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nba picks, free nba picks, free nba playoff picks & nba playoff picks content
Free NBA Picks- (associated press): lebron returns after injury.
LeBron James was back in the lineup for Cleveland's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves
on Tuesday night after missing one game with tendinitis in his right knee.
Oddsmakers have the Cavs listed as 2 1/2-point favorites for this game. The total is set at
185 1/2.
James missed Sunday's loss to the Boston Celtics, but said his knee felt good enough to go
against the Wolves.
''I'm not 100 percent, but I do feel pretty good,'' James said before the game.
He received treatment on Monday and met with doctors and team trainers after the morning
shootaround on Tuesday before deciding to play.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said there was ''significant'' swelling in James' knee after
tendinitis flared up over the weekend, and the Cavs were going to be careful with their
star as the playoffs approach.
''That's our $100-million man,'' Brown said. ''He has a lot to say in it, but we can't just
go on his opinion and his opinion only.''
The tendinitis has been about the only thing that has been able slow James down since the
All-Star break. He was named Eastern Conference player of the month on Monday after
averaging 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists in March.
The Cavs went 11-5 last month, which included a victory over conference-leading Detroit on
March 7 in which James had a season-high 41 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. He
also scored 39 points in a win over Chicago on Saturday before resting against the Celtics.
James is averaging 27.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists for the Cavaliers, who started
the night 3 1/2 games behind Detroit for the top seed in the East.
His knee injury has caused considerable concern as the playoffs approach, with some
worrying that he was wearing down after spending all last summer playing for the United
States in the world championships.
Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett knows about the demands of international play and said he
sympathizes with the stress on James' body from all that basketball.
''Absolutely,'' Garnett said. ''Especially when you have the responsibility of carrying a
team, taking the bulk of the shots, making other guys better, absolutely
NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): kapono returns for miami.
Jason Kapono is finally set to resume his breakout season for the Miami Heat.
Kapono, the NBA's leading 3-point shooter and winner of the 3-point contest at All-Star
weekend, was active Tuesday night after missing four weeks with a sprained left ankle.
He was not in the starting lineup, like he was for 34 games earlier this season, but in
uniform for the first time in 15 games since he was injured against Atlanta on March 5.
''He practiced real well yesterday,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said before Miami hosted
Toronto. ''What he adds is that they will always stay home on him. If you ever watch us
post up or play pick-and-rolls, the guy who plays Jason Kapono never leaves him. That opens
up post-up plays, pick-and-roll plays, it opens up shots for other people.''
The Heat defeated the Raptors 91-89 but couldn't cover the 5-point spread. They played
under the 186-point total.
Kapono entered Tuesday averaging 11.1 points on 50 percent shooting overall and 51 percent
shooting from 3-point range. Phoenix's two-time MVP Steve Nash, at 47 percent, is second in
the NBA this season from beyond the arc.
Kapono, in his fourth season out of UCLA, is on pace for career bests in shooting, 3-point
shooting, free-throw shooting, rebounds, assists, steals, minutes played and scoring this
season.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): hawks childress out for season.
Hawks guard Josh Childress will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his
right foot.
The team announced the injury Tuesday and said Childress, a first-round draft pick from
Stanford in 2004, is expected to recover in four to six weeks.
Childress is averaging 13 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals, mostly coming
off the bench, this season. He is the team leader in field goal percentage at .504.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (asociated press): knicks coach fined for criticizing referees.
New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for
questioning the treatment Stephon Marbury is getting from referees.
Thomas criticized the officials after the Knicks' 103-94 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on
Saturday night.
''I see a lot of other players drive to the basket and get fouled and go to the foul line,
and I don't understand what he's done to receive the type of treatment he's getting and the
lack of respect he is getting from the officials,'' Thomas said after Saturday's game.
''Moving forward, I would hope that he would be treated just like other star players are
treated when they get fouled. ... There is only so much a player can really take before his
game is seriously affected.''
Thomas, operating under Madison Square Garden's strict media policies, is usually careful
with his words. But he may have been frustrated after the Knicks' second tough loss in two
nights. New York lost 105-103 in Dallas on Friday night, with Marbury having a shot blocked
on a drive to the basket in the closing seconds.
''I see a lot of players get calls that he doesn't get, and I see a lot of contact out on
the perimeter that happens to other players around the league and they go to the foul line
and he doesn't,'' Thomas said.
''I don't understand that. I would hope that by me saying this that maybe this would change
for him one day, because this year has been difficult for him and myself and all of us
watching the way the non-calls happen for him.''
The Knicks are among the league leaders in free throws attempted per game. Marbury attempts
5.2 per game.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): pacers center ailing.
Pacers center Jeff Foster was not expected to play against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday
night because of back spasms.
Foster injured his back March 13 at Minnesota and missed two games after that. He started
the next eight games but played only nine minutes before leaving in the first quarter
Sunday in a 100-99 win over San Antonio.
Foster is averaging 4.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.
Jermaine O'Neal, who missed the game Sunday with a sore left knee, and Jamaal Tinsley, who
bumped his right elbow on the final play of the game, were listed as questionable for the
Pistons game Tuesday night.
Oddsmakers have Indiana listed as a 5-point underdog tonight. The total is set at 182.
NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): match up odds for 2007 nba finals.
Mavs vs Pistons +280
Mavs vs Heat +650
Mavs vs Raptors +1400
Mavs vs Bulls +1600
Mavs vs Wizards +2500
Mavs vs Cavs +650
Spurs vs Pistons +600
Spurs vs Heat +1300
Spurs vs Raptors +2500
Spurs vs Bulls +3000
Spurs vs Wizards +5500
Spurs vs Cavs +1300
Lakers vs Pistons +8000
Lakers vs Heat +16000
Lakers vs Raptors +32000
Lakers vs Bulls +35000
Lakers vs Wizards +65000
Lakers vs Cavs +16000
Suns vs Pistons +500
Suns vs Heat +1100
Suns vs Raptors +2300
Suns vs Bulls +2500
Suns vs Wizards +4500
Suns vs Cavs +1100
Jazz vs Pistons +3000
Jazz vs Heat +6000
Jazz vs Raptors +12000
Jazz vs Bulls +14000
Jazz vs Wizards +25000
Jazz vs Cavs +6000
Rockets vs Pistons +2500
Rockets vs Heat +5500
Rockets vs Raptors +11000
Rockets vs Bulls +13000
Rockets vs Wizards +23000
Rockets vs Cavs +5500
Field (any other matchup) +800
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