Bryan Power

10* Under Celtics/Lakers (3:30 ET): This long-standing rivalry is certainly relevant again with the Celtics in third place in the East and the Lakers leading the West. Boston lost just once in its L10 games and that was at Houston before the Break. Since the 2nd half of the season began, they’ve beaten the Clippers 141-133 and T’wolves 127-117. As you might guess from those two scores, both games easily went Over. 

The Lakers have won four in a row overall to solidify their lead atop the Western Conference standings. They’ve played only one game since the Break and it was a 117-105 win over Memphis (who was in the second night of a back to back) Friday night. During the win streak, LA has scored a minimum of 117 pts every time. They’ve also covered the spread in the last three games. 

While both sides have scored plenty recently, don’t go discounting their ability to play defense. The Lakers are giving up only 104.8 PPG at home, which is a really impressive number for 2020. Opponents shoot just 43.6% when they visit LA. Believe it or not, the Celtics allow a slightly lower FG% on the road. These are two of the top five teams in the league in defensive efficiency. A meeting last month in Beantown saw the Celtics score 139 points. That won’t be happening again here. 10* Under Celtics/Lakers

10* Portland (9:05 ET): The Blazers have lost Damian Lillard (groin) for an indefinite period of time and he’s not the only one currently sitting on the bench due to injury. But I believe this team still has enough to defeat the sorry Pistons, who have lost five in a row as well as 10 of their last 12 games. Portland is still very much in play for that 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference and isn’t about to let a chance like this slip by. 

Detroit, meanwhile, is rapidly seeing its already slim playoff hopes get even slimmer. Even with only six teams in the East over .500, the Pistons are six games back of the final playoff spot. They’ve averaged only 97 PPG during the five-game losing streak and remember they don’t have Blake Griffin. A 20-point home loss to Milwaukee on Thursday was the latest setback as the team fell to 9-26 SU in games where it is an underdog. 

Portland is a disappointing 15-12 SU at home this year, but finds itself laying a short number here. After losing three straight games to teams they are battling for that 8-seed (including two to New Orleans), look for the Blazers to blow through the Pistons tonight as they’ve had enough of the losing. Even without Lillard, they still scored 115 points in their last game. 10* Portland

10* Over Blackhawks/Stars (3:00 ET): On Friday, I won by *10* Total of the Month as the Blackhawks’ game vs. the Predators easily stayed Under the number. It was a 1-1 game entering OT (total was 6.5), which Chicago would go onto win. I followed that up by cashing the Preds (in another OT game) last night. Now we go back to the Blackhawks, who are in Dallas Sunday afternoon. Look for this to be a higher scoring game than their last one.

Yes, I say that knowing full well that the Stars are among the stingiest teams in the league, particularly on home ice. But they just got tagged for five goals by St. Louis in a loss Friday. The Over is 3-0-1 in Dallas’ previous four games w/ them also allowing 4 goals in a loss at Ottawa during that stretch. 

For Chicago, the Over is 13-3 the L16 times they’ve been off a game where they scored two goals or less. While they haven’t done a ton of scoring recently, the Blackhawks did have a game at Calgary on 2.15 where they found the back of the net EIGHT times. They also gave up six goals in a loss to the Rangers earlier this week. 10* Over Blackhawks/Stars

10* Cincinnati (1:00 ET): At last glance, Cincinnati is considered to be one of the last teams in the field of 68 (NCAA Tournament) that wouldn’t be in a “play-in game.” That makes today’s game vs. Wichita State critically important for the Bearcats as a loss here would place them squarely on the Tourney bubble. A win further solidifies their status as one of three teams from the American Conference likely to get in. 

Wichita State is one of the two (Houston being the other) that is considered “safe” as far as making the Tourney goes. After a three-game losing streak to start the month, the Shockers have now won three straight - all by double digit margins. But those three wins have all come against bottom teams in the American. Interestingly enough, two of those three losses they took earlier this month came against Houston and Cincinnati. They lost 80-79 at home to Cincy as five-point chalk. 

Cincinnati has only been beaten twice in its last nine games. Once was by a single point at UConn. The other was Wednesday vs. UCF, a game which went to double overtime. So, again, you can see how important this game is for them. While they’ve failed to cover four straight (overall), this is a team that’s 11-2 SU at home and covered both times they’ve been in the -3.5 to -6 range here. 10* Cincinnati