Announcement

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 10:29 AM

Armadillo: Monday's six-pack

Odds to win National League MVP this season:

5-2– Kris Bryant

7-2– Bryce Harper

4-1– Nolan Arenado

6-1– Corey Seager

10-1– Giancarlo Stanton, Yoenis Cespedes

12-1– Anthony Rizzo

**********

Armadillo: Monday's List of 13:Wrapping up a sports weekend…….

a sports weekend…….

13) South Carolina 77, Florida 70— Before last weekend, South Carolina’s last win in NCAA tournament was in 1973. They have some basketball tradition: Alex English, John Roche, Mike Dunleavy Sr played there, Frank Maguire coached there, but not a lot of winning.

Until this month. Now the Gamecocks are headed to the Final Four. Congrats.

12) Gamecocks are first team since VCU in 2011 to get to the Final Four without being favored in any of their first four tournament games.- VCU had to win a play-in game, so they weren’t favored in any of their first five tournament games. South Carolina was pick ‘em in their first round game with Marquette last weekend.

11) South Carolina coach Frank Martin was once both a high school teacher and a bouncer in a nightclub; imagine him getting mad at some drunk guy and tossing him out the door?

10) North Carolina 75, Kentucky 73— Mailk Monk scored 47 against Carolina in December, out in Las Vegas; he had 12 points here. This was a terrific ballgame that would’ve made a great national title game. Tough push if you had the Tar Heels -2.

9) What do you think of Chris Webber as a TV analyst? He talks more X’s and O’s than most analysts (good), he is passionate about the game (good) but he doesn’t seem to like anyone except players (not good).

Referees are competing to advance in the tournament too; I’m guessing Webber knows this, but doesn’t seem to care (not good). Coaches get fired if they lose; I mean, Bill Self is taking grief today- Webber definitely doesn’t seem to care about that (bad). I think he is mostly good; if only he would stop yelling when guys dunk— it is two points. Relax.

8) Odd coincidence that going into Saturday, Xavier/Gonzaga were tied with 27 tournament wins, most of any school that had never been in a Final Four. Now Xavier owns that unfortunate mark, with Boston College in second with 22 wins.

7) Not often the SEC wins more NCAA tournament games than bowl games. SEC is 8-4 in NCAA tournament games this year; they were 6-7 in bowl games.

6) I’m guessing the Mets have already been informed, but it hasn’t been made public how long Jeurys Familia’s suspension for domestic violence will be. He is their closer, so they would need to know to plan contingency plans.

5) Since 2006, Saints/Seahawks have drafted only two QB’s each, least in NFL.

4) This is the fifth year in a row a team seeded 7th or lower made the Final Four:
2016— Syracuse, a 10-seed lost to UNC in semi-finals
2015— Michigan State, a 7-seed, lost to Duke in semi-finals
2014— UConn, a 7-seed, beat Kentucky, an 8-seed, for the national title
2013— Wichita State, a 9-seed, lost to Louisville in semi-finals

3) This is only second time since 2009 that two or more 1-seeds made the Final Four— three of them made it in 2015, two made it this year.

2) Of the 18,797,085 brackets on ESPN.com‘s contest, only 657 had North Carolina, Oregon, Gonzaga and South Carolina in the Final Four.

1— Gonzaga is a 6.5-point favorite over South Carolina Saturday in Arizona. North Carolina is a 5-point favorite over Oregon in the nightcap.

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 11:29 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Monday, March 27

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORLANDO (27 - 46) at TORONTO (44 - 29) - 3/27/2017, 7:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ORLANDO is 30-42 ATS (-16.2 Units) in all games this season.
TORONTO is 40-32 ATS (+4.8 Units) in all games this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
ORLANDO is 7-3 against the spread versus TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
TORONTO is 7-3 straight up against ORLANDO over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DETROIT (34 - 39) at NEW YORK (27 - 46) - 3/27/2017, 7:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
NEW YORK is 5-5 against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 6-4 straight up against NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CLEVELAND (47 - 25) at SAN ANTONIO (56 - 16) - 3/27/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CLEVELAND is 3-11 ATS (-9.1 Units) in road games in non-conference games this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 992-866 ATS (+39.4 Units) in all games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 82-68 ATS (+7.2 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 504-422 ATS (+39.8 Units) in home games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 184-142 ATS (+27.8 Units) in March games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 36-21 ATS (+12.9 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 331-274 ATS (+29.6 Units) in non-conference games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 175-129 ATS (+33.1 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 18-6 ATS (+11.4 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
CLEVELAND is 3-2 against the spread versus SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO is 3-2 straight up against CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OKLAHOMA CITY (41 - 31) at DALLAS (31 - 41) - 3/27/2017, 8:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 35-48 ATS (-17.8 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 27-47 ATS (-24.7 Units) in road games after scoring 115 points or more since 1996.
DALLAS is 375-309 ATS (+35.1 Units) as an underdog since 1996.
DALLAS is 318-266 ATS (+25.4 Units) after a non-conference game since 1996.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 40-31 ATS (+5.9 Units) in all games this season.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 28-14 ATS (+12.6 Units) as a favorite this season.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 174-127 ATS (+34.3 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent since 1996.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 23-12 ATS (+9.8 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record this season.
DALLAS is 1-8 ATS (-7.8 Units) after playing 3 consecutive home games this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
OKLAHOMA CITY is 8-7 against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA CITY is 10-5 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
10 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW ORLEANS (31 - 42) at UTAH (44 - 29) - 3/27/2017, 10:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
UTAH is 5-3 against the spread versus NEW ORLEANS over the last 3 seasons
UTAH is 5-4 straight up against NEW ORLEANS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEMPHIS (40 - 33) at SACRAMENTO (28 - 45) - 3/27/2017, 10:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
MEMPHIS is 6-3 against the spread versus SACRAMENTO over the last 3 seasons
MEMPHIS is 8-2 straight up against SACRAMENTO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 10 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 11:29 AM

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Monday, March 27

Orlando won three of its last four games; they’re 3-6 vs spread in last nine road games. Three of their last four road games stayed under. Toronto won its last five games; they’re 4-2 vs spread in last six home games. Under is 13-6 in their last 19 games. Raptors won seven of last ten games with Orlando; six of last eight series games stayed under the total. Magic lost three of last four visits to Toronto (3-1 vs spread).

Detroit lost six of its last seven games; they’re 0-7 vs spread in last seven road games. Seven of their last nine games stayed under total. Knicks lost their last five games but covered four of last six; they’re 4-2 vs spread in last six home games. Over is 5-2 in their last seven games. Home side won last six Detroit-New York games; Pistons lost last three visits to New York (0-3 vs spread). Three of last four series games stayed under.

Cleveland is 5-7 in its last 12 games, 4-6 vs spread in last ten road games. Their last four games all went over the total. San Antonio won its last four games; they’re 3-7 vs spread in last ten home games. Over is 5-2 in their last seven games. Spurs won eight of last ten games with Cleveland; six of last eight series games went over total. Cavaliers lost four of last five visits to the Alamo (3-2 vs spread).

Oklahoma City won six of last eight games; they’re 3-7 vs spread in last ten road games. Over is 5-2 in their last seven road games. Mavericks lost five of last eight games; they’re 1-4 vs spread in last five home games. Under is 7-2 in their last nine games. Thunder won eight of last ten games with Dallas; they won four of last five games in this arena. Four of last five series games went over total.

Pelicans won four of their last five games; they’re 7-5 vs spread in last 12 road games. last three New Orleans games stayed under total. Jazz lost four of last five games; they’re 4-9 vs spread in last 13 home games- their last three games went over total. Utah won its last three games with the Pelicans, by 12-32-5 points; over is 7-3 in last ten series games. Teams split last four series games played here.

Grizzlies lost their last three games; they’re 4-6 vs spread in last ten road games. Five of their last six games stayed under total. Sacramento beat the Clippers in Staples last night, ending its 4-game skid; Kings are 2-5-1 vs spread in last eight home games. Under is 5-3 in their last eight games. Memphis won six of last seven games with the Kings; they won/covered three of last four visits to Sacramento. Under is 7-2 in last nine series games.

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 11:32 AM

NBA

Monday, March 27

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7:30 PM
DETROIT vs. NEW YORK
Detroit is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New York's last 5 games

7:30 PM
ORLANDO vs. TORONTO
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Orlando's last 16 games on the road
Orlando is 3-14 SU in its last 17 games when playing Toronto
Toronto is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Orlando
Toronto is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Orlando

8:00 PM
CLEVELAND vs. SAN ANTONIO
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games
Cleveland is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of San Antonio's last 8 games when playing at home against Cleveland
San Antonio is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games at home

8:30 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY vs. DALLAS
Oklahoma City is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games on the road
Oklahoma City is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Dallas is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games

10:30 PM
MEMPHIS vs. SACRAMENTO
Memphis is 15-2 SU in its last 17 games when playing Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Memphis's last 14 games when playing Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Sacramento's last 7 games when playing at home against Memphis
Sacramento is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Memphis

10:30 PM
NEW ORLEANS vs. UTAH
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of New Orleans's last 11 games on the road
New Orleans is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Utah
Utah is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Utah is 1-2-2 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against New Orleans

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 11:41 AM

NBA

Monday, March 27

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday’s NBA Game of the Day: Cavaliers at Spurs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 41 points as the Spurs survived an overtime affair at Cleveland earlier in the season.

Cleveland Cavaliers at San Antonio Spurs (-5, 211.5)

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in danger of falling out of first place in the Eastern Conference and they won't have an easy time stopping the bleeding against a team in hot pursuit of the top spot in the West when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. The Cavaliers' latest defensive debacle came in a 127-115 home loss to Washington on Saturday and resulted in a tie for first in the East with Boston, with a visit to the Celtics on the horizon.

"I'm not confident," Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue told reporters when asked if there was time to repair a defense that has given up an average of 117.2 points during a 2-3 spell. "But we've got to." The Spurs have had no such issues, holding opponents under the century mark three times during a four-game winning streak - the latest a 106-98 triumph over the New York Knicks at home Saturday. Kawhi Leonard's 29 points led the way for San Antonio, which has a potentially pivotal matchup with the first-place Golden State Warriors - who entered Sunday with a two-game lead - on Wednesday. Leonard scored a career-high 41 points as the Spurs survived an overtime affair at Cleveland earlier in the season.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN Ohio (Cleveland)

LINE HISTORY: The Spurs opened as 4.5-point home favorites over the visiting Cavaliers and that spread was bumped slightly by the books to -5 on Monday morning. The total hit the board at 212.5 and was dropped to 211.5. Check out the complete line history here.

WHAT SHARPS SAY: "Cleveland's road struggles are pretty well documented and the Cavaliers have really struggled on the road when playing solid teams as they are just 1-9 as underdogs. But a loss here knocks them out of first place in the Eastern Conference so something has to give. This is a game that needs to be waited on to bet with both teams always a threat to rest players but if everyone goes, the value is on Cleveland getting a pretty sizeable number." - Matt Fargo.

INJURY REPORT:

Cavaliers - No injuries to report.

Spurs - PG D. Murray (Mid April, groin).

POWER RANKINGS: Cavaliers (-6.5) - Spurs (-11.6) + home court (-3) = Spurs -8.1

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (47-25 SU, 32-37-3 ATS, 41-30-1 O/U): LeBron James was able to play Saturday despite a scratched cornea, ditching protective goggles early in the contest and finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He is averaging 27 points while shooting 58 percent in four games since resting in a road game against the Los Angeles Clippers, while running mate Kyrie Irving has scored at least 20 points in a career-high 22 straight games. Reserve guard Iman Shumpert was scratched from Saturday's lineup due to knee soreness, although he was able to go through warmups and could be available Monday.

ABOUT THE SPURS (56-16 SU, 37-34-1 ATS, 38-32-2 O/U): An eight-point win at home against the struggling Knicks - who nearly erased all of an early 20-point deficit - was not what San Antonio had in mind as it gears up for back-to-back games against conference leaders. "We had too many defensive breakdowns," center Pau Gasol - who had 19 points and 10 rebounds - told reporters. "They were getting in the paint too easily, which forced us to get bodies off other bodies. They got too many easy looks and they made the run." Guard Danny Green was out of the lineup to rest and rookie Dejounte Murray (groin) sat out his eighth consecutive contest.

TRENDS:

* Cavaliers are 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10 games following a double-digit loss at home.
* Spurs are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games following a straight up win.
* Over is 13-3-1 in Cavaliers last 17 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
* Under is 12-3-1 in Spurs last 16 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
* Over is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings in San Antonio.

CONSENSUS: Early consensus returns are showing 64 percent of the public supporting the home favorite San Antonio Spurs and 57 percent of the totals wagers on the Over.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 01:17 PM

NBA betting road map: 76ers continue to cover pointspreads at historic rate

The Philadelphia 76ers are 8-2 ATS over their last 10 games, and 17-5 ATS over their last 22.

With just 17 days remaining in the NBA's regular season, there's still great drama atop each of the conferences. San Antonio is just two games back in the loss column behind Golden State, while Boston's defeats exceed Cleveland's by just one.

Two of the three biggest remaining games on the schedule will be played in the Alamo City this week, as San Antonio will welcome both the Cavs and Warriors. And those results will go a long way toward determining the No. 1 seeds.

Al McMordie takes a look at the upcoming week.

Spread Watch

The Philadelphia 76ers are 8-2 ATS over their last 10 games, and 17-5 ATS over their last 22. For the season, they're 46-27 ATS (.630) and that pointspread win percentage, if it holds over Philly's final nine games of the season, would rank among the best ATS win percentages of all-time.

However, look closer, and you'll notice that the 76ers are doing something remarkable this season. Notwithstanding their success at the betting window, they're still just 27-46 on the season (.369). Generally speaking, extreme point spread success (or failure) is strongly correlated with a team's actual win percentage. It's quite rare that a horrible team like the Sixers would have such a great ATS win percentage.

Indeed, the best ATS win percentages over the last 26 years belong to the 2008 Celtics (66-16 SU; 53-28-1 ATS), 1995 Jazz (60-22 SU; 52-28-2 ATS) and 2010 Bucks (46-36 SU; 52-28-2 ATS). Only once in the past 26 years (Charlotte in 2006) has a team covered more than 60% of its games, yet lost more than 60% of its games, straight-up.

This is all a credit to coach Brett Brown and his staff for getting his charges to play hard every single night. This week, the 76ers will play at Brooklyn, then host Atlanta, and conclude with road games at Cleveland and Toronto. Wednesday's game with Atlanta seems to be the best one to play on the 76ers, notwithstanding Atlanta's recent success (6-0 SU/ATS) vs. the 76ers. Philly is 25-11 ATS at home this season, including 12-0 ATS since January 3 off a road game. Meanwhile, Atlanta is currently on a nasty 7-game losing streak (2-5 ATS), and is 5-13 ATS since Valentine's Day.

Totals Watch

The Golden State Warriors are the league's best team because they are sensational both on offense and defense. This season, Steve Kerr's crew is neck-and-neck with the Houston Rockets for the top offensive efficiency rating, and also in a virtual tie with the San Antonio Spurs for the top defensive efficiency rating.

Yet most NBA fans still perceive the Warriors to be primarily an offensive, rather than a defensive juggernaut. In Vegas, however, Golden State's defense has enabled bettors to cash a lot of totals tickets. Golden State has gone Under in 46 of its 73 games this season, including 10 straight, and 15 of its last 16.

This week, the Warriors will play the Rockets twice - sandwiched around a road game at San Antonio - and then finish with a home game vs. Washington. Certainly, Wednesday's game at San Antonio looks to be the best one to play Under the total. The Spurs and Warriors have gone Under in the last four meetings in San Antonio and the Spurs held Golden State to 92, 79, 92 and 85 points in those four games. The Dubs haven't scored more than 100 points in any of their last eight games at San Antonio (87.8 ppg)! Expect a relatively low-scoring game on Wednesday.

Injury Watch

Marc Gasol missed his fourth game of the season on Sunday, when Memphis played the Warriors in Oakland - Zach Randolph got the start, instead. But the ripple effect for the Grizzlies was that their bench was greatly weakened.

So far this season, Memphis is 1-3 in the four games that Gasol has been sidelined, both SU and ATS. That's not surprising, as his production (19.9 ppg; 6.3 rpg; 20.27 PER) is vital to a Grizzlies squad, which is locked into a battle with the Thunder and Clippers for the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

If there is a silver lining to the timing of Gasol's injury, it's that this week's opponents (Kings, Pacers, Mavericks, Lakers) are on the soft side. But if Gasol can't go Monday vs. Sacramento, Memphis will be susceptible to an upset. Sacramento, of course, is coached by Memphis' former coach, Dave Joerger and they've been decent, of late, with a 17-13-1 ATS record since Jan. 21, including an eye-opening win, as a 13.5-point underdog, at the Clippers on Sunday. With Memphis a poor 17-39 ATS vs. foes with double revenge that are not off back-to-back losses, think about backing Sacramento on Monday.

Schedule Watch

The proud Detroit Pistons franchise has not won a playoff game since the 2008 season, as it's been swept the last two times (2009, 2016) that it reached the post-season. This year, Stan Van Gundy's troops are right in the mix for the final Eastern Conference playoff slot, as they're among four teams (Heat, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets) currently separated by a mere two games. The Pistons haven't done themselves any favors by starting off their 4-game road trip with three losses, including a 28-point upset loss at Orlando on Friday.

Detroit's final road game on this trip will be in Madison Square Garden, where it will battle the New York Knicks, followed by home dates vs. Miami and Brooklyn. The Pistons are a solid 26-12 ATS their last 38 off an upset loss, which bodes well for them against the Knicks on Monday. And it won't hurt matters any that Carmelo Anthony might miss the game due to soreness in his left knee. Look for Detroit to handily defeat New York.

**Udog** · 03-27-2017, 01:21 PM

NBA

Monday, March 27

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7:30 PM
DETROIT vs. NEW YORK
Detroit is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New York's last 5 games

7:30 PM
ORLANDO vs. TORONTO
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Orlando's last 16 games on the road
Orlando is 3-14 SU in its last 17 games when playing Toronto
Toronto is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Orlando
Toronto is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Orlando

8:00 PM
CLEVELAND vs. SAN ANTONIO
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games
Cleveland is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of San Antonio's last 8 games when playing at home against Cleveland
San Antonio is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games at home

8:30 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY vs. DALLAS
Oklahoma City is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games on the road
Oklahoma City is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Dallas is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games

10:30 PM
MEMPHIS vs. SACRAMENTO
Memphis is 15-2 SU in its last 17 games when playing Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Memphis's last 14 games when playing Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Sacramento's last 7 games when playing at home against Memphis
Sacramento is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Memphis

10:30 PM
NEW ORLEANS vs. UTAH
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of New Orleans's last 11 games on the road
New Orleans is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Utah
Utah is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Utah is 1-2-2 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against New Orleans

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NBA

Monday, March 27

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday’s NBA Game of the Day: Cavaliers at Spurs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 41 points as the Spurs survived an overtime affair at Cleveland earlier in the season.

Cleveland Cavaliers at San Antonio Spurs (-5, 211.5)

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in danger of falling out of first place in the Eastern Conference and they won't have an easy time stopping the bleeding against a team in hot pursuit of the top spot in the West when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. The Cavaliers' latest defensive debacle came in a 127-115 home loss to Washington on Saturday and resulted in a tie for first in the East with Boston, with a visit to the Celtics on the horizon.

"I'm not confident," Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue told reporters when asked if there was time to repair a defense that has given up an average of 117.2 points during a 2-3 spell. "But we've got to." The Spurs have had no such issues, holding opponents under the century mark three times during a four-game winning streak - the latest a 106-98 triumph over the New York Knicks at home Saturday. Kawhi Leonard's 29 points led the way for San Antonio, which has a potentially pivotal matchup with the first-place Golden State Warriors - who entered Sunday with a two-game lead - on Wednesday. Leonard scored a career-high 41 points as the Spurs survived an overtime affair at Cleveland earlier in the season.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN Ohio (Cleveland)

LINE HISTORY: The Spurs opened as 4.5-point home favorites over the visiting Cavaliers and that spread was bumped slightly by the books to -5 on Monday morning. The total hit the board at 212.5 and was dropped to 211.5. Check out the complete line history here.

WHAT SHARPS SAY: "Cleveland's road struggles are pretty well documented and the Cavaliers have really struggled on the road when playing solid teams as they are just 1-9 as underdogs. But a loss here knocks them out of first place in the Eastern Conference so something has to give. This is a game that needs to be waited on to bet with both teams always a threat to rest players but if everyone goes, the value is on Cleveland getting a pretty sizeable number." - Matt Fargo.

INJURY REPORT:

Cavaliers - No injuries to report.

Spurs - PG D. Murray (Mid April, groin).

POWER RANKINGS: Cavaliers (-6.5) - Spurs (-11.6) + home court (-3) = Spurs -8.1

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (47-25 SU, 32-37-3 ATS, 41-30-1 O/U): LeBron James was able to play Saturday despite a scratched cornea, ditching protective goggles early in the contest and finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He is averaging 27 points while shooting 58 percent in four games since resting in a road game against the Los Angeles Clippers, while running mate Kyrie Irving has scored at least 20 points in a career-high 22 straight games. Reserve guard Iman Shumpert was scratched from Saturday's lineup due to knee soreness, although he was able to go through warmups and could be available Monday.

ABOUT THE SPURS (56-16 SU, 37-34-1 ATS, 38-32-2 O/U): An eight-point win at home against the struggling Knicks - who nearly erased all of an early 20-point deficit - was not what San Antonio had in mind as it gears up for back-to-back games against conference leaders. "We had too many defensive breakdowns," center Pau Gasol - who had 19 points and 10 rebounds - told reporters. "They were getting in the paint too easily, which forced us to get bodies off other bodies. They got too many easy looks and they made the run." Guard Danny Green was out of the lineup to rest and rookie Dejounte Murray (groin) sat out his eighth consecutive contest.

TRENDS:

* Cavaliers are 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10 games following a double-digit loss at home.
* Spurs are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games following a straight up win.
* Over is 13-3-1 in Cavaliers last 17 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
* Under is 12-3-1 in Spurs last 16 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
* Over is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings in San Antonio.

CONSENSUS: Early consensus returns are showing 64 percent of the public supporting the home favorite San Antonio Spurs and 57 percent of the totals wagers on the Over.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NBA betting road map: 76ers continue to cover pointspreads at historic rate

The Philadelphia 76ers are 8-2 ATS over their last 10 games, and 17-5 ATS over their last 22.

With just 17 days remaining in the NBA's regular season, there's still great drama atop each of the conferences. San Antonio is just two games back in the loss column behind Golden State, while Boston's defeats exceed Cleveland's by just one.

Two of the three biggest remaining games on the schedule will be played in the Alamo City this week, as San Antonio will welcome both the Cavs and Warriors. And those results will go a long way toward determining the No. 1 seeds.

Al McMordie takes a look at the upcoming week.

Spread Watch

The Philadelphia 76ers are 8-2 ATS over their last 10 games, and 17-5 ATS over their last 22. For the season, they're 46-27 ATS (.630) and that pointspread win percentage, if it holds over Philly's final nine games of the season, would rank among the best ATS win percentages of all-time.

However, look closer, and you'll notice that the 76ers are doing something remarkable this season. Notwithstanding their success at the betting window, they're still just 27-46 on the season (.369). Generally speaking, extreme point spread success (or failure) is strongly correlated with a team's actual win percentage. It's quite rare that a horrible team like the Sixers would have such a great ATS win percentage.

Indeed, the best ATS win percentages over the last 26 years belong to the 2008 Celtics (66-16 SU; 53-28-1 ATS), 1995 Jazz (60-22 SU; 52-28-2 ATS) and 2010 Bucks (46-36 SU; 52-28-2 ATS). Only once in the past 26 years (Charlotte in 2006) has a team covered more than 60% of its games, yet lost more than 60% of its games, straight-up.

This is all a credit to coach Brett Brown and his staff for getting his charges to play hard every single night. This week, the 76ers will play at Brooklyn, then host Atlanta, and conclude with road games at Cleveland and Toronto. Wednesday's game with Atlanta seems to be the best one to play on the 76ers, notwithstanding Atlanta's recent success (6-0 SU/ATS) vs. the 76ers. Philly is 25-11 ATS at home this season, including 12-0 ATS since January 3 off a road game. Meanwhile, Atlanta is currently on a nasty 7-game losing streak (2-5 ATS), and is 5-13 ATS since Valentine's Day.

Totals Watch

The Golden State Warriors are the league's best team because they are sensational both on offense and defense. This season, Steve Kerr's crew is neck-and-neck with the Houston Rockets for the top offensive efficiency rating, and also in a virtual tie with the San Antonio Spurs for the top defensive efficiency rating.

Yet most NBA fans still perceive the Warriors to be primarily an offensive, rather than a defensive juggernaut. In Vegas, however, Golden State's defense has enabled bettors to cash a lot of totals tickets. Golden State has gone Under in 46 of its 73 games this season, including 10 straight, and 15 of its last 16.

This week, the Warriors will play the Rockets twice - sandwiched around a road game at San Antonio - and then finish with a home game vs. Washington. Certainly, Wednesday's game at San Antonio looks to be the best one to play Under the total. The Spurs and Warriors have gone Under in the last four meetings in San Antonio and the Spurs held Golden State to 92, 79, 92 and 85 points in those four games. The Dubs haven't scored more than 100 points in any of their last eight games at San Antonio (87.8 ppg)! Expect a relatively low-scoring game on Wednesday.

Injury Watch

Marc Gasol missed his fourth game of the season on Sunday, when Memphis played the Warriors in Oakland - Zach Randolph got the start, instead. But the ripple effect for the Grizzlies was that their bench was greatly weakened.

So far this season, Memphis is 1-3 in the four games that Gasol has been sidelined, both SU and ATS. That's not surprising, as his production (19.9 ppg; 6.3 rpg; 20.27 PER) is vital to a Grizzlies squad, which is locked into a battle with the Thunder and Clippers for the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

If there is a silver lining to the timing of Gasol's injury, it's that this week's opponents (Kings, Pacers, Mavericks, Lakers) are on the soft side. But if Gasol can't go Monday vs. Sacramento, Memphis will be susceptible to an upset. Sacramento, of course, is coached by Memphis' former coach, Dave Joerger and they've been decent, of late, with a 17-13-1 ATS record since Jan. 21, including an eye-opening win, as a 13.5-point underdog, at the Clippers on Sunday. With Memphis a poor 17-39 ATS vs. foes with double revenge that are not off back-to-back losses, think about backing Sacramento on Monday.

Schedule Watch

The proud Detroit Pistons franchise has not won a playoff game since the 2008 season, as it's been swept the last two times (2009, 2016) that it reached the post-season. This year, Stan Van Gundy's troops are right in the mix for the final Eastern Conference playoff slot, as they're among four teams (Heat, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets) currently separated by a mere two games. The Pistons haven't done themselves any favors by starting off their 4-game road trip with three losses, including a 28-point upset loss at Orlando on Friday.

Detroit's final road game on this trip will be in Madison Square Garden, where it will battle the New York Knicks, followed by home dates vs. Miami and Brooklyn. The Pistons are a solid 26-12 ATS their last 38 off an upset loss, which bodes well for them against the Knicks on Monday. And it won't hurt matters any that Carmelo Anthony might miss the game due to soreness in his left knee. Look for Detroit to handily defeat New York.

Announcement

Monday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 3/27

Monday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 3/27

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment