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Today’s free play comes via a total in the Clippers vs Rockets. First thought from just about anyone would be to play the over. Last night in the NBA featured a plethora of jaw dropping scores. That likely will linger in minds to what should be expected from the Rockets and Clippers.

It’s extremely rare to see the type of scores we saw last night. Houston will also be without a proven scorer in Patrick Beverly for a length of time. With the way the Clippers second unit and overall defense has played, I’d expect the Clippers to play a bit more aggressively defensively.

Inside, the Clippers and Rockets match up very well against each other. Omer Asik and Dwight Howard against the Clippers bigs of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Scoring is going to happen in this game but not to the extreme of sailing over 217 points. In close games as this one should be, the fourth quarter will be maximized possession to possession. High totals such as this one need high scoring quarters for the entire game.

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Both Cal and SMU are coming off double digit wins, to advance to the quarterfinals in the NIT. Tonight the point spread is -8 in favor of the home team Southern Methodist Mustangs. This should be a game where SMU actually puts a solid game together for both halves. They struggled a bit defensively against an athletic LSU team, in the first half a few nights ago.

They showed strong resilience though and that should carry over against a year long underachieving California team. Do not get duped from their standout performance against Arkansas two nights ago. Arkansas wasn’t ready to play at the onset and actually found a way to get back into the game. SMU just matches up well against this California team and should be able to roll to a solid victory.

Clippers Second Unit Poor Defense Make Outlook Worrisome

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Remember the Golden State Warriors of five years ago or even the free gunning Phoenix Suns during Steve Nash’s era? They were great regular season teams to watch but come playoff time disappointment would prevail. This day and age the Clippers are one of the best offensive teams to watch in the NBA. They have the fire power to run teams out of the building and do-so with 35/40 point quarters.

An area the Clippers just don’t seem to be lacking any passion is on the defensive end. Earlier in the season the team lacked the offensive cohesion to overcome their poor defensive play. They’ve obviously cleared that hurdle but back then Doc Rivers was stressing they needed to improve defensively.

Los Angeles is coming off of two games one against Detroit and one against Milwaukee that they were clearly the better team. In each game they come out on fire and quickly built double digit leads. Sloppy play offensively by the Clippers second units and their lack of defense let both the Bucks and Pistons back in the game. This of course was instrumental in killing any chances of sports bettors to cover a large spread in both games- check out the official NBA betting odds to better grasp the concept.

Against Detroit they held a first quarter lead of 36-23 to only see the Clippers actually trail late in the second quarter Second Quarter vs Pistons. Against Milwaukee last night you could of hit the repeat button. The Clippers were up by fifteen points late in the first quarter and relinquished the lead before the six minute mark of the second quarter.

This is clearly not a good sign for a team that is supposed to be dominant come playoff time. To get better the Clippers are going to need their high value pickups in Danny Granger and Glen Davis to develop as a true dependable bench unit. Clearly with those two, Collison, Crawford, and Jared Dudley they should boast as the top bench in the NBA.

For whatever reason that hasn’t happened and maybe the group just needs that on-court time to gel together.

Something will need to change quickly for the Clippers in the dominant Western Conference. There will be a formidable foe waiting for them in round one. With the style of play the Clippers display they’re going to be vulnerable to be pushed to a six or even seven game series right off the bat. To refrain from this happening they will need to up the ante on the defensive end of the floor. By letting the Detroit Pistons beat them at their own game of lob city repeatedly with Andre Drummond showcased their lack of passion on that end of the floor.

Let’s see what the Doc can get in order down in Los Angeles. It would be a travesty for a team with this type of talent to surrender in the playoffs because of an inability to play defense.

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I am on a good roll here lately with college basketball and NBA premium plays as well as free play write ups. Today’s free play write up comes in the Sixers vs Spurs NBA matchup. Philadelphia hasn’t won a game in several months now but that hasn’t stopped them from being a great team ATS, especially as of late. Sportsbook’s continue to offer high lines and casual as well as shark bettors continue to fall for it.

Today’s trip to San Antonio offers another high spread at 21.5 points. At this point of the NBA season everyone should know coach popovich’s game plan. If he is not sitting his old starters he is making sure they’re minutes are watched carefully. They do boast explosive fill in players with Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, and others, but 21.5 is a bit high.

During Philadelphia’s transition period after trading away Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes it was clearly a good time to go after these inflated lines against Philadelphia. Now though they’ve settled in as a team.

I do expect San Antonio to race out early and have one of their typical double digit first or second quarter leads. That’s when Popovich will do the sit and watch maneuver with his starters. If the bench players can sustain the lead to a relative margin I wouldn’t expect the starters back out on the floor.

Either way the starters should not be in the game when the fourth quarter comes, unless Philadelphia is in the game which is good on your end.

Get this line now as bettors with common sense should be attacking the 76ers here.

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Besides Syracuse fans and head coach Jim Boeheim, Carmelo Anthony’s career beyond that point has been tagged as a mediocre star in the NBA. Year after year Carmelo takes the court and continues to put up gaudy numbers on the offensive end of the floor. Lack of passion defensively and the ability to carry his team nightly is almost comparable to an NFL quarterback after a Sunday night loss.

Melo takes the brunt of criticism and continues to play the way he has his whole career. Truthfully there are few forwards in the game that have his combination of his quickness, shooting ability and overall strength. Even Charles Barkley has stated he is the best scorer in the NBA.

Yet no marquee athletes have ever wanted to surround Carmelo like other star athletes are able to attract. They see him like the media does, and not one that you can win championships with. Who knows how the hiring of Phil Jackson as team president will improve Carmelo Anthony.

For all we know Anthony could be on another team after this season as Jackson cleans house and decides to build his style of a team.

It’s not too late for Carmelo Anthony as he comes on the age of 30 but he knows there was definitely a squandered period in his career.

Over in Sacramento I see the same situation unfolding with DeMarcus Cousins. There is not a player in the league that I am more disappointed in watching than Cousins.

You can tell on certain nights that he is playing the Randy Moss factor—taking plays off and giving less than 100 percent effort. It’s a part of his game and one of the reasons why he has clashed with several coaches in the NBA already. Yet even on those lack of effort nights he can seemingly put up a double double.

Pure talent is letting Cousins get by in the league right now. But does he have a care in the world at excelling his game to another level? He could be a top five player in the NBA right now if he wanted to. Instead he trucks up and down the floor on certain possessions in snail speed defensively. On the offensive end he’ll give up position instead of working for it and force up a poor shot.

His lack of effort isn’t what I’m comparing to Carmelo Anthony. What is is the sense of urgency to wake up and transform his game. Maybe Cousins is waiting to leave Sacramento but he should be playing as if he would be a King for life. Earning a top dollar contract and playing host to top free agents could be viable in Sacramento as it turned out to be for the Dallas Mavericks.

But it will take Cousins initiative to step up to the plate or he will one day be like Carmelo Anthony. A one and done athlete that didn’t see the signs of his career needing to change.

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An Indiana Pacers team that was lights out as a dominating team through All-Star break has been lingering as a team that squeaks out wins now. Their four game losing streak a few weeks ago raised some eyebrows. Are the Pacers going to get it back in high gear or is what we are seeing more of what to expect as the season finishes out and playoffs begin?

During this stretch Pacers bettors certainly have not been happy. Their wins have been by close margins making their typical high line spreads susceptible nightly. None were as poor as two disappointing outings in the last week against the Philadelphia 76ers. In both of those games just like everyone else against Philadelphia, the Pacers were favored by a margin in the mid-teens at Philadelphia and at home were near 20 point favorites. Neither of the games did they find a fluid flow on either end of the floor.

What seems to be the main differences in this Pacers team?

With five key starters teams often hit a wall and it has happened with Indiana. Defensively they’re not playing nearly as well as they have as a team. The high amount of blocks aren’t there for Roy Hibbert, David West’s sound defense has gone MIA, and even Paul George has lost a bit of luster on the defensive end.

Off the bench the Pacers are adapting to life without Danny Granger while dictating Andrew Bynum’s minutes. The lift the Pacers used to be able to rely on from bench players such as Luis Scola has also hit a snag.

Overall sports bettors still have to be satisfied on the season with the Pacers. They had an epic run through the All-Star break in which they covered spreads at a high rate. It seems that the Western Conference teams figured them out a bit with their run and gun approach. That style of play seems to wear the Pacers out defensively. Phoenix twice, Golden State, Houston, Dallas twice, and Denver have all defeated the Pacers over the course of the last month.

Adjusting as a team needs to be a goal of the Pacers. They will never be an outstanding offensive team but they must get back to the same high level defensively. Allowing teams like Philadelphia to hang around for four quarters multiple times just can’t happen. That needs to be a wakeup call of motivation for this team to get things back in gear.

It’s as if the Pacers have settled with the mind frame that they’re an elite team and they can step on the floor and win with that mentality. From a sports betting perspective you have to sit things out and watch stretches of games to see if the Pacers are changing their ways. If anything with their defense suffering totals on the over may be the way to go.