Xam’s Daily Gems:
Hornets Money Line -180
The Spurs are the worst team in the Western Conference. In fact, they’re the only team in the conference with digit wins on the season. A big reason for that is their 4-17 road record. They are just horrible defensively, giving up over 121 points per game on average this season. Rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama is out tonight, so there defense will likely be even worse than usual. The Hornets simply have the better team in this one. LaMelo Ball is back from injury, and that can’t be overstated. He’s the best player the Hornets have. He’s an elite facilitator and should get guys like Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges more involved. If the Hornets can play even a little bit of defense, they should be able to score enough tonight to win. The Hornets know they need this one. Expect them to come out motivated in front of the home crowd.
Devils Money Line -162
The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, and one of the worst teams in all of hockey. It’s not very hard to see why. They’ve given up a whopping 165 goals this season. The Devils are only 22-17-3 on the year. They’ve lost 2 straight and are only 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins has been fine this year, but beatable. He’s giving up 3.22 goals against per game on average. He’s also been disgruntled and has demanded a trade. The Devils have had to overcome a lot this year on the injury front, but they have more than enough talent to win this game. The key tonight will be their defense. If they can control the puck and keep guys like Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko out of their zone, they should be able to score enough to win. Jesper Pratt, Nico Hischier, and Tyler Toffoli are all capable scorers who will step it up tonight.
Nets/Lakers Over 227 Points -112
Both the Nets and the Lakers have been struggling on defense recently. In the last 10 games, the Lakers are giving up 118 points per game on average. In their last 10 games, the Nets are giving up 116 points per game on average. The Lakers have picked it up offensively recently, as they’ve scored over 113 points per game in their last 10 games. They key tonight will be what the Nets can do offensively. They’ve been in a skid over their last 3 games, scoring 102 or less points in all 3 games. The Lakers should be well rested coming into this game, as they’ve only played once since January 15th. If Brooklyn can bring their offense to the table, we could be in store for a shootout tonight!