns by 20 points at home in Game 3. They defeated the Suns by six points at home in Game 4 despite being outshot 51 percent to 40 percent from the floor and they knocked off the Suns in Game 5 on the road by four points despite trailing by 16 points going into the second quarter.

Thanks to an exceptional shooting performance by both teams in the last game, oddsmakers opened this Game 6 with the highest total of the championship series. I don't expect nearly that type of scoring in this potential closeout game.

Sure, home-court is huge for the Suns. The Zig-Zag is on their side, too. It's their turn to win. However, the Suns face numerous issues that put me on the underdog Bucks for this Game 5. I've summarized them into five points: 

The first three games of this NBA championship series have all been decided by double-digits. We're overdue for a close game. That should come here as each team now has a full feel of their opponent. 

The Suns did what they did during their three previous playoff series, they came out fired up and executed well in winning and covering the spread in Tuesday's Game 1. 

This series has a Chris Paul crowning feel to it. The Bucks produced back-to-back great efforts without Giannis Antetokounmpo to eliminate the Hawks with that series finale occurring this past Saturday night in Atlanta. 

The NBA playoffs have a Quentin Tarantino feel to it with the way all the stars keep getting knocked out. Reservoir Dogs was less gruesome to watch than seeing Trae Young and now Giannis Antetokounmpo go down with leg injuries. 

Whether it was big-game inexperience, or Monty Williams getting his ass out-coached by Tyronn Lue, the Suns failed to seize the moment. They had a golden opportunity to close out the Western Conference finals by eliminating the banged-up Clippers at home this past Monday. Instead, they made uncharacteristic mistakes and were caught off-guard by the Clippers switching to a small ball lineup. 

Trae Young is questionable with a bruised foot/ankle sprain so now we have the lowest total of this series for this Game 4. It's still worth going Under. Young is averaging 29.8 points and 9.5 assists in 15 postseason games. The scoring average spikes to 32.7 points against the Bucks.

From a high of 222 1/2 in Game 2 of this Clippers-Suns Western Conference Finals, we now have the total reduced eight points in this Game 5. 

The question isn't if the Suns and Clippers are good enough defensively to get Under this total. They are. The Clippers ranked fourth in the NBA defensively, while the Suns were seventh. 

Yes, Kawhi Leonard remains out. But given the Suns' fragile physical situation, it's surprising to find the Clippers again opening as a home underdog to the Suns. The Clippers have covered 10 of the last 11 times hosting the Suns, including beating them, 106-92, two days ago. 

Bookmakers who have futures jeopardy on the Hawks - and there are their share of them - need to be concerned. Atlanta isn't following the standard protocol of paying playoff dues before establishing itself as a title contender. The Hawks are talented enough, have the right coach in Nate McMillan and a hot Trae Young, who is using this postseason to launch himself into superstardom, to jump the gun. 

If not for a last-second dunk by Deandre Ayton in Game 2 and the Suns shooting 55 percent from the floor in Game 1, the Clippers could be heading home up 2-0 in this Western Conference Finals instead of down 0-2. 

If the Hawks didn't prove it against the Knicks, they sure proved it against the 76ers. They are young, well-coached, dangerous and can win on the road as their 5-2 away playoff record shows.