COVERS - PICK 'N' ROLL
(Tracking Started On 2/22/2011)
10-12-0 (NBA)
8-8-0 (NCAA HOOPS)
SUNDAY 3/13/2011
NBA
Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks (-8)
The wheels have come off for the Pacers.
Indiana has dropped six straight and eight of the past 10 overall. The culprit? A mediocre defense that also has seen the team go 2-8 ATS over that span. During this stretch, Indiana has coughed up at least 100 points in nine of those games. This is especially troubling for a team that is among the league leaders in field goal defense (44.7 percent).
"We are not focused on the little details, execution, not giving up easy baskets in transition and it leads to losses," said Pacers forward Danny Granger. "We are going to keep losing until we change it."
And the Knicks can’t wait to keep the Pacers coughing up easy baskets.
New York might struggle on defense as well, but is having little problem scoring the ball with Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. Overall, the Knicks have cracked the century mark in eight of their past 10 games. Stoudemire is coming off a strong performance against Dallas in which he dropped 36 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Anthony has topped his 25.3 points per game scoring average six times in the past 10 games.
"We'll have nights that they're unstoppable," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.
Pick: New York
NBA
Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors (-6.5)
Things might finally be turning around in Minnesota.
The Timberwolves have won two straight and are 3-0 ATS in their past thee. They are finally blending all their parts together while using a young, deep bench to supplement the play of stars Michael Beasley and Kevin Love, along with the emergence of center Darko Milicic.
"It's the end of the season," Milicic said. "We're kind of a struggling team. We're not going to make the playoffs. We're going to go home on April 13. It shows something about us that we're going out against teams fighting for playoff spots and we give them a good fight."
Love is a beast with his record 53-game double-double streak, and Beasley can score in bunches. But over the past three games, Milicic has helped give them an additional inside presence. He combined for 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in two games prior to a breakout 14-point, six-rebound, four-assist, two-block performance in a 122-101 win over Utah.
The Warriors, meanwhile, have dropped seven of their past 10 games overall and are just 4-6 ATS over that span. Golden State is coming off a 123-120 overtime win over the Magic that saw the team bury a fluky 21 three-pointers.
Another strong performance by Milicic is more likely than another 20-plus three-point performance from Golden State.
Pick: Minnesota
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