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Friday night was a crazy night, as the Spurs lost their second triple overtime game this week, the Clippers lost to the Nuggets and Chicago won in Memphis. Sometimes predicting how a night of NBA action will unfold is a waste of time, and we found that out with a pedestrian 4-4 run last night.
We’ll take gracious mulligans for the Spurs, Clippers and Grizzlies losing, and if awarded we actually turned in a decent night. Still, .500 won’t cut it in any realm, so we’re back to aim for perfection as we carry our 211-102 season record into Saturday night’s seven-game lineup:
Suns @ Knicks
Phoenix enters the Big Apple to get things started early (1:00 pm ET tip off) and Carmelo Anthony will be back in uniform (knee). The Knicks are still woefully short-handed, though, so we can expect another Knicks loss at home.
Pick: Suns 106, Knicks 102
Jazz @ Hornets
Utah and Charlotte both won last night, so someone’s winning streak ends tonight. The Hornets play host but should still be without Lance Stephenson. Utah may push the Hornets around with their size down low and take this one.
Pick: Jazz 97, Hornets 94
Blazers @ Pelicans
Portland is fresh off of that insane 3OT win over the Spurs, so they’ll be dead tired when they head into New Orleans. That’s where Anthony Davis and a pretty solid Pellies squad will be waiting to take them down.
Pick: Pellies 104, Blazers 101
Hawks @ Rockets
Atlanta continues to be a quiet giant killer, as Al Horford is shutting big men down inside and has even picked things up offensively lately. He’ll battle it out with Dwight Howard down low, but with no Jeff Teague (hammy), the Hawks are going to be fighting an uphill battle on the road.
Pick: Rockets 109, Hawks 105
Spurs @ Mavericks
San Antonio has had two grueling triple overtime losses in a matter of three days and now they enter Dallas on the second of a back to back. We can safely bank on Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili all sitting out, which should get the Mavs the win on their home floor by default.
Pick: Mavs 107, Spurs 104
Pacers @ Nuggets
Indiana got crushed by the Nuggets the last time these two team’s faced but they should be a little more competitive now that they’re much healthier. Denver is no pushover, though, as they just upended the Clippers last night and are 7-6 at home.
Pick: Nugs 101, Pacers 97
Bucks @ Clippers
Milwaukee fights with just about everyone hard these days, but winning in L.A. just isn’t something that happens often. Blake Griffin and co. won’t be happy about losing to Denver last night and boast a strong 10-3 mark at home.
Pick: Clips 109, Bucks 101
