Locks
NBA – Pelicans @ Knicks -1 (-110): 12:00 PM CT on ESPN
There’s been strange line movement on this game, particularly early in the morning, that saw the favorite flip twice. But I’m confident that the New York Knicks are the right side here. They continually get disrespected in the market and by oddsmakers.
I can’t think of any team that seems to face more lines of 3 points or less than the Knickerbockers, and they just keep covering them. New York now has the 2nd best ATS record in the league, they’re 2nd best as the favorite, and they’re the best by a wide margin when laying points at MSG.
Oh, and they’ve covered 8 straight including a 10 point win on Wednesday in the Big Easy.
As for the New Orleans Pelicans, they’re the proud owners of the 5th worst road ATS record and are just 3-7 ATS over the last 10 games. Be mindful of the injury report in this one as that’s the likeliest explanation for the line moves, but I’m willing to give the Knicks the respect they deserve here.
NBA – Kings @ Mavericks -8.5 (-110): 6:30 PM CT on NBATV
With a month to go in the regular season, the Dallas Mavericks need wins to stay out of the play-in or at least be in the best position for it. Mark Cuban whining about the new format won’t help them avoid it, but playing the Sacramento Kings definitely helps.
After a 7-1 straight up and 6-2 ATS run to end March, the wheels have fallen off for Sac-Town as they’ve lost 9 straight games by an average of 11.2 points, and have covered only twice. Coming off a tough home loss to the Knicks on Friday I’d expect Dallas to be motivated to beat up on someone, and the Kings’ combination of historically bad defense and struggling offense is just what they need to see.
The majority of action appears to be on Sacramento in this game, yet the line has ticked up just a bit in favor of Dallas, so lay it with the Mavericks in what should be another double-digit loss for the Kings.
Degenerates
No degenerates today.
Tiny Nick is 227-143 ATS (+76.4 Units) on his Locks since joining Zone Coverage.
Every day he will offer his Locks and Degenerate picks. Locks are the games he’s confident in. Degenerates are entertaining but riskier picks.
