LeBron and Cavaliers face Artest and Rockets
LeBron and Cavaliers face Artest and Rockets
Thursday night's doubleheader on TNT opens with an East-West clash with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers traveling to Houston to meet Ron Artest and the Rockets. It's the last of six straight home games for Houston, winners of the previous five. The nightcap on TNT finds Steve Nash and the rejuvenated Phoenix Suns in up against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in LA.
Kiss Stephon Marbury – he’s Irish.
At least he will be on Friday. According to unconfirmed reports at press time, Marbury will sign with the Boston Celtics, filling one of the two roster spots Danny Ainge opened up with his wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline. Mikki Moore has already taken the other spot. This is similar to last year’s additions of Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown, except neither of those veterans has had his sanity questioned.
No doubt the fine folks at TNT will have a few things to say about Starbury during Thursday’s doubleheader. There’s also this guy named LeBron who merits some discussion.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Houston Rockets (+2½, 184)
Thursday, Feb 26, 8:05 p.m. (ET) TNT
LeBron James only had 15 points against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. That’s all the Cavaliers (44-11 SU, 37-18 ATS) needed, thumping Memphis 94-79 as 13½-point home favorites. With Delonte West still feeling some soreness in his wrist, the Cavs unleashed Daniel Gibson; he nailed three of his seven trey attempts, and Mo Williams went 3-of-5 from downtown. Cleveland is now 4-0 SU and ATS since the All-Star break to become the most profitable team in the league.
Houston (36-21 SU, 26-30-1 ATS) has picked up the pace as well, going 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS since the break. Aaron Brooks has proved his worth as the starting point guard with 19 points against Dallas and 20 versus Portland; Kyle Lowry is providing strong defense off the bench, making the absence of Tracy McGrady almost a non-issue – as long as both Yao Ming and Ron Artest remain healthy, of course.
There’s still a question whether Carl Landry (sprained ankle) will be able to play Thursday. Houston has plenty of warm bodies to support Yao and Luis Scola in the paint, but none as capable as Landry (17.81 PER). If he can play, Houston has some value in this situation as a 1½-point home dog. The Rockets are 7-3 SU and ATS against Cleveland over the past 10 meetings stretching back to 2004. However, keep in mind that the Cavs are a better team this year with Williams at the point, beating Houston 99-90 on Dec. 23 as 7½-point home faves.
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday, Feb 26, 10:35 p.m. (ET) TNT
The Suns (32-24 SU, 21-32-2 ATS) keep winning for interim head coach Alvin Gentry, beating Charlotte 112-102 on Tuesday and covering as 7-point home faves to improve to 4-1 SU and ATS since the break. But the Suns also keep losing players. Steve Nash suffered a sprained ankle in the third quarter and is considered day-to-day. Nash scored 22 points in 26 minutes before leaving the game for good; as a result, the under cashed in for the first time since Gentry took over from Terry Porter.
As for the Lakers (47-10 SU, 30-27 ATS), they’ve won five straight since the break at 3-2 ATS. They have a full complement of players other than center Andrew Bynum and should be considered heavy favorites at home if Nash cannot play. Yet the Suns did manage to cover shorthanded during their last trip to Staples Center, losing 115-110 as 13½-point dogs on the same day they traded Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary to the Bobcats in the Jason Richardson deal. None of those players was available; Shaquille O’Neal also sat out for the Suns against his former team following the death of his great-grandmother.
With Nash’s status up in the air, there were no early betting odds available on this matchup. Linesmakers will have their hands full coming up with a number for this game anyway. The Suns play up-tempo for Gentry, in stark opposition to Porter’s attempt to slow the game down and tighten up defensively. Bynum is out, Amare Stoudemire is out, and Richardson and O’Neal will presumably be in. This would have been a good opportunity for Lakers coach Phil Jackson to use 7-foot center Chris Mihm as a Hack-a-Shaq specialist, but Mihm is now with Memphis. Expect Jackson to hand that assignment to D.J. Mbenga instead. O’Neal is hitting a career-high 62.4 percent of his free-throw attempts.
Thursday night's doubleheader on TNT opens with an East-West clash with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers traveling to Houston to meet Ron Artest and the Rockets. It's the last of six straight home games for Houston, winners of the previous five. The nightcap on TNT finds Steve Nash and the rejuvenated Phoenix Suns in up against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in LA.
Kiss Stephon Marbury – he’s Irish.
At least he will be on Friday. According to unconfirmed reports at press time, Marbury will sign with the Boston Celtics, filling one of the two roster spots Danny Ainge opened up with his wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline. Mikki Moore has already taken the other spot. This is similar to last year’s additions of Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown, except neither of those veterans has had his sanity questioned.
No doubt the fine folks at TNT will have a few things to say about Starbury during Thursday’s doubleheader. There’s also this guy named LeBron who merits some discussion.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Houston Rockets (+2½, 184)
Thursday, Feb 26, 8:05 p.m. (ET) TNT
LeBron James only had 15 points against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. That’s all the Cavaliers (44-11 SU, 37-18 ATS) needed, thumping Memphis 94-79 as 13½-point home favorites. With Delonte West still feeling some soreness in his wrist, the Cavs unleashed Daniel Gibson; he nailed three of his seven trey attempts, and Mo Williams went 3-of-5 from downtown. Cleveland is now 4-0 SU and ATS since the All-Star break to become the most profitable team in the league.
Houston (36-21 SU, 26-30-1 ATS) has picked up the pace as well, going 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS since the break. Aaron Brooks has proved his worth as the starting point guard with 19 points against Dallas and 20 versus Portland; Kyle Lowry is providing strong defense off the bench, making the absence of Tracy McGrady almost a non-issue – as long as both Yao Ming and Ron Artest remain healthy, of course.
There’s still a question whether Carl Landry (sprained ankle) will be able to play Thursday. Houston has plenty of warm bodies to support Yao and Luis Scola in the paint, but none as capable as Landry (17.81 PER). If he can play, Houston has some value in this situation as a 1½-point home dog. The Rockets are 7-3 SU and ATS against Cleveland over the past 10 meetings stretching back to 2004. However, keep in mind that the Cavs are a better team this year with Williams at the point, beating Houston 99-90 on Dec. 23 as 7½-point home faves.
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday, Feb 26, 10:35 p.m. (ET) TNT
The Suns (32-24 SU, 21-32-2 ATS) keep winning for interim head coach Alvin Gentry, beating Charlotte 112-102 on Tuesday and covering as 7-point home faves to improve to 4-1 SU and ATS since the break. But the Suns also keep losing players. Steve Nash suffered a sprained ankle in the third quarter and is considered day-to-day. Nash scored 22 points in 26 minutes before leaving the game for good; as a result, the under cashed in for the first time since Gentry took over from Terry Porter.
As for the Lakers (47-10 SU, 30-27 ATS), they’ve won five straight since the break at 3-2 ATS. They have a full complement of players other than center Andrew Bynum and should be considered heavy favorites at home if Nash cannot play. Yet the Suns did manage to cover shorthanded during their last trip to Staples Center, losing 115-110 as 13½-point dogs on the same day they traded Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary to the Bobcats in the Jason Richardson deal. None of those players was available; Shaquille O’Neal also sat out for the Suns against his former team following the death of his great-grandmother.
With Nash’s status up in the air, there were no early betting odds available on this matchup. Linesmakers will have their hands full coming up with a number for this game anyway. The Suns play up-tempo for Gentry, in stark opposition to Porter’s attempt to slow the game down and tighten up defensively. Bynum is out, Amare Stoudemire is out, and Richardson and O’Neal will presumably be in. This would have been a good opportunity for Lakers coach Phil Jackson to use 7-foot center Chris Mihm as a Hack-a-Shaq specialist, but Mihm is now with Memphis. Expect Jackson to hand that assignment to D.J. Mbenga instead. O’Neal is hitting a career-high 62.4 percent of his free-throw attempts.
