darrell,

3-0 on Sunday. Three picks today. My NBA Power Ratings are updated. San Antonio reclaims the top spot pushing Dallas down to #2. The remainder of the Top 5 was unchanged. Cleveland jumps up to #6 over Memphis and the Clippers move ahead of Denver who drops two spots to round out the top ten...

My NBA Power Rankings are updated weekly and can be found here.

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Good luck , darrell!

Game: Atlanta at NEW JERSEY (7:35 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 stars on Atlanta +12

The New Jersey Nets are one of the hottest teams in the league and they will win this game. But will they cover a tough 12 point spread against one of the best dogs in the league? I think not. The Hawks have played the Nets three times this year and would have covered this spread all three times. The Hawks lost by 8 on the road, won SU against the Netsin OT at home, and recently lost by 3 at home after leading a considerable portion. Sure, New Jersey's streak will probably continue to franchise record today, yet the Hawks have a revenge factor working in their favor and are 12-4 after an ATS loss - not to mention they are 3-0 in their last 3 games where they have been dogged by more than 11 or more points. The dog looks solid here tonight.

I like this game because there are 2 trends at opposing ends here. Both the Pacers and Bulls need this game to continue their playoff quest, yet the Bulls need this game far more. They have won their last 5 games in a row to pull within 1.5 games of the Sixers and they play a Pacers team that hast lost their last 7/9 and last 5 on the road. Thus, given the nature and the importance of this game, the ability of the Bulls and their young players such as Hinirich, Deng and Gordon to help the team fight back from deficits and lulls in scoring such as earlier this year. Given the Pacers struggles on the road, I like the Bulls here laying the 4 points at home in what should be a playoff type atmosphere. The Pacers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games on the road and the Bulls being 6-1 ATS in their last 7 as a favorite also strengthens this pick.

This game is all about purpose and it means far more to the Clippers than it does to Denver. If the Clippers win this game they tie their season franchise record set back in the early nineties with 45 win and inch closer to holding back the Grizzlies for home court advantage. The Nuggets can finish no better than 5th place as they are bound to face either Dallas or San Antonio in the first round regardless of the outcome of this game. On top of all this, George Karl has made it clear that he plans to rest his players before the playoffs as can be evidenced by the shalacking they got at Dallas as Karl looks to improve his bench play. Keep in mind that the Clippers have had success against this team winning by 30+ last tme around in January and winning the last 8/10 of their past meetings. On top of all that, the Clippers are a 5-0 in their last 5 games when they are are favored by 5 or more points and the Nuggets are 3-7 in their last 10 meetings at Los Angeles. Let's ride the home team with more to play for in this game.