4-1 last night in the association, 44-28 (61%) since Feb 1. Any questions? 😉
Rockets win (+110), 2 units: I keep taking shots on the Rockets and they keep coming up short. Something’s gotta give, right? Losers of now 7 straight, Houston must be in desperation mode right now as they hope to resurrect their season. With 5 much-needed days off, the Rockets head back to the hardwood to play Chicago at home. I like the way the new-look Bulls play. I love Zach LaVine; what a beast. Chicago is a fast-paced team that runs an effective offense, but they’re not as great on the other end of the court. In fact, they rank in the bottom 3rd of the league in defensive efficiency. That’s a good setup for Houston. With all their struggles on offense, the Rockets get PJ Tucker, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon back tonight. For a moment, Houston was one of the premiere defenses in the NBA. Although still without Oladipo, a mostly healthy roster should help aid on that end of the floor, too. John Wall is due a ton of positive regression. They’re at home. They’re rested. They need a win, badly. I’ll take this spot in a heartbeat. Let’s turn on the fire, Houston!
Hornets +12.5 (-110), 1 unit: After finally ending their long ATS and winning streak, the Utah Jazz head back to the court 3 days later to take on the Charlotte Hornets. Do I think the Hornets have a chance to win this game? Not really. But 12.5 points is a lot in NBA basketball. The Jazz are getting priced differently now, making this a great sell-high opportunity. Unless you’ve been living under a rock and in that case you shouldn’t be considering a bet on this game, we know how good the Jazz have been. Let’s focus on Charlotte. The Hornets are just about mid-tier in every category. On offense, defense, and in pace they rank between 14th and 17th. What they do exceptionally is play fundamental team basketball and facilitate each other really well. Charlotte is 4th in assists per game and 10th in offensive rebounds. That tells me they’re well-coached and understand how to capitalize on opportunities. I love that in a dog. With less to defend, I think the Jazz could be a little deflated heading into tonight’s contest. The Hornets are 11-6-1 ATS (64.7%) in conference games, 13-8-1 ATS (61.9%) as an underdog, and 6-4 ATS (60%) as an away underdog. Like I said before I already think this number is inflated, so all the more reason to love the Hornets. Take Charlotte.
Suns -6 (-110), 1.5 units: Originally I was on the Blazers side at +6 but when doing my write-up, I switched sides. The Suns have been really good lately. With a legimately intimidating defense, Chris Paul dishing the ball around and Devin Booker capable of dominating scoring performances, the Suns are not a team to undervalue. Playing in arguably the best division in the NBA with LAL and LAC, it’s impressive what they’ve accomplished thus far. Portland is coming off a loss to Washington, a team that’s suddenly found new life. The Blazers start a 3-game road trip tonight they have one hell of a week ahead of them– they face Denver tomorrow and the Lakers Friday. Yikes. I think the Blazers could steal one against the Nuggets tomorrow night and I like them to cover. I can’t like this spot, though. Phoenix has won it’s last 4 games by a margin of 19.25 points. It’s just too much stacked up against Portland. Take the Suns.
Lakers -7 (-105), 1 unit: This feels like a square pick but it’s a real tough spot for Washington. The Lakers have now lost 2 straight. Until 10 days ago, the Wizards had lost 9 of their last 12 games and the capitol city was hitting the panic button. I respect what Westbrook’s return has done for the Wizards; this 4 game winning streak has been impressive. But Lebron and company will look for vengeance tonight and they won’t need Anthony Davis to defend or score against the inconsistent Wizards. There’s a real disparity in grit and caliber here. The pendulum swings back to normality tonight– I’m on LAL.
