6-4 Monday. 70-67 YTD. That Lakers game was hella painful to watch. Tuesday:
Lean: Orlando Magic -12.0
On the road, the Cats allow a lot of 3-balls at 41% clip. They are also losing by an average of 17 (again, on the road) and by 10 in their last 5 games. With those said, they now look like sitting ducks against the Magic who beat the hell out of teams who play little defense. I made this a lean because the Magic might look ahead to hosting a stronger team and reserving their tanks for the Spurs the next day (their first b2b2b). Magic also have no problem playing back-to-back going 3-1 ATS so far to the Cats' 2-3 ATS. They did destroyed them by 21 earlier in the season and I think they can actually do it again.
Golden State Warriors ML
The 2-points or whatever amount you get them won't really matter so might as well go the ML route. The play is really against the Cavaliers off a long road trip and playing the next day at home. They also just have to exert so much effort in the second half against the Cats to get away with a win. The rested warriors should be able to edge the Cavaliers here.
Lean: San Antonio Spurs +7.5
This one is tricky. The points is just too enticing to pass up. Last season, they split the series 1-1 both in a blow out fashion. Two key players are out, Manu averages 16 and Wade by 24 against each other. Spurs are getting 5 in that road game against Miami so the 7.5 isn't much of a surprise. It will also be a huge test for them to finally get one on the road. Heat is facing a 3 game slide and you know they're the type who'll play hard to get over it. Spurs, on the other hand, have accepted the fact that there will be one too many games every night that you just have to let one go. Anyway, the play will be on the Spurs here because of the value of the line.
Denver Nuggets -2.5
I love this this spot for the Nuggets even though it looks like a trap line. Coach Karl talked about how to value each games right after they took a loss against the Jazz. Everyone thought that they could just go into motion after a huge win over the Heat then came the bad result. They will be on a long road trip and nothing is better than starting it with a win. The Bucks is also on a bad spot and has yet to win/cover on back-to-back games (currently 0-4).
Houston Rockets -7.5
Fading the Pistons. Houston plays well at home and has no problem on b2b games. Pistons blow on the road and will probably even lose and not cover against the Wolves the next day.
BOL.