Saturday Night NBA

By Divol

Washington Wizards v Utah Jazz



27th March 23:05 GMT

Well I'm doing a bit of a chasing here. I still got zero respect for the Wizard's defense and while I do feel some concerns about the ability of the Wizards to stop Utah from one side and the general disability of Utah to defend well, I will take the bet on the Under here. First of all, the game last night in Indiana should have made it clear for Utah that at least on the road, you can't play on one side of the court only and get 122 points.  Wizards scored 96 points last night, a record of points for the last 9 games (scored 99 against the Hawks two weeks ago) and their second highest score this month and the last 15 games overall.

Both teams shot well over their average from behind the arc, Wizards shot 60% (12 from 20) with season average of 34.5% and Utah shot 55.5% (10 from 18) with season average of 35.9%. I believe that both teams will cool down and while I'm a bit worried from the fact that the teams met only two weeks ago and scored 201 points, but I believe that if Wizards get stopped again on 89 points (as they were in that game), it will be Under again. 101 - 87 is my projected score here.

Pick: Under 198, 1.99 - 3 units play - Pinnacle


Chicagov Bulls v New Jersey Nets



28th March 00:05 GMT

While last night's finish in Toronto left the Raptors heartbroken. Chicago saw that the NBA gods have given them yet another chance to make it to post season. Toronto plays Miami and Charlotte - two other teams in the race on the road, so if Chicago can make a small run now they will close the gap on the Raptors. Nets won two in a row for the first time this season and I doubt we will see them winning three straight this season. Chicago are one of the only two teams that have lost at home to the Nets. This is humiliation that I believe they still remember and if they lose tonight and miss the playoffs, the reason will be that double home loss to the Nets. 9 points is a lot to cover, but I do believe that Bulls will come out strong so the 5 points line for the Bulls at HT looks good to me. Bulls will try to forget the embarrassment that was their last game at home against the Heat and come out strong tonight.

Pick: Bulls -5 at HT, 1.91 odds - 2.5 units play - Bet365


Houston Rockets v Los Angeles Lakers



28th March 00:35 GMT

Houston beat Lakers to many times in 2009 for Lakers not to care about this game, especially coming off a loss and with Artest in the Lakers and Ariza in Houston. Lakers for some reason decided to focus on today's games as quotes from Lakers after the game indicated and the minutes allocated to the starters. The line is 2 points too high for me to take this one for a big bet as I thought of taking, but still see value here especially since Houston now is a 7 player team + NDBL re-enforcement. Houston have shown zero effort for the last few games, including the loss to the Clippers, so despite the big line I will take the Lakers here.

Pick: Lakers -6, 1.95 - 2.5 units play - Pinnacle

Divol