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nba picks, free nba picks, free nba playoff picks & nba playoff picks content
Free NBA Picks- (covers.com). looking ahead to nba playoff march.As the NBA playoff races heat up, nearly every team is worthy of a feature-length betting focus.I know, however, that you don’t have time to pore over 30 detailed analyses each day, so here are four current situations that you should check out before placing bets.Clippers’ ship sinking?Shaun Livingston’s knee injury strips the NBA of an entertaining young point guard and screws with the Los Angeles Clippers’ rotation.As if the Clippers didn’t have enough problems this season.They’re 3-7 straight up (SU) over their last 10 games, 2-8 against the spread (ATS). They’re in the Western Conference playoff hunt in spite of their ineptitude, but Livingston’s loss is bigger than his season stats suggest."It's really disheartening," Elton Brand told the Los Angeles Times. "He was coming off one of his best games. I don't know how we're going to compensate for losing him. I think he was on his way."Sam Cassell now has the full-time burden at point guard after playing a supporting role in recent games. Head coach Mike Dunleavy would have preferred to limit the 37-year-old’s minutes for the playoff push. Now Cassell, averaging just 6.7 points and 2.7 assists in 19 minutes since the All-Star break, has to play 35-plus minutes per game.Daniel Ewing, who has seen double-digit minutes in only 17 games this season, is Cassell’s backup.The Clippers scored an NBA-worst 91.5 points per game in February, well below their season average of 95.8 points. In 10 of their last 14 games, the result went under the total.Miami needs intense Heat every dayThe Miami Heat were expected to struggle offensively without Dwyane Wade. Head coach Pat Riley said that if the Heat are going to hold on to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference without Wade, they need to control tempos and give non-stop defensive effort.Things looked good after Sunday’s upset win over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers."We played, I thought, one of the best defensive games of the year," Riley told reporters after the game.It didn’t last. Stephon Marbury scored 18 fourth-quarter points a day later as the New York Knicks stole a home win and covered as 4-point favorites over the Heat.We just weren't guarding anybody, Gary Payton told the Miami Herald after the loss. “We let everyone go one-on-one individually, and they took it to us.”NBA bettors have to take a close look at the Heat roster and decide if they can consistently meet Riley’s defensive challenge. Udonis Haslem, James Posey and Alonzo Mourning make NBA coin for their defensive prowess, but the rest of the minutes fall to aging stars (Shaquille O’Neal, Payton, Antoine Walker and Eddie Jones) and indifferent defenders (Jason Kapono and Jason Williams).Which Sun shines brightest?The Phoenix Suns lost value from sportsbooks thanks to their torrid start and went 3-8 ATS to close the first half of the season. They’ve covered as a road favorite in three of their four second-half games, however, and not only because Steve Nash is back in the lineup.Amare Stoudemire is playing the best basketball of his career, no matter what your “2004 Sick NBA Jamzzz” DVD tells you. He’s averaging 28.8 points per game in February after his previous high for a month this season had been 20.5.He’s healthy and confident too – his 40.5 minutes and 18.0 field goal attempts per game this month dwarf his previous highs of 33.6 and 12.3. But his improvement goes far beyond the stats.“Offense, defense, the assists - just unbelievable,” head coach Mike D’Antoni told the East Valley Tribune after watching film of Sunday’s win in Atlanta. “The ease and the simplicity with which he made the right decisions, to overcome everything … he really deserves a lot of credit.”Nash also cites Stoudemire’s new-found unselfishness as a big step in the Suns’ success. Stoudemire and Shawn Marion are combining for 54.0 points per game in the second half with Nash distributing, and the Suns have won the four games by an average of 14 points per contest.No longer D-less in SeattleThe Seattle SuperSonics won't be a dangerous Western Conference team come playoff time, but their recent efforts warrant attention.The return of Rashard Lewis has helped the offense, but it’s been the team’s defensive efforts leading to a 3-1 ATS record since the break and playing under the total in all four games.The Sonics allowed 108.5 points per game in regulation from Jan. 30 through the All-Star break, leading to six of those eight games playing over the total. Seattle held only Nash-less Phoenix under 100 points in those games.They’re allowing only 94.5 points per game post-break, however, with even high-octane Memphis scoring only 105 in a 16-point Seattle win. The Sonics held the Portland Trail Blazers to 73 points on Monday night, the pinnacle of their recent defensive stand."That was one of the better defensive performances we've had in a long time," head coach Bob Hill told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer after the game. "I told them that we had three different ways to play (Zach) Randolph in the post and in the pick-and-rolls. They just did a great job. We did a much better job on Brandon (Roy) in the middle pick-and-roll.”With new arena proposals before the state senate and Lewis contemplating sticking around after the season, the sun might shine on the Pacific Northwest for a little while longer.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): despite injuries jazz bench keeping team profitable.The Utah Jazz win when their starters are healthy and they win when their starters are out. They continue to roll past all challengers even with most experts calling them overachievers.Utah is 13-5 straight up and 11-7 against the spread in their last 18 games despite an array of injuries, mainly because of strong bench play. The Jazz are as deep as any team in the league. A great example came last Saturday night against Boston when Utah’s bench combined for 50 points in a 105-87 win as a 6 ½-point home favorite.That the Jazz were giving the Celtics just 6 ½ points at home (Boston got 5 ½ at Atlanta and 7 ½ at Minnesota) is an example of just how underrated their bench is. Utah played without starters Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur – both of whom are now listed as probable for Utah’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.But Utah’s bench has picked up the slack whenever it has been needed. The Jazz recently finished a stretch where they went 6-2 straight up and 4-4 against the spread without leading scorer and rebounder Carlos Boozer. They are 6-1 straight up and 4-3 against the spread when Kirilenko doesn’t play.“There really isn’t that big a downgrade as you go down the bench because all the players fit so well in the system,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Of course you would rather have your starters in there, but I think another reason the bench is playing so well from a chemistry standpoint is because the starters have missed so much time.”The bench was even more impressive Friday night in Denver, combining for 70 points in a 114-110 win as a 5-point road underdog. Forward Matt Harpring, the team’s leading scorer off the bench, tied a season-high with 22 points in that game. Paul Millsap also had 10 rebounds in that game, giving him double-digit rebounds off the bench for the fifth time this season.“With Utah it is really all about is fitting into the system,” says Leonard. “The reason they have so much success is because of the style of play and the coach. Jerry Sloan has always been great at finding players who will play unselfishly in his system, even when he had (John) Stockton and (Karl) Malone – two of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players.”Their depth didn't help the Jazz, favored by five points, against the Lakers on Monday night. Los Angeles won 102-94 in Salt Lake City. Tonight's test is considerably easier, however, as the Jazz face the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz won in Utah last month as a double-digit underdog, but can't expect to hit 16 of 26 3-point attempts again.NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): orlando has tough stretch ahead.The Orlando Magic played five games seven nights last week, only winning their meeting with the Chicago Bulls Monday. The Magic played back-to-back road games against the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons last Tuesday and Wednesday. After that they hosted Detroit on Friday and the Houston Rockets on Sunday. They were 0-4 both straight up and against the spread in those four games before toppling the Bulls in the United Center. Their hectic schedule has hit full stride. The Magic were so concerned about it that they petitioned the league to move Sunday’s game against the Rockets, originally a night game, to the afternoon, allowing them some extra rest before they played the Bulls, according to Florida Today.Things don’t get any easier for Orlando. Monday's game kicks off a four-game road trip that sees the Magic play four games in six nights. They play at Denver on Wednesday as a 5-point underdog. Then they play back-to-back nights at San Antonio and Dallas on Friday and Saturday.“With the way Orlando's been struggling lately, maybe hitting the road is a good thing,” says Covers Expert Pat Murphy. “They are starting to get healthy again with Grant Hill, Keyon Dooling and Trevor Ariza back in the lineup yesterday. That added depth could pay off during this stretch.”
NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): heat star expected to make decision on surgery.Miami guard Dwyane Wade intends to decide by the end of the week whether he'll rehabilitate his dislocated left shoulder and try to return to the Heat lineup or have season-ending surgery to repair the joint.Appearing at the White House on Tuesday, when President Bush honored the Heat for winning last season's NBA title, Wade didn't divulge much about the exact severity of the injury he suffered in a collision with Houston's Shane Battier last week.He is expected to meet with doctors on Thursday, seeking more information before making a final decision. If he chooses the rehab route, he could be back for perhaps the final two weeks of the regular season.My spirits are high, Wade said.NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): knicks jamal crawford could be out for season.
Jamal Crawford could miss the rest of the regular season with a stress fracture of his right ankle, leaving the New York Knicks without a key player as they try to make the playoffs.Oddsmakers have the Knicks set as 2 1/2-point favorites for tonight's game in Boston against the Celtics.The injury was revealed after an X-ray Monday and confirmed Tuesday by a CAT scan. The Knicks said that surgery was likely and could force Crawford to miss the remainder of the regular season, though he might be available to return for the playoffs.Crawford doesn't know when the injury occurred. He scored 20 points Monday night in a 99-93 victory over Miami, including a clinching 3-pointer with 21 seconds left.Crawford is second on the team with 17.9 points per game and is the only player to appear in all 58 games for the Knicks, who have already been without guard Steve Francis for more than half the season because of knee tendinitis.New York is two games behind Miami for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): clippers lose young star with major knee injury.
Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston will be out 8-to-12 months after tearing three of the four ligaments in his left knee while driving to the basket against Charlotte.It's probably the most serious injury you can have to the knee, Clippers physician Dr. Tony Daly said Tuesday. He might miss all of next year.Livingston had an MRI exam Tuesday which revealed tears in the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus.He also dislocated his patella, besides the previously diagnosed dislocation of his tibia-femoral. As a rookie in 2004, he dislocated his right knee.Livingston was driving to the basket on a fast break Monday night, went up for a layup, and his left knee contorted as he collapsed in pain. A team doctor had to pop his knee back into place to alleviate the pain.He came down on the leg without any contact with anybody. It's a freak accident, that's for sure, said Daly, who has rarely seen anything similar in 24 years of practice.He said the injury is more commonly associated with contact sports such as football and rugby.Daly will solicit various medical opinions over the next two weeks, after which Livingston will have arthroscopic surgery, the doctor said. It wasn't yet decided if all three ligaments would be repaired at once.Daly said Livingston did not tear an artery or damage any of the nerves in his knee, which can be serious complications.If everything goes well, he could be back playing as soon as eight months, Daly said. My nature is to be conservative. I've seen people who've had this done by other people and it hasn't worked out.Livingston, a three-year veteran who was drafted by the Clippers out of high school, has been hampered by injuries and has yet to play a full season in the NBA.He sat out two games in January with a sprained right ankle. He missed 39 games during his rookie season because of a dislocated right knee, and another 12 that season because of torn cartilage in his right shoulder. Last season he sat out the first 21 games with a stress reaction in his lower back.Livingston, who has been sharing point guard duties with Sam Cassell, was averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 assists.
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