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I believe the game against Zvezda could be the turning point for Real this season. They finally have the right attitude and played defense properly, the way they did last season and could in this one up to now. They killed Zvezda through defense, and I believe they'll continue along the same vein. Fatigue should not be an issue, as they have plenty of high quality players, so they'll be able to keep up the pace. Andorra are quite impotent on offense against strong teams, they lack tempo and will make an extra effort to slow things down today. Jawai is a reinforcement for them, but I doubt he will do much among Real's centers. I expect Real to win in any case, and I doubt they'll concede more than 60ish points. Details

Trent Richardson's performance is still questionable, but I think this is worth the attention. He's one of the most inefficient running backs of the league, and couldn't take advantage of the Bradshaw's (or Ballard's) injury to become an alpha male in the Colts' backfield. He actually got worse as the season went on, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing that happened in the last year's playoffs repeated itself, he only touched the ball four times in two matches. It's common knowledge that the offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton doesn't like him, so I doubt he'll trust him much in the most important game of the season. Richardson didn't go over this margin in seven out of the last eight matches, including five in a row, and the Bengals' defense is good enough to make that series even longer. Details

A.J. Green's absence absolutely turns Sanu into the Bengals' first receiver, especially if Gresham doesn't play, either. In three games that Green missed this season, our hero got 32 balls (14+9+9), and he finished those games with 120 (10 receives), 54 (3 Colts!!!), and 125 yards (5). No reason not to believe that he won't get at least 8, or 9 balls tonight, considering he's a wide receiver who wins 14.1 yards per catch, and I think he can easily go over this margin that's at least 10-15 yards too low. Details

Betting on under with teams such as Laboral is rarely profitable, but there are several reasons I think it's worth trying today. We saw against Efes that Laboral can play good defense, and control the pace without rushing. This was not an isolated case, and happens much often in the ACB league. They played 141 against Bruesa at home, 155 vs Pamesa, and 148 against Fuenlabrada. More importantly, Estudiantes transform from a superfast running team to a slow one in away matches, and have never gone over in their seven away games this season. With the experienced team they have, and the significance of this game, I'm certain we will not see run'n'gun basketball, but instead an organized game that should stay under 150 with regular shooting percentages. Details

Hats off to Eibar for all they did so far, but I think the guests are overrated today. The odds set would be okay if this was just a regular game, but here, we have to consider two important absences for the guests, Raul Albentosa and Mikel Arruabarrena. Regardless of the good games the guests played this season, Gaizka Garitano's bench isn't as wide, and these two not playing today could definitely show. On the other hand, what works for our bet are the wins by the home team, and all Espanyol's performances at home. The blue-whites are a typical home-oriented team who wins almost all the points at home, and shouldn't miss this opportunity today when they host a weakened team. The home don't have absences issues and are also encouraged with the first away win this season. Considering all that, I'll take the home team's win with the Asian handicap of -0.75. Details

This is definitely not a 160+ game. It's a big derby, not just geographically (northern Italy), but also because of the placement and the ambitions. Two clubs are evened out as the champion title candidates, and are fighting for the best placement in the last round of the first part of the season today. The reason is the easier lot on the Final Six Cup. In this round, the places are shared for the teams for the Cup final. Besides those subjective reasons, there are objective ones, too. Verona are the best defense of the league, with only 66.1 points per game, and are even more impressive at home with 59.3, even that average is improved because they crushed the junior Forli, whom they only allowed 37 points. But even without that, they conceded over 68 (83) only against Jesi whom they underrated. They left five out of seven opponents at home under 63. They've got six unders in seven games at home with this margin. If Torino weren't the best offensive team of the league (83.7) and the second worst defense of the league (81), this would be 7/10, but they don't score that much in away games. They've got four unders in seven games on this margin. They went over against Veroli, Agrigento and Biella. Two of those three (Veroli, Biella) are definitely not synonyms for the defense. Verona are strong in the paint and will force the post, and they've also got players who can defend the back shot from Torino, their strongest weapon. Details

Roma definitely failed in the first part of the championship and they're only the 14th on the league table. They show their quality in the Eurocup where they easily won the group before Oldenburg, Nymburk, Sevilla, Nancy... it proves they can play well, and today, they should finally get that win because it's an ideal chance. Bologna are the youngest team of the league and really depend on the captain Ray. His 17 points per match, and the leadership, are of immense importance. He's out today, as is the young Fontecchi, and they're the starting backs who can't be substituted properly. Portannese is also out, so there's a big hole Roma have to use. I don't see how Bologna can keep this under 10 points difference. The stakes are lower than they should be only because of Roma's weaker form. Details

Avelino are ranked 7th and Cremona are 8th. This is a very important match as it secures the Cup, and the position will be important too, in order to avoid Milano, who will probably stay in the lead over the next two rounds. Both teams focus on defense, with Cremona conceding 73 and Avelino allowing 74 per game, and are among the best defenses in the league. Although playing under in this game seems to be a good idea, I think a team under on Cremona is better. They scored 61,76, 87, 64, 73, 71 at home, while Avelino conceded 74, 67, 81 (Sassari), 77, 61, 91 (blowout against Caserta). All points towards a tough game where teams should stay at around 70ish points. Details

If there was anything worthy in Kaštela, it was Mašić and Rančić. Well, they're gone. How many problems Kaštela have without them was shown in the Cup match against the second-league club Stoja from Pula who won at the very end. Okay, they are playing at home now, that's a bit of an advantage for any team. They've got 4-1 ratio at home, but those wins were with those two we mentioned, or one of them. Of course Kaštela aren't only two players, but I don't see how Došen, Oršulić or the newcomer Ćubela and the rest of the company could be an even match to Šibenik, who will come motivated because they lost to Kaštela at home. The odds were 2.38 yesterday, today, it's already under 1.8, but it still has a certain value. Kaštela can't win this, the only ones who can lose this are Šibenik if they allow it. Details

Samotlor are certainly worth more than the two victories they won so far, and Guberniya are a decent opponent after their break. The finance issues have been put aside for now, as the players got part of what is owed to them, but the future of the club is still uncertain. Samotlor are not a bad team, they took a set against both Lokomotiv and Belgorod, and beat Fakel in their last 2014 games, having enough time to adjust to the Superleague. In order to get off the bottom they need points now. Guberniya have shown they lack continuity and a bet on away team taking a set seems great. We should note that their previous duel in the league ended with Guberniya winning 3-1, although Samotlor deserved at least a set more, while both Cup games went to five sets. This gives the bet a foundation in statistics, and one just has to take it at these odds. Details

The difference in quality between these two teams is huge, and everything favors the away team today, so anything other than their victory would be a huge surprise today. Schwenninger are one of the two worst teams in the league, ranked next to last without a chance to get to the playoff and in terrible shape with 11 defeats in their last 12 games. On the other side we have Iserlohn, a top 6 team who cannot allow themselves to lose games such as these in order to stay among the top 6, which is motive enough. Iserlohn are in great shape with three consecutive victories and 7 in their last 10 games. The two they lost were against the leading two teams, so their situation is clear. Apart from that, Iserlohn already beat today's home team twice this season, and it would be a major surprise if they failed to do so again now, as their form, class and motivation all speak in their favor. Details

Fronckowiak left Krasnodar and I count on the home team's initial shock. The Muscovites played the Cup, and definitely spent energy with the tough schedule from the first part of the season, while Krasnodar's players rested through the holidays. Krasnodar's players make them a TOP 5 team, but they had self-confidence problems. A big battle begins for them, for the playoffs, they had a few good results at home and they can jeopardize Dynamo Moscow. Because of the low odds on the guests' win, we have a low margin on the total number of points, they went over it in Moscow when Krasnodar had a much worse form, and I don't see why that wouldn't happen today, as well. Details

Kurtinaitis would like to start the year the right way, and I believe we'll see the true face of Himki today once again, as we did over the past weeks while they won their last 11 games in all competitions. However, they've improved noticeably in that period, especially on defense. They had little trouble winning a tough away match in Siberia, although they struggled with centers and as many as 18 turnovers while Enisej caught 23 offensive rebounds. At home they covered this margin in most of their games, with three exceptions (Riga, Zenit, Bešiktaš). The Czechs are aware of the difficulty of their task, and considering the hard schedule they're facing, it's possible they'll calculate a bit once things start going downhill. Himki are very hard to stop at home, and Nymburk have fared very poorly away this season (2-9 in the Eurocup and VTB league). They also lost by 19 at home against UNICS, by 15 against Lokomotiv, -13 against CSKA, so I seriously doubt they'll stay under this margin in one of the toughest away matches there is. Zenit lost by 22 here a few weeks ago, UNICS by 24, and both of those are stronger teams than Nymburk.
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A very important game for Jean F.S. As the home team's coach Daniel Rodriguez said prior to the match, they have to prove that the first part of their season was not a fluke, and start another positive series. For a team from the upper part of the ladder, a single point in two games turns on the alarm. Jean are undoubtedly the better, tougher team than the very moody Zaragoza squad. The away team's coach says they'll continue their positive series and hunt for their third victory, but realistically speaking they just couldn't lose their last two matches. A victory against the disintegrating Tenerife team and a home win vs Azkar was widely expected and necessary for survival. In the mean time they got another reinforcement from Italy, David Ruiz, who will however not be appearing tonight due to unresolved document issues pertaining to his transfer from Real Rieti, nor will Óscar Villanueva (cards) or Unai García (injury). The home team are eager to win, their home ground is one of the toughest away trips in the league anyway, with only 11 goals conceded in 8 games, and I believe they'll not only win but also cover this handicap as well. Having in mind the home team's tough game, and the fact El Pozo and Levante did not score here, playing under on goals in the first half looks like a good option too. Details

Although playoffs are very tough to predict, it seems to me that the away team are rather underestimated here. I admit the Ravens did not look too good in the final part of the season despite the fact they often won, but that is of little importance for this match. I'm quite convinced they're stronger than the Steelers defensively, and since the home team will be missing their top running back, I would hazard to say that the away team are just as strong offensively. In my opinion Le'Veon Bell's injury significantly changes the balance of power here, although I did not see the Steelers as favorites to start with, regardless of the home ground advantage. Bell was in play in practically every down, especially since they let Blount go, and his absence simply must be felt. To those not familiar with the sport, it's practically as if Barcelona went to a derby against Real without Messi. Big Ben is a great quarterback, no doubt about it, and has had a great season, but his great numbers are mostly due to Le'Veon Bell's performance. When I consider it all together, this is at least a 50-50 game in my opinion (though I believe the away team will win), and in 11 of their last 13 duels the Baltimore guys won or got away with a defeat at under 4 points. Details