Well, I said we were going to try and make predictions, so here it goes. We have some interesting games on tap for today (Sunday, Feb. 11). Let's run down the schedule:
San Antonio (-1) at Miami (+1)
Early game, 10am PST. This is basically a Pick'em, with San Antonio favored by 1 point on Miami's home court. Miami experienced a let down recently at Cleveland, but I see this as a bounce-back game. The Spurs are reeling from a heartbreak loss at Orlando, and could experience some hangover from that last second dagger from Howard. I think it will be close, but I say the Heat win.
Portland (7.5) at Washington (-7.5)
McMillan has the scrappy Blazers thinking that they can win on any given night, and they have some added incentive from Gilbert's "I'm going to drop 50 on the Blazers" blog declaration. Seriously Gilbert, you're a big star now. Go ahead and brush that 200 lb. chip off your shoulder.. I think this is going to be a fairly close game - neither team plays defense well, Washington is missing a key front court player in Jamison, and Portland has played well on this road trip. Look for Randolph to have another huge scoring game, and he'll get support from Portland's young backcourt duo of Jarrett Jack and Brandon Roy (who could have a very nice game as Arenas conserves all energy on the defensive end so he can try to make good on his unnecessary prediction). Blazers keep it close and have a chance to win.
Los Angeles (3.5) at Cleveland (-3.5)
Cleveland faced a must-win at home against Miami, and they turned in a solid performance. I look for them to build on that win with another impressive show against the Lakers. L.A. is at the end of a brutal road trip that's featured back-to-back losses to the Pistons and Raptors. Cleveland is probably the worst out of that group of three, but they're catching the Lakers at the right time. Larry Hughes will hound Kobe Bryant and Cleveland's bigs will bully the decimated Laker front line. Cleveland covers the spread.
Boston (9) at Minnesota (-9)
Minnesota is not playing good basketball right now. Turnovers and defensive lapses continue to plague the Timberwolves, but they get a lift at home versus the hapless Celtics. Paul Pierce is back for the Celtics, but he'll likely be limited again to 15 0r 20 minutes of court time. The young Celtics gunners Delonte West and Rajon Rondo are playing well together, but the veteran Timberwolves will be far too much for the Celtics in this game. With a healthy Pierce, I would pick them to cover the spread, but he's going to be limited and rusty. Timberwolves win in a blow out.
- Jet out
Image: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
1 comment:
Argh! THE TRUTH has spoken! Ok, I obviously underestimated the time that it would take for Pierce to return to form. The Celtics put on an inspired performance with the help of their captain, holding me to 3-1 on the day. Oh well, it sure is good to see Pierce back on the court doin' his thing!
- Jet out
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