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San Antonio begins life without Tony Parker for a while tonight as the team with the NBA’s best record visits Memphis – bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Parker strained a calf muscle in Sunday’s home 95-88 win over these same Grizzlies. Parker, the team’s assists leader and No. 2 scorer, is projected to miss 2-4 weeks. George Hill, Parker’s primary backup for three seasons, likely will get the start at point guard tonight. Parker is the first Spurs starter to miss a game this season. When he broke his hand last year and missed 16 games, the Spurs went 11-5 as Manu Ginobili exploded. Manu averaged 22.1 points in 16 March 2010 games, 13 of which Parker missed. Ginobili scored 18 of his season-high 35 points in the final quarter to lead the Spurs’ win on Sunday. He converted 11-of-12 foul shots in the final quarter on a night San Antonio attempted 33 free throws while Memphis had 19. San Antonio currently has a six-game lead over the Dallas Mavericks for the top seed in the West.

Memphis currently holds the eighth and final playoff spot out West, but just a half-game ahead of No. 9 Phoenix. The Grizzlies are one of the better teams in the league at home with a record of 20-8. They are averaging 112.7 points on 52.3-percent shooting in their last three home games. Memphis rookie Xavier Henry will miss his fourth straight game with a sore right knee. Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph has 38 rebounds in two games vs. the Spurs this season. But starting center Marc Gasol was just 1-for-7 from the field vs. San Antonio on Sunday.

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Since making the big trade that sent Kendrick Perkins to Denver for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic, the Boston Celtics have yet to lose and continue to lead the Eastern Conference by a game. Now the C’s return home to face the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

The Celtics, in an effort to replace Perkins’ rebounding and six, will add forward/center Troy Murphy on Wednesday, but it’s not clear if he will debut against the Suns. Murphy was bought out by Golden State after he was traded there last week by New Jersey in a salary dump. Murphy is a nine-year veteran who can rebound and spread the floor with his long-range shooting. The foot-11 former Notre Dame star has shot 39.1 percent on 3-pointers in his career and averaged 8.5 rebounds a game. He will spell Kevin Garnett at power forward and also likely play some time at center.

Phoenix is still battling for a playoff spot out West, standing a game out of eighth. And the Suns handed the Celtics their worst loss of the season, 88-71, back on Jan. 28 in Phoenix. That game was ugly all around for Boston, which was playing on the second night of a tough back-to-back. Coach Doc Rivers was ejected for arguing with referee Steve Javie in the second quarter, and Garnett got into fourth quarter dust-ups with Mickael Pietrus and Channing Frye.

The Suns enter on a four-game winning streak. In Monday's 104-103 overtime win at New Jersey, Phoenix had its bench-scoring game of the season with 64 points, led by Marcin Gortat's 17. But this team still goes as Steve Nash goes. This matchup features NBA assists leaders Rajon Rondo (12.1 per game) and Nash (11.4). Nash’s assist total has been in double digits in all 10 games he’s played since his 37th birthday, the first time a player has done so.

Boston leads the NBA in scoring defense at 91.3 points per game while Phoenix is fourth in scoring at 105.2 ppg.

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The Chicago Bulls continue their push for the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed on Wednesday night, but they face a team that has had their number for the past few years in the Atlanta Hawks. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Chicago (41-17) is two games behind first-place Boston and one behind No. 2 Miami in the East. The Bulls enter having won seven of eight games. On Monday, they had a laugher in Washington with a 105-77 victory to start a five-game road trip. Things really get tonight in Atlanta, with games at Orlando and Miami to come this week. Joakim Noah continues to get more in sync as on Monday, in his fourth game since missing 30 with a thumb injury, he had 19 points and 11 rebounds. And Derrick Rose was typically MVP-like.

Atlanta has won seven of its past eight in this series. The Hawks have won five straight over Chicago by an average of 16.2 points. Rose scored 32 points on Dec. 19, 2009, leading his team to its only victory in the past eight in the series, 101-98 in overtime.

The Hawks (36-24) just finished off a seven-game road trip at 3-4 with a 100-90 victory at Denver on Monday. Josh Smith was averaging 22.0 points in his previous three games prior to scoring 10 in that before leaving in the second quarter. He was unable to return and his status for tonight remains in question. Guard Kirk Hinrich, a former Bull, missed Monday’s game with a sore calf and also might sit.

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The Miami Heat have chocked plenty of times this season, but nothing as bad as this.

The Orlando Magic stormed back after being down as much as 24 points in the third quarter to shock the Heat at home 99-96. Miami was a 5-point favorite in the game.

The Magic went on an uncanny 40-9 run in 15 minutes dropping trifectas from everywhere, and holding the Heat to 33 points in the second half.

"Well, that defies explanation," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.

Winning big games and keeping big leads has been an issue with the Heat all season. They recently dropped another tough contest versus New York after being up 15, failing to make the game-tying 3-pointer to at least force overtime. The same happened Thursday, Chris Bosh and LeBron James both missed open 3s with time running down to tied the game.

"We need to keep on pushing through," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "There's no other way to say it. … The tide turned."

The loss puts Miami two games back of the Boston Celtics. More importantly for bettors, it was the Heat’s fourth loss against the spread in a row. Looks like we’re back to the underachieving Heat again.

"I think our guys are very anxious right now and they want it so bad," Spoelstra said. "This will eventually help us. None of us want to talk about it right now, but we will eventually get over this hump."

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I don’t want to say that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s job is on the in Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, but Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s job might very well be on the line if his team lays another egg against a top team. Miami opened as a 4.5-point favorite over Chicago on Bodog’s NBA odds.

The Heat coughed up a 24-point lead at home on Thursday night vs. Orlando, inexplicably letting the Magic go on a 40-9 run. Things actually got worse on Friday in San Antonio as Miami was crushed 125-95, easily the team’s biggest defeat of the season. Miami was down 24 points by the end of the first quarter. The Heat are now 1-8 against the Spurs, Celtics, Mavericks, Bulls and Lakers this season. That loss, Miami’s third straight and fourth in five games, dropped the Heat into a tie for second in the East with the Bulls.

And here’s a cool stat to show the Heat aren’t very good in close games: they are a league-worst 1 for 14 on potential tying or go-ahead field-goal attempts in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. They're just 2-7 in games decided by three or less.

Chicago choked away a game on Wednesday against Atlanta but bounced back impressively on Friday in winning 89-81 at Orlando. Derrick Rose overcame a subpar game against the Hawks with 24 points against the Magic and reserve center Omar Asik, who is starting to be used more and more by the Bulls, had 13 rebounds.

The Bulls are 2-0 against the Heat this season, but both of those games were in the Windy City and both were close. Miami is likely to be without starting center Erick Dampier after he was ejected following a flagrant foul on San Antonio’s Tony Parker.

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The new New York Knicks are are picking up steam, blowing out the Utah Jazz 131-109 at home.

The Knicks were 6-point favorites in the contest, easily covering behind the performance of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire who combined to make 24 of 31 shots.

"We'll have nights that they're unstoppable," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.

This is the first time the Knicks have won two games in a row since the big trade, but with big wins at Miami and at Atlanta we can officially say pro basketball is back in basketball’s Mecca. Athletes and entertainers graced the sidelines Monday night to take their seat alongside die-hard fan Spike Lee, all to hop on the bandwagon.

What remains to be seen is whether bettors should climb aboard as well. Though they have covered seven of their last 10 it consistency is still a question with perplexing losses versus Cleveland twice this season.

However, its encouraging that ‘Melo had 34 points, his first 30-plus game of the season. Though Anthony doesn’t feel games like this from him will be necessary for New York to remain a contender.

"We're not going to shoot like that, I don't think. There's not going to be a game where we only miss six or seven shots combined," he said. "We hope we go out there and score 30 points and we win and everybody else contributes in their own way, but for me personally, I don't want to do that. I don't want to put that pressure on me to go out there and say that I want to score 30 points a night. I'm past that now."

The Knicks get Tuesday off before getting back on the court at Memphis and at Dallas.

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Let the haters hate, because the Miami Heat lost again.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 69 points, but the dynamic duo again fell short against Portland as 9-point favorites, losing 105-96. It’s Miami’s fifth-straight loss and seventh straight against teams above .500.

“How do we explain it? We can’t,” James said. “This isn’t rock bottom for us. Crazy thing is, we could lose every game and still make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.”

Defense was the nail in the coffin for the Heat on Tuesday night, Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points while new addition Gerald Wallace dropped 22. Blazers guard Andre Miller added 14 with five assists and had key plays down the stretch.

“We needed that win,” Blazers guard Miller said. “I tried to bring some energy down the stretch. It could have easily went the other way. It was back and forth a little bit, but we were able to make some big plays.”

Things don’t get any easier for the Heat. They face the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night, and L.A. has won eight straight since Kobe Bryant put on his “Black Mamba” face after the All-Star break — L.A. beat Atlanta 101-87 Tuesday. And Bryant doesn’t want to give the Heat the satisfaction of kicking their losing streak against the defending champs.

“It’s a perfect set-up for them to get back on track,” Bryant said. “They have no options but to fight, but to play their hearts out. This is going to be a big challenge for us. … They’ve lost five games in a row now and they’re looking at this game as being the game that turns this around.”

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The crying is over. The Miami Heat made big plays in the fourth versus the L.A. Lakers to snap their five game losing streak.

Kobe Bryant had the game in his hands and his “Black Mamba” face on with two minutes left, but, finally, the Heat made the plays to win 94-88.

“We didn’t want to run away from this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We didn’t want to hide from any of this. We want to get better. We want to make sure our game is right and ready when it really counts.”

NBA odds had the L.A. Lakers as -1 road-favorites at tip off, but from the jump the Heat were playing playoff-style basketball.

“We had everything riding on this game, really, to be honest with you,” Heat forward Chris Bosh said.

After whining about his lack of shots Bosh got his wish versus L.A., leading all Heat with 24 points off of 10-17 shooting. Dwyane Wade had 20 points in the contest, scoring eight of them in the fourth, and made key plays against Bryant on defense.

"D-Wade accepted the challenge," LeBron James said.

Miami has been terrible against contenders, losing to all the heavy hitters in the East and West, except the Lakers, this is their second win in a row against the defending champs. Maybe if they survive the East they’ll have a shot at one of those six titles they promised?

"Good game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They played better than we did. I'm sure we'll see them again sometime, I'm sure."

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It should be interesting to see how the Dallas Mavericks respond tonight against the New York Knicks after the Mavs essentially choked away a game on Wednesday night and were called soft by their coach. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Somehow Dallas coughed up a seven-point lead with 1:13 remaining against a New Orleans Hornets team without Chris Paul to lose 93-92. Coach Rick Carlisle simply said his team was “soft” afterward, which seemed to anger his players.

"I wouldn't go that far," said center Tyson Chandler, who returned from a sprained right ankle with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

"Who said that?" Jason Terry said. "I'm not soft, not me. I don't know where that comes from, but we ain't soft. We have to see how he meant soft in that aspect, but I know he wasn't talking to me personally or any of my teammates because I don't think none of these guys are soft."

The Mavs may be shorthanded against the Knicks as Shawn Marion suffered bruised ribs against the Hornets. X-rays were negative, but Marion is uncertain if he'll be able to play. Midway through the third quarter against the Hornets, Marion crashed into a cameraman along the baseline while going up for a breakaway layup. Hornets forward Marco Belinelli pushed Marion from behind and sent him flailing. Marion started in place of Peja Stojakovic, who was scratched with a stiff neck. His availability tonight is also in question, which could leave the Mavs without their top two small forwards.

Other than against the Cavaliers, the Knicks have been much improved since Carmelo Anthony joined the team and enter on a three-game winning streak. On Wednesday night in Memphis, Anthony's 19-foot jumper with 0.5 seconds left beat the Grizzlies 110-108. The Knicks are 6-3 since the trade that brought Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York. Billups missed his fifth straight game with a left quad injury on Wednesday and won’t play tonight.

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In a rematch of the 2009 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic will throw down on Monday night. It's a match up that NBA betting fans will look forward to.

The Lakers (47-20, 33-34 ATS) are 9-1 in their past 10 games, with the lone setback being a loss in Miami last week. Los Angeles beat Dallas 96-91 on Saturday, though, to close out a very successful four-game road trip. The team covered against the Mavs, improving to 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games, and kicks off a seven-game home stand with Monday’s game.

The win over Dallas wasn’t without drama. Kobe Bryant landed awkwardly after a third-quarter shot attempt. Bryant thought he dislocated his ankle, but he was able to return to the game after a short break. He made just six of his 20 field goal attempts, though, and finished with 16 points.

Andrew Bynum was the hero against Dallas. He racked up 22 points and 15 rebounds, continuing a very nice little streak. Bynum has double-doubles in three straight games; he’s been incredible on the glass lately, averaging 15.4 boards over his last five games.

Orlando (42-25, 29-36-2) has won three of its last four after crushing Phoenix 111-88 on Sunday. The Magic haven’t been very sharp against the spread lately, but the romp in Phoenix ended a four-game losing streak.

The Magic are crossing their fingers for a re-emergence by Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu scored a season-high 24 points against Golden State on Friday, and Orlando could certainly use a boost from the aging forward. He finished with just 13 points against the Suns, though. Still, after going five straight games without scoring in double figures, Turkoglu has reached the bench mark in his last four outings.

Orlando won 89-75 when these teams met in February. The Magic covered as a pick ‘em. Los Angeles and Orlando have split their last 10 games both straight up and against the spread.

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After a brutal losing streak, the Miami Heat are back on track. The San Antonio Spurs have been fantastic for NBA betting fans, though, and will look to add to their win total when they host the Heat on Monday.

San Antonio (54-12, 37-27-2 ATS) has won three consecutive games. The Spurs came up with a 115-107 win in Houston on Saturday and, most importantly, ended a three-game losing streak against the spread. Though the Spurs have been very good against the NBA odds for most of the season, they’ve struggled over the last few weeks, going 3-8 ATS in their past 11 games.

The win over Houston proved what incredible balance the Spurs have. A whopping eight players scored in double figures, including all five starters and three players off the bench. Tony Parker led the way with 21 points and six assists; Parker has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games now.

The bench truly came up huge, though, combining for 42 points. George Hill is one of the best bench players in the league, and he’s racked up 14-point efforts in back-to-back games. DeJuan Blair, meanwhile, gave Tim Duncan some valuable resting time on the bench by providing 14 points and nine rebounds.

After a disastrous five-game losing streak, Miami (45-21, 30-35-1 ATS) has won two consecutive games. The Heat have been miserable against the spread recently, including a seven-game losing streak. That brutal trend has seemingly come to an end, as Miami has covered its last two games, including a 118-85 romp over Memphis on Saturday.

Chris Bosh has become the whipping boy when things go wrong in Miami, but he’s played very well during the two-game winning streak. Bosh is averaging 21.0 points and 9.5 rebounds over his last two games while making 17 of his 28 shots from the field (60.7 percent).

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Just days ago the question was whether the Miami Heat could ever beat a contender, now they’ve done it twice in five days.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 30 points and 12 rebounds as Miami blew out San Antonio 110-80. The Heat hit bottom during a five-game losing stream just a week ago, and the Spurs were one of the teams that blew them out. But since finally getting a win versus L.A. on Thursday, the Heat look confident and got payback versus San Antonio on Monday.

"It's huge for us, really, just getting even with this team," Bosh said. “They beat us pretty good and I'm happy that we were able to respond by playing a complete game tonight. But at the same time, it is just one game."

Bosh is a big component of the Heat turnaround. The all-star forward has averaged 24 points during Miami’s three-game winning streak, backing up his talk to be a more effective inside presence with more touches.

“Sometimes when you suffer the results that we were and you have this extreme noise from outside, that can be a distraction only if you let it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But in terms of the guys’ confidence, it never really wavered. This is a very confident group. But the consistency that we’ve had the last three games is something we can build on.”

Miami could be finally figuring out how to mesh as a team with the playoffs just around the corner. With the NBA postseason all about getting hot at the right time, the Heat may be back as a marquee wager to win the 2011 NBA Championship.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t have caught the Miami Heat at a worse time, as the Heat look angry and energized after a recent losing streak. They hook up in an NBA betting matchup this Wednesday.

Since losing five straight—and going 0-7 against the spread—Miami (46-21, 31-35-1 ATS) has won its past three games, covering all of them. Perhaps most impressive is that Miami is cruising past very good teams—the Lakers, Grizzlies and Spurs. The Heat completely obliterated San Antonio on Monday, winning 110-80.

Though gifted scorers like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade quickly come to mind when you think of the Heat, Miami is actually getting by with smothering defense. The club has held its past three opponents to less than 90 points, giving up just 84.3 points per game over that span. The Spurs were held to just 38.3 percent shooting from the field.

At the other end of the floor, Chris Bosh is seemingly playing with a chip on his shoulder. Bosh has taken a ton of flak for his lackluster efforts this season, but nobody can complain about his play during the winning streak. Bosh killed the Spurs with 30 points and 12 boards, and he’s averaging 24.0 points and 10.3 rebounds over his last three games.

Oklahoma City (43-23, 35-31 ATS) is playing some pretty good basketball itself, having won four consecutive games and going 7-1 over the past eight. The Thunder have also covered four straight games and are 6-2 ATS during the hot streak. The difference, however, is that OKC has been playing the dregs of the Eastern Conference (Philly, Detroit, Cleveland, and Washington).

The best news in Monday’s 116-89 romp over Washington was the debut of Kendrick Perkins. The former Celtic was acquired at the trade deadline to add some grit to the lineup, but he’d missed the past nine games with a knee sprain. Perkins played well against the Wizards, scoring six points and grabbing nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

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The Chicago Bulls continue their push for the best record in the Eastern Conference as they host the Sacramento Kings on Monday night and Chicago should get back power forward Carlos Boozer for the game. Chicago is a 15.5-point favorite on Bodog’s NBA odds, the largest spread on the board for Monday’s NBA action.

Boozer practiced on Sunday and participated in the Bulls' Monday morning shootaround and is expected to return from missing five games with a sprained left ankle.

"He was fine," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "If there aren't any problems before the game, he'll go.”

Needless to say the Bulls are better with Boozer, but he had struggled before he went down. In his previous seven games before the March 9 injury, Boozer was averaging 12.7 points on just 12.3 shots. But the Bulls were winning.

However, Chicago may not be quite at full strength. Taj Gibson jammed his right big toe during Friday's overtime loss to the Pacers and wore a walking boot after Sunday's practice, which he skipped. But Gibson didn't have a walking boot on after Monday's shootaround. He will be a game-time decision. Luol Deng, who also missed Sunday’s practice with a bruised thigh, was there Monday morning and should play.

Chicago goes for a 13th straight home win and should have little trouble with the Kings, who are just 8-24 on the road. The Bulls won at Sacramento on No. 27 by 10 behind 30 points from Derrick Rose. Sacramento does come in off a 127-95 win in Minnesota. It was the third-largest margin of victory in NBA history by a road team that had already lost at least 50 games on the season. Kings center Samuel Dalembert had 26 points and a season-high 17 rebounds in that game. He is averaging 18.2 points and 12.8 rebounds in his past five games.

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If there was ever going to be a relatively minor injury to happen to the San Antonio Spurs, it’s probably best that it happen now. After all, the Spurs are basically a lock to finish with the best record in the NBA and home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs. So the fact that the team is expected to be without Tim Duncan for two weeks shouldn’t factor into the long-range playoff plans.

Duncan went down with a sprained ankle in Monday’s 111-96 win over Golden State. X-rays were negative and the Spurs are saying Duncan should miss two weeks. The future Hall of Famer has started all but one game this season, and he sat out that one Saturday just for some extra rest. Duncan is averaging career-lows in many categories but the Spurs are thriving. At 57-13, they have a seven-game lead for the top seed in the West and 7.5 games over the East top two teams. San Antonio has just 12 games left to play, so there’s no way it coughs up those leads.

"We can win without Timmy in the rest of the regular season and get that top seed,” said Tony Parker. “But we're not going anywhere in the playoffs without him."

Tiago Splitter replaced Duncan in the rotation, producing his first double-double (10 points, 14 rebounds). Splitter certainly will see many more minutes while Duncan is out. If Duncan is out two weeks, that likely means seven missed games: At Denver, at Portland, at Memphis, vs. Portland, vs. Boston, at Houston and vs. Phoenix.

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It’s not officially over yet for the Phoenix Suns in their chase for the final playoff in the Western Conference, but it’s all but finished for Steve Nash and Co. Entering tonight’s game in Sacramento the Suns are 10th in the conference and four games behind No. 8 Memphis. Starting tonight the Suns have 10 games remaining and probably have to win them all to even have a shot; their longest winning streak of the season is only five games. Phoenix opened as a 1-point favorite on Bodog’s NBA odds for this one.

The Suns have dropped two in a row, last playing Sunday and falling to Dallas 91-83. "After this game I don't think we're going to be talking about playoffs this year anymore," said Suns center Marcin Gortat, who had 20 points and 15 boards against Dallas and has been playing at an All-Star level since coming over from Orlando in a trade.

Coach Alvin Gentry shook up his starting lineup, going with Jared Dudley in place of Vince Carter and Gortat for Robin Lopez. But the Suns were done in by 1-for-16 shooting from 3-point range. Sunday was Gortat’s first start as a Suns center after receiving one previous start at power forward alongside Lopez. For Dudley, it was only his sixth start in 202 games with the Suns. Lopez and Carter had been struggling preceding Sunday's move. Carter had started in every game in which he played except one since the 2007-08 season. He won’t be back with Phoenix next year. And even though the Suns are close to being eliminated from the playoffs, Nash said he won't shut himself down early to a avoid a late season injury. He will play fewer minutes, however. Mickael Pietrus is not expected to return yet from a strained quadriceps tendon in his right knee. Josh Childress will again take his spot in the rotation and had 12 points in 22 minutes against the Mavs.

The Kings are just playing out the string in what could be their final season before moving to Anaheim. They actually just closed out a five-game road trip in impressive style by winning at Milwaukee, Indiana and Philadelphia. Star Tyreke Evans played Sunday against the Sixers in his second game since missing the previous 19 with left foot plantar fasciitis, scoring 10 points in 23 minutes.

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If the Houston Rockets have any designs on making the Western Conference playoffs, then they simply cannot lose tonight at New Jersey. And Houston opened as a 7-point favorite on Bodog’s NBA odds.

The Rockets enter this one 2.5 games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the West with Houston having nine games left and the Grizzlies eight. The Rockets’ schedule is decent the rest of the way, with four winnable road games (tonight, Wednesday at Philly, at New Orleans, at Minnesota) and five at home (San Antonio, Atlanta, Sacramento, L.A. Clippers and Dallas). The Rockets probably have to go 7-2 in those nine to have a shot. Houston’s five-game winning streak was ended on Sunday night in Miami, a 125-119 Heat win. It was the fourth time this season the Rockets gave up at least 125 points. They are 1-3 in those games. Kevin Martin led the way with 29 points.

Houston has owned the Nets in recent years as the Rockets have a nine-game winning streak against the Nets, including seven straight in New Jersey. They scored 71 points on 57 percent shooting in the first half of the first meeting this season. Houston guard Kyle Lowry is questionable with a sore left foot. And New Jersey enters having lost six of seven games and will again be without star point guard Deron Williams (strained tendon in left wrist). However, Williams is aiming to return from the injury on Wednesday night. Williams has averaged 14.8 points and 13.1 assists per game since moving to New Jersey from the Utah Jazz just before the trading deadline. Jordan Farmar has played fairly well in Williams’ place in the starting lineup.

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NBA is a amazing sport.

Kareem played college football😟 There was an Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar(I had to look it up to spell it right) that played for UCLA in the early to mid 90's. Maybe this is some sort of early April Fool's prank, embedded in a real article.

By the time the scorching-hot Los Angeles Lakers take the court on Sunday afternoon in ABC’s nationally televised game against Denver, they will know whether they can pull within a half-game of San Antonio for the coveted No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Bet on this game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

The Lakers have lost all of one game since the All-Star Break and are 1.5 games behind San Antonio for that top spot, a mark that seemed unrealistic not long ago but now is in play thanks to the Spurs’ six-game losing streak and L.A.’s nine-game winning streak. The Lakers were down 17 at Utah, a place it never plays well at, on Friday night but won 96-85. L.A. is 17-1 since the break – lone loss at Miami – and if the Lakers win out, including beating the Spurs on April 12, they can claim the top seed in the West.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, lead the NBA in scoring and have been better since trading Carmelo Anthony. The Nugs enter on a five-game winning streak after beating Sacramento on Friday and are a stunning 14-4 since trading Anthony. The Nuggets are outscoring opponents by nearly 16 points during their five-game win streak, Almost every facet of the team is better despite having dealt one of the NBA’s top 10 talents as the club has much more depth perhaps than any team in the league. However, one of Denver’s rotation big men will likely miss this game – and no team is bigger than the Lakers. Denver forward Chris Andersen sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter Friday and didn’t return and is unlikely to play.

The Lakers have lost four of six overall to the Nuggets but have taken 13 of 15 in the series at home.

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