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00:00A really big game tonight in the NBA, a part of a nine-game slate around the
00:05Association on this Friday, as everybody gets ready for the stretch run after the
00:10All-Star break. Donnie and I mentioned this game yesterday that we thought was
00:14played in New York, because why wouldn't the Knicks, who were at home last night
00:17hosting the Bulls, and the Cavs, who were in Brooklyn, play the following night on
00:21the second leg of a back-to-back in New York City? Well, the NBA had other ideas.
00:26Matchup tonight in Cleveland between the Cavaliers and the Knicks. Both
00:30victorious last night, neither covered. Cleveland won by 13 in Brooklyn. They
00:35were a 13-point favorite. The Knicks winning in overtime, edging out the
00:39Bulls at home inside Madison Square Garden as a 12-point favorite, so Chicago
00:44covered. Haven't even talked about this game yet, but we'll get to it in just a
00:48second. DRS, when you look at the records for these two teams, 45-10, the mark for
00:54Cleveland. Best in the association. OKC did not play last night, so they trail
00:59the Cavs now by a game. The Knicks, 37-18. Third-best record in the Eastern
01:05Conference. Cleveland has been great this year. If you are going to push back
01:10against the Knicks, being a true conference contender out east, the one
01:14thing you can say against the best of the best, they have faltered this year.
01:19They haven't beaten the Cavaliers. They haven't beaten the Celtics so far this
01:23season. Now, they're an eight-and-a-half-point dog tonight in the land on the
01:27second leg of a back-to-back for both teams, changing destination. How close
01:32will tonight's game be between the Cavs and the Knicks? I think the
01:36Cavaliers are going to win by double digits tonight. You might look at that
01:38line and be like, hey, it opened up at seven-and-a-half, and they seen that
01:40live line between eight and eight-and-a-half as it just, I believe,
01:43flipped back to eight. Also, the total still pretty high for two teams that
01:46played back-to-back, but also understand back-to-back sometimes aren't alike. They
01:50were both in the city of New York. Yes, they're both going to take planes back
01:53to Cleveland here. One team played in overtime and played their starters a
01:56crazy amount of time, and one team won by double digits and had their starters
02:00play a normal amount of time. And you're going back home with Cleveland, one of
02:03the best teams in the NBA at home, and I look at that line, opened up at
02:07seven-and-a-half, now sits at the eight number. I buy into that. I think this is
02:10a double-digit win tonight for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I'm willing to
02:13back that. Yeah, DRS, it does feel like it, but I almost wonder if Tibbs is like,
02:18see? See? They think we got no chance because I played all you guys 40-plus
02:23minutes last night in an overtime thriller against the Bulls, who are 14
02:27games below 500. See? They don't believe in us. I almost wonder if the New York
02:32Knicks keep this game close, understanding it's important in the
02:35potential of a playoff preview. But to Donnie's point, everything logistically
02:40should favor Cleveland. That total on the rise, by the way, now at 241. 30 minutes
02:46or fewer for every guy in the starting five for the Cavs, 38 minutes or more for
02:52every guy in the starting five for the Knicks last night. Cleveland, one of the
02:56best cover teams in the NBA, 35-19-1 against the spread, also 45-10
03:02straight up. The Cavs have been great as a favorite. The Knicks have been often
03:07booked as a favorite this year. Donnie, not oftentimes an underdog, but again,
03:12speaking to the idea that the Knicks against the best of the best haven't
03:15been great this year. Just six games as a dog for New York, only two and four ATS.
03:20Yeah, and Dan, one of their key players, Josh Hartford tonight, as opposed to that.
03:24And also, when you're looking like future long-term, which means the second
03:28half of the season, which is now a sprint into the playoffs, how much left are we
03:31having in the tank for the New York Knicks where we have to play that many minutes on a
03:35night-to-night basis, and also just holding up? When you're just reading the
03:38line tonight, it seems like a crazy high line. Eight other outlets showing eight
03:42and a half tonight as a favorite towards Cleveland, where they were not rested
03:45and ready in the city when you had an overtime game in New York. They were
03:48both technically on the road last night because they were in New York City now
03:51flying back. That line shouldn't be that high. I'm buying into that line. Also, that
03:55is a high number. It's highest 242 out there. I know FanDuel's currently showing a 241
03:59and a half. That's a pretty high number, but for me, it's a Cavaliers night
04:02tonight. More rested, if that can even be a word for both teams playing last night.
04:06I just think they're the better team tonight. The Cavs' highest overpercentage
04:11in the NBA. 36 of their 57 games, or 55 games rather, to the over. 65.5%. We know
04:19this has now been the story for the Knicks. Very lofty total. Stayed under
04:23last night despite playing in overtime, but still 59.3% of the games for the
04:28Knickerbockers to the over this year. Both teams, two of the five highest
04:32overpercentages in the NBA. Let's get to Houston. The Rockets' first game since
04:38the All-Star break. Same for the Timberwolves. Neither team in action last
04:42night. Houston, three and a half point home. Favorite against the T-Wolves, 217
04:47and a hook is that total. Houston, the fourth seed currently in the Western
04:52Conference. Did not play its greatest basketball entering the All-Star break,
04:55dropping seven of its last ten. The T-Wolves right now, DRS, would be the top
05:00team in the play-in tournament, but only a half game behind the Clippers for what
05:05would be the sixth seed in the Western Conference. So, critical game for both
05:08that we anticipate factoring into that playoff race around the NBA.
05:14Yeah, and also, as I just told you, buying into the line movement here with the
05:18Cleveland Cavaliers going up against the Knicks. Let's just say seven and a half's
05:20up to eights and a little bit higher at other spots. Almost the opposite here as
05:24we're taking a look between the Rockets and the Timberwolves. Vanduul, New Jersey
05:27opened up this line at minus five, and now the current number, you see that
05:30graphic up there, minus four? It's actually three and a half. So, I'm gonna
05:33buy the lowest spot we've seen it today and take the Houston Rockets at home. And
05:37we just talked about a basketball game at 241, 242 as a total. How about this
05:42throwback? 217 and a half. Rock'em, sock'em, Robots, which I'm going to lean
05:47towards the home team Rockets here to win by five plus points. Let's go.
05:51Houston is exactly even. 18 and 18 against the number in 36 games, booked
05:57as a favorite this year. Minnesota, second-best underdog cover team this
06:01season. Eight, four, and one against the mark. It is crazy to see a total north of
06:07240, and this one looking like a playoff total of 217. And, uh-huh, Northern
06:13California, foes? Both teams right now, same exact record, 28 and 27, occupying
06:19the final two spots in the Western Conference play-in tournament. The Dubs
06:23and the Kings, tonight in California's capital in Sactown. The Kings, a slight
06:28two-point home underdog. Total stands now at 237. Man, that thing is getting up
06:35there. California clash tonight, DRS, between the Warriors and the Kings. Who
06:39takes it? Yeah, it's funny, too, because you look at the line movement again, minus
06:43one to minus two. I do lean towards the Warriors coming out, but it's always a
06:46little bit tough when two teams are okay off the all-star break. But understand
06:49this, too. The all-star break, where was it? It was in San Francisco. Not as if
06:53these guys are flying back six-hour plane flights and trying to get ready.
06:56They're already back home. But I do buy into it a little bit. You're not supposed
06:59to take the overs at 237 and rising your back off of the break. I think this game
07:03has some mojo up and down the court. Let's go 240-plus in this one and have
07:07some fun. Golden State has won three of four games with Jimmy Butler in the
07:12lineup, all as a road favorite, covering in all three of those victories. More
07:17around the NBA on this Friday night. Live right here on the early line on Sports
07:22Grid, a nine-game slate once again for a second consecutive night in the NBA. And
07:26once again for a second consecutive night in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs
07:31are in Austin. They did beat the Phoenix Suns yesterday outright as a two-and-a-half
07:37point home home dog, upsetting Kevin Durant and spoiling his return to Austin.
07:44That was even in the immediate aftermath, just a few hours after learning that
07:49Victor Wiminyama would not play for the remainder of this season, the blood clot
07:52in his shoulder. The Detroit Pistons head to Austin tonight to take on San
07:58Antonio. In Detroit, four-and-a-half point road favorite, total standing at 234-and-a-half.
08:04De'Aaron Fox, huge last night in the absence of Wenby. He'll have to be if the
08:09Spurs are going to keep winning games booked as an underdog, which Donnie, just
08:14seeing it now, three-and-a-half make it four-and-a-half, second leg of a back-to-
08:17back for San Antonio. Detroit did not play last night without Victor Wiminyama.
08:21I think we can expect the Spurs to be booked as a dog often down the stretch
08:26run of this NBA campaign. No, we should, and also looking at the Detroit line
08:30again open up at three-and-a-half here, Fandle in New Jersey now rising to
08:33four-and-a-half. We'll see where that goes throughout the day, but it's one of
08:35those where sometimes we buy in. It's like the bump effect, you fire a manager,
08:39your superstar player gets injured, the team can rally and rise around the
08:42occasion, but sooner than later you look around when that superstar isn't there
08:45to block a shot, get a rebound, have an assist or certainly make a big shot. I
08:49think you're gonna start to buy into that tonight and also it looks like the
08:52public is as well, three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half. The total is 34-and-a-half
08:55and also keep in mind, not a true home game here for San Antonio. We're still on
08:59the road, still in a hotel at this point, so not normally just being at home in San
09:03Antonio sleeping in your own bed. I'll go with the Detroit Pistons in this one.
09:07It's a little bit tougher of a handicap than the ones we just started talking
09:09about because something might be said where they are galvanized still and
09:13playing in a college town environment where it's a little bit different for
09:16the Detroit Pistons. Not an arena that the Pistons are used to, but the Spurs
09:19actually got to play in that arena. See where I'm going at at this point here,
09:22but I'll still back the Pistons in this one thinking that maybe that Webanyama
09:25thing sort of leaks off a little bit for them today.
09:28Cade Cunningham's been to Austin, of course he played in the Big 12 when
09:32Texas was still a Big 12 team, so he should be comfortable with the sight
09:37lines and all that goes with it. Again, if the season ended today and they start
09:41their stretch run, Detroit would be a sixth seed in the Eastern Conference,
09:45not even needing to play in Tournament 29 and 26. And despite being three games
09:50above 500 throughout 55 games so far, the Pistons only a favorite 18 times,
09:56eight and 10 against the number. San Antonio, perhaps Donnie, although it
10:01did seem like a difficult path, even with a fully healthy All-Star in Wembley,
10:05was still on the outside looking in at the play in tournament, still three
10:09games outside of the play in tournament in the Western Conference for the Spurs.
10:15Let's go to Orlando, the top team in the Eastern Conference play in tournament
10:20standings at the moment, but a disappointing year I think we can say
10:23for the Magic. The Grizz, a disappointing result last night in Indy, hoping for
10:29better tonight in Florida. Three and a half points spread in favor of Memphis,
10:33225 and a half is that total. The Grizzlies played in a game last night,
10:38Donnie, with a total of 250. It is down by nearly 25 points tonight as they head to Orlando.
10:44Yes, and also both of these teams played last night, the Orlando Magic, which I
10:48said would beat the Atlanta Hawks and did that, but I thought the Grizzlies
10:51would have a better performance there, you know, going up against Indiana, but we
10:54thought that game would stay under. This line also keeping my moving, opened up at
10:57two here in New Jersey overnight, now three and a half across the board. Why?
11:00The Grizzlies are the better team, but it still is interesting where Orlando now
11:04goes back home after playing in Atlanta. The Memphis Grizzlies on the road, now
11:07going down to Orlando. I look at this 224 and a half as the opening number,
11:11which now sits at 225 and a half. I actually like the over in this game. I think
11:15Memphis is going to get up and down the court. Now, it is still a back-to-back. We
11:18have to understand this. This isn't like we played three games in four nights.
11:21You're coming off of the All-Star break. Your legs should be somewhat back intact.
11:24I'm willing to take the over 225 and a half in this game.
11:27Memphis, third highest over percentage in the NBA. They are now a half game behind
11:33Denver, as the Nuggets have won nine straight and occupy that second spot in
11:37the Western Conference standing. So, the Grizz need to keep pace. Still the best
11:42cover team as a favorite this year, despite losing outright last night
11:46against the Pacers in Indianapolis, 24-12 against the spread. But Orlando is
11:51known for a few things, Donnie. Great defense and maybe not the best offensive
11:56performances. It's why the Magic have the second highest underpercentage around
12:00the NBA this year, 35 of their 57 games to the under. In fact, just straight up,
12:06the most unders played this year, 61.4% of their games to the under. The Bucs
12:13hope to make it two consecutive wins in Washington. The Raptors in the heat in a
12:19game for Miami, trying to stay in Eastern Conference play in tournament. And the
12:23Mavs and the Pelicans in Dallas. Of course, no Anthony Davis just yet. OKC,
12:3015th point road favorite in Salt Lake, taking on the Jazz. Kind of checks out
12:36for the Thunders. Some big spreads, looking after the all-star break. Pay attention for CTL next.