Here is his analysis:
Brandon Lang
Monday ...
10 Dime Pacers - Cleveland comes in off a blowout win and cover against the Celtics, and tonight it'll be letdown city. This is not an impossible chore either, as Indiana came away with a 96-95 victory over the Cavaliers on Feb. 10. The Cavaliers finish the season with the Sixers, so they may not be too focused tonight after crushing the defending champs. Back-to-back nights aren't going to be a strong suit tonight, as Indiana rolls in on ATS runs of 7-1 against the Eastern Conference, 6-1 after covering the spread, 4-1 on Mondays, 9-3 off a straight-up win, 6-2 against the Central Division and 4-0 overall. And in this series, the home team is on a 14-4 run against the bookmakers.
10 Dime Rockets - Houston is playing solid right now, even sans Yao Ming, and the fight for home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason continues tonight for the Rockets. Houston is tied for the third-best record in the conference, and need to maintain momentum with the playoffs around the corner. And since the Hornets have struggled as of late, due to the absence of Tyson Chandler, I don't think they'll be able to hang with the Rockets tonight. The Hornets have dropped two of their three meetings with Houston, and roll into this one on ATS slides of 6-16 as the underdog, 1-4 against the West, 1-5 on Monday nights, 2-5 on the road and 0-4 when playing off an ATS win cover. On the flipside, the Rockets are on spread streaks of 4-0 at home, 5-1 as the installed chalk and 6-2 when laying points at home in this range.
10 Dime Warriors - Honestly, I don't know if the Spurs get out of the first round of the playoffs. Without Manu Ginobili, and with a banged up Tim Duncan, San Antonio is in bad shape right now. Tonight they won't be able to run with the fast-paced Warriors, who've won four of six as they close out a disappointing season. That included a win at Utah on Saturday, when the Warriors played with only seven players. They'll be motivated for this one and will play up to the level of competition and will put the Spurs on upset alert by coming out swinging for this one. Take the home team.
5 Dime Rockies - After a late game last night, the cubs won't be ready for this early clash with the Rox, especially with Ubaldo Jimenez going for us today. The young righty scattered four hits and struck out eight over seven frames in his season debut last Tuesday in Arizona, leading Colorado to a 3-0 victory. Anyone who watched the game saw plenty of good things that he did against the Snakes, including challenging hitters and competing against them in the zone. If he does that today, against the swing-happy Cubs, he could find himself ahead in counts and in a position to use his junk against them. Let's take the road dog in this one.
5 Dime Phillies - One year after finishing as the league's worst team, it doesn't appear the Nationals are ready to relinquish that label. Thus, I like the defending champs today against the 0-6 Nationals, whose pitching staff is allowing 7.5 runs per game in series sweeps at Florida and Atlanta. The starting rotation that is 0-5 with a 10.73 ERA, including today's starter Daniel Cabrera, who gave up five runs in six innings of a 6-4 loss to Florida last Wednesday. With Philly warming up at the plate, and Jamie Moyer bringing a 6-0 mark and 2.08 ERA in 10 starts against Washington into this one, I have no trouble taking the Phils today.
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