ASA play on: Boston Celtics -2 over Milwaukee Bucks, 8PM ET (Game 3) In Game 1 of this series the Celtics had a fantastic game plan to limit Giannis and force other Bucks to beat them. It worked flawlessly and the Celtics drubbed the Bucks big on their home court. Milwaukee then adjusted, bounced back and crushed the Celtics in Game 2. Kris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe had huge Game 2’s after struggling under the weight of the pressure in Game 1.  Middleton made seven 3-pointers and totaled 28 points while Bledsoe chipped in with 21 points. Boston’s All-Star guard Kyrie Irving had a horrible shooting night in Game 2 with just nine points on 4 of 18 shooting. So, we are betting the numbers flip again in Game 3 on Boston’s home floor with the C’s off a BAD loss. The added pressure of being on the road in this opener will again get to the Bucks role players and the hot shooting they enjoyed in Game 2 won’t be the same here. Milwaukee enjoys some of the best road efficiency numbers in the NBA but again, as we’ve said in the past, they played a very soft schedule which influenced those statistics. Boston had an average differential of +6.9PPG at home while shooting 47% on their home court and allowing just 45%. Boston is 7-2 SU their last nine home games when coming off a loss and have covered 6 of the last seven clashes with the Bucks on this floor. Boston bounces back off a loss and gets a home win in Game 3.

ASA play on: OVER 217 Toronto Raptors @ Philadelphia 76ers, Game 3 Thursday 8PM ET – We are now getting 6 full points of value on this Over/Under compared to the first game of this series which opened at 223. In the first two games of this series these two teams combined for just 203 and 183 total points which has forced the oddmakers hand tonight. The pace of play and field goal attempts have been very low in the first two games but now that the venue has changed, we expect the 76ers to dictate the pace of play and force Toronto into a faster game. Philly was the 8th fastest paced team in the league at home this year at 101.6 possessions per game. When playing at home this season the 76ers games averaged 229 total points per contest. Toronto shot 47% on the road this season and averaged 113.2PPG while giving up 108.2PPG for an average of 221PPG. In the two regular season meetings on this court these two combined for 226 and 227 total points and the Over has cashed 7 of the last nine meetings in Philadelphia. The Sixers set the tempo tonight the Raptors are forced to play with them. BET OVER!

ASA play on: UNDER 220 Portland Trailblazers @ Denver Nuggets, 9PM ET – First off, the oddsmaker have adjusted this number up compared to Game 1 so we’ve picked up a few points of value. When we break down Game 1 we see a couple glaring reasons to bet Under in Game 2. The two teams combined to attempt just 160 field goals in the game which is drastically lower than the league average of 178, which typically produces 222 total points per game. Based on the law of averages and statistical analysis it’s logical to assume that 18 less field goal attempts per game is going to produce a total far less than the 2.5-points difference of tonight’s total compared to league average (222 vs 219.5). So why did Game #1 go so far Over the total? Both teams shot remarkably well with the Blazers making 51.9% of their FG attempts and 41.4% of their 3-point attempts. Those numbers are much higher than their season average of 46.7% and 36.2%. Denver also had a very good shooting night by making 50.6% of their attempts from the field and 41.4% from beyond the arc. Again, both numbers are quite a bit higher than their season average of 46.6% and 35.2%. Denver home games this season averaged 217 total points per game while Portland’s road contests averaged 222. The major factor in this Under wager is the pace of play as the Blazers were the 19th slowest in the NBA on the road this season at 99.4 possessions per game. Denver is literally one of the slowest paced teams in the NBA at home (27th) at just 97.3 possessions per game. With both teams preferring to play slower, and both shooting a more normal percentage, it will translate to an easy Under. Based on our highly successful Math Model we project 211 total points being scored tonight.

ASA play on: Houston Rockets +5.5 over Golden State Warriors, 10:30PM ET – Tuesday, Game 2 – I made a wager on the Rockets to win this series before it started and in hind-sight wish I would have waited until after Game 1 to get better odds. The Rockets are going to win this series and the landscape of the NBA will be altered because of the results (much like the Avengers Endgame alternate reality). In any regard, the Rockets took Golden State to a 7-game series a year ago and have a better chemistry this year. Golden State has not enjoyed as big of a home court advantage this season as they have in the past which we’ll explain here. Three years ago, the Warriors were 36-5 SU at home with a differential of +15.9PPG during the regular season. Those numbers dipped a year ago to 29-12, +7.6PPG. This season the Warriors were 30-11 SU at home in the regular season but their average point differential was just +6.6PPG. Houston was great on the road this season with the 5th best road differential of +2.4PPG and an offensive efficiency rating of 1.139 points per possession (2nd). Let’s not forget the Warriors lost two home games in the first round to the Clippers who were one of the 4 worst teams in the entire playoffs. Golden State was just 10-17 ATS at home against winning teams this season while the Rockets were 11-10 ATS on the road against winning teams, and many of those games were as a chalk. Houston was a solid 19-11 SU when coming off a loss this season, 15-2 SU their last seventeen in that situation. The Rockets shot just 41.9% in Game 1 which was uncharacteristically low for them so expect a better night from the field here. Despite the poor shooting in Game 1, multiple technical at the end of the game and questionable non-calls, the Rockets still only lost by 4-points. Easy call here with the Rockets and the points.

ASA play on: Boston Celtics +7.5 over @ Milwaukee Bucks, Tuesday 8PM ET Game 2 – If you had the opportunity to read our NBA analytics article on predicting Champions based on efficiency numbers, you already know the Celtics were one of four teams that can win it all this year. Of course, the Bucks are also one of those four teams too and have the best combined efficiency numbers in the league. But in this scenario, we are backing the dog and grabbing the points with Boston. The Celtics have a top 10 team in both offensive and defensive efficiency on the road this year, with the 7th best point differential at +2.1PPG. When these same two teams met on this court in late February the Bucks were a 6-point favorite and barely won by a point, 98-97. Then in Game 1 of this series the Celtics put together a fantastic game plan to stop Giannis and force the other Bucks to beat them which simply didn’t happen. Boston took control in the 3rd quarter and never looked back in a 22-point win. The Milwaukee Bucks have the best home point differential in the league at +12.1PPG, rank 2nd in DEFF at home and 6th in OEFF. But we must temper those numbers a little as the Bucks played in a weak Central Division and own the 17th easiest schedule in the NBA. Milwaukee is nearly perfect this season when coming off a loss with a 21-1 SU record but that was during the regular season AND they can still win this game but asking them to do so by 8 or more is too much to ask. We all doubted the Celtics this season, but they seem to have figured out their rotations and have come together at the end of the season with wins in 11 of their last thirteen games. The Celtics may be the only team in the East that can match the Bucks depth and it clearly showed in Game 1 which was an easy C’s win. What makes Boston so dangerous is that if their best player, Irving, is off they have so many others that can step up and carry the scoring load. This will be another close game. Grab the points.

ASA play on: Portland Trailblazers +4 over @Denver Nuggets, 10:30pm ET – Denver is coming off a very tough series with San Antonio and now play just a few days after a dramatic Game 7 win. Portland has had extra rest off their series with OKC and the extra game planning will be a huge factor tonight. During the regular season the Nuggets were favorited by 6-points and 4.5-points at home in the two clashes with the Blazers so you can see for yourself we’ve lost a little value here. But that won’t deter us from playing on Portland as we feel the adjustment is justified. The Nuggets have some of the best efficiency numbers at home along with a +10PPG average differential but Portland was 8th in road differential at 0PPG which is 8th best in the NBA. So clearly the Blazers can play with anyone in the league when away from home, especially if the circumstances are right, which is the case tonight. Despite Denver’s fantastic home numbers they do allow opponents to shoot 44.7% on their home court which can be exploited by a solid shooting team like the Blazers, who just shot over 47% in three of five games against the Thunder and have made over 40% of their 3-point attempts in the playoffs. Portland is 16-5 ATS their last 21 games when playing with 3+ days of rest and we feel that will be a big key tonight. This goes down to the wire, grab the points!

ASA play on: Boston Celtics +7.5 over @ Milwaukee Bucks, Sunday 1PM ET Game 1 – If you had the opportunity to read our NBA analytics article on predicting Champions based on efficiency numbers, you already know the Celtics were one of four teams that can win it all this year. Of course, the Bucks are also one of those four teams too and have the best combined efficiency numbers in the league. But in this scenario, we are backing the dog and grabbing the points with Boston. The Celtics have a top 10 team in both offensive and defensive efficiency on the road this year, with the 7th best point differential at +2.1PPG. When these same two teams met on this court in late February the Bucks were a 6-point favorite and barely won by a point, 98-97. The Milwaukee Bucks have the best home point differential in the league at +12.1PPG, rank 2nd in DEFF at home and 6th in OEFF. But we must temper those numbers a little as the Bucks played in a weak Central Division and own the 17th easiest schedule in the NBA. We all started doubting the Celtics this season, but they seem to have figured out their rotations and have come together at the end of the season with wins in 10 of their last twelve games. The Celtics may be the only team in the East that can match the Bucks depth and we like their chances to keep this contest close throughout. Grab the points!

ASA play on: @Toronto Raptors -6 over Philadelphia 76ers, Saturday 7:30PM ET – Game 1 – Both teams come into this contest with similar recent results. Each team lost the opener of the series in round 1 then won 4 straight games to close out the series. The Raptors enjoy a solid home court advantage in this game as they finished the regular season with a 32-9 SU record and a +7.5-point per game differential which was 7th best in the NBA. Toronto was top 9 in the league at home in both offensive and defensive efficiency ratings and of their 32 home wins, 25 came by 6 or more points. Both Raptors wins at home over Philadelphia were by 11 and 17-points respectively. Conversely, the 76ers had disappointing numbers on the road this season with a negative differential of -2.7PPG which was in the bottom half of the league. Philly was 16th in OEFF ratings on the road and 17th in DEFF. The Sixers weren’t great as underdogs in this price range either this year with a 3-9 ATS record when getting 5 or more points this season. Let’s not forget, this isn’t the same Toronto team that was poorly coached in the post season and choked in the past. The veteran leadership of Leonard and Gasol has had a big impact on the rest of the roster and made this team a legitimate contender in the East. In our opinion, Philly is not in the conversation because of their home/road dichotomies. Play on the Raptors at home in Game 1.

ASA play on UNDER 233.5 Golden State Warriors @ LA Clippers, 10PM ET Friday – These two teams combined for a monster total in the last game with 250 total points with the Clippers winning 129-121. There were some abnormal numbers in that game including the Clippers making over 54% of their field goal attempts from the field and 38.2% from beyond the arc. On the season the Clippers were a solid shooting team at 47.1% but clearly their performance in the last game was above and beyond. Another factor to consider is this, the Warriors have the 3rd best field goal percentage D in the NBA. The same scenario played out in Game 3 of this series (in Los Angeles) when the Warriors shot a ridiculous 54.8% overall and 42.9% from the 3-point line. If the Warriors shot a more ‘normal’ percentage in that game, it has no chance to go Over the number. So, based on true statistics the two games in L.A. of this series should have both been Unders. The Warriors play slower on the road than they do at home this season and when they face good teams (winning percentage above .600) they have stayed below the total in 7 of their last nine games. Looking at the regular season meetings in L.A. and the two playoff games it certainly could be four straight Unders. The first clash went Over the total, but the two teams combined for 25-points in the OT session or that game stays Under. In January, on this court they totaled 206 and then the two playoff games with the one Over barely getting there with the Warriors shooting an unrealistic percentage. Easy call on the UNDER here!

ASA play on: San Antonio Spurs -3 over Denver Nuggets, 8PM ET Thursday – The Nuggets have rebounded in this series to take a 3-2 lead but it’s not over yet according to our math model. The Spurs have won 14 of the last fifteen meetings against the Nuggets on their home floor and with their backs against the wall they’ll find a way to win this game tonight. In Game 3 the Spurs were favored by -4.5 points and now the line has fluctuated down to minus -3 as of this writing. We are going against the Nuggets here for the same reason we’ve faded the Spurs a couple games in this series and that’s home/road dichotomies. Denver has a negative road differential of -2.6PPG this season which is 4th worst of all the playoff teams. They are outside the top half of the league in both offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency on the road this season compared to top 5in both at home. San Antonio had the 10th best home differential in the league at +6.8PPG and were top 9 in both OEFF and DEFF on their home court. A big reason why the Spurs have a solid point differential at home is their 3-point shooting in their building which is best in the NBA at 41.6%. The Nuggets are slightly better than league average in defending the 3-point line when away from home. San Antonio has been extremely good off a loss and playing at home with a 12-3 SU record this season. This series gets extended with a Spurs win by 7 or more.

ASA play on: Utah Jazz +8.5 over Houston Rockets, Wednesday 8PM ET – Game 5 - The money is clearly on the Rockets in this game with the vast majority of tickets and money siding with the Rockets. But based on the volume of wagering the line hasn’t moved as it should. That’s a clear indicator that smart money is on the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz finished the regular season on a blistering 30-11 SU run but public bettors have forgotten that after three straight Rockets wins to start this series. The 3-1 Houston lead in this series has led to tremendous value with the Jazz here in Game 5. The Rockets potential undoing this post season will be there defense which ranked 18th in DEFF on the season. Of all the playoff teams, only the Spurs and Clippers were worse. Utah on the other hand had the 2nd best defensive efficiency rating in the NBA this season and it showed in Game 3 and 4. In Game 3, even though they lost, the Jazz held the Rockets to 38.4% shooting and 104 points. In Game 4, the Jazz limited the Rockets to just 35.4% from the field and 91 points. Both those numbers are drastically lower than their season average of 44.8% and 111.1PPG. The Utah Jazz have been plus 8 or more points just two times this entire season which tells us exactly how good they are. We know how well the favorites are doing in the post season but the value on this game is just too good to overlook the dog. Play on the Utah Jazz plus the points.  

ASA play on: Denver Nuggets -5.5 over San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday 9:30PM ET –  San Antonio was just 16-25 SU away from home this season with a negative differential of minus -3.5PPG during the regular season. That was the 19th worst road point differential in the league and the largest margin of any team left in the playoffs. Now they face a Denver team that was 34-7 SU at home with the second-best average point differential of +10.6PPG during the regular season. In fact, of the Nuggets 34 home wins this regular season all but nine were by more than today’s spread. The home team has won 12 of fourteen in this series with the favorite covering 12 of the last eighteen meetings. San Antonio allows foes to shoot nearly 48% when they are the visiting team and gave up an average of 114PPG when on the road. That’s not a good recipe against a Nuggets team that shoots 48.5% at home and averages 114.1PPG. The Spurs home/road dichotomies is drastic and because of their recent poor play the Nuggets find themselves a very low favorite in Game 5, with a chance to take back the advantage in the series. San Antonio had one of the worst defensive efficiency ratings in the NBA when away from home while Denver was 6th at home in DEFF, 2nd in OEFF. Denver found their shooting touch in Game 2 at home and Game 4 in San Antonio. Popp had a great game plan in Game 1 and stole a win on this court. The Nuggets have adjusted and get this crucial home win tonight by double digits.  

ASA play OVER 219.5 Milwaukee Bucks @ Detroit Pistons, Game 4 Monday – The Bucks have flexed their muscle in this series and will look to move on to a series against the Celtics as soon as possible. Milwaukee has scored 121, 120 and 119 in the three games of this series.  In 7 of 12 quarters of this series the Bucks have scored 30+ points, including 3 of four in Game 3 and the only reason they didn’t score 30 in the 4th quarter is because they called off the dogs. Our math model predicts the Bucks getting to 120 again here and the Pistons topping 100. Detroit has scored 86, 99 and then 103 in the three games of this first round. The Pistons didn’t have leading score Blake Griffin for the first two games and he had an immediate impact in Game 3 with 27-points. The pace of play numbers also indicates a trend to a faster paced game as they two teams have attempted 182, 189 and 182 field goals in the three games of the series. Remember the league average for field goal attempts per game is 178. Four of the last five in this series has gone Over the total. The league average for total points scored per game during the regular season was 222 so this game essentially has to be ‘average’ to go Over the number. BET OVER!

ASA play on UNDER 223 Portland Trailblazers @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:30PM ET – This series is heating up and the rivalry between Westbrook and Lillard is blossoming into a classic one. In the first two games of this series the Thunder failed to reach 100 points but they ‘exploded’ for 120 in Game 3 back at home. OKC had shot 10 of 61 from beyond the arc in the first two games but then hit 15 of 29 in Game 3. Expect a return to normal today for the Thunder who shoot 45.3% at home this year, 36.1% from beyond the 3-point line. In Game 1 of this series these two teams attempted 179 total field goals. In Game 2 that number dipped to 176 and in Game 3 they combined for just 160 FG attempts. That trend will continue today but we don’t expect both teams to shoot as well as they did in Game 3 (Portland 47%, OKC 48%). Another abnormality was Game 3’s third quarter when these two teams combined for 80 total points. The Blazers got a huge game from Damian Lillard in Game 3 when he went off in the third quarter for 25-points. Portland doesn’t mind playing slower on the road as they ranked 19th in the league in pace of play when away from home. With less field goals attempts, a slower pace, much tighter defense and not as good shooting this game should stay well below the total.

ASA play on: Utah Jazz -2.5 over Houston Rockets, Saturday 10:30PM ET – Game 3 -  The money is clearly on the Rockets in this game with the vast majority of tickets and cash siding with the Rockets. But based on the volume of wagering the line hasn’t moved as it should. That’s a clear indicator that smart money is on the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz finished the regular season on a blistering 30-11 SU run but public bettors have forgotten that after two beat-downs in Games 1 & 2 of this series which has led to tremendous value with the Jazz. These two teams met on this floor in early February with the Jazz favored by -7-points and now they are laying several points less than that. Utah has also won 22 of their last 26 home contests and have the 5th best overall home point differential in the NBA at +7.9PPG. They were 14th in offensive efficiency ratings at home and 3rd in DEFF. Houston is one of three teams in the NBA right now that we feel can win it all this season (Milwaukee and Golden State) but this is clearly a ‘play against’ situation. Houston was 22-19 SU on the road in the regular season with a positive road differential of +2.4PPG. The Rockets potential undoing this post season will be there defense which ranks 15th in DEFF on the road this season. Houston was just 17-23-1 ATS on the road this year, 9-11 ATS against other playoff teams when on the road. Utah is on a 13-6 SU run at home against other playoff teams and ALL thirteen of those wins came by more than today’s spread! That means when they win this game, they also cover the short number. In a must win situation, at home, the Jazz get a big win!

ASA play on San Antonio Spurs -3 over Denver Nuggets, Thurs 9PM ET – The Spurs have outplayed the Nuggets in 6 of the eight quarters of this series and if it weren’t for a HUGE 4th quarter in Game #2 this series would be 2-0 Spurs instead of 1-1. We went against San Antonio in the first two games with one main reason backing our analytics and that is the difference in home/road dichotomies for the Spurs. San Antonio has really poor road numbers but also have some really good home statistics. SA was 32-9 SU at home this year with a positive differential of +6.8PPG which was 10th best in the NBA. The Spurs had the 7th best home efficiency numbers and the 9th best defensive efficiency numbers on their home court. At the end of the regular season when Popp was resting players and adjusting his rotations the Spurs went 0-5 ATS and that has influenced the betting number on this game. If we eliminate that 0-5 ATS run the Spurs were 24-12 ATS at home on the season. Denver has not been a profitable road spread team this season with the 3rd worst ATS record in the NBA at 17-24 and just 10-11 as a road dog. Those are not statistics you would expect of a 2 seed in the West. The Nuggets regular season road differential of -2.6PPG is one of the worst differentials of all the playoff teams (only Philly, Spurs and Pistons are worse). Denver is 17th in offensive efficiency on the road this season, 16th in defensive efficiency. The chalk has covered 11 of the last sixteen and we like the Spurs here to win by 8. Lay it.

ASA play on: Indiana Pacers +7.5 over Boston Celtics, 7PM ET – The Pacers had a HORRIBLE shooting night in Game #1. They were awful from beyond the arc, from the stripe and everywhere else on the floor. The Pacers scored just 8-points in the entire 3rd quarter when they went 2 of 19 from the field. That was an aberration as the Pacers are the 6th best shooting team in the NBA. Indiana had the 10th best road differential in the NBA this season at minus -1PPG and were 19-22 SU away from home this season. The Pacers were 12-5 SU this season when coming off a double-digit loss so expect a bounce back here. Boston underachieved all season long but played well in Game #1. But are you betting on the Celtics team you saw play all year long or the one that showed up in the opener? Boston was 28-13 SU at home in the regular season with a point differential of +6.8PPG. The C’s have just one spread win on their home court in their last nine home games and the betting numbers suggest the public is betting based on perception instead of reality. Going back to early January the Celtics have just 7 home wins by 8 or more points. These two teams are closer than the line suggests. Grab the points.

ASA play on: Denver Nuggets -6.5 over San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday 9PM ET –  San Antonio was just 16-25 SU away from home this season with a negative differential of minus -3.5PPG during the regular season. That was the 19th worst road point differential in the league and the largest margin of any team left in the playoffs. Now they face a Denver team that was 34-7 SU at home with the second-best average point differential of +10.6PPG during the regular season. In fact, of the Nuggets 34 home wins this season all but nine were by more than today’s spread. The home team has won 10  of eleven in this series with the favorite covering 10 of the last fifteen meetings. San Antonio allows foes to shoot nearly 48% when they are the visiting team and gave up an average of 114PPG when on the road. That’s not a good recipe against a Nuggets team that shoots 48.5% at home and averages 114.1PPG. The Spurs home/road dichotomies is drastic and because of their recent poor play the Nuggets find themselves a very low favorite in Game 2, off a loss, in a MUST WIN situation. San Antonio had one of the worst defensive efficiency ratings in the NBA when away from home while Denver was 6th at home in DEFF, 2nd in OEFF. Denver had a horrendous shooting night in Game 1 from beyond the arc and from the free throw line so expect a return to average tonight which leads to a double digit win.  

Play on the Milwaukee Bucks minus the points over the Detroit Pistons. The underdogs cashed in on Saturday with the lone exception being Golden State’s blowout win over the Clippers. This game is eerily like that one and we expect a blowout by the Bucks. There are essentially 4 teams that have a legitimate shot to win it all this year and the Bucks are one of the favorites. The same can’t be said about the Pistons who rate the worst team in the post season. The second worse according to our numbers is the Clippers. Did you know the Bucks were favored in 72 games this year, second only to the Golden State Warriors (75), of which the Bucks won 54 straight up. In their 60 wins this season, 45 were by double-digits! Milwaukee was 27-14 SU against all other playoff teams this season and two of those losses were in the last few games when they had solidified the best record in the NBA. They have the best average point differential in the league at +8.9PPG and the best home court differential at +12.1PPG. Detroit was 15-26 SU away this year with the 17th worst average differential of minus -3.1PPG.  The Bucks beat this Pistons team four times this season with the two home wins coming by 23-points each. The home crowd will be electric today for Milwaukee and the lead will be too big for a back door cover late.

ASA play on: Denver Nuggets -5.5 over San Antonio Spurs, Saturday 10:30PM ET – Let’s make sure we are clear on this. The 2019 Spurs are not the Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker version.  San Antonio was just 16-25 SU away from home this season with a negative differential of minus -3.5PPG. That was the 19th worst road point differential in the league and the largest margin of any team left in the playoffs. Now they face a Denver team that was 34-7 SU at home with the second-best average point differential of +10.6PPG. In fact, of the Nuggets 34 home wins this season all but nine were by more than today’s spread. The home team has won 10 straight in this series with the favorite covering 10 of the last fourteen meetings. San Antonio allows foes to shoot nearly 48% when they are the visiting team and gave up an average of 114PPG when on the road. That’s not a good recipe against a Nuggets team that shoots 48.5% at home and averages 114.1PPG. The Spurs home/road dichotomies is drastic and because of their recent poor play the Nuggets find themselves a very low favorite in this opener. Denver was recently favored by -4.5 points at home over the Spurs and beat them 113-85. San Antonio had one of the worst defensive efficiency ratings in the NBA when away from home while Denver was 6th at home in DEFF, 2nd in OEFF. This game will be blowout by the time the 4th quarter starts.

ASA play on: Portland Trailblazers -8 over Sacramento Kings, 10:30PM ET – We’ve won a lot of money this year playing on or against the Kings and will finish off the regular season with a wager against them tonight. Portland has a lot to play for tonight and the Kings do not. With a win the Blazers have a chance to secure the 3rd seed in the West. That would mean home court in the first round and avoiding a red-hot Utah Jazz team. The Blazers have won 7 straight at home and those wins have come by an average of 8PPG. Portland has the 3rd best overall home differential in the league this year at +8.5PPG and are the 2nd most efficient offensively at home. Sacramento has played especially well at home this season but not as well on the road. The Kings road point differential is a negative 3.7PPG which is 19th worse in the league. Portland will take advantage of a Sacramento D that is 21st in the NBA in road defensive efficiency allowing 1.128 points per possession. The Kings are just 2-7 SU their last nine on the road and have yet to face the Blazers in Portland this season. Typically, we would be concerned about lost line value here but look at the Kings three most recent road games against similar teams to the Blazers. At Utah the Kings were +10, at Spurs +10.5 and at Houston +10 so the line here is not out of whack. Portland was double-digit home favorites over the Grizzlies, Mavs and Suns recently who are worse than the Kings, but not by a whole lot. Easy call here with Portland at home minus the points!

ASA play on: @Utah Jazz -2.5 over Denver Nuggets, 9PM ET – The Jazz are a dangerous team right not and not someone I’d want to face in the playoffs. Utah has won 7 of their last eight games, with the lone loss a disappointing showing against the Lakers.  The Jazz have won 12 of their last fourteen home games, including 7 straight. Of their last seven home wins all but one has come by 9 or more points. On the season the Jazz have one of the best overall home point differentials in the NBA at +7.8PPG. For being one of the best teams in the league this year the Nuggets haven’t been great on the road. Denver has a negative point differential of -2.4PPG on the road this year with a 20-20 SU record. If we dig deeper, we find that the Nuggets are just 2-13 SU on the road their last 15 when facing a current playoff team. In other words, they don’t beat the leagues better teams when playing on the road. Utah has beaten the Nuggets on this court 5 straight times and all five have come by 6 or more points. Easy call with the Jazz tonight. 

ASA play on: OVER 216.5 NY Knicks @ Chicago Bulls, 8PM ET – There won’t be much defense played in this game so each team should put up points in a rematch from April 1st. These two teams squared off just a few days ago and put up 218 total points in Madison Square Garden. The Bulls shot over 44% as a team while the Knicks hit 50%. That’s not a surprise given just how bad both franchises have been on the defensive end of the court this season. Both allow over 1.13 points per possession which ranks them 25th (Bulls) and 27th (Knicks) in defensive efficiency rankings. The Bulls have been especially bad their last five games by allowing 1.195PPP and 117 points per game. The Knicks have had some poor offensive showings in their last ten games but 8 of their last ten have come against playoff caliber teams. When the Bulls have played at home this season their games have averaged just under 218PPG while the Knicks on the road have averaged just over 218PPG. These two teams have locked up their positioning for the lottery so there is no reason for them to not to try tonight, like they have done for the second half of the season. The Bulls have gone Over the number in 6 straight games when hosting a bad team like the Knicks with a winning percentage less than .400 on the road. Both teams are trending a little slower than their season pace but we feel there will still be enough opportunities here to get both teams in the 110 range. Bet OVER!

ASA play on: @Boston Celtics -4.5 over Orlando Magic, 7:30PM ET – Both teams have plenty to play for here as the Magic need a win to clinch a playoff spot in the East, while Boston is fighting for the 4th seed and home court in the first round. The Celtics look like they flipped the switch here recently and are rounding into the team everyone thought they’d be all season long. Reports are that head coach Stevens and Kyrie Irving are on the same page right now and it’s starting to show in the teams play. Boston has won three straight all against desperate teams like Orlando with wins over Miami (twice) and Indiana. Let’s look at today’s number and talk about value. The Celtics were just a 7-point favorite at home over Miami and Indiana at home. The C’s were favored by 1-point in Indiana who is the current 5th seed. Now they are laying this short number at home against the Magic. The reason the number is what it is, is because the Magic are playing well and desperate too. But are they playing well or is it the competition? Orlando is 9-2 SU their last eleven games but look at six of those W’s: Cleveland, Atlanta (twice), New Orleans, Memphis and New York who are some of the worst teams in the league.  Their only good win in that stretch of games came at home against Philly. They also recently lost at Toronto by 12-points who are like the Celtics. The last time these two teams met was in Orlando and the Celtics were favored by 7-points. Now they’re laying less than that at home. Orlando is 15-24 SU on the road with an average differential of minus -1.7PPG. Boston has the 8th best home point differential in the league at +7.2PPG. The C’s are a team that can win it all this year, the Magic are not. Lay the points!

ASA play on: Brooklyn Nets +7 over Milwaukee Bucks, 5PM ET – The thought process for this game is pretty straight forward. The Bucks literally have nothing left to play for with the best record in the NBA and home court throughout the playoffs. The Nets control their own destiny but need to win to get a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. We wouldn’t make this bet if we still didn’t have value in the number though and based on these teams recent meeting, we get it here. The Bucks were just favored by -1.5 points in Brooklyn earlier this week so the natural swing would have them -9 or -10 in this game. The line opened -8.5-points but dropped immediately to where it is now. That tells us one HUGE factor in this game. MVP Giannis won’t play. We know he wants too but the Bucks would be stupid to play him here, especially with a tender ankle. Milwaukee is already short handed with several starters and key contributors out with injuries so covering any kind of spread is going to be tough. Plus, the Bucks are off a big come from behind road win in Philly AND just beat this Nets team earlier in the week. Brooklyn in the way more desperate team here and worth a bet.

ASA play on: @Charlotte Hornets +5.5 over Toronto Raptors, 7PM ET – The Bucks win last night have assured Milwaukee the best record in the East and overall NBA so the Raptors main concern is being healthy going into the post season. Charlotte still has an outside shot at making the playoffs but essentially needs to win out and get help from other teams. These same two teams just met a few weeks ago and the Raptors were favored by 11.5 points at home. The Hornets won that game 115-114. As you can see the line adjustment here by the oddsmakers is too great. Based on that last game the Hornets should be a slight favorite here. Revenge doesn’t work here for Toronto as it’s a meaningless game to them. Charlotte has been very good at home this year with a 24-15 SU record and a home differential of +4PPG. The Hornets have won and covered two straight as a home dog as they recently beat Boston at home as a 4-point dog and San Antonio as a 4-point dog. Charlotte is also 4-1 SU at home their last five games and the one loss was by 4-points to Philly. Toronto has won 5 straight games, so their sense of urgency is not the same as it is for Charlotte. The value in the line is key here along with the team that is more desperate. Grab the points!

ASA play on: OVER 228 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Sacramento Kings, 10PM ET – These two teams clearly have nothing left to play for so expect a lack of effort on the defensive end of the court tonight. That means plenty of good opportunities on the offensive end of the court and lots of scoring here. These two teams have not been good defensively to begin with as the Kings rank 19th in the NBA in defensive efficiency while the Cavs are dead last. If we look at the last five games the Kings are allowing 1.233 points per possession (29th) while the Cavs are giving up 1.242PPP which is last. Obviously, this proves our point on how these defenses are trending with nothing to play for. Sacramento is allowing over 119PPG their last five games; the Cavs are giving up 122.6PPG. On the season the Cavs average 87.7 field goal attempts per game but in their last three games they are averaging 94 attempts per game which leads to more scoring here, especially against a Kings D that lacks motivation. Sacramento just played three games against playoff teams from the West but prior to that had played two games against teams similar to the Cavs (Pelicans, Mavericks) and those games finished with 239 and 246 total points. Expect a fast-paced game with plenty of great shot opportunities which leads to an EASY OVER!

ASA UNDER 238 Philadelphia 76ers @ Atlanta Hawks, 7:30PM ET – At first glance you might want to be the Over here, but the numbers support Under the total. These two teams just met in Philly and combined for 256 total points so Over bettors will want to go that route. The Sixers are without Embiid here and potentially Jimmy Butler too. Those two players combined for 52 points in the most recent meeting. That’s a ton of points the 76ers will have to replace on the offensive end of the court.  Atlanta is coming off a game in San Antonio last night which is significant as the Hawks games average just 224 total points per game when Atlanta is not rested. That’s dramatically lower than their season average of 231 total points per game. The Hawks offense has slowed in their last three games as they’ve scored 111, 122 (in regulation vs. the Bucks) and 98 points respectively. The 76ers are essentially locked into the 3rd seed in the East so It’s more important to get rest and stay healthy which means different rotations and unfamiliar lineups together on the floor. That adds up to less scoring. The Sixers also have Milwaukee on deck, so I doubt they’ll be 100% focused on Atlanta tonight, even though the Hawks recently beat them. Even if we look at basic season averages the Hawks games at home average 234 total points while Philly averages 227 on the road. Both numbers are much lower than the posted number tonight. When we crunch the numbers with our math model we project just 229 total points in this contest. BET UNDER!

ASA play OVER 219 Denver Nuggets @ Golden State Warriors, 10”30PM ET –A big factor in the number movement tonight is the pace of play as both teams are playing much slower than normal at this time. In their last five games the Warriors are currently 26th in pace, while Denver is 28th.  That pace of play has forced the oddsmaker to over-correct this total and the value clearly lies with the OVER. In fact, these same two teams met less than a month ago and the Total on that game was 235 which means nearly 15-points of adjustment? You’ve heard the term buy low and sell high which is exactly what we are doing tonight. In the game on March 8th these two teams combined for 227 points. Denver is coming off one of their worst offensive showings of the season and should rebound here with a much better showing. The Warriors defense isn’t what it has been in the past as they currently rank 15th in defensive efficiency allowing 1.10 points per possession. Offensively though the Warriors are the best in the NBA with an offensive efficiency at averages 1.161PPP and 117.7 points per game. Denver is a top 10 defensive team in the NBA but also the 5th best offensively when it comes to efficiency ratings. The Nuggets are shooting nearly 47% on the season as a team and average 111PPG. The value in the number is the key here and it also helps that 12 of the last sixteen meetings have gone Over the number. This game finishes with 228 or more points. BET OVER!

ASA play on: Portland Trailblazers -3.5 over Minnesota Timberwolves, 80PM ET – The Blazers are battling for the 3rd or 4th seed in the West and home court in the first round of the playoffs. Minnesota is gearing up for the offseason and a little R&R.  Portland lost a key piece to their team when center Nurkic was lost for the season due to a horrific leg injury but Enes Kanter was brought in as an insurance policy if something like this happened. Without Nurkic the Blazers still outrebound Detroit 68-52 in their last outing despite losing. Kanter delivered 20 points and 15 rebounds in 34 minutes for his first double-double since taking over the starting spot. Kanter isn’t Nurkic, but the dropoff isn’t as dramatic as you might think. Minnesota has their own injuries to worry about. The Wolves are without Rose, Teague, Gibson and Covington who are all major contributors. Portland had won 8 of nine games before a loss in Detroit and we expect a bounce back here. The Blazers are 18-9 SU off a loss this year and considering the low nature of this number we expect a SU and ATS win. Portland has some poor early season road numbers but have since improved to 9th in overall road differential at -.1PPG. Again, that’s marginal considering tonight’s circumstances. Portland is on a 10-3 ATS road run and we like them here against a team like Minnesota that has called it a season.

ASA play on: Indiana Pacers -5.5 over Detroit Pistons, 7PM ET – We like the line and money indicators early on here and feel the move on the line is to attract Piston’s backers. We won’t bite and will side with the more desperate Pacers at home off a loss at home. Both are fighting for seeding position in the East but the Pacers are in 5th right now, tied with Boston who holds the tie breaker over them. Despite how Detroit is currently playing, we can’t ignore their 14-24 SU road record or their -3.4PPG differential which was 19th worse in the NBA. Indiana has been fantastic at home this season with a 28-10 SU record and the 3rd best home point differential of +8.9PPG. Indiana played poorly in their last home game against the Magic and will bounce back here. The Pacers are 10-4 SU at home this year off a loss, 3-1 when at home and off a home loss. Earlier this season the Pacers beat the Pistons at home by 37 and we feel they win this game big again, especially considering the Pistons will be without Blake Griffin in this one.

ASA Washington Wizards +11 @ Denver Nuggets, 9PM ET – Washington is officially eliminated from the playoffs, but they continue to play hard with Bradley Beal leading the way. It certainly helps that a few newcomers from the trade deadline are still trying to impress coaches and management. The Wiz are coming off a game a few nights ago in Utah and took the Jazz to the wire before losing 124-128. If they bring that same energy tonight this will be another easy cover. These same two teams recently met in Washington with the Nuggets winning by 5-points. Denver is in a tough spot here as they are coming off two huge road games in Houston and at OKC and have MUCH bigger games on deck with Golden State and then San Antonio. The Nuggets are battling the Warriors for the #1 seed in the West, so they’ll get caught looking ahead to that game, especially since they recently beat this same Wizards team. Denver isn’t playing their best basketball of the season right now with an average negative differential of -6.4PPG in their last five games. Washington has covered 4 of the last five in the series and get another cover here. Grab the points.

ASA 10* play on: Detroit Pistons -5 over Portland Trailblazers, 7:00PM ET – These same two teams just met in Portland where the Blazers won by 5. Detroit was in the middles of a 5-game road trip while the Blazers had 2 days rest. Now the roles have flipped. The Pistons are home and rested, Portland is off a game last night and playing their 3rd game in four nights.  The Pistons recently played three of the best teams in the West on the road (Denver, Golden State and this Portland team) and lost all three by a combined 15 points. Prior to that road trip, the Pistons had won 9 straight home games with 4 of those nine victories coming against other playoff teams and they just beat another in the Magic. Detroit is 24-13 SU at home on the season with a +2.9-point differential. Portland had center Nurkic in their most recent win over Detroit, but he has since been lost for the season with a horrible leg injury. Without Nurkic and another starter McCollum the Blazers depth will be tested in this back-to-back situation. Detroit is playing with revenge and have done extremely well at home against teams with winning records (6-0 ATS run). Portland now 0-4 ATS streak when playing without rest. Lay the points!

ASA play on: UNDER 228.5 Golden State Warriors @ Minnesota Timberwolves, 8PM ET – Minnesota was in the top half of the league in scoring this season but in their last eight games they’ve averaged just 106PPG which is six full points less than their season average. The Wolves are an ‘average’ team in terms of pace of play at 100.1 possessions per game and they’ve shot just 43.5% their last five games. Scoring will be tough tonight against a Warriors team ramping up their defense for a run at another Championship. Golden State has allowed an average of 108PPG (3-points less than reg ssn) their last five games and held foes to just 43.2% shooting. The Warriors are the 10th fastest paced team in the NBA this season but in their last five games they are the 25th slowest. These two teams met just 10-days ago, and the Vegas number was 229.5 and the two teams combined for just 224 total points. The number on this game hasn’t been adjusted enough based on that previous outcome. Minnesota has a ton of injuries (Rose, Teague, Gibson and Covington) and the current roster just isn’t capable of scoring 115 here. Not that this matters much (we base our decisions on stats not trends) but these two teams have stayed below the Total in 25 of their last thirty three meetings.

ASA play on: Detroit Pistons -3 over Orlando Magic, 7:00PM ET – Orlando is off a HUGE win over Miami which vaulted them into 8th in the East and we expect a letdown here. In the game against the Heat, the Magic shot below 42% as a team but had a huge rebounding advantage over Miami. They won’t have that advantage here against a Pistons team that is 13th in the league in total rebounds. We laid -4.5 points the other night with the Heat who were 8th in the East at the time, so we’ll lay less points with a better Detroit team at home and off a few losses. The Pistons just played three of the best teams in the West (Denver, Golden State and Portland) and lost all three by a combined 15 points. Prior to their current road trip, the Pistons had won 9 straight home games with 4 of those nine victories coming against other playoff teams. Another indicator of line value here is the spread on two of those home games when they were favored by -1.5 points over the Raptors and -2.5 over the Pacers. Granted, the Magic are hot right now, but they’re not nearly as good as those two team but are in a similar price range. Orlando has won six in a row but four of those W’s came against Cleveland, Atlanta, New Orleans and Memphis. Orlando won 5 of their last six games at home and now travel to Detroit who is 23-13 SU at home on the season with a +2.9-point differential.  Prior to this current hot streak, the Magic had lost 4 straight on the road and are 2-5 SU their last seven away with all five losses coming by more than tonight’s spread.

ASA 10* play on: UNDER 230 Washington Wizards @ Phoenix Suns, 10PM ET – These two teams have nothing to play for and we feel it shows tonight, especially on the offensive end of the court. Even when we look at general, all season numbers we see the Wizards games averaged 231 total points per game while the Suns games averaged 223PPG. Washington has scored 108 or less points offensively in 4 of their last five games and 113 or less in all five if you exclude OT in the game against the Bulls. The main reason is a much slower pace of play in their last five games. During the rest of the season the Wiz were the 9th fastest paced team in the NBA but in their last five they are 23rd slowest. Washington is also the 8th worst offensive efficiency team in the league over that 5-game span. Phoenix has really dipped offensive of late as they’ve scored 103 or less points in 6 of their last seven games. Over a 5-game span the Suns have the worst offensive efficiency rating in the NBA as they score just 1.029 points per possession. Phoenix and their opponent have totaled more than 230 points in just 2 of their last twelve games. Washington and their foe have totaled 230 or more points in just 2 of their last eight games but one of those was an OT affair. Based on the math and current trending numbers this game finishes with just 218 total points. BET UNDER!

ASA play on: OVER Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 7PM ET – There was a big line move on this game as the opening total was quite a bit higher than the current number, but it wasn’t money that moved the line, it was injuries. The Celtics will sit Kyrie Irving tonight (maybe Tatum) but that shouldn’t have as big an impact on the move as it did. The reason being, the depth of the Celtics has proven to be a problem all season long as they simply have too many great players and not enough minutes to go around. Irving’s back up Rozier is a starter for at least half of the teams in the NBA. Cleveland is playing well right now and a lot of that has to do with two things. One, the return of Kevin Love who is coming off a 20-point, 19-rebound game on Sunday in Milwaukee.  Love has seven double-doubles in his 15 games since returning from a foot injury. Two, the emergence of Cavs rookie Collin Sexton. Sexton has scored 20+ points in 8 of his last nine games. The trending numbers that support our Over wager here are obvious. On the year, the Cavs are the 2nd slowest paced team in the NBA, 26th worst offensive efficiency team and last in defensive efficiency. But if you look at their most recent five games (with Love) they are playing the same tempo, but they are averaging 1.174 points per possession (9th) and are allowing 1.207 point per possession which is worse than their (worst) league average. In other words, scoring much more efficiently and allowing more points rather easily. Boston has similar trending numbers: 14th reg ssn in pace at 99.6, 7th last five games at 100.7. Offensive efficiency numbers are slightly lower their last five games but it’s a consistent number. Defensively is where the Celtics have struggled. On the season they are the 7th best defensive efficiency unit allowing just 1.078PPP but in their last five games they allow 1.175PPG which is 24th in the NBA. The Cavaliers have played two games against a Bucks team that is like the Celtics and Vegas posted numbers of 223 and 225.5 on those two contests. Boston has had 16 straight games where the Total has been 220 or higher. The value in the number is too great to pass on. Bet OVER!

ASA play on: UNDER 226 Brooklyn Nets @ Portland Trailblazers, 10PM ET – There are some indicators here that favor the Under as it pertains to public money and line fluctuation and we like what we are seeing. Brooklyn is coming off three straight games against teams from the West that like to play fast. The Kings are 2nd fastest, Lakers 3rd and Clippers are 8th in tempo in the NBA. That’s not the case with the Blazers that rank 18th in that category. That means the home team is going to dictate the style of play here. Recently when the Blazers have played two road games against similar teams to the Blazers the two games resulted in just 212 and 204 total points. In their last five games the Nets are shooting under 42% as a team but holding opponents to less that 44%. In their last five games the Nets and their opponents are averaging 222 total points. The Blazers in that same 5 game stretch are totaling 224 points. Portland prefers to play slower at home as they are the 10th slowest team when playing at home. In their most recent home game, the Blazers and Pistons combined for 229 total points, but the two teams attempted just 163 total field goal attempts which is 15 less than league average. The Nets are now on a 5-0 Under run when coming off a win while Portland is on an 8-1 Under run against teams with an above .500 record. These same two teams met in Brooklyn just over a month ago and combined for 212 total points. The bet here is UNDER!

ASA play on: UNDER 219.5 San Antonio Spurs @ Boston Celtics, 7:30PM ET – This game has meaning for both teams as the Celtics are battling for home court in the first round of the playoffs but currently sit 5th in the East. San Antonio sits safely in 8th in the West but are only a game out of 5th which would mean going to Portland instead of say Denver or Golden State. With plenty to play for we expect a defensive game which results in a lower total. We’re seeing the Spurs settling into playoff intensity as they’ve now gone Under the total in 8 of their last ten games. In their last six games the oddsmakers have adjusted their totals to 221 or less four times. San Antonio is 22nd in the league in pace of play on the season averaging 98.5 possessions per game. In their last five games the Spurs tempo has slowed even more to 96.8 possessions per game which is 5th slowest. Boston has also preferred to play slower all season long with the 17th slowest tempo in the NBA. The Celtics have the 6th best overall defensive efficiency rating for the season as they allow just 1.077 points per possession. The Spurs haven’t been great defensively on the season, but they have been their last five games allowing just 1.057PPG over that stretch of games. In their last three home games against similar teams from the Western Conference (Denver, Houston and Portland) the Celtics and those opponents have scored 219, 219 and 189 total points. When playing without rest this season the C’s games have averaged just 214.2PPG. After blowing an 18-point lead last night the Celtics will be much more focused on the defensive end of the court. The bet here is UNDER THE TOTAL!

ASA play on: #528 Portland Trailblazers -5 over Detroit Pistons, 10PM ET – First we’ll apologize for an abbreviated analysis today. The NCAA Tourney has us extremely busy. But rest assured we’ve done all the work as usual with our handicapping process but are limited with time for write ups. Both teams have plenty to play for as they battle for better position in their perspective conferences. We are aware of Detroit’s current 15-5 SU record but they haven’t been a good road team all season long with a 14-21 SU away mark. The Pistons road point differential of -3.2PPG is 16th in the league and a big reason why is their offensive struggles away from home (23rd in road OEFF ratings). Portland has been fantastic at home this season with a 27-9 SU record and an average differential of +8.2PPG which is 4th best in the league. They have the 2nd best offensive efficiency rating on their home court this season, averaging 1.170 points per possession. Taking a closer look at Detroit’s road results we see they’ve struggled against good teams on the road. Against playoff teams recently they lost at Miami by 34, Brooklyn by 28, San Antonio by 12, at Boston by 8 and at Utah by 6-points. Portland has had some impressive home wins lately against some of the best teams in the West and most recently beat a Pacers team at home by 8 who is rated better than the Pistons in the East. Even without McCollum we like the Blazers to get a double-digit home win here. Lay it!

ASA play on: #589/590 UNDER 218 Detroit Pistons @ Phoenix Suns, 10PM  - During the regular season the Pistons are the 4th slowest paced team in the NBA but in their last five games they are actually THE slowest paced at just 93.9 possessions per game. On the year the Pistons have the 11th best defensive efficiency rating while Phoenix is 29th or second to last. But the Suns have been much better defensively in their past five games allowing just 1.113 points per possession which is 15th best in the league. Detroit has really struggled to shoot the basketball of late as they are averaging below 40% their previous five games. In eight of their last ten games the Pistons have allowed 108 or less points to opponents. The Suns have allowed 111 or less in 5 of their last nine. The Pistons just allowed 126 points to the Cavs so their will be a concentrated effort to be much better on that end of the court. In fact, when the Pistons have allowed 125 or more points in a game, in their next contest the Under is 6-1. Phoenix has also played Under in 5 straight home games. The bet here is UNDER the total.

ASA play on: Washington Wizards -2.5 over Chicago Bulls, 8PM ET – Somebody in the Bulls front office needs to sit down head coach Jim Boylan and ask him what the hell he is doing? The Bulls currently sit a game and a half in front of the Cavs for a better chance at securing a better pick in this year’s draft. In any event, the Bulls return home off a 3-game road trip and are off a win in their previous game so expect a letdown here. Chicago has NO home court advantage as they own the worst point differential in the league on their home court of -8.7PPG. Chicago is the least efficient offensive team in the league at home and the 2nd worst in defensive efficiency. Granted the Wiz have been a horrible road team but they are still mathematically alive for the 8th seed in the East and have something to play for. Washington comes into this game off a loss and a horrendous shooting night by Bradley Beal so expect a concentrated effort here. Washington has won 3 of their last five games overall and are a healthier unit coming into this game. We like the added incentive of a few former Bulls (Portis and Parker) who were traded to the Wizards at the trade deadline, facing their previous team. Both have played much better since the deal and both were instrumental in a 9-point win here earlier this month. Take the better team with more to play for in this match up and lay the short number.

ASA play on: LA Clippers -4.5 over Indiana Pacers, 10:30PM ET – We’re not being stubborn here, we’re betting numbers and value, and the best value on the board today is the Clippers. Yes, we’ve lost with them twice in a row, but they had both games covered until very late in the game before the Bulls and Nets got back door covers. The Clippers are playing great right now and look like a tough out in the Western Conference playoffs this year. They have won 10 of their last 13 games, including 6-1 L7. In their last five games, which includes a loss, they have an average point differential of +4.4PPG. Those ten wins in this current run for the Clippers have come by an average of 12.1PPG and ALL but one of those victories were by more than tonight’s spread. The Pacers are in a tough spot here coming off a close loss in Portland last night, playing their 3rd in four nights (which includes a game in the higher altitude of Denver) and 4th game in six days. Their last three games have come against the much tougher Western Conference too. Both teams are fighting for a better seeding spot in their Conference, but the Clippers have been at home, are rested and should be focused off two straight close wins. The Pacers 22nd ranked road defensive efficiency unit catches up to them here against a Clippers offense that ranks 1st in efficiency their last five games.

ASA play UNDER 221 Denver Nuggets vs Boston Celtics, 7:30PM ET – With money and tickets coming in on the Over here, yet the line fluctuated down, we will bet Under here. The line was set higher than it should have been from the opener as the Celtics have played five straight higher scoring games. But those five games have come against the Hawks, Kings (twice), Lakers and Clippers who are all ranked top 10 in pace. The tempo tonight is going to be much slower as the Nuggets are the 5th slowest paced team in the NBA at 97.9 possessions per game. In their last five games the Nugs are playing even slower yet at just 94.5 possessions per game. Both teams are top ten in offensive efficiency but also top 11 in defensive efficiency. Prior to their most recent two home games against the fast-paced Kings and Hawks (1st and 2nd) the Celtics had played three straight Unders at home against Houston, Washington and Portland. Houston and Portland have some similar characteristics as Denver tonight. These two teams average fewer total points per game overall on the season, Denver averages 217 total points per game on the road while Boston averages 222 at home.  The Nuggets have stayed under in 6 straight road games against the good teams in the league with a winning percentage of .600 or better. When these same two teams met in early November the total was set at 209.5 so you can see for yourself the value with tonight’s number. BET UNDER!

ASA play on: LA Clippers -6 over Brooklyn Nets 9PM ET – We were counting the Clippers as a “winner” in their last game against the Bulls, as they were up 15-points late, but then let the backdoor cover happen. Count that as a lesson learned which won’t happen here against the Nets, especially with the smaller number. Prior to their two most recent games, the Clippers had won 5 games in a row by an average of 14PPG, and they’ve hit 6 of their last seven, all by a margin of more than today’s spread. The Clippers are 16th in home point differential at +3.4PPG, the 10th most efficient home offense but 23rd in home defensive efficiency ratings. LA has been good their past five games as they rank 7th in the league in average point differential (even with a loss in the mix) at +5.4PPG. They also have the best offensive efficiency numbers in that same 5-game span as they average 1.184 points per possession. The Nets are in a touch scheduling situation here as they played last night in Utah and will be playing their 3rd straight road game against a playoff team from the West. Brooklyn was a +7.5-point dog in OKC, plus 9 in Utah and those two teams are within two games of the Clippers in the West. The Nets lost both games by 12 and 16 points. Brooklyn is pretty much entrenched in the 6th – 8th seed in the East so this game isn’t as important to them. The Clippers on the other hand are just 2.5 games out of the 4th seed in the West which would be home court in the first round so they have way more to play for. Brooklyn is just 3-9 SU, 2-10 ATS when playing the second night of a back-to-back this season

ASA play on: #514 Denver Nuggets -7 over Indiana Pacers, 9PM ET – At first glance this line looks high considering the Pacers are a top 4 seed in the East and fighting for their playoff seeding lives. But Denver also has a lot to play for as they sit just one game behind the Warriors for the top overall record in the West. The Nuggets are one of a handful of teams that can win the NBA Championship and as they have 3rd best offensive efficiency numbers in the league and are 12th in DEFF. Their efficiency numbers at home are even better yet and they win on their home court by an average of 11.2PPG which is the second-best number in the league. The Pacers have some solid road efficiency numbers and an average road differential of -.3PPG which is 9th best but that clearly won’t get a cover today in Denver. When we evaluate the spread on this game, we can compare the Pacers last two road games in Philly and Milwaukee where they were +6 and +10 but got blown out in each. Denver is coming off a very close home win over a bad Dallas team which should serve as a wake-up call here. The Nuggets are 15-8 SU against the East this season and against comparable Eastern Conference teams at home they’ve beaten Philly by 16, Toronto by 8 and Boston by 9. They did lose to the Bucks at home, but Milwaukee is on another level. In usual fashion we will play contrarian here and go opposite of the money. BET DENVER MINUS!

ASA play on: UNDER 231 Golden State @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8:30PM ET – This is clearly the biggest game on the card today and a marquee matchup between two Titans in the Western Conference. The number set by Vegas is significantly higher than what our math model suggests which is not a huge surprise considering the two teams involved. This will be the third time these two teams are meeting this season and the first two clashes had Totals set of 220 and 223. Both games stayed Under those numbers with combined points of 208 and 218. These are two of the top 10 teams in terms of pace of play this season BUT in their last five games both are playing slower than season averages. That change in style has led to 6 straight Unders for Golden State and 8 of their last ten. Oklahoma State is on a 4 game Under run and have stayed below the Total in 8 of their last ten. Golden State has been a defensive juggernaut the past few seasons, but their defensive efficiency has dropped off significantly this season. Even with that dip though, they are 12th in the league in points allowed per game on the road this year. OKC has the 4th best defensive efficiency numbers in the league as they allow just 1.063 points per possession.  The Thunder’s last three home games have finished with 212, 194 and 204 total points being scored. Without scoring machine Kevin Durant in this game for the Warriors we expect to see a scoring dip for the Warriors (scored just 106 in Houston last game). The Under is 5-1 the last six meetings between these two teams on this floor, 17-5 Under the last 22. The bet here is UNDER!

ASA play on: LA Clippers -8.5 over Chicago Bulls, 10:30PM ET – We successfully played against the Clippers in their last game against the Blazers as they were in a tough scheduling situation. Now with rest, we expect them to return to the form that saw them win 5 games in a row by an average of 14PPG. Included in that five-game winning streak the Clippers beat a similar team to the Bulls, the Knicks, by 21-points when they were favored by 10. The Bulls were officially eliminated from the post season in their last game and it clearly looks like they’ve quit on the season. The Bulls are just 1-5 SU their last six games and the last three losses have come by 8, 23 and 16 points. Their most recent defeat was at home to the Lakers by 16 and the other LA team isn’t nearly as good as this one. Chicago has the 6th worst road point differential in the NBA at minus -7PPG, rank 28th in offensive efficiency on the road and 17th in road defensive efficiency. The Clippers are 16th in home point differential at +3.3PPG, the 10th most efficient home offense but 23rd in home defensive efficiency ratings. LA has been really good their past five games as they rank 2nd in the league in average point differential (even with a loss in the mix) at +8.2PPG. They also have the 2nd best offensive efficiency numbers in that same 5-game span. The Bulls have not covered a came in their last six road contests against a team with a winning percentage greater than .600 and will nothing to play for here, the Bulls get beat by double-digits. Lay the points with the Clippers.

ASA play on: Indiana Pacers -1 over Oklahoma City Thunder, 7PM ET – This isn’t a good spot for the Thunder as they are off a game last night and have a HUGE game on deck with the Warriors. OKC was lucky to cover last night as the Nets outplayed them for 85% of the game but didn’t get calls late. The Thunder took a lead with 6-minutes to play which then pushed to double-digits and eventually a cover. The Thunder starters logged big minutes last night and OKC’s depth is a concern playing back to back nights. Both teams are fighting for playoff positioning, but the Pacers situation is a little more desperate as they are just 2-3 SU their past five games. The Pacers have the 3rd best home point differential in the NBA at +8.7PPG which can be attributed to their #1 ranked defensive efficiency unit at home allowing just 1.015 points per possession. You can see for yourself the value in this line as the last time these two teams met in Oklahoma City, the Thunder were favored by 1-point. It looks very easy to take the Thunder on the road here as they are one of the best teams in the West but we’re not about to bet the way Vegas wants us to. Play Indiana at home minus the points.

ASA play on: UNDER 230 Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets, 9:30PM ET – We hope these same two teams meet in the Playoffs as it will be a fantastic series. In one of our more recent picks we talked about betting Houston right now to win the NBA Finals. The lessons learned from last season will have them ready and they’re as dynamic as any team in the NBA. Bet that Future wager before you lose all value. On to tonight’s bet. We don’t see these two teams reaching this O/U number tonight. The Rockets are one of the slowest paced teams in the NBA this season, the slowest in the NBA the past 5 games at just 95.2 possessions per game. Golden State is not as fast as most think ranking 10th overall in the league. In the most recent meeting these two teams combined to score exactly 230 total points in Golden State. When they last played in Houston though they totaled just 193 total points. Tonight’s game is going to have a playoff feel to it and last year in their 7 game playoff series these two teams AVERAGED 206PPG. Without Kevin Durant in the lineup the Warriors aren’t going to be their fluid offensive selves. Bet UNDER!

ASA play on: Brooklyn Nets +7 over Oklahoma City Thunder, 7PM ET – The public money has flowed in on the Thunder yet the oddsmakers are reluctant to move this line any higher than it is. That tells us they over-compensated on the Thunder from the get-go. Brooklyn has earned their spot in the East with a great second half of the season surge with a 27-15 SU streak since early January. Most recently the Nets have won 4 straight games overall and 3 of their last four on the road. OKC has hit a hiccup here in the final stretch of the regular season which has seen them go 4-6 SU their last ten games. Granted, the injury to Paul George certainly didn’t help. But the Thunder haven’t been their usual self at home with a 2-2 SU record their last four games but the two wins came by a combined 5-points. The Thunder home differential is +6.5PPG which is 9th best in the league. Brooklyn is around ‘average’ or 16th in the NBA with a road differential of -2.7PPG. The Nets differentials in their past five games are outstanding as they are +9.2PPG, have shot over 45% as a team and held foes to under 38% shooting which is fantastic. OKC has struggled shooting it of late as they’ve hit just 42.3% in their last five games. The Nets have covered 5 of the last six here and will grab the cash as a dog in this setting.

ASA play on: Portland Trailblazers -2 over LA Clippers, 10:30PM ET -  Let’s first address the fact that the Clippers are playing well and clearly haven’t quit since the trading deadline. It’s a testament to Doc Rivers and his staff keeping this team together and playing for each other. But we must fade them in this situation. The Clippers are coming off a blowout win over the Celtics last night and now face a stiff test against the Blazers. Portland has fallen from the 3rd seed in the West to the 5th (no home court in the first round) and have just a 2-game lead on the Clippers. Portland is just a half-game behind the Thunder for 4th in the Western Conference. The Blazers recently had a solid road trip going 6-2 SU with quality wins over playoff bound: Boston, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Charlotte who is currently 1.5 games out in the East. The Clippers have gotten two good wins at home in their last two games over Boston and OKC but prior to that their three most recent home wins were against the Knicks, Mavs and Suns who have a combined 56-145 SU record. Portland comes into this game with 2 days rest while the Clippers played last night so fatigue becomes a factor here. The Clippers are just 3-5 ATS as a dog in this price range while the Blazers are 7-4 ATS as a small favorite. The Trailblazers are 5-1 ATS the last six meetings and get a much-needed win tonight.

ASA play on: UNDER 226 Boston Celtics @ LA Clippers, 10:30PM ET – The betting markets came in with money on the Over here but the oddsmakers adjusted their number down, inviting more Over tickets. We will play contrarian and invest UNDER! The Clippers are 4-1 Under their last five games and those five games came against some of the fastest paced teams in the league. L.A. played OKC, LAL and Sacramento who are top 4 teams in the NBA when it comes to tempo. The Celtics come into this contest with the 18th slowest paced offensive in the league and that’s led to 6 Unders and just 1 Over in their last seven games. In their most recent game against the Lakers, the two teams combined for 227 Total points, but again that was versus a faster Lakers team that doesn’t play defense. The Celtics have the 5th best defensive efficiency rating in the NBA allowing just 1.067 points per possession. Boston has played 4 straight games against either fast paced or higher scoring teams and the highest output was 227. The Clippers have held their last five opponents to an average of 41.4% shooting and 108PPG. With both teams jockeying for playoff position we expect a tighter game than usual. BET UNDER!

ASA play on: UNDER 223 Detroit Pistons @ Brooklyn Nets, 7:30PM ET – The Pistons are the 26th slowest paced team on the season while Brooklyn is 11th fastest. Both teams are 17th or worse in offensive efficiency and both are 14th or better in defensive efficiency. So how do you assume they’ll score more than the league average in total points tonight? We don’t! If we look at how these teams have done recently, we find the Nets have the 7th most efficient defense in their last five games while Detroit is 10th best. The Pistons scoring is up dramatically their last five game but let’s factor in their schedule. They’ve played the Bulls twice; Minnesota and Cleveland and those teams are 27th or worse in defensive efficiency their last five games. The Pistons are on a strong Over run right now at 8-2 their last ten but examine what those numbers were that Vegas set. Seven of those eight Overs had totals of 222 or less, meaning an over-correction on tonight’s game, especially with Detroit coming off a game where they put up 131. Brooklyn is a team that plays fast against fast teams, slow against slower teams. In recent games when the Nets have played similar teams (Heat, Spurs) to the Pistons they’ve totaled 205 and 186 points. When Detroit is playing without rest this season those games have averaged 212.7PPG and that’s about where this one ends up. BET UNDER!

ASA play on: #511 Houston Rockets -9 over Dallas Mavericks, 7PM ET – We’re going to give you some added advice with this bet Sunday and that’s a future bet on the Rockets to win it all this season. Don’t wait to bet it either as you’ll steadily lose value as the season wears on. The Rockets are playing lights out right now with a 7-game winning streak as they climb the standings in the West. The Rockets have been impressive with three straight double-digit wins over three of the best teams in the East. They also have a 6-point win in Golden State in this stretch of games. So even though we are laying a premium price on this game as a 9-point road favorite it’s justified. The Mavs look like they’ve called it a season with four straight losses and just one win in their last ten games. In their last nine losses all but one has come by 10 or more points. The Mavericks have beaten the Rockets twice this season, so they won’t take them for granted here. Houston is 4-1 ATS their last five meetings in Dallas. Lay the point with the Rockets today!

ASA 10* play on: #574 Minnesota Timberwolves -7 over Washington Wizards, 8PM ET – Are you asking yourself, why are the T’Wolves favored by 7-points in this matchup? We feel the number isn’t high enough and our computer analytics predict a double-digit win by Minnesota. Despite a disappointing overall season, the Wolves are 21-10 SU at home with a +/- differential at home of +5.4PPG (12th in NBA). They have some solid home wins of late over OKC by 11, Sacramento by 7, Houston by 10, LA Clippers by 10 and a 1-point loss to Denver. The Wolves home/road dichotomies are drastically different which is why they are an attractive bet here. The other part of the equation here is Washington on the road and playing without rest on the road for the second consecutive night. The Wiz are 9-25 SU away from home this season with a +/- differential of MINUS -8.3PPG WHICH IS 4TH WORST in the NBA. The Wolves will put up plenty of points here against a Wizards defense that is 28th in the NBA in road shooting percentage defense against and last in the league in points allowed per game away from home at 119.1PPG. This is also a quick revenge game for the Wolves as they were just beat in Washington by the Wizards 135-121 earlier this month. Washington is just 2-8 ATS the last 10 here and it gets a loss worse after tonight. Lay it with Minnesota.

ASA play on: #555 Utah Jazz -4.5 over Memphis Grizzlies, 8PM ET – We are going contrarian here, as we like to do, and bet against the hot Grizzlies who have covered 3 straight. In fact, we just bet on Memphis the other night when they covered against Portland but let’s examine that game which has solid indicators for our bet against them here. Portland was wrapping up a brutal stretch of 7 road games and were favored by -5.5 at Memphis. The Blazers led by 16-points in the game but ran out of gas late and Memphis grabbed the upset home win. Now Utah comes into this game, who we rank higher in our metrics, laying less than Portland was the other night. Plus, Memphis is coming off a satisfying win over Portland and in for a letdown. Memphis 16-17 SU at home on the season with an average differential of plus + .1PPG which is 22nd worse in the NBA. Their home offensive efficiency numbers are awful as they average just 1.051 points per possession – last in the NBA! Utah is 16-16 SU on the road this year but they have the 7th best road differential in the NBA at plus +.7PPG. The Jazz shoot it well on the road this year with the 9th best road field goal percentage at 46.4%. The Jazz have recently beat a hot New Orleans team on the road by 10, won in Denver by 7, lost in OT by 1 at OKC (one of best home courts in NBA) and lost by 7 at Golden State. Now they step WAY down in talent to face a ‘fat’ Grizzlies team. Memphis is 2-3 SU their last five at home with the wins against Portland (tough spot) and the fading Lakers. They lost to Chicago, the Clippers by 6 and San Antonio. Utah wins this game by double digits!

ASA play on: #547 Indiana Pacers +10.5 over Milwaukee Bucks, 8PM ET. Well, we hit two more NBA plays last night which adds to our incredible NBA 84% winning streak of 21-4. It just goes to show how dialed in our math model is right now. Tonight, the numbers are crunched, and we like the double-digits with Indiana over Milwaukee. Yes, we are aware of the Bucks average point differential which is best in the NBA at +9.1PPG overall, +12.8PPG at home but this is not a good spot for them. Milwaukee has lost two straight, which hasn’t happened all season, and most bettors will look at this game and say it’s a ‘bounce’ back situation for a good team. But we are contrarian here and see another angle to this game which is fatigue and pressure is starting to get to a young Bucks team. The Bucks have shot under 39% in their last two games and now face a Pacers team that is 5th in the NBA in defensive FG% against at 44.8%. The numbers are starting to catch up to Milwaukee which is evident in their 1-3 ATS run as a home double-digit chalk. Speaking of double-digits, the Pacers haven’t been a dog of 10 or more points this season. Indiana has the 6th best road point differential in the NBA at +.8PPG with a 17-14 SU road record. The Bucks own the best defensive efficiency number in the league, but Indiana is second and more than capable of keeping this game close throughout. Grab the points with the Pacers!

ASA  play on: Denver Nuggets -5.5 over LA Lakers, 10:30PM ET – We’ve said this exact same thing the past two games that we’ve played against the Lakers, but the LeBron charade is pretty much over. He is solely responsible for the Lakers demise this season. He clearly doesn’t have the leadership skills to command the respect of his teammates and it’s always been a matter of time before his teams see through him. I’m not saying he’s not one of the most gifted players in the league as he is. But his ego has gotten the best of him and it’s infected the rest of the team, coaching staff and organization. And now that he’s quit playing hard for the season this team is obviously done. It’s been easy money betting against Los Angeles, so we’ll do it again. According to our rankings we have Denver as a top 5 team in the league with an offensive efficiency rating that is 3rd best in the league, a defensive efficiency that is 11th. Even on the road they have solid efficiency numbers ranking in the top half of the league in both OEFF and DEFF despite a .500 overall road record. The Nuggets have the 7th best point differential in the league right now in their past five games at +4.4PPG. The Lakers are in a free-fall with a 10-20 SU record their last 30 games, 1-5 their last six. Since the return of LeBron from injury the Lakers defense has been one of the worst in the league. In their last five games the Lakers are allowing 1.143 points per possession which is 22nd in the NBA and have a negative differential of minus -5PPG. Denver comes into this game having lost three straight and will play at a peak level against the high-profile Lakers. Denver by a dozen or more!

ASA play on: #532 Detroit Pistons -5 over Minnesota Timberwolves, 7PM ET – We like the situation here to bet the home team Pistons for several reasons.  Minnesota is coming off a high-profile game last night against a division rival the OKC Thunder and are also playing their 3rd game in four nights. This will also be the Wolves 4th road game in their last five, 6th in their last eight. The Wolves are just 2-7 SU when playing without rest with a negative differential of nearly 4PPG. The Wolves are all but officially eliminated from the post season as they are 6-games back with 19 to play.  Detroit on the other hand is rested, playing well and fighting for the 6th seed in the East. The 6th spot is critically important to the Pistons as that would mean a potential first round matchup with the Pacers (if the season ended today). Detroit is 8-2 SU their last ten games and have won 5 straight at home by an average of 12.2PPG. Included in those five W’s are victories over the Raptors, Pacers and Nuggets. Detroit is looking at three very winnable games in a row but need to get this win tonight first. The Wolves have the 10th worst road differential in the NBA at minus -5.1PPG and a big reason why is their road defense which is 27th in defensive efficiency ratings allowing 1.161 points per possession. The Pistons have covered 7 in a row against the T’Wolves, make it 8!

ASA play on: Memphis Grizzlies +6 over Portland Trailblazers, 8PM ET – If you’ve followed us for any length of time you know how much we like to be on the ‘uglies’ or contrarian Sides in the NBA. A general rule of thumb we’ve lived by for the past 30 years is to not be on the team Vegas wants you to bet. The Blazers look way too good to be true in this match-up, so we’ll take the ugly Grizzlies at home plus the points. Memphis has a defensive minded backcourt with Avery Bradley and Mike Conley that can defend or neutralize the Blazers strength, Lillard and McCollum. Granted, the Grizzlies had a different roster at the time but two months ago when these two teams met in Portland the Blazers were essentially favored by the same number as today’s game. I could argue the Grizzlies are a better team after the trade for Bradley and Valanciunas. Portland is fighting for a top 4 placement in the West and have a much bigger game on deck with Oklahoma City AND this will be their 7th straight road game so how focused are they? The Blazers have a losing road record this season and a negative differential of -1.7PPG which is 13th in the league. Memphis has a losing home record on the season, but their average differential is minus -.2PPG which clearly gets us a cover here.  Despite a disappointing season the Grizzlies still have the 6th best defensive efficiency rating in the NBA and they can keep this game close throughout. The obvious bet here is Portland…SO TAKE MEMPHIS!

ASA play on: LA CLIPPERS +4 over LA Lakers, 10:30PM ET – I wouldn’t bet the Lakers with someone else’s money right now. Since LeBron tried to orchestrate the trade for Anthony Davis the team has gone in the tank. The drama that follows LeBron everywhere he goes is a HUGE distraction and he’s just not a player that others want to follow. A lot of talk, but he doesn’t back it up. His playoff intensity has been embarrassing on the defensive end of the floor and he hasn’t inspired the younger players to another level.  In their last five games the Lakers have a negative differential of -6.6PPG, have allowed an average of 121PPG on 48.7% shooting by foes. Four of those last five games have come against non-playoff teams New Orleans twice, Phoenix and Memphis. The Clippers on the other hand made a big move at the trade deadline but have not given up on the season. The Clips have a positive differential their last five games of +.8PPG and three of those five games were on the road against playoff caliber teams in Sacramento, Utah and Denver. The Clippers have covered 4 straight in the series and they’re clearly the team that is still playing hard. Grab the points with the Clippers.

ASA play on: UNDER 225.5 Houston Rockets @ Boston Celtics, 3:30PM ET – This numbers opened slightly higher than it is right now and immediately the public bettors played Over while the Sharps bet Under. Surprisingly, the Rockets are the 3rd slowest paced team in the NBA at 97.9 possessions per game. Boston is the 13th slowest paced team at 99.3 possessions per game. That’s a great start for and Under bet with a Total that is higher than the league average of 222. The Rockets are 2nd in offensive efficiency this season while Boston is 10th but their scoring averages are 11th (Rockets) and 15th (Boston). The Celtics are 4th in scoring defense allowing just 106.6 points per game. Houston is 15th allowing just 111.2PPG. The Celtics are clearly gearing up for the post season and are deliberately playing slower and more conservative. In their last five games the Celts and opponents have averaged just 207PPG. Houston prefers to play lower and slower away from home as their road games have averaged 220 total points per contest. Boston will dictate the pace here and when they do that it leads to an Under. The Celtics are Under in 17 of their last twenty-two games against teams with a winning record. The line is inflated, and the value is on the Under.

ASA play on: #570 Utah Jazz -3.5 over Milwaukee Bucks, 9PM ET – Look at this number and tell me what your first instinct is. The Bucks as an underdog? Take the points! NOT US, we’re going contrarian here and taking the team Vegas doesn’t want us to bet, Utah! The Bucks have been red hot with a 20-2 SU streak but this is not a good spot as they are coming off a big showcase win over the Lakers last night and will letdown here. Milwaukee used a 15-2 run to close the game last night (thankfully as we had the Bucks) and expended a ton of energy to get that W. As impressive as the Bucks run has been the Jazz have been nearly as good. Utah is 17-6 SU their last 23 games and are coming off a big win a few nights back over Denver. We’re comfortable with the spread on this game as the Jazz have been favored at home by similar numbers over the better teams in the West. The Jazz are 21-6 SU the last 27 clashes with the Bucks and have COVERED 15 of the last sixteen meetings in Utah. The Jazz have the 9th best home point differential in the NBA at +6.7PPG and that comes against a tougher schedule in the West. We’ll finish with this. Why are the Bucks, who have the best record in the NBA, this big of an underdog against the 6th seed in the West? Because they’re going to win this game by 8 or more!

ASA play on: Milwaukee Bucks -4.5 over LA Lakers, 10:30PM ET – This is an interesting matchup from our perspective as we just won a wager against the Bucks on Wednesday and also won betting on the Lakers. Tonight, we have a great combination wager with an investment on the Bucks minus the points, and a play against Los Angeles. The Bucks were up 13 at the end of the 3rd and led by as many as 17 at one point over the Kings. Sacramento forced OT but the Bucks held on for the 1-point win. This is a much bigger game with a marquee showdown against LeBron and the Lakers so don’t expect a letup in this one. Milwaukee is 22-9 SU on the road this season with the second-best average point differential in the league at +6.4PPG. The Bucks were just favored by -6.5 points in Sacramento who is better than this Lakers team, yet the line is lower. We weren’t impressed with the Lakers win over the Pelicans the other night. LeBron and his lip service talked about flipping the switch on his playoff intensity and playing with a sense of urgency but he’s not living up to the talk. Sure, he’s put up impressive offensive numbers, but his defense is horrendous and it’s obvious to see he’s lost the team and their confidence. The entire team lacked the urgency LBJ talked about in a revenge game against the Pelicans, at home, off a couple bad losses AND with a limited Anthony Davis’s role. If they don’t show up for that game, they won’t show up here. L.A. has the 22nd worst home point differential in the NBA at plus .8PPG and are just 18-12 SU in the Forum. When it comes to efficiency these two teams aren’t close. The Bucks are 4th in OEFF compared to the Lakers 21st ranking. Defensively the Bucks are 1st in DEFF while the Lakers are 12th and falling. Los Angeles played a very weak schedule prior to the break and we’re finding out just how bad this team is now that the level of competition has gone up. The Bucks by a dozen.

ASA play on: @Sacramento Kings -3 vs LA Clippers, 10PM ET – The Kings have been very good to us this season and continue to be under-valued by the oddsmakers. Sacramento is making a push for a playoff spot and the young talent of Bagley (out tonight), Fox and Hield are starting to pay dividends for their draft status. The Kings are just 1-4 SU their last five games which is why we are getting tremendous value tonight but look at who they’ve played. Sacramento has played arguably 4 of the five best teams in the league in this current stretch. They lost by 4 combined point IN Golden State and Denver, won in OKC and then just lost by 1-point to the Bucks at home the other night in over-time. Now they step way down in talent against a Clippers team that narrowly leads them in the West for the 8th and final playoff spot. The Kings have not had good success against the Clippers in recent years but these are not the same rosters. Sacramento is 100% or perfect 7-0 ATS when favored by -3.5 or less points this season (under-valued by the oddsmakers). The Clippers traded away their leading scorer in Tobias Harris and looked as it they were going to tank the rest of the season for a better draft status but they then won 3 of five games. Looking closer we see those wins came against Phoenix, Memphis and Dallas who are a combined 63-123 SU. Based on the efficiency differentials we calculate the Kings winning by 9 in this contest. Lay it!

ASA play on: #530 Indiana Pacers -3 over Minnesota Timberwolves, 7PM ET – Both teams are coming off road games last night but we like one of the best teams in the East to rebound at home with a better effort, than a Wolves team on the road again and playing out the string. Minnesota has been bad all season on the road and currently have the 7th worst road record in the NBA at 9-22 SU with an average differential of -4.7PPG (20th in NBA). When playing without rest this season the Wolves are 2-6 SU with an average differential of -3.2PPG. Indiana has the 3rd best home point differential in the league this season at plus +9.3PPG which ties in nicely to their 23-8 SU home record. The Pacers are also 8-3 SU/ATS when playing without rest this season. Karl Anthony Towns had a monster game last night in their OT loss in Atlanta with 35 points and 18 rebounds, but he’ll have a very hard time duplicating those numbers against the defensive minded center for Indiana, Miles Turner. The Wolves have just 1 road win in their last seven away from home and that came against the lowly Knicks. The Pacers on the other hand are 12-3 SU their last 15 at home and the three losses came to the Bucks, Warriors and 76ers. Of those 12 wins only ONE came by less than 8-points and ALL twelve came by 4 or more points. With the 76ers nipping at the Pacers heels in the East we like them to get this home win by 8 or more.

ASA play on: #526 LA Lakers -5.5 over New Orleans Pelicans, 10:30PM ET – If you’ve read our opinions on LeBron and the Lakers you clearly know where we stand on this subject. I personally feel LeBron is a fraud and all this drama this season surrounding the trade deadline was caused by him (and his agent). He knew what the roster was going into the season but was more concerned at that time about the glitz and glam of Hollywood. You make your bed, you must sleep in it. But that’s a side point and I got distracted. When it comes to investing, we put all of that aside though as it’s about the Benjamins and how many we can take from the Books. We are betting the Lakers show up tonight as this game is on national TV and the Pelicans just beat them the other night which helped escalate all the talk in the media. The Lakers were JUST FAVORED by -6.5-points IN NEW ORLEANS and now are laying less than that here? So, what you’re telling me is that the Lakers just got 10-points worse in 5 days? Yeah, no way. The Pelicans are just 9-23 SU on the road this year with a negative differential of -1.8PPG. Digging deeper we find the Pels are just 4-15 SU, 7-12 ATS versus the Western Conference. The Lakers most recent home game was a 5-point win over Houston so asking them to cover this number is not too much to ask for. With Anthony Davis having a limited role for New Orleans it only adds to our confidence in our wager as we know they won’t jeopardize his trade value by playing him late in this contest. The Lakers get revenge here and win by double-digits!

ASA play on: #526 Sacramento Kings +6.5 over Milwaukee Bucks, 10PM ET – The Sacramento Kings have been VERY good to us this season as we’ve won nearly every time we’ve bet on or against them. The Bucks continue to hold the best record in the NBA at 46-14 SU and the public has taken notice. Most of the tickets and money tonight has been bet on the Bucks. That’s perfect for us as it gives us added value with the up-and-coming Kings.  Milwaukee is 14-6 SU against the West this season but just 10-10 ATS which tells us they haven’t been good versus the West as a favorite. The East has improved dramatically but the West is still deeper from top to bottom. Proof of that is Sacramento’s 14-5-1 ATS record (14-6 SU) against the East and they are currently 9th in the West. The Kings recently played 3 games against three of the best teams in the West on the road. They lost to the Warriors by 2, Denver by 2 and beat the Thunder. They return home off a road loss, facing a public team like Milwaukee which will have their full attention. The Bucks have a solid +6.6 points per game road differential this season, but that number is inflated by some blowout road wins over the weaker teams in the East (+14PPG in 6 games against the likes of Chicago, Washington, Orlando, Atlanta, New York and Cleveland). Sacramento is 9-1 SU their last ten home games, prior to that they were home dogs to Golden State and Denver, and they lost both by just 4-points each. This is an easy call with the young Sacramento Kings at home.

ASA play on: #568 Miami Heat -8.5 over Phoenix Suns, 7:30PM ET – The Suns are obviously one of the teams currently in the NBA that are “not tryin for Zion”. Phoenix has lost 17 straight games and 24 of their last 26. They have some ugly road losses in that stretch too. In their two most recent road games they’ve lost to the Hawks by 8 and the Cavs by 13 who are two of the other worst teams in the league. The last time the Suns won a road game was back on December 26th in Orlando and 11 of their last fourteen road beats has come by 8 or more points. The Heat are fighting for their playoff lives and currently sit a game-and-a-half behind Charlotte for the 8th and final spot. Miami has lost two straight with the most recent being an upset at home to a hot Detroit team, so I expect them to bounce back here. Phoenix has an average differential on the road of -13PPG which is the worst number in the NBA and if the Heat can’t beat the Suns at home by double-digits who can they beat that badly at home? We will go contrarian here and lay the points with Miami when most will stay away from this bet.

ASA play on: #555 Orlando Magic +9.5 @ Toronto Raptors, 3:35PM ET – This is a great spot to play on the Magic and against the Raptors. Orlando went into the All-Star break on a solid streak by winning 5 straight games and 7 of their last eight games overall. They then came out of the break and were upset by the Bulls as an 8-point chalk. That will have them refocused here in Toronto. The Raptors may not be dialed in here today for the following reasons. One, they are coming off a huge home win versus the Spurs which was DeRozan’s first game back in Toronto, along with Leonard facing his former team. Two, the Raptors have a HUGE game on deck against Boston. Three, the Raptors beat the Magic by 29-points earlier this year so it will be easy to overlook them. In their last eight road games the Magic’s largest negative differential was -10-points in OKC. Their other road losses have come by 5, 4 and 5-points. The Raptors have one of the best home records in the NBA at 25-5 SU with a +8.1-point differential but clearly that differential won’t get the cover here. Toronto is just 8-15 ATS when laying 9 or more points this season. Grab the generous points and Orlando in this game.

ASA 10* play on: Sacramento Kings +6 @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8PM ET – The Kings have been very good to us this season and continue to be under-valued by the oddsmakers (35-23 ATS). Sacramento is making a push for a playoff spot and the young talent of Bagley, Fox and Hield are starting to pay dividends for their draft status. The Kings and Thunder have similar numbers offensively when it comes to efficiency ratings, but OKC is quite a bit better in offensive efficiency. Sacramento makes up for their lack of efficiency on offense by playing fast (4th) and score 113.6PPG which is 9th in the NBA. The Kings defense has been much better of late as they’ve held their last five foes to just over 44% shooting and that includes two games against the other two best teams in the West, Denver and Golden Stage. The same can’t be said for Oklahoma City who has allowed opponents to hit nearly 47% of their attempts in their last five.  The Kings were recently a 7-point dog in Denver (who we rate better than OKC) and lost by just 2 points. Sacramento was just +12 in Golden State and took the Warriors to the wire, losing by just 2. The Kings last four road games have been decided by 2, 2, 4 and a 3-point win. OKC is coming off a double OT game last night versus Utah which saw Westbrook play 42+ minutes, George 50+, Adams 47+. The Thunder were a 4-point favorite last night and their isn’t much difference between the Kings and Jazz currently. The Kings 6-1 ATS steak versus the Thunder improves by a ‘W’ tonight. Grab the points!

ASA NBA play on: #529 Utah Jazz +4 over Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:35PM ET – The Jazz knocked the Thunder out of the playoffs last season and OKC has gotten their revenge on Utah twice already this season. With this being the 3rd meeting of the season that ‘revenge’ angle has worn off. Last night we liked Boston and the points over Milwaukee because of the edge with a good coach and extra time to prepare which is much like tonight’s contest with Quin Snyder and the Jazz. Utah is one of the better road teams in the NBA with a 14-15 SU record and a differential of +.2 which is 7th best in the league. They have been especially good off a loss with a 15-9 SU record, 14-3 ATS their last seventeen in that situation. Overall, as a dog in this price range the Jazz are 7-4 ATS this season. Oklahoma is clearly a team that could come out of the West (as is Utah) and they’ve been red hot of late with a 12-2 SU run, but only five of those wins have come against teams with an above .500 record. The line on this game is very inviting to bet OKC which has a ton of public money and tickets, so we’ll obviously bet the other way. Take Utah plus the points!

ASA play on: #507 Boston Celtics +5.5 over Milwaukee Bucks, 8PM ET – It’s do-or-die time for the Celtics who sit 4th in the East but are tied with Philly. Clearly the top 4 spots in the conference get home court in the first round which makes this final stretch of the regular season critical. Boston has had their issues on the road against good teams, but they do have a positive road differential of +2.8PPG which is the 5th best number in the NBA. The C’s come into this game having won 12 of their last fifteen games and have only been a road dog of 5 or more points just two times this year. We are not over-looking Milwaukee’s 14-2 SU run or their home point differential, but the situation clearly favors the dog here. Boston has the best coach in the game in our opinion and with the added rest and lack of distractions from the All-Star game he’ll have the perfect game plan for this game tonight. Boston has covered 9 of the last twelve meetings with the Bucks and they’ll keep this close throughout and I’m not surprised if they win outright.

ASA 10* NBA PLAY ON Sacramento +7.5 over Denver, Wednesday at 9:05 PM ET

The Kings have been very good to us this season and continue to be under-valued by the oddsmakers. Sacramento is making a push for a playoff spot and the young talent of Bagley, Fox and Hield are starting to pay dividends for their draft status. The Kings and Nuggets have similar numbers defensive when it comes to efficiency ratings, but Denver is quite a bit better in offensive efficiency. Sacramento makes up for their lack of efficiency on offense by playing fast (4th). Denver had lost 3 in a row on a road trip then came home and caught the Heat in a perfect letdown situation the other night for a solid home win. The Kings defense has been much better of late as they’ve held their last five foes to just over 43% shooting. The same can’t be said for Denver who has allowed opponents to hit over 48% of their attempts in their last five. Sacramento hasn’t had much success in Denver, but they are a completely different team right now playing with confidence. Grab the generous points with the Kings who will keep this close throughout.

ASA play on: #568 Denver Nuggets -9.5 over Miami Heat, 9PM ET – From a scheduling standpoint you couldn’t ask for a better situation to play on Denver and against Miami. The Heat are off a demoralizing loss at Golden State yesterday, playing tonight without rest in the higher altitude and this is their 3rd game in four nights. Denver on the other hand just suffered a 3-game road losing streak and saw their lead over OKC for the second spot in the West shrink to just 1 game and now trail Golden State by 3.  Denver has the leagues best home record of 23-4 SU and the second-best home differential of 12PPG. Prior to beating Portland on this current road trip, the Heat were 9-6 SU their last fifteen on the road which accounts for a solid road point differential (+.4), BUT only one of those nine wins came against teams with a current winning record (Clippers). On the season the Heat have just three total road wins over teams with an above .500 record right now. Miami is 4-3 SU when playing the second night of a back to back but this situation is different considering what they are coming off and where they play tonight. Miami was just +13.5 points at Golden State and +7 in Portland so you can see for yourself this line is too low based previous spreads. Denver is nearly equal to Golden State and we feel this line should be -11.5 or -12 at the very least. In fact, the Nuggets were recently -10 against Philly at home and are laying less here. The Nugs are on a 20-8 spread run at home and have covered 4 of their last five versus teams with winning road records. The bet here is clearly Denver!

ASA 10* play on: Sacramento Kings -3 over Miami Heat, 10PM ET – The Kings have been very good to us this season and we’re not about to abandon them in this situation. Sacramento had won 3 straight at home against Atlanta, Philly and San Antonio before a blowout loss to the Rockets on Wednesday. In other words, two quality wins over playoff teams in the 76ers and Spurs. The letdown game against the Rockets is excusable as the players were dealing with rumors of potential trades, along with a big win over the Spurs in the previous game. Now they are home, off a bad loss against an average team from the East (West has dominated the East overall this season).  Miami meanwhile is coming off a big upset win in Portland as a 7-point underdog. Prior to that win the Heat were 9-6 SU their last fifteen on the road which accounts for a solid road point differential, BUT only one of those nine wins came against teams with a current winning record (Clippers). On the season the Heat have just three total road wins over teams with an above .500 record right now. Sacramento is 7-1 SU their last eight at home and 10-4 SU their last fourteen with the four losses coming against the best teams in the West (Warriors, Nuggets, Blazers and Rockets).  Easy call here with the Kings at home minus the short number.

ASA play on: OVER 230 Washington Wizards @ Milwaukee Bucks, 8PM ET – This will be the third meeting of the season between these two teams with one game staying Under the total with 219 points, the most recent finished Over with 246 total points. Washington’s defense has been atrocious of late allowing 130 or more points in three of their last five games. Overall the Wizards D (or lack of) is 25th in the NBA in defensive efficiency ratings allowing 1.129 points per possession. The Bucks have the best overall DEFF in the NBA at just 1.037PPP. But this game goes Over the total because both teams want to play fast. The Bucks are the 5th fastest paced team in the NBA at 102.9 possessions per game, while the Wizards are the 8th fastest at 101.2. Milwaukee is the 2nd highest scoring team in the league at 117.2PPG while the Wiz are 9th at 113.1PPG. We can easily see the Bucks getting to the 130 range here which means the Wizards have to essentially top 100.  Bet the OVER!

ASA play on: #542 Sacramento Kings +2 over San Antonio Spurs, 10PM ET – We’ve won a lot this year playing on the Kings and will add to your bankroll with another wager on them tonight. Sacramento is a young, fun and exciting team on the rise in the NBA this season. The Kings sit 9th in the West and are just 1-game behind the Clippers for the 8th and final playoff spot. Sacramento is 16-10 SU at home on the season and have won 6 straight on their own floor. Prior to the 6-game home winning streak they had lost two games to the Warriors and Nuggets (arguably the 2 best teams in the NBA) by 4-point each. Now they face a Spurs team that is just 10-15 SU on the road this season with a negative differential of minus -2.4PPG which is right around the league average. Not to mention, that most of the Spurs 10 road wins have come against teams in the bottom half of the league. In fact, only 3 of the Spurs 10 road wins came against teams with winning overall records. San Antonio is just 4-3 ATS as a small favorite in this price range, the Kings are 6-3 ATS as a small dog in this price range. Sacramento keeps the positive momentum rolling after a big home win over the 76ers on Saturday with another home win here. Take Sacramento!

ASA 10* play on: OVER 234 Philadelphia 76ers @ Sacramento Kings, 10:00PM ET – We get two of the fastest paced teams in the NBA in this matchup with the 76ers averaging 101.8 possessions per game (7th) while the Kings are 2nd at 103.4 possessions per contest. That means we get an up-and-down affair with two teams that want to transition. The Kings average 21.4PPG fastbreak points per game (1st) while the 76ers average 15.5 (9th) fastbreak points per game. The 76ers are better defensively, ranking 11th in defensive efficiency but the Kings are 21st. This will be a sneaky great game tonight that will end with 240 or more total points. BET OVER!

ASA play on: UNDER 215.5 Boston Celtics @ NY Knicks, 7:35PM ET – The Knicks just made their blockbuster move by trading Porzingis to the Mavs to free up cap space for next summer’s free agents.  That deal will have an impact on tonight’s game as New York loses 35PPG with Tim Hardaway Jr, Trey Burke and Courtney Lee also leaving for Dallas. The Knicks won’t have DeAndre Jordan tonight and newly acquired Wes Matthews and Dennis Smith Jr are questionable. Even if they do play how acclimated will they be to the Knicks offense and other players? New York is already the 4th least efficient offense in the NBA this year and they average just 1.058 points per possession. The Knicks are 12th in pace of play but again, they don’t score a lot of points because they are not efficient. Boston is 20th in tempo or pace by averaging 99.3 possessions per game. They have the 4th best defensive efficiency numbers in the league by allowing just 1.056PPP. Boston has a much bigger game on deck against the Thunder so don’t expect them to be interested in playing an up-and-down affair against the lowly Knicks. The Celtics are 5-2 Under their last five road outings against teams with worse than .400. The Knicks are on a 5-0 overall Under run, 5-0 Under versus the East their last five.

ASA play on: UNDER Utah Jazz @ Portland Trailblazers, 10:30PM ET – This will be the fourth and final meeting of the regular season for these two teams and the first three meetings all finished with less points than tonight’s Total. Those games finished with 213, 213 and 210 total points. Tonight’s game has all the feel of a playoff like atmosphere with these two teams jockeying for position in the West. Granted, scoring is way up this year in the NBA but in the last ten meetings these two teams have not combined for more than 215 total points and that game was an over-time affair. Portland has recently played in some higher scoring games but those came against some of the fastest paced teams in the NBA. That’s not the case tonight as these two teams are both in the bottom half of the NBA when it comes to tempo or pace. Portland’s overall strength is their offense but defense is Utah’s strength so those essentially cancel each other out. The Blazers recent trend is Under when playing a team with an above .500 record with a 5-0 run. The Jazz have that exact same record of 5-0 Under when playing a winning team too. The numbers all point towards a lower scoring game here in the 210 range. BET UNDER!

ASA play on: Detroit Pistons +8 over Milwaukee Bucks, 7PM ET – The Bucks are coming off a loss in Oklahoma City and haven’t lost two consecutive games this season. BUT they must win this game by 8 or more points, and we don’t think they’ll do that. Let’s talk about value here first. The Bucks hosted the Pistons on January 1st and were -10 points at home. In mid-December the Bucks were a -3-point favorite in Detroit and won 107-104. You can see for yourself the over-adjustment the oddsmakers have made on tonight’s number. Milwaukee also has a MUCH bigger game on deck in Toronto and may get caught looking past a team they just beat by 23 a few weeks ago. Detroit is well rested here with their last game being on January 25th in Dallas. They are 21-27 SU on the season and It’s becoming a dire situation if they want to make the playoffs this season. Of their 27 losses this season, fourteen have come by 8 or less points. They have an overall negative differential of -2.6PPG on the season, +.1 at home. The Bucks have failed to cover 4 straight games which is a sign the lines are catching up to them. The Pistons are the play here and they will get their 7th cover in their last nine games.

ASA play on: OVER 231.5 Atlanta Hawks vs L.A. Clippers, 10:30PM ET – We used Under on the Clippers game yesterday and either pushed or won that wager but will flip here and play OVER tonight against the Hawks. Atlanta is one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA this season, allowing 1.124 points per possession which is 24th in the NBA. The Clippers aren’t much better as they give up 1.111PPP which ranks 22nd. The Hawks have given up 120 or more points in 5 of their last seven contests. Atlanta is the fastest paced team in the NBA and they’ll look to play up-tempo tonight against the Clippers who are playing the second night of a back-to-back. When in this scheduling situation (playing without rest) the Clippers are 6-2 to the Over and those games have averaged 236 total points per game. When playing at home the Clippers games have averaged 225 total points per game and now, they face the fastest paced team that doesn’t play defense. L.A. is also a top 10 team in terms of tempo, so they’ll gladly play the Hawks tempo. Our Math Model projects 237 or more total points.

ASA 10* play on UNDER 210 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Chicago Bulls, 3:30PM ET – Yes, we know this is not a marquee game on Sunday and not a contest many will want to watch but we’re more concerned about winning than who’s playing. These two teams have stopped “tryin” for “Zion” and are clearly playing for the #1 pick in next year’s draft. This will be the 4th and final meeting of the season between these two teams and all three thus far have finished with less than today’s Total of 210. They’ve scored 192, 204 and 197 total points in the three clashes. They are two of the slowest teams in the NBA with the Cavs being the second slowest and the Bulls being the 9th slowest. Chicago is last in the NBA in offensive efficiency ratings while the Cavaliers are the 8th worst in that same category. In other words, both play very slow and they have a hard time scoring points. Did we mention they are 28th and 29th (out of 30) ranked teams in the NBA when it comes to EFG percentage. Both teams have several key injuries to starters so we can’t see them topping 205 total points in this contest. BET UNDER!

ASA 10* play on: OVER 228 Atlanta Hawks @ Portland Trailblazers, 10PM ET – We’ve made mention of this several times and will revisit again here. The Hawks are the fastest paced teams in the NBA at 104.4 possessions per game. They are one of the worst defensive efficiency teams in the league ranking 26th. In other words, they want to play fast which is added scoring opportunities AND they allow their opponents to score a ton of points. That’s perfect against this Portland team that is average in pace of play and defense, but they have the 8th most efficient offensive in the NBA at 1.124 points per possession. The Blazers have played some similar teams to the Hawks in terms of pace of play recently and those games ended with some very high totals. The Hawks have allowed 113 or more points in 6 of their last seven with only the lowly Bulls managing 101 in their most recent game. In five of their last nine games the Trailblazers have scored 120+. Based on rest and the scheduling situation we predict a very high scoring game here.

ASA play on: Over 223 Atlanta Hawks @ Chicago Bulls, 8PM ET – Strong indicators suggest Over in this game between the Hawks and Bulls Wednesday night. More tickets have been bet on the Under, yet the number has risen steadily throughout the day. These are two of the worst teams in the NBA but they’ll score points here. Both have played tough schedules so their season statistics are worse than they should be. The Hawks want to play fast, they are the fastest paced teams in the NBA this season at 104.6 possessions per game. Chicago is slightly below average in terms of pace at 98.7 but they’ve played Over in 7 of their last nine games, mainly due to a horrible defense. Chicago has given up 107 or more points in 9 of their last ten games, 117 plus in 6 of nine. The Bulls are 22 of 30 teams in defensive efficiency ratings allowing 1.115 points per possession. Atlanta is even worse defensively allowing 117.8PPG on the year with a DEFF rating of 1.124PPP (26th). The Hawks have allowed 120+ in 4 of their last five games. This total is slightly higher than league average (221) so it’s not like we’re asking these two teams to score more points than normal. We’ll go against public money here and BET OVER!

ASA play on: UNDER 227 Portland Trailblazers @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8PM ET – We always like to be opposite of the public which is the case on this Under as more tickets have been placed on the Over and yet the line has dropped. There is a lot of value in this number too as these same two teams squared off on January 4th with a Total set of 223.5. They combined for 220 total points which would be fine with us tonight and get us the money. Let’s address the Thunder’s current 6-1 Over run which may concern the casual bettor. In five of their last seven games the Thunder have faced some of the fastest paced teams in the NBA. In fact, five of those teams rank 12th or faster in the entire league and two of those games were against the fastest and second fastest paced teams in the league. Tonight the Thunder get the Blazers who are the 19th slowest paced team in the league. OKC has the 4th best defensive efficiency numbers at home and overall on the season allowing just 1.049 points per possession. Portland has been on a strong road Under run recently with 8 of their last ten road contests staying below the Total and all 8 finished with less points than tonight’s number. The clincher for us is how these teams do when coming off a game the night before. When playing without rest the Thunder average 215 total points per game while Portland games average 208PPG. Both of those numbers get us an easy win here. The Under is 4-1 the last five meetings. BET UNDER!

ASA play on: #526 Portland Trailblazers +5 over Utah Jazz, 9PM ET – Let’s double up on our NBA profits today with a late game winner on this Western Conference showdown. Earlier today we cashed with a wager on the Under in the Pistons vs. Wizards game. We like the Blazers here for several reasons including double-revenge from two losses to the Jazz in late December. Portland is playing well right now have faced a tough schedule coming into this game. In their last four games on the road the Blazers have gone 2-2 SU with wins at the Warriors and Kings, two losses in Denver by 3 and at Sacramento by 8. In the game at Denver they were +4.5 points and at the time the Nuggets had the best overall record in the West. Now they are catching more points against the 7th seed Jazz? The over-correction by the oddsmakers is due to the Blazers current 6-game winning streak, but don’t be fooled by that number. Utah’s last six wins have come against two of the worst teams in the league (Cavs and Bulls), a 19-win Magic team, a 20-win Pistons team, the Lakers without LeBron and the Clippers. We’re not impressed. The Jazz have some injuries at guard right now which is a strength for the Blazers with Lillard and McCollum, who combined average 46PPG, over 8 RPG and nearly 9 assists per game. The Blazers are quietly on a 5-1 ATS run and playing with plenty of motivation here after a pair of losses late last month. Grab the points!

ASA play on: OVER 221.5 L.A. Clippers at San Antonio Spurs, 7PM ET – The value with this bet is obvious as they just met a few weeks back and Vegas had a total set of 226 on the game. That contest finished with 233 total points scored and this game will be similar. In their last five games the Clippers defense has allowed 118.4PPG with opponents making nearly 48% of their FG attempts. L.A. is the 8th fastest paced team in the NBA and will look to push the tempo here. San Antonio doesn’t play as fast as the Clippers but they are much more efficient offensively averaging 1.130 points per possession (6th best in NBA). Surprisingly, the Spurs are in the bottom half of the league in defensive efficiency ratings as are the Clippers. Two of the three meetings this season have gone Over the Total as have 5 of the last six. Bet OVER the total here.

ASA play on: Miami Heat +2 over Detroit Pistons, 7PM ET – We feel the Heat are a team in the East that will make the playoffs and cause some problems for the upper echelon teams before it’s all said and done. We can’t say we feel the same about Detroit. The Pistons have talent but don’t play hard or well consistently. Detroit is 6-17 SU their last twenty-three games and are trending in the opposite direction. Their last four wins are less than impressive as they’ve come against Orlando, Clippers, Memphis and Washington. The Pistons are 12-10 SU at home but they are one of just 8 teams in the league with a negative home differential (-.1PPG). Miami on the other hand is 10-9 SU away from home with the 9th best road differential in the league at -.3PPG. The Heat are coming off a horrible showing in Milwaukee but have rest (6-1 ATS L7 with two or more days rest) going into tonight. Miami is 7-3 SU on the road this season when coming off a loss which is a sign of a well-coached, solid team. The Heat have covered four straight in this series and obviously have some matchup advantages. Take Miami plus the points!

NBA play on: #510 Sacramento Kings -2.5 over Portland Trailblazers, 10PM ET - We have lost some value with this bet as these two teams recently played and the Blazers were a 1-point favorite on this court. The line has swung the other direction with good reason as the Blazers are off a hard-fought loss in the higher altitude of Denver last night. Teams have done well this season when coming off a game in Denver and playing without rest, but historically this is a tough scheduling situation. The Kings have revenge on their side here as they recently lost at home to Portland 108-113 in OT. The biggest discrepancy in that game was at the free throw line where the Kings were minus 15 in makes and minus 18 in attempts. Sacramento played a tough home stretch of games which include a win over the Lakers, an OT loss to the Portland team and a 4-point loss to Golden State. They then won three straight games at home by an average of 11PPG. Portland has an 8-11 SU road record this season and the WORST road differential of any team in the NBA with a winning record. The Blazers are in the bottom half of the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency ratings when playing away from home this season. The Kings are 4-0 ATS as a small favorite less than -2.5 points this season and they get this home win.

UNDER 217 Portland Trailblazers @ Denver Nuggets, 8PM ET – Our math model projects less than 210 total points in this game and we couldn’t agree more. On the season these two teams are both slower than league averages with Portland ranking as the 13th slowest paced team in the league, Denver is the 4th slowest. In their most recent five games the Blazers have slowed to the 4th slowest team in the NBA at 97.8 possessions per game while the Nuggets are the 2nd slowest at 96.5 possessions. Last year when these two teams squared off in Denver they produced totals of just 170 and 205. The Blazers defense has been solid their last five games with the 7th best defensive efficiency numbers (1.066PPP) over that span of games. On the season the Nuggets are a top 10 defensive efficiency unit allowing just 1.078PPP, and they are better at home allowing just 1.049PPP. The Nugs are coming off a game last night in Phoenix and when they’ve played without rest this season their games have stayed below the number 5 of six times. Portland has played in two straight higher scoring games but they came at home against bad defenses. Different story here…BET UNDER!

ASA NBA play on: #570 Oklahoma City Thunder -5.5 over San Antonio Spurs, 8PM ET – We are not huge ‘revenge’ bettors when it comes to the NBA but that will certainly factor into tonight’s game. These two just met on Thursday night in a shootout in San Antonio (pun intended) with the Spurs coming out on top by 7 in OT. The Spurs were a small dog of +1.5-points which means the Thunder should be minus 7 or 8 at home. Spurs center LaMarcus Aldridge had a career type night with 56-points which is unlikely to happen again today on the road at OKC. The Spurs were also +10 in free throw makes which now flops to the home team Thunder. The Spurs have been an ‘average’ team on the road in the NBA this season with a negative point differential of -3.3PPG (16th in NBA) and a 7-13 SU record. San Antonio’s road defensive efficiency rankings is 24th in the league as they allow 1.139PPP. OKC is a tough place to play as the Thunder enjoy a 13-6 SU record at home with the 9th best point differential at +7.4PPG. The Thunders 4th ranked defensive efficiency rankings will be the difference here as they allow just 1.028PPG which is far superior to the Spurs numbers. OKC is 6-3 SU at home off a loss while the Spurs are just 5-15 ATS the last 20 clashes on this court. Thunder by 10.

ASA NBA play on: OVER 226 Milwaukee Bucks @ Washington Wizards, 7PM ET – We’ll first address, Giannis and the fact that he’s resting tonight. We’ve seen this a million times in our handicapping careers and other players relish the opportunity and will step up in his absence. The Bucks are deep team with four other players other than the Greek Freak averaging 12 or more points and 8 other scoring more than 5PPG. Milwaukee is the 3rd ranked offensive efficiency unit in the league averaging 1.137 points per possession. In their last five games with John Wall out of the lineup, the Wiz have been better in terms of OEFF averaging 1.128PPP. Washington seems to have better ball movement without Wall and players have a more defined role offensively. Most importantly, the Wiz are the 8th fastest paced team in the NBA this season with an average of 101.6 possessions per game. The Bucks also like to play up-tempo with the 5th fastest paced offensive at 102.8 possessions per game. Both teams have shot it extremely well in their last five contests with the Bucks averaging over 51% as a team while the Wizards have shot over 47% as a team their last five. In their last five games the Bucks and their foes have averaged 231 total points. Washington has averaged 225 in their last five. We will bet the OVER in this Eastern Conference game.

ASA 10Star play on: #509/510 UNDER 228.5 Minnesota Timberwolves @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8PM ET – We will take the value and bet UNDER in tonight’s contest. Vegas was high on the opening number of 223.5 but it didn’t stop the bettors from pushing this line up with 71% of the money flowing in on the Over. These two teams met just a few weeks ago and the number was 221.5 so you can see for yourself we are getting 7-full points of value from that O/U. Minnesota won that previous meeting 114-112 with both teams shooting over 47.8% from the field. That number is higher than their season averages of 45.2%. The Thunder are the #1 ranked defensive efficiency team in the NBA allowing just 1.023 points per possession. The Wolves are 16th or league average allowing 1.101PPP. The T’Wolves are slightly above average in offensive efficiency at 1.106 points per possession while the Thunder are 20th at 1.079PPP. Nine of the last ten meetings between these two teams have ended with less points scored than tonight’s number and based on the efficiency numbers we should see a game with around 219 total points. Bet UNDER!

ASA play on: UNDER 225.5 Toronto Raptors @ Milwaukee Bucks, 8:35PM ET

These are both top 10 teams in terms of defensive efficiency ratings as the Bucks (3rd) allow just 1.041 points per possession while the Raptors give up just 1.076PPP. Sticking with the defensive theme here the Bucks have the #1 ranked defensive efficiency FG percentage at 50% while the Raptors are 8th at 50.8%. We also love the scheduling dynamics here with the Raptors coming off a loss a few nights ago where they gave up 125 to San Antonio so expect a much better effort on the defensive end of the floor. The Bucks meanwhile are coming off a game last night versus the Hawks where they put up 144 points so don’t expect a repeat performance from that anomaly. Milwaukee and their opponents have averaged 216 total points per game when the Bucks played the previous night.  The Bucks have faced some bad defenses lately in the Knicks, Hawks and Nets so this will be a different level of intensity against the Raptors. When these two teams last met on December 9th they combined for just 203 total points. We expect a very similar game to that last encounter and predict just 210 total points. The Under is 6-2 the last eight meetings between these foes on this court. Bet UNDER.

ASA play on: #525 Dallas Mavericks +5.5 over Boston Celtics, 7:35PM CT – Doesn’t this line look sooooo inviting to take Boston at home over a Mavs team with a 3-16 SU road record? Yeah, that’s why we’ll bet who the oddsmakers don’t want us to bet. Dallas is back to full strength with Wes Matthews and Dennis Smith Jr. back in the line up and both played well in their last game out against Charlotte. Even though the Mavs have been bad on the road, they have a differential of just -4.9PPG, which should be far worse considering their straight up record. Let’s look who Dallas has visited recently. They just beat Charlotte, lost at OKC by 20-points the night after beating them at home. Prior to those two games they lost at New Orleans by 2, at Portland by 3 in OT, at Golden State by 4, at LA Clippers by 4 and at Denver by 8. Those are some of the best teams in the West and they were in every game to the final buzzer. Tonight, they take on the Celtics without Kyrie and Aron Baynes, which is significant for their front court depth against the Mavs. In their last five games the Mavs have better overall efficiency stats than Boston and are playing well right now. The Celtics have a 12-5 SU home record this year but have let down against other losing teams like Phoenix, Orlando and New York who are worse than this Dallas team. The Mavs are 15-8 ATS as a Dog this season and have covered 8 of the last nine meetings in Boston.

ASA 10Star play on: #512 Memphis Grizzlies -6 over Detroit Pistons, 8PM ET – Let’s start with scheduling as the Pistons are playing their 3rd game in four days and the second night of a back-to-back. Detroit got beat badly in Milwaukee last night 98-121. In their last five games, three of which were against teams with a combined 41-68 SU record, the Pistons have allowed opponents to shoot over 50% from the field and shot just 41% themselves. In those last five games they’ve been beaten by an average of 10.8PPG. The Pistons have a negative point differential of -6PPG on the road this season which is 23rd in the NBA. Memphis is coming off a tough road loss in Houston and will look to rebound at home tonight. The Grizz are just 2-3 SU their last five games but it came against a tough schedule with the lone exception being Cleveland. Memphis is closing out a stretch of seven of eight games against teams with a .500 or better record. They must take advantage of a soft January schedule which includes four games in their next six that are below .500. Despite the tough schedule lately (last five) the Grizzlies are shooting over 47% and holding opponents to just 42%. The Pistons are 0-4 ATS their last four road games and in their three most recent road games they’ve been beating by an average of 21PPG. Memphis has faced a brutal schedule at home this season so their home point differential of just +2.1PPG is very misleading. They’ll get a double digit win in this one.

ASA 10* Play on: #554 Toronto Raptors -10.5 over Chicago Bulls, 6PM ET - *Short analysis on NFL Sunday* - We like the setting here with the Bulls off a rare win on the road in Washington, while the Raptors are off a poor showing and loss in Orlando. Expect a reverse of fortunes for both teams here. Toronto (26-11) is arguably one of the top five teams in the NBA right now and have an average home differential of +7.6PPG which is 7th best in the league. Chicago (10-26) is arguably one of the worst teams in the NBA right now with the 6th worst road point differential of minus – 8.5PPG. When we compare the Raptors home games against similar opponents to the Bulls this season here is what we find: +16 points vs. Cavs, +10 vs. Heat, +18 vs. Wizards, +16 vs. Knicks, +21 vs. Hornets, +12 vs. Cavs. In other words, asking Toronto to win by double-digits at home against this level of competition is not a stretch. The Bulls have suffered some ugly road losses to similar teams to the Raptors this season: Lost to 76ers by 19-points, at Boston -29, at Milwaukee -19, at Houston -16, at OKC -25. Toronto was favored by this same margin in Chicago earlier this year and won by 39! Bulls just 2-7 ATS off a win this season and they’ll get dealt a beatdown today north of the border.