Coming off a 2-0 night where I cashed the Houston/Villanova 1H UNDER as well as Duke 1H, I’m back at it today with 2 more plays. See each of those below, and let’s finish off the week strong!
*CBB(1u): Miami +5.5(-110) vs Kansas–1:20 PM CT
I have liked Miami all season because they get great play from their guards and can score in a variety of ways, but I was concerned how their defense would hold up in this Tournament. Well, all they have done is allow just 61 PPG through their 3 Tournament games and force over 16 turnovers/game. Kansas will be their toughest test yet, but the Jayhawks are beatable. Kansas’ leading scorer Ochai Agbaji has been extremely inconsistent this Tournament(shooting just 33% from the field). While Remy Martin has picked up the slack, I’m not sure how sustainable that is given Martin wasn’t relied upon as heavily leading up to the Tournament. Kansas’ defense is vulnerable as well. They were very unimpressive in their Round of 32 matchup against Creighton, who was down 2 key scorers and yet still managed to put up 72. Miami is definitely Kansas’s toughest test as well given their aforementioned guard play, current defensive form, as well as the fact that the Hurricanes take care of the basketball at one of the highest rates in the country. Miami has a clear path to win this game, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do just that. I’ll take the points.
*NBA(1u): Timberwolves +6(-110) @ Celtics–5 PM CT
The Celtics have been rolling for quite awhile now, but they are coming off a 3 day layoff in their schedule, which is not optimal. Scheduling aside, I don’t want to cherry-pick numbers to try and talk down in this Celtics group; they have been great for awhile now. However, I don’t think this number does justice to how well Minnesota is playing either. While Minnesota recently endured a 2 game spell with losses to Dallas and Phoenix, they avenged that Dallas loss on Friday with a 21 point win. Overall, this team is 11-3 over their last 14 games and have an outright road win at Miami sprinkled in there. I expect Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to play, but the fact they remain on the Injury Report tells me they aren’t in peak form. This is a “play on” Minnesota much more than it is a “play against” the Celtics, but I think the 6 point spread is a bit too high.
