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With just about a month until the playoffs start, the NBA season has had a lot of interesting developments. The Cleveland Cavaliers had their coach step down as Tyronn Lue is undergoing some health problems. Larry Drew will take over and he doesn’t exactly have the greatest track record as a head coach. Coaching a team with a bottom three defense isn’t easy and this is a pretty big loss for them. It’ll be interesting to see how things go moving forward as the Cavs have just a slim half game lead over the Pacers for the third seed and Central division crown.
The other big story is the crazy injury situation in Golden State. Klay Thompson has a broken thumb, Stephen Curry sprained his ankle and Kevin Durant has a fractured rib. All of them should be back for the playoffs and some of them probably would be playing if this was the playoffs, but their absence pretty much sews up the Houston Rockets as the top seed in the West. There has been a lot of talk about the Rockets winning it all this year and an injury to the big four could make that dream a reality.
NBA Betting Tips:
The game of the night has to be the Houston Rockets taking on the Portland Trailblazers. These are two of the hottest teams in the league right now. They are on a 13 game winning streak while the Rockets are 13-1 over the same stretch of time. It doesn’t get any hotter than this and I expect Damian Lillard and James Harden to put on a show. While both teams have been playing great, I just can’t go against the Blazers right now. They’ve really shown something defensively of late and them getting points at home is just too good to pass up. Blazers +4.5 in what should be a heck of a game.
The Wolves are in disarray. Their defense isn’t getting any better, Jimmy Butler is out and Andrew Wiggins is complaining. The Clippers are a far more coherent unit and I like them to go for the win here in Minnesota. The Clippers +4 is the play here.
NHL Betting Tips:
One of the toughest injury losses of the season has to be Ben Bishop going down for the Stars. He’d just gotten back and the team was set to make a playoff push before he went down again. That one hurts. Their loss is our gain though as tonight’s game against the Capitals looks like a great opportunity to bet the over 5.5 goals. These two teams have combined for 6.2 goals in their last ten games and without Bishop I expect them to be right at that number again.
The Panthers are making a mad dash to the playoffs and they need tonight’s game badly. They are 7-2-1 over their past ten and are three points behind the Devils for the last playoff spot. They need this game a heck of a lot more than the Senators do and I like them to grab the win tonight. Florida -135 is a strong play tonight.
