darrell,

Nailed our four-star easily last night. Picks for all three games tonight.

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

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Good luck , darrell!

Game: Washington at Cleveland (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 stars on Cleveland -4.5

The Cavaliers are playing well without any nerves in the playoffs depsite their leader who little playoff game in his belt and a coach who has just as much experience. Yet, the Cavs look to take a 2-0 lead on the Wizards tonight. The Cavaliers are 8-2 when playing with two days rest which is of important note as they rely heavily on the play of their starters and the Wizards are just 1-4 when an underdog of 0-5 points and 0-3 ATS in their last 3 playoff games. After King James' awesome play in game one, I am convinced that he wants to prove he belongs among the greats. He is all business right now and he's answering all critics. Why should game two be any different? We have the same home court advantage, same super star and same spread. Actually, we're getting a half point better here. As mentioned the first time around, Cleveland is as good as it gets at home outside of Detroit. They are now 31-10 here. This place will again be rocking and the better team wins and covers.

The Nets let us down the previous game against the Pacers, yet, if this team is to have any chance in the playoffs and in advancing, this is a must win game for them. They were horrendous from beyond the arc (1 for 15) which killed them. If they drop this game, they face a near impossible feat of winning two in Indiana in elimination games. First round home teams that drop game one are about 75% ATS in the next game - even to a large spread like this one. The Pacers are 2-10-1 ATS in their last 13 following a SU win and the Nets are 7-2 in their last 9 following a ATS loss. Indiana has to subconciously be letting down here as they have accomplished their primary goal in New Jersey - steal one. New Jersey comes out fired up here and rolls to an easy victory and covers the spread.

The San Antonio Spurs showed why they were world champs in Game 1 as they handily defeated the Kings at home 122-88 - a 34 point margin of defeat. The Spring time is San Antonio time. They come to play for keeps in the playoffs. The Kings had beaten the Spurs on their own floor in the last game of the regular season and the Spurs in turn exacted revenge and didn't call of the assault late in the game as they normally do. Now, in game two, the Kings face even a tougher task as Ron Artest faces suspension as the Kings must play without their best defensive presence and will miss his post up abilities and inside game. Given that the Kings are 2-5 in their last 7 first round games now, the Spurs are 5-0 in their last 5 first round games and 15-6 as a home favorite of 11 points or more, let's ride the World Champs. They cannot and will not let down. They are just too good and disciplined. They will come out and play strong as they understand the importance of a 2-0 lead more than anyone else as they head into Sacremento - where the Kings play their best ball and will have Artest back for the remainder of the series. San Antonio at home in the playoffs versus an Artest-less Kings team? Easy pickin's.