Sportsline

Will the American Conference Championship Game be a defensive battle?

Who will win the Atlantic 10 Championship Game?

These two have gone over 7 of their past 8 meetings...

With Cal Baptist's patient offense, this total seems slightly inflated. The Lancers rank toward the bottom of Dvision 1 at 210th for possessons per game, and the defense is the stingiest in the WAC. One of the finalists' regular season meetings has a misleading score because it went to overtime; in regulation, 130 points were tallied, which followed a 139-point matchup in the other game. As quickly as Utalh Valley plays, the Wolverines' semifinal game Friday wound up wth 132 points. The rubber match should stay south of 140.

FanDuel. Demar DeRozan is under this line in 13 of his last 14 games. The one miss, however, is the cause of the spike of this line, as DDR went for 49 PRA in the Kings last game against Charlotte. Now facing a hot Clippers team, I’m counting on a more muted performance, especially with Russell Westbrook back. The Clippers play at the fifth slowest pace, and are very stingy with the peripheral stats. The likes of Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, and even Kawhi Leonard will contribute to what should be a tough matchup for DeRozan. And like we’ve seen many a time with the floundering Kings, Derozan’s minutes can completely fall off in the second half.

Darius Garland was rested on the first night of a back-to-back Friday. He should be all-systems-go for Saturday's home game against the lowly Kings, who rank third-worst in defensive rating. Garland has scored 20-plus points in three straight games and six of the past eight. Go Over.

Darius Garland did not play Friday against the Bulls as the Clippers continue to hold him out for one game of back-to-back sets. He will return Saturday in what is a great matchup against the Kings, who have the third-worst defensive rating in the league. There is some blowout risk here, but Garland has scored at least 21 points in three straight games despite logging 26 or fewer minutes in two of them. He made 13 three-pointers over that span, which is noteworthy because the Kings allow the third-highest three-point shooting percentage. I won’t be surprised if Garland reaches at least 20 points again, let alone the 18 needed to hit this over.

Hawaii and Irvine split in the regular season, the Rainbow Warriors winning by one at home and losing in overtime by 11 on the road. So the rubber match figures to be tight. The Anteaters are coming off a 93-point explosion in the semis, as four players scored in double figures. Both teams are excellent defensively, but UC Irvine is a little more dangerous offensively. The Anteaters collapsed in the second half of last year's Big West title game, losing to UC San Diego. Expect them to get a measure of redemption Saturday.

Pittsburgh has lost two in a row and remains decimated by injury/suspension. Goalie Stuart Skinner is winless in his past five. The Mammoth aren't playing great but usually a different team on home ice. Dylan Guenther has the second most go-ahead goals in the NHL (16). One of those came in a 5-4 OT win in Pittsburgh on Dec. 14. Justin Brazeau had two goals for the Pens but is one of those many guys out this time.

Welcome to the ultimate clash in offensive styles. Kennesaw's league games averaged 153 points, mainly because the Owls are high-octane with the 16th most possessions per outing in Divison 1. The Bulldogs are 319th in the pace category, wth the fewest points yielded in CUSA and a No. 10 ranking (out of 12 members) for scoring. Their regular season faceoffs illustrate the contrast. One game produced 156 points, the other 113. The finals in the one-bid league could result in a modest score given the inherent pressure. Plus, the Bulldogs' tournament outings have ended with 109 and 135 points.

The LA Lakers have won seven out of their last eight games. The only loss during that stretch was against tonight’s opponent in the Denver Nuggets. A game that saw a big line move on the Lakers side from 5.5 to 3.5 but failed ATS. Teams are typically vulnerable on the back end of a long home stand. Look for that scenario tonight as the Lakers are playing their fifth straight home game. Tail Denver.

The Lakers and Nuggets have split their two games played in Denver, and they play their third and last meeting of the regular season tonight in Los Angeles, with the Nuggets favored by 3. The game figures to be a crucial tiebreaker as both teams have 41 wins on the season, along with the Rockets and Timberwolves. The Nuggets should have Aaron Gordon back tonight, making them almost completely healthy. The Nuggets have won and covered two straight with a blowout over the Rockets and a come-from-behind win at San Antonio. The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season, winning and covering seven of their last eight games. It should be a close game, but I'm taking the Lakers plus the points.

Virginia has failed to score 66 points just twice in 33 games this season. And while one of those was a 77-51 loss to Duke in Durham just a couple weeks ago, the Blue Devils had now-injured starters Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster in the lineup. Duke’s defense gets credit for holding Virginia to its lowest offensive efficiency of the season, but the game script flipped the Blue Devils way quickly (leading by 15 in the first 15 minutes) and the Wahoos’ shooting was arguably the coldest it has been all of ACC play. A little bit of shooting regression, plus the absence of two key defenders opens up the chances for Virginia to have some more offensive success and clear this number.

The Heat are getting a few guys back tonight while apparently there is a bit of a bug going around the Magic locker room. Both clubs are playing really well but perhaps a bit more motivation for Miami to avoid an embarrassing five-game season sweep against a possible playoff foe. Five games because one in the NBA Cup.

The Miami Heat have rode not just a seven game winning streak, but have covered each game as well. Another hot team lies atop the Southeast division with the Orlando Magic on a six game winning streak, and have already beat the Heat four times this year. They may not get a fifth win but look for the spread to be precise on a two point line move on the Heat side with Norman Powell back. Grab the points with Orlando.