3-Unit Play #505 Take New York +5 ˝ Over Toronto (6 p.m. EST, Sunday)
These teams played last night in New York and the Raptors won convincingly. However, when teams play like this on back-to-back days more often than not the team that lost the day before makes adjustments and plays much better the next day. We think New York will play much better today and challenge for the straight up win. The Raptors have had a nice run but the only real impressive win during their 5-game winning streak was against Orlando. They beat the Bulls, a bad road team, at home in OT and also notched wins over the Clippers, OKC and Milwaukee. The public has been hammering the Raptors hard yet there hasn’t been any line movement here, which means the sportsbooks are encouraging Toronto money here – a great sign for Knicks backers. We will side with the books on this one as we see the Knicks playing a much better game today.

3-Unit Play #507 Take Charlotte +2 ˝ Over Detroit (6 p.m. EST, Sunday)
The Bobcats have been playing very well lately despite dropping two very tough games to Boston (2OTs) and Miami. But this is a must-win game for them as they are two games behind the Pistons for the final playoff spot so they can make up a lot of ground here with a win. Detroit has a lot to play for too but these teams seem to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum – Charlotte is overachieving while the Pistons are underachieving and they haven’t played with much heart lately. Detroit has lost six of its last eight and we feel that the Bobcats really deserve that No. 8 seed instead of the Pistons. Charlotte has covered in four of their last five and they have been a great bet on the road lately, cashing in seven of their last 10 road games. We feel like this one will come down to the final minute but we give the edge to Charlotte, the team that seems to want the playoffs more.

3-Unit Play #516 Take New Orleans – 2 ˝ Over Utah (7 p.m. EST, Sunday)
Revenge doesn’t factor in the NBA that much, but the Jazz won both games this season (both were in Utah) and we feel the Hornets will give some extra effort tonight to get a solid win. New Orleans is an outstanding home team (27-11 on the season) while the Jazz are shaky at best on the road (14-23). The Hornets seem to have the momentum in this one as they have won three of their last four while the Jazz have dropped three straight. Utah has been one of the worst bets in the league lately as they have dropped six straight against the number. The Hornets allow only 91 PPG at home while the Jazz give up more than 105 on the road and we think defense will be the difference tonight in getting the Hornets the win and the cover.

3-Unit Play #521 Take LA Clippers +17 Over LA Lakers (9:30 p.m. EST, Sunday)
The Lakers have been a horrible bet as a large favorite and have only covered eight of 25 games when favored by 11 or more points. This is the biggest public team in the NBA and we feel this is a very public line tonight. The Clippers hate everything the Lakers represent (everything they are not) and really want to play well in this game as thie sill be the last chance to avoid being swept by their main rivals two-straight years. We are not saying that the Clippers will win, but we think they will play their best game. Besides a really horrible 18-30 third quarter last game the Clippers hung with the Lakers most of the game in the last meeting, yet easily covered a line that was similar to this one. Also, with this kind of spread a backdoor cover is always in our favor as Phil Jackson could rest some key players late in the game in the case of a blowout.

Best of Luck – Doc’s Sports