darrell,

Philly blew it late last night. Three picks tonight.

My NBA Power Rankings are here.

Good luck , darrell!

**Cleveland -4 over ORLANDO (7:05 Eastern)

Cleveland goes for its fifth straight victory when it plays the second game of a four-game road trip against the Orlando Magic - losers of 14 of 15. Coach Mike Brown is concerned that he's overplaying his superstar, and one of the team's key reserves is facing a possible sexual offense charge. The Cavs don't seem to have been affected by either situation over the past week. Damon Jones didn't look distracted Wednesday night by allegations of a sexual offense made against him, as he hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 98-97 win over Toronto and a sweep of the home-and-home series. Sporting a 36-26 overall record and an 11-4 mark within the division, the Cavaliers aim to hand the Magic (6-5 in the division) a loss. Take the Cavs here, who are 8-2 ATS against the Magic over the past three seasons. Cleveland for two stars.

**Indiana +1 over NEW ORLEANS (8:05 Eastern)

Coming off a disappointing 103-99 loss last time out, Indiana hits the road with a chance to get on the winning track Friday at New Orleans. Meanwhile, New Orleans comes off an 113-107 loss against the Lakers, a game where they were a 1 point favorite. Indiana has suffered their share of bumps and bruises again this week - and they won't have the services of their entire roster. But they did get Jamal Tinsley back in the mix after missing 15 games. The Pacers have a strong  mark with the lineup you'll see tonight. And, they're on a very profitable 11-4 spread run. They'll face a Hornets team that has dropped 4 in a row and 6 of 8, both SU and ATS. In fact, their current skid started with a 97-75 loss to these Indiana Pacers. Indiana held the Hornets to 34% shooting in the 22-point win back in February. It's just a plain and simple mismatch. The losing skid grows to 5 straight for New Orleans as Indiana wins this game. Two stars on the Pacers.

**LA Lakers +8.5 over SAN ANTONIO (8:35 Eastern)

This is an extremely tough spot for San Antonio. While the Lakers had last night off, the Spurs come off a nationally televised game vs. last year's Finals foe - Phoenix.  After a dominating 117-93 victory over the Suns last night, the Spurs will be looking for a similar performance tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers but I think that game took way  too much out of them. How can they get up for this game in the way they did last night? Tonight will mark their fourth game in the past five nights. After losing to the Clippers on Tuesday the Spurs are now a poor 4-12 ATS the last 16 times they played the second of back to back games. The Lakers are 3-1 ATS their last four visits to San Antonio. Tonight, they will be looking for some payback as the Spurs beat them on Monday at LA. Lets take the points as Kobe and company keep this game close the entire way with a shot at the upset. Two stasr on LA.