darrell,

2-1 last night. Five picks tonight.

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

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Good luck , darrell!

Game: Washington at BOSTON (7:05 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 stars on Washington -1

The Washington Wizards have become one of the best teams to wager on in the NBA as they have brought it full circle with the trio of Arenas, Butler and Jamison. The team is playing sound and competitive basketball as they look to forward to returning to the playoffs. The fact remains that the Celtics desperately need this game, yet Washington is simply better than this team and more often than not will defeat Boston. The last time they played, the Celtics required a near 40-point performance from Paul Pierce, who is not a 100% entering this game, and needed him to do heroic antics near the end to pull the game off in OT. This is now a different and more confident Wizards team that the Celtics will face who now have revenge on their mind. This is a Wizards team that is deep and is more than the one man show of Pierce. They have the 3rd best offense in the league compared to te 21st ranked offense for Boston and they are the 5th best rebounding team in the league versus 24th-ranked Boston. Given the home court Celtic advantage, the Celts will probably keep it close, but I beleive the Wizards will simply be too much in the end. With a less than a 100% Paul Pierce and revenge on the minds of the Wizards, let's take Washington and the better team in this basic pick'em.

Larry Brown made the comment at the heels of another Knicks loss by double digits on the road to Washington - another game they failed to cover - that this is the first time in his life where he has nearly had to beg his players to play. However, the Knicks are playing as a depleted team now without Frye, Marbury or Jalen Rose given all their injuries. Thus, they lose both on the offensive and defensive end with these 3 players out. Cleveland on the other hand will be short a player too as Iglauskas is out with a sprain. The Knicks are on the verge of losing a franchise 10th game in a row but rather than the side, I like the total as I think it's a safer play. After all, given these injuries which bode well for the under, but also the fact that the Cavs have gone under 6-1 in their last 7 as well as the Knicks being under to the tune of 5-0 in their last 5 all play into the hands of the under. The Cavs have played the under in their 7 of of last 8 road games and the Knicks are 4-1 on the under with 0 days rest as well.

There is a reason why this line has been pounded down from +9 to its opening down to +7.5 now. The last 2 games these teams have played has been decided by a total of 4 points - both times the Kings have been on the losing end, but the most recent time, they lost by just a point with their new addition in Artest. The Kings were embarassed last night at Dallas - no two ways about it as their defense was exposed in which Bonzi Wells even noted that if they don't step on the defensive end. They are close to giving up their 8th seed to New Orleans who is right on their heels for the last spot out west. Thus, given that the Kings are 5-0-1 ATS when giving up more than a 100 points their previous game as well as the Spurs playing relatively low scoring games on their home court, I like the points here with the Kings who look to redeem themselves after a terrible night last night. They want to show they are a better team than that, have a double revenge angle, and look to keep their hold on their playoff spot.

New Orleans and Chris Paul have playoffs in sight. What seemed an improbability weeks ago where they had lost their last 11/12 this team has been rejuvinated putting together several wins during their home stand including their recent win against Memphis at home in a huge televised event. They look to take this momentum at home against Golden State who has been struggling mightily without Baron Davis who has missed several weeks worth of action. His absence clearly was evident as this team got smoked by about 30 points at Memphis - a team that New Orleans beat at home. Given this and the fact that the Hornets will look to gain a game on the Kings today who have a tough test against them at San Antonio, I look for the Hornets to step up early and fast as they are 4-0 ATS of late at home and the Warriors are 0-6 ATS on the road as a small dog.

Portland has lost 11 straight games. This team is in some serious renovation in the summer, but for now it would be understandable if the players and Coach Nate are ready for this season to be over as they simply run through the motions. With Zach Randolf, Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff all out, this team is deplted in depth and high calibre talent. It is true that Houston is without T-Mac once again, yet this team has come together and has learned to play without him. This team has beaten Washington and Seattle at home so they are capable of winning whereas the Trailblazers aren't even capable of that. Furthermore, the Rockets are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games they are favored to win, where the Blazers are a dismal 0-5 ATS as a home underdog. Let's ride the team that has the 4-0 ATS advantage in the head to head series and the fact that the Rockets are 4-0 of late at Portland.