NBA Previews:

Orlando @ Charlotte

Rafer Alston is the new Point Guard of the Magic but likely he won?t play tonight. Saying that, the Magic are struggling right now, they were spanked in New Orleans by the Hornets 85-117 ? a 32 points loss and in fact they are 1-4 ATS L5 games. I expect a bounce back from them tonight but their confidence isn?t the same right now?remember the Celtics after the Christmas?! These teams faced each other last Wednesday and the Magic won after overtime in a game where the Bobcats deserved to win and I expect this team to be fired up today looking to get some revenge. The Bobcats are 5-0 ATS L5 games but more important than that is the fact that they are completely healthy and they are a dangerous team at home. Dwight Howard made the best game of his career vs Bobcats and after terrible game vs Hornets it will be interesting to observe him tonight, will Larry Brown allow him to do the same thing?

Toronto @ New York

The Knicks finally snapped their losing streak by beating the Spurs at home after overtime. Nate Robinson went nuts and scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds! The new Knicks' players Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox likely won?t play tonight and this is a game that the Knicks must win if they want to make a run through the playoffs. The same can be said about the Raptors. Chris Bosh is back and the Raptors were spanked at home against the Cavs last game 76-93. They shot only 36.5 % from the field and clearly they missed a big man who can score from inside?Chris Bosh. Now that he is back, the Raptors have a shot to win this game. I think this will be a ballgame as both teams can?t win big their games, the hottest team down the stretch will grab the win.

Cleveland @ Milwaukee

The Cavs didn?t make any big trade despite several rumors involving Shaq, Richard Jefferson, Stoudemire, Bosh and so on?. They looked impressive on the first game after the all star break shutting down the Raptors in a game where the Raptors scored only 76 points and shot 36.5 % from the field. Now they will face the Bucks on the road. Note that the Cavs aren?t the same horsepower on the road as they are at home, remember that they are 15-12 ATS on the road vs 19-6 ATS at home! Delonte West and Ben Wallace can return tonight. The Bucks meanwhile after a nice run of 3 consecutive wins returned to the earth by losing at home against the Bulls. Despite that, they are playing well considering how shorthanded they are and I wouldn?t be surprised if they are competitive tonight. The Cavs lead the series 2-0 in this season winning by 6 pts at home and by 12 points in Milwaukee, note also that the Bucks are 6-1 ATS L7 games vs Cavs!

Dallas @ Houston

The Rockets traded their PG Rafer Alston for Orlando and the little Scott Brooks will be the starter tonight. They beat easily the Kings and the Nets last 2 games at home using some stellar defense, it was a great answer for them after allowing 124 points in Milwaukee. With Tmac out for the season it seems the Rockets are trying to play in the same way that gave them a 22 winning streak games last season: great defense and a good team chemistry. Today they will face Dallas. Note that both teams have similar records 33-21 vs 32-21 so this is a pivotal game as the series are tied to 1-1. Dallas is playing better since Jason Kidd took full control of the offense and they are 7-3 L10 losing only against Boston twice and at Utah. I remember also that Dallas is 8-4 ATS as away underdogs and for me this will be a 51/49 game with the only advantage is the Rockets playing at home.

Oklahoma City @ Phoenix

After firing Terry Porter the Suns scored back to back 140?s points, right now Mike D?Antony is laughing in New York because the run and gun is back to Phoenix. The problem is that we don?t know how well the Suns will be because they played twice against the Clippers and despite all the big numbers?.it was against the Clippers! Today they will face the Thunder, a team that is much more competitive than the Clippers. The Thunder nearly beat the Hornets at home with a big game from Kevin Durant (47 points) and they are 16-8 ATS as away underdogs. The Series is 2-0 to the Suns but the Thunder covered both games. The Thunder can be competitive but I wouldn?t be surprised if this turns to a blowout for the Suns, remember that this will be a high scoring game and 9 points is not a big deal, just look to the game Lakers @ Warriors: The Lakers won by 10 points in a ballgame!

Atlanta @ Portland

Portland won the first game after the all star break against Memphis but it wasn?t an easy game despite the Blazers were 11.5 points favourites. Greg Oden didn?t play and he will miss this game as well, the good news is that Joel Przybilla showed once again he is a solid backup player by grabbing 15 boards in just 32 minutes. Also Steve Blake returned to action and the Blazers have won the last 6 home games. Meanwhile the Hawks bounced back after a horrible game in LA by beating the awfully lowly Kings. This team is yet to show some consistency on the road and beat the big guys, however they are 14-7 ATS as away underdogs in this season and likely this is going to be a wire-to-wire ballgame.

New Orleans @ LA Lakers

The Lakers showed in consecutive days how well they can play in different styles. They easily beat the Hawks at home 96-83 with the Hawks shooting only 36.9 % from the field and in the next day they went into a shootout against the Warriors 129-121 in a game that the Lakers stormed back to win and cover the game. Tonight they will face the Hornets to close out the series. The Lakers lead the series by 2-1 but the Hornets won last game in the Staples Center, they made probably their best game of the season against the Magic scoring 117 points, shooting 58 % from the field and making only 7 turnovers. The key is to find out if they can be competitive on the road, remember that they are 2-9 ATS being away underdogs and somehow it looks like they quit after trailing big early in the games. I expect this game to be a high scoring game, however we are talking about 206 points (the first three games had 195, 195.5 and 196 points) and the oddmakers adjusted correctly the totals lines in this contest.

Note: I have 5 plays for today, one of them is a DOUBLE DIME PLAY!

FREE PICK:

Orlando Magic @  Charlotte Bobcats

This is a big revenge game for the Bobcats and I expect them to work fine in this game. I know that Orlando is a very tough road opponent but even the tops teams have their bad moments (just look for the Celtics after the Christmas) and Orlando is struggling right now.

In the last game they were spanked by the Hornets 85-117 and they are 1-4 ATS L5 games. Actually I made a play on the Hornets by saying the following about the Magic: "The Magic are struggling right now from the perimeter, in the last 3 games they shoot 6-20, 9-31 and 9-24 behind the arc. We are talking about 30%, 29% and 37 % from a team who need badly to make a huge number of treys to be competitive."  Well, the Magic made 13 for 33 behind the arc in that game with Lewis shooting 1-7 and Turkoglu 2-5 so I think we can say that the slump continues.

The Bobcats didn't take advantage from this slump because unexplainable they allowed Dwight Howard to score 45 points for a 16-23 from the field performance. What the hell Larry Brown was thinking in not double teamed Howard in that game?! Surely this won't happen tonight and the Magic will have a lot of problems to score once again.

The Bobcats meanwhile bounced back nicely against the Pacers at home and they can beat top teams at home right now because they are full healthy. Against the Pacers 6 players scored double digits points and they have multiple offensive weapons. Rafer Alston will not play tonight and the Magic have been constantly outplayed in the backcourt lately. Chris Paul made 36 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds vs Magic and even Felton and D.J Augustin combined 33 points, 8 assists and 10 rebounds against them. Don't forget that the Bobcats are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog and I expect them to be ultra competitive tonight. Take the Bobcats in here.

Regular Play on Charlotte Bobcats (+2.5)

CLICK HERE to get my NBA Picks!