***BEST BET
*Washington over Indiana by 15
No team has had an easier road schedule than the Pacers. Yet their only road victories this season have been against the Knicks and Nets, two of the worst teams in the league. Indiana has lost at the Clippers by 16, at Charlotte by 16, at Toronto by 11 and at Golden State by 19. Those aren’t even playoff-caliber teams. Indiana is 2-7 ATS on the road this season. The Pacers have yielded at least 104 points in seven of their last 10 overall games. The Wizards have their big three of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, who is playing better, intact making them dangerous. WASHINGTON 119-104.

***BEST BET
*Milwaukee over Portland by 8
The Bucks have covered six of their first nine games. Milwaukee can match up better to Portland’s tall front line with Andrew Bogut back healthy. The Bucks will be rest- ed, too, having last played on Wednesday. Portland is struggling with a change in offense philosophy. Portland has been overpriced covering only two of its last 10 games going into a five-game road trip that began on Dec. 7. This is the Trail Blazers’ fourth away matchup in six days. MILWAUKEE 99-91.

***BEST BET
Virginia Tech over Penn State* by 12
. Penn State can out-quick lots of bigger teams when the size mismatch is in the front- court. But the Big Ten home team will struggle against the sizable ACC guards. Penn State has become more of a free-wheeling team during Ed DeChellis’ tenure, a style that the Hokies enjoy playing against as opposed to half-court grinds, where they typ- ically struggle. Penn State has a road win against Virginia from the ACC this season, but Virginia is in first-season systems with a new head coach. Hokies are well-drilled in their offense and defense under long-term boss Seth Greenberg. VIRGINIA TECH, 79-67.

***BEST BET
Nebraska* over Oregon State by 22
The Huskers lost 64-63 at Oregon State last season, where visitors are getting perpet- ually hosed by the officials who allow the Beavers to maul opponents with immunity in an aggressive 1-3-1 trap. Nebraska has only one double-digit scorer but they aver- age 70.5 points and 15 assists per game, spreading the scoring around. OSU has no answer for that as the fouls accumulate against them and they miss their usual large share of open looks. NEBRASKA, 75-53.

***BEST BET
San Diego State* over Arizona by 12
"We showed a lot of people we can play with the best of 'em," UA freshman guard MoMo Jones said after defensively passive Arizona lost a home game in overtime to UNLV. Read into that statement. Someone must have told the kid that UNLV was the reigning national champion or something, and that losing is okay. Such is life after Lute. SDS knows how to put the ball in the basket, can play at a good tempo if they have to, don’t have to, and has developed a better inside game this season. SAN DIEGO STATE, 81-69.