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I have no intention of complimenting a team that lost the game in Sacramento by 44 points just a few days ago, but despite that and a 3-16 away score, I trust the away team. The Cavs are complete, they've recently added Luol Deng to their roster and it's only a matter of time before they start firing on all cylinders. Truth be told, we have been waiting for that for quite some time but I really think the Brit is the missing link for them to reach the top of the Eastern Conference. They have a good chance of doing so against the decimated Lakers who will be without Xavier Henry, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Kobe Bryant and Jordan Farmar, while Pau Gasol could very easily be sidelined as well due to thump injury. The Spaniard is the central figure in the Lakers' offense and I don't believe they can do much against the balanced Cavs without him and even if he plays, I don't think he will be at his maximum. The boys from LA have lost last 10 out of 11 games during which their field goal ha been only 41,0 per cent while they have conceded 110,2 points on average and they currently have a run of four defeats... Details

Even though he scored 40 against the Pelicans a few days ago, I don't believe Dirk Nowitzki will be too aggressive tonight and the main reason is his opposition for tonight. The visitors from Florida will be without their two best players Nikola Vučević and Arron Afflal and Jameer Nelson and Moe Harkless are in doubt. Even if they had full squad, they would not expect too much out of the away game in Dallas and decimated as they are today, they can only hope not to have a too big disaster. The German has recently celebrated his 35th birthday and I doubt that coach Carlisle will want to see him spend a second on the court more than he necessary so I expect him to be below his season average (32,6). The Mavs don't need another brilliant performance by the German to win tonight as he could let Ellis, Carter, Calderon and the rest take the lead in this one. Details

Not only do the both teams play defense great, but their game style points to an another extremely tough duel. A few weeks ago, Panthers celebrated 10-9 in San Francisco, and tonight's duel might end with a similar result. California guys were stopped with only 151 yards in that match - the least this season, and how good of a job the Panthers did is showed by the fact that the 49ers started that match with a five win streak where they scored 34,8 points. The stake is huge so I doubt that any of the teams will risk anything, but they'll focus fully on the rushing yards no matter how (un)successful that might be. Panthers limited their opponents to only 301,2 yards and 15,1 points, and they had 60 sacks. The 49ers' defense is just as good, even more so, I think they'll have less problems with the Panthers' offense then the home team's defense will with their offense. Sometimes it happens that all the facts point to an under, and the game takes a completely different course, but I don't think that will happen in a match between the 49ers and the Panthers. Details

The games between the Patriots and the Colts have been a special thing in the past 15 years. Of course, this is due to the positive rivalry of Tom Brady and Payton Manning, arguably the best two quarterbacks in the league history. Mannning now plays for the Broncos but Andrew Luck did a great job stepping into his role as he took the Colts into the play-offs. The boys from Indianapolis earned their trip to Boston last weekend as they came back from 28 points behind to a 45-44 win over the Chiefs. It is obvious their offense is no problem and I believe Luck has enough armament to harm the injury-stricken Patriots' defense. On the other hand, Tom Brady may not have the receivers that he had in the previous years but he has rarely had four quality and different running backs that should provide the Patriots' offense with the balance they need. The Colts, too, have many defensive absentees and Brady should be able to take advantage of that. The margin may seem too high for the play-offs but the defensive absences, explosive offensive and the quality of the QB's makes me believe we will see a productive game at the Gillette Stadium. Details

True, the Nuggets are far from reliable, but considering what's going on in the home team lines, I think they'll leave the Staples Center happy tonight. The list of injured players at Lakers wasn't reduced, and last night, one of the sports networks published that Pau Gasol's replacement to Cleveland was a done deal, but that was deleted later on. Something is cooking for sure, and when they want to get rid of their best player by far, it's clear that the Lakers don't have any ambitions for this season. Even if the Spaniard plays, it's questionable how much he'll want to fight for a team that tried to replace him at least ten times in the last two years. Jodie Meeks, Nick Young and the rest of the players are limit rotation players, and D'Antoni really pulls everything he can from them, but I don't believe they'll be able to match the Nuggets who outplayed them in the last four matches, anyway, so I don't see why that wouldn't happen again tonight. Details

The Jazzers are currently the worst team of the West Conference, but they seem to be getting back to life lately. They had a 2-3 record on the tour, the Hawks and Grizzlies had to work really hard to break them, but this bet is not so much for them, as it is against the Lakers, who are visiting one of the most packed arenas with quite a decimated team. Bryant, Blake, and Nash are still out, but there's a possibility of Pau Gasol not playing today either - he's been doing great lately, which was sometimes maybe not obvious from his stats, but he truly was the key man both in offense and defense. The Lakers' offense depended on his high post game almost entirely, especially while Farmara was gone. That nearly made Gasol a point guard. If he really doesn't play, the Lakers will depend on Nick Young entirely. He is fun to watch, but he's far from a reliable player. The Lakers's will have nothing to offer in the key without Gasol, both in defense and offense. I would not be surprised if they lose by a great number of points. Details

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The Nuggets have lost four out of last five games and I don't think they will do too well tonight. Their main player Ty Lawson has suffered an injury that slowed him down and caused him to miss two games and they might also be without Kenneth Faried whose energy was often a great asset for the Nuggets. In the last three games, the Denver boys have scored only 94,3 points while they allowed 12,4 points more which certainly has something to do with the problems their playmaker (Lawson).has been having. On the other hand, the Warriors are not too brilliant but I believe that Curry, Thompson and Lee have enough firepower to harm the hosts while Iggy and Bogut will take care of defense. They knocked out the Nuggets in six play-off games last season and they seem like a better team at the moment as well. Details

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I think everything is clear here. The Wolves are far from being some great defense force, but I believe they can stop Lakers in this state from scoring more that a 100 points. Not even someone as brilliant in offense tactics as Mike D'Anthoni can keep a team like this one productive, especially against a team such as the guests from Minneaposlis. The home team will have to do without Jordan Farmar, Steve Blake, Steve Nash, and Kobe Bryant today, which means Henry will have to take the point guard position on. He will struggle with keeping the pace up, just like his replacement Meeks, who also only focuses on scoring attempts. Playing efficient basketball is tough without someone who can assist, and Henry and Meeks definitely do not posses point guard qualities sufficient for D'Antoni's team. Kendall Marshal is about to join the club, but I don't think he can bring anything good to the Lakers' offense, even if he does play today. It could happen that the offense today depends on Pau Gasol, which is, I think, what the Wolves expect as well. I believe they will do their best to stop him, and leave the Lakers at the mercy of Young, Meeks, Henry...All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers' get defeated easily, and I definitely believe the Wolves can keep them under this margin, just like they did one month ago when they won at the Staples Center 113-90. Details

I don't usually bet on NBA games, but this seems too good to pass up. Truth be told, the Knicks are not in great shape either, but the home team are in much bigger trouble. Coach Larry Drew had only nine players in practice on Monday, two of which (Ersan Ilyasova, Khris Middleton) were practically useless. It is very hard to predict their starting five tonight, but I'm willing to take a risk here as they would struggle vs New York even in an ideal situation. The Bucks were losing a game in Dallas a few days ago by -34 points before the Mavs relaxed a bit and allowed them to book an acceptable loss, and were decimated themselves (Nowitzki). John Henson, Brandon Knight, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are far from NBA elites, and as Caron Butler, O.J. Mayo , Khris Middleton, Ersan Ilyasova, and Gary Neal are all in question, and Zaza Pachulia, Carlos Delfino, and Larry Sanders certainly out, I believe the Knicks will know how to take advantage of that after the shameful finish they had vs the Wizards. The Bucks won only five of 24 this season, and only 2 of 12 at home. Details

The road game in Cleveland is anything but an easy task, but I have faith in the Bears. Their starting quarter back Cutler is back today, which should provide them with some additional motivation. The Browns lost seven out of the last 8 game, including the four consecutive game, ensuring their sixth losing season in a row. They've conceded 127 points (31,8 per game) in the last four games, and the Bears definitely have the offense good enough to cause them a lot of problems. Marc Trestman and Josh McCown have kept offense well above the average and I believe they can spot the Browns' weaknesses quickly. The Bears are currently at the top of division with the Lions, who will, in case the of the exact same ratio, stay on top, since they won their both head to head games. That also means they have absoultely not right to fail, and besides, I believe that the Bears are at this point a better and more motivated than the home team. Cutler, Marshall, and Forte will be too much for the Browns to handle. Details

Kobe has played only two games after the eight-month break which is not representative enough to trust him even though he is one of the best and hard-working players of all time. In the debut against the Raptors he ot 9 points (2/9) 4 assists and 8 turnovers in 28 minutes while he scored 20 points against the Suns (6/12) in 29 minutes, but the Thunder is a completely different story. The Absence of Nash, Farmar and Blake will force the Lakers' coach to put Bryant as the playmaker which might come back to haunt him as the Black Mamba is nowhere near his physical readiness to perform such a role, especially against Russell Westbrook who will additionally wear him down in defense. I have no doubt about Bryant's motivation and desire but in the given situation I don't believe he can go over this margin even if he doubled the number of shots from the game against the Suns. Thunder's defense is simply too fast and physically too powerful for most of the players, let alone a player that has played only 2 games after 8 months, even if his name is Kobe Bryant. Details

The situation is clear. The Chargers have to win the remaining three games if they want to have any chance of reaching the play-offs and since they're playing the team that is the top of the league in rushed yards (465,6) and goals scored (39,6) I don't have any doubt they will rush from the start. The Broncos and their deadly scoring abilities force their opposition to go full throttle and try to keep up with them and the Chargers are the only team capable of doing that. The arrival of Mike McCoy, the former offensive coordinator for the Broncos has rejuvenated Philip Rivers who is having one of the best seasons in his career, but and definitely has enough weaponry to harm the not-so-secure defense of the home team. The Broncos have conceded at least 28 points in their last 3 games (Patriots- 34 ,Chiefs- 28,Titans-28) and I think the away team are at least slightly better than the Chiefs and the Titans. Details

Mark Ingram is the Saints' third running back, after Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas, so he really gets minimum of chances. Sproles and Thomas are a lot better running backs, and that gives a double threat for the Saints offense. Ingram played in seven games this season, and ended six of those under this margin, with a single-digit number of carries. the Saints usually use him in the situations when they need a yard or two to get a new series of attempts, so he very rarely gets the chance to catch the defense off guard. Tonight, he's facing a game against the second best defense of the league when it comes to stopping the rushing yards (80,2), so I don't believe he'll go over this margin in 7,8 carries. Details

Michael Crabtree was leading the 49ers last year with 66 catches for 950 yards and 9 touch downs, but he then injured his Achilles tendon and missed a big part of this season. He got back last Sunday when he caught two balls for 68 yards (8+60), but I'm sure he won't be able to do the same tonight. The Seahawks's secondary is one of the best ones in the league (177,3 yards per game) which became more than clear to Drew Brees and his Saints on Monday. Kaepernick is not as good in passing as Brees and I doubt the 49ers will try to destroy the Seahawks's defense by air. I am inclined to believe their running backs will play the most important role through out the game to minimize the chance of making mistakes. If Keapernick decides to pass, it will most of the time be for Boldin and Davis. The 49ers quarter back threw only 4 balls towards Crabtree, who even seemed to be tired at certain points, and he will certainly won't have it any easier against the Seahawks' secondary. Details

Having almost reached the final last year, the Falcons opened this season with a lot of ambition, but they never actually 'klicked', and the injuries in some crucial moments didn't help much either. The play off is water under the bridge, but they proved there's still motivation left last week when they managed to make a comeback against the Bills and win in extra time. Jackson and White are back on track, Matt Ryan has a much more impressive sheet than Matt Flynn, who is the forth quarter back that played for the Packers this season. Rodgers and Wallace are injured and won't play, and Tolzien lost his position in the team after passing for only one touch down with five interceptions in the three games he played. Flynn started for the first time this season last week in Detroit where he completed 10 out of the 20 passes for only 139 yards with one interception. True, the Falcons defense is not even remotely as good as the Lions', but I sincerely doubt Flynn's quality since he was losing staring positions throughout his carrier, despite being announced as the starter or at least the first understudy prior to the seasons (Seahawks, Raiders, Bills). He is a far cry from Rodgers and how much the Packers miss their starting quarter back is clear if you know they've been scoring 16,4 points without him, having been scoring 30,3 in the previous eight games. I would not be surprised if the Falcons leave the Lambeau Field in a much better mood than the home team. Details

The Kings are far from a reliable team but I believe they can take advantage of the problems in the home team's dressing room as they will be without Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash once again and will probably not be able to count on Chris Kaman. Jordan Farmar was also injured in their defeat against the Blazers and this leaves them with only one playmaker - Steve Blake, who used his left hand in the shooting practice due to problems with his elbow. In addition, Paul Gasol is struggling with his ankle and Jordan Hill is not at his 100 % and I consider this a too big handicap for them to beat the Kings who simply have to get a breakthrough. They've lost five games in a row, 3 of them by five points and they lost one game in over-time. Their only other defeat was inflicted by none other than the Lakers (100-86) but in a much better condition. The Kings have wasted a lot of energy against the Clippers (103-102) and they will need it tonight as they rely on 10 players and high pressure that causes problems to their opponents. The bet is available with most bookmakers. Details

The Wizards have extended John Wall's contract during the summer thus showing their faith that he can lead the team to the play-offs and judging by his performances so far, one can say this wasn't money down the drain. He ended 4 out of last 6 games over this margin (37, 31, 31, 26) and only 2 under (19- Bucs, 8 - Pacers). Bradley Beal's injury made him the absolute first offensive option and the only game in which he had less than 18 shots was against the defensively oriented Pacers (14). Magic are pretty shaky in defense, and since they are at the top of the league in terms of turnovers (17,3), I believe Wall will get the most of his points from transition which is the best aspect of his game. All in all, I see home closer to 25 than 15 tonight. Details