Celtics at Kings Now that we are on day 2 of our 3 day break from the greatest basketball tournament in the world, times are getting tough and we need something to fill that March Madness void. Fortunately the NBA is still around, which don’t get me wrong, absolutely pales in comparison to college basketball. But regardless it is something, and there are some fun matchups going around tonight. Usually you know me for giving some bullshit player prop, but tonight I'm trying something different, and heading over to the forbidden lands of the game lines. It's completely new territory but this matchup was just way too good to pass up. The Celtics are in the shitter right now, and have been playing some God awful basketball lately. Jayson Tatum has looked like he's never played the sport of basketball before, with absolutely shit shooting percentages in his recent games. He might as well be Dillon Brooks at this point, and at least contribute to the team by being a pain in the ass to opponents. On the other hand this Kings team has been a blast to watch recently with a team of very underrated and talented players. They have been somewhat up and down, but they're playing a Celtics team that's in a massive slump right now. The teams at home the atmosphere should be pretty wild for this star-filled matchup. Give me the Kings money line at +175.
Pick: Kings ML - Jason
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Wizards at CavaliersWizards vs Cavaliers
The Wizards have been sucking lately. They haven’t won against a team not named the Detroit Pistons in over 2 weeks. I hate watching the Wizards play basketball. The Bradley Beal era is stale and the true definition of Mid. I think that the Wizards should have tried harder in the Wemby lottery so that they can completely revamp and rebuild the franchise. Speaking of rebuilds the Cavaliers are the current shining example of a successful one. Being left pretty much desolate after the Lebron and Kyrie era, the Cavs have made the right picks and moves to become a contender again. I was sad to see Sex-Land breakup before we could really see what they would become, but seeing how that trade contributed to the current team I don’t think anyone can really complain. I really like the Cavs at home tonight, I just don’t love how fat the line is at 5.5 points. I don’t love this pick but I’m just gonna go with it because I’m very hot rn. The Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers -5.5 Lakers at RocketsHad a massive comeback day yesterday going 3-0 on last night's slate of games. The picks were simple and free, so we are going to keep following that train of thought for tonight's pick. Hopefully this is the start of a hot streak, so that we can say goodbye to that brutal cold streak we were on, for what felt like forever. The game we are looking at tonight is the Lakers, without their two superstars, taking on a young Houston Rockets team on the road.  As mentioned above the Lakers are without Lebron, who is currently missing half of the "23 most important games of his life”. And they are also without the man made of glass, aka Anthony Davis. What does this mean, well it means the fate of the Lakers result tonight is in the hands of D’Angelo Russell. Russell is expected to be the main shot maker tonight in the absence of Lebron and AD, and there should be no reason he doesn't produce. As mentioned in the article about Tatum and Brown a couple days ago, the Rockets are the bottom of the barrel in the league when it comes to defense this season. In his last 5 Russell has dropped 17,33,28,2(played 9 mins), and 21. Now what is not factored into these numbers is that AD was there for all these games, and he still managed to drop 28 point, and 33 point games. This is the first time he will be the main star, and it could not come against a better opponent. D’Angelo’s line is set at o22.5, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t cruise over this line. With that being said he could also have a shitter of the game, but regardless he will be putting up a ton of shots tonight and should reach this line pretty easily. As always, Let's have a day, and D’Angelo for the love of God keep us hot.
Pick: D’Angelo Russell o22.5pts -Jason Grizzlies at heat
It’s fitting that the Grizzlies are playing at the Heat because of all of the HOT water the team has been in the last few weeks. Earlier today I got the Twitter notif that Ja has received his punishment from the league for the now infamous gun video.
Now Dillon Brooks thinks he needs to be a tough guy and is trying to start beef with anyone he see’s.
Not only that but the Grizzlies have lost key players due to injury in Brandon Clarke, who’s out for the season, and Steven Adams, who will be out at least a few more weeks before being reevaluated.
Honestly it makes me really sad to see everything that’s been happening with the Grizzlies but specifically all the Ja drama. I remember when I was a Junior in Highschool, and like I do every year I was dozing off on my couch whilst enjoying the best 2 days of the year: the first round of March Madness. I woke up about midway through the first half of 12-seed Murray ST. vs 5-seed Marquette, and what I witnessed the rest of that game was one of the most electrifying tournament performances I had ever seen. Ja Morant, who I had never heard of at that time, was one of the most fun players to watch on a basketball court. Still to this day one of my favorite tournament dunks (and call on a dunk):
I have been a Ja Morant fan ever since that day and it really sucks to see the path he’s been going down off the court (On the court he’s still as incredible as ever). I really hope he can get right and come back to the team so he can resume being the Ja that America fell in love with.
The Grizzlies are on a 3-game win streak, however, 2 of those wins came against the no-Kyrie, no-Luka Mavericks. With everything that’s been going on with the Grizzlies, especially with the news about Ja’s suspension this morning I think Miami rolls tonight and wins by double digits. The Pick: Miami Heat -4 - Jake Cleveland at Charlotte The hornets suck… they’re one of the bottom three teams in FG %, 3-point shooting %, and FT %. They went on a weird 5 game win streak in early February that I think may have used up their win juice for the rest of the season. Cleveland on the other hand is very good. I get 2022 Bulls vibes from this team except this team might be able to win some big games. These teams just played in Charlotte two days ago which saw the Cavs win by 6 (fitting line huh). The Cavs completed a 16-point comeback in the second half and have won four out of their last five. This is a good team that can beat up on bad ones. I think the line is a little too on the nose when looking at the last game so I have my pick.
The Pick: Cleveland -5.5 - Jake Nets at OKCSo the hole we are in keeps getting deeper. Honestly, at this point I don't know what to say. I'm speechless and have somehow wedged myself into an area that is below rock bottom. Jayson Tatum pulled out a masterclass last night in playing like straight dogshit, so it is what it is. That being said I have a good feeling about tonight's pick, it makes a lot of sense so I wouldn’t be surprised if it probably doesn’t hit based on recent events. But that being said let's get into the pick, and I can't emphasize this enough, tail at your own risk….  The fate of the night is in the hands of Mikal Bridges, and this man with these obnoxiously big red boots. The matchup for tonight should play very well into both of these young stars' hands. The Nets are on the road, and are trying to keep hold of their 5th place position in the East. The Thunder on the other hand are at home and currently sit in 11th in a three way tie with the Lakers, and Pelicans for the number 10 spot, so both teams can't afford to take a loss here. The Thunder rank 17th in the league for defense while the Nets are ranked a respectable 9, so both stars should be in great spots to produce tonight. Mikal Bridges line is set at o25.5 for tonight's game, and is a line that he should easily reach as the Nets main shot taker. On top of playing a rather defensively weak OKC side he has scored 25,34,10( only played 12 mins),30, and 33 in his last 5 games. The stage for him tonight could not be a better setup, and I won’t be surprised if he messes around and records a 30 point game. On the other side of this matchup we have SGA, who has been putting up ridiculous numbers this season on this young OKC team. He is averaging 31.2 points a game this season, and has recorded 35,33,38,39, and 9(only played 9 mins) in his last 5 games. His line is set at o31.5pts right now, which is a rather high line. But with this being a must win game for the Thunder, I see no reason why he slows down his massive scoring streak tonight.
Picks: Mikal Bridges o25.5pts, SGA o31.5pts -Jason Bucks at kingsThe blockbuster showdown of the Bucks, the East’s 1 seed, versus the Kings, the West’s 2 seed, takes place tonight, past my bedtime, unfortunately. Each team crucially needs a win to cement their position in the standings with the hopes of seeing a favorable matchup come playoffs. For this reason, I waited as long as possible to see the health status of Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antakonumponto. He’s been cleared to play as of 9 PM EDT which fully allows me to take the side I wanted all along.
It’s hard for me to fade the Bucks when they are the NBA’s best and hottest team, going 8-2 in their last 10 games and 21-3 in their last 24. The Bucks only losses in this span were a 3-point loss to a contender in the 76ers, and away losses to the Cavs and Warriors with an inactive Giannis. The Bucks are a deep team that plays hard for all 4 quarters. When their offense is unstoppable and defense is unbreakable, things can get out of hand quickly, even against the best teams. I don’t think the Kings inconsistent bench matches up well with a Bucks bench that is filled with solid role-players. The books favored the Bucks by 3 points despite Giannis’ being listed as a game-time decision. This goes to show how valued the Bucks roster is even without the 2021 NBA Finals MVP. The public quickly began to back Milwaukee when it was announced that Giannis was a go, rightfully so. Now the main man looks to continue to bolster his MVP bid which we all saw he’s so desperately after when he tossed himself a rebound in the final seconds against the Wizards last week. I don’t expect The Greek Freak to miss a beat and the Bucks should click with his renewed presence. Pick: Bucks -3.5 (-115) - Judson Grizzlies at MavericksThe Western Conference continues to tighten up with there being less than a 5 game difference between 4th and 12th place. This means that teams like the Mavericks need to buckle up and find a rhythm that can carry them to some playoff security. Dallas sits in 8th with teams like the Lakers and Pelicans only one game back from them, breathing down their neck in search of a play-in game berth at the very least. The Grizzlies have some leeway as the current 3 seed, in a tie on record with the current 2 seeded Kings. Regardless of this, they could do well with jumping up one spot to avoid the possibility of playing a strong Warriors or Clippers squad.
In tonight's matchup the Mavericks must play without both superstars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. This is because of their pregame wrestling routine which has caused them to injure one another before almost every game since they became a guard duo. On the other side of the ball, the Grizzlies are without Ja Morant who is serving a suspension and looking for some more ill-advised, gun-related decisions that he can make. All jokes, injuries, and jokes about injuries aside, we have a showdown of supporting casts in Dallas. To me, no single player will win this game. This game will come down to 3-point shooting, turnovers, and, most importantly, what I just stated. This is in Dallas. Apart from a win against the Rockets, who have been in a race against the Pistons since October for the worst NBA record, the Grizzlies last away win was on January 14th versus a soft Pacers side. All of the Mavericks home games since January 22nd have been wins or were losses decided by no more than 4 points. It required a rookie named David Roddy to score a career high in points, including 17 of them coming in the 4th quarter, for the Grizzlies to defeat the Mavs 2 days ago. We’re more likely to see a veteran like Tim Hardaway Jr. rally his team to a victory than we are to see a young Grizzly carry the team in Ja’s absence. It’s not as fun to cheer on a team that doesn’t have its superstars in Luka and Kyrie; however, I still believe that them sitting court-side will be enough to fuel the Dallas crowd to a one-score loss at the worst. Pick: Mavericks +3.5 (-105)
Celtics at rocketsThere's no use trying to get around it, as a man I have to be straight. I am in the ice age right now, absolutely ice cold. Due to a lot of absolute shithousery my picks, which should have been absolute locks, have instead caused me to fall into a deep and dark pit of depression. But the name of the game is gambling, stats work most of the time, sometimes the luck just runs out. With that being said, all streaks come to an end, and today's card is set up for what should be a great bounce back spot.
The Houston Rockets are ranked dead-last in the league on defense. The team is currently riding a three game losing streak, and is allowing an average of 118.2 points a game to opponent teams. The team is also allowing star players of opponent teams to drop around 30 points a game, players such as Mikal Bridges( 30pts), Zach Lavine( 36pts), Tyrese Halibutron(29 points), and Daniel Bane( 30pts) all had monster games against the Rockets recently. This brings me to my favorite pick of the night for this matchup, Jayson Tatum o29.5pts (-135 via Draftkings). This pick to me has great value, Tatum is sixth in the leaderboard for scoring this season averaging 30.4 ppg. Over his last five games he has recorded 34,30,40,22, and 41. To add onto this, last time these two teams played each other Tatum recorded a monster 38, while his teammate Jayeln Brown also recorded a monster 39. Speaking of Brown his line is sitting at 25.5pts for (-105 via Draftkings), and is a line that wouldn’t be a bad bet. I like Tatum a bit more here simply because his numbers have been a bit more consistent than Brown’s. But like I said, Brown’s line is one that he can easily cruise over tonight so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a look. That being said both these lines do have one thing working against them, and that is Houston’s ability to keep the game close. As long as Houston doesn’t allow the game to be a blowout, these stars should produce. Pick: Tatum o29.5pts( -135) vs Rockets - Jason Suns Vs. WarriorsThe Warriors are coming off of an insane OT win over the Giannis-less Bucks on Saturday and the Suns a 9-point home loss to the Kings. The Suns are obviously without KD so they’re back to ol’ reliable: Booker and CP3. Booker’s been great, averaging 38 over the last five and Chris paul has been averaging a double-double in the last five with 11.6 PPG and 10.6 APG. I think the Warriors are gonna be spent physically and mentally after the last game which saw Curry having to be god late in the fourth just to force OT. The Bucks played the Warriors pretty physically and it took so much out of the Warriors to beat them even without Giannis. The Durant-less Suns can still get it done and I think they'll play hard tonight to try and hold onto the 4 seed they currently occupy. This is a tough game to pick and I’d much rather take a page from Bill O’Reilly’s playbook and live bet this game in the 3rd (which I probably will do as well) But nonetheless, I’m going to make a pick The Pick: 4.5 points is pretty juicy and I think we will see this matchup in the playoffs with hopefully healthy rosters, but even without KD I’m going to go with Suns +4.5. - Jake  |