Hey there guys,
Yesterday was another wonderful day for my picks. When I say wonderful I mean something closer to average. Like Logan Young's Staircase's face. Your perception of how awesome you look does not make you hot. It grosses the rest of us out. But I digress, in the NBA I went I went 3-1 (3-1 ats) as the Pacers completed the season sweep of their division rival, the Pistons, with a 98-83 in Detroit, Carmelo Anthony had another fantastic outing (36 points) but the rest of the Nuggets did not have quite the outing that Melo had as the Knicks won 109-104, and finally the Mavericks won again 106-96 as Jason Kidd had a rare scoring burst with 26 points and 12 assists despite the Clippers Drew Gooden having an outstanding night with 26 points and 20 rebounds on a night where Dirk Nowitzki was ejected early in the 3rd quarter. And in the NHL I went 5-5 as Ilya Kovalchuk, had a fantastic game with 4 points (1 goal 3 assists) as the Devils defeated the Blue Jackets 6-3, the Panthers took out the Maple Leafs 4-1 as goalie Scott Clemmensen stopped 42 shots, the Bruins played a hell of a game blanking the Thrashers 4-0 in Atlanta boosting their lead over them to 3 points in the playoff race, San Jose looks to get back on track as they won last night in Minnesota 4-1, and Goalie Antti Niemi stopped 28 shots as the Blackhawks shut out the Coyotes in a battle for first place in the Western Conference. Woof. What a day. And we have another good one today. In the NBA we've got a lot of GREAT games today as Orlando goes for the season sweep of the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta, Denver and Boston square off in Boston, Utah takes their show on the road to face Chris Bosh and the Raptors, the Rockets head to Oklahoma City to take on Kevin Durant, and finally Kobe Bryant and the Lakers take on Tim Duncan and the Spurs in San Antonio in what should be a fantastic game, and then in the NHL the Islanders and the Rangers square off in a battle for New York, Sid the Kid vs. Alexander the Great 2010 round goes off in Washington tonight, the Capitals have a 2-0 lead so far this season, Montreal and Buffalo square off in a Battle of Eastern Conference playoff teams, and the Kings take on the Avalanche in a battle for playoff positioning out in Colorado. Should be fun. Hope you guys enjoy.
My Picks.....
NBA
*Game(s) of the Day*
MAGIC by 2 @ hawks (-1) <----- UPSET
I realize that Vegas would consider this an upset but who would really be surprised to see the Magic pull off the W? I mean considering that the average margin of victory from their previous 3 wins over Atlanta is by 22 points. The Magic average out rebounding the Hawks 47-37. The Hawks in the 3 games have shot 39% from the field. The Magic? 50%. I like the Hawks and consider them a dark horse for the Eastern Conference but they just can't stop the Magic. Dwight Howard averages 22 points and 14 rebounds and I expect him to continue his reign of dominance over the Hawks tonight.
nuggets @ CELTICS (-4.5) by 1
Wow. This is another great game that I cannot wait to watch. In their last meeting, one in which the Nuggets won 114-105 in Denver, it was about as even of a game as it can get, with the only differences being that the Nuggets shot well from outside the arc, and the Celtics dominated the paint. I like the Celtics at home here because of one difference. Nate Robinson. He wasn't there for the first meeting and the guy he replaced, Eddie House? Was not much of a factor scoring 0 points. In his only meeting with Denver this season Robinson got 11 points in 19 minutes. If he can be a spark off the bench, and Boston can keep itself out of foul trouble (29 fouls in game 1) then I like the Celtics here.
LAKERS by 1 @ spurs (-1) <----- UPSET
A lot of people are going back to the first meeting between these two this season, one in which the Spurs won 105-85, and saying "Oh that was in San Antonio, so that will happen again tonight." Wrong. In that meeting in San Antonio the Lakers were without Pau Gasol, who in meeting #2 in Los Angeles torched the Spurs for 21 points and 19 rebounds, in Laker 101-89 win. And in that game Andrew Bynum was out. In the first game Bynum had 23 points. Don't get me wrong I like Tim Duncan, who has played very well against the Lakers, but with both Bynum and Gasol healthy and playing I think the Lakers knock their win streak up to 7 games.
The Rest:
wizaards @ PACERS (-9) by 7
JAZZ (-3) by 6 @ raptors
timberwolves @ BOBCATS (-9.5) by 17
KINGS (-1.5) by 7 @ nets
CAVALIERS (-5.5) by 10 @ hornets
76ers @ BUCKS (-10) by 14
rockets @ THUNDER (-8) by 5
GRIZZLIES (-1) by 7 @ warriors
NHL
islanders @ RANGERS
penguins @ CAPITALS
Round 3: And right now Alex Ovechkin has the Penguins number, as he has been unstoppable this season against Pittsburgh, with 7 points so far in 2 games (5 goals 2 assists). Ovechkin has shot 14 times in those 2 games with 5 goals (36%). I mean Pittsburgh has to find a way to stop him. And at the same time find a way to score. Yes they have scored 7 goals in the two games against the Capitals but they have had more shots on goal in both games then the Caps and still have ended up on the short end of the stick twice? Defense is first on the worry list, Offense second. Sidney Crosby really needs to step up. Capitals win again.
canadians @ SABRES
blues @ RED WINGS
KINGS @ avalanche <----- UPSET
the Kings are on a 2 game win streak while the Avalanche are on a 3 game win streak and sliding to the back of the playoff seeds, and if they don't fix it fast might slide right out of the playoffs. Another thing to worry about is that the Kings are a solid road team, and are 2-0 against the Avalanche this season. Jonathan Quick has played exceptionally well in both of those games, and the defense has been just as good holding Colorado to 22 and 21 shots on goal in both of those games, while laying the wood with 26 and 33 hits. Both of those games were in Los Angeles so it will be interesting to see how the Avalanche respond now that they are playing in Colorado.
ducks @ CANUCKS
Alright guys, I will be preparing my write ups for my MLB Previews which will start coming out tomorrow and I am still working on my NFL Draft position rankings. Things are starting to get interesting. If you guys have any comments, questions, or ideas just let me know.
Thanks for reading
Batteman
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