Bryan Power

7* Winnipeg (10:35 ET): We’re down to the home stretch in the NHL regular season. Being that they’ve been locked into a tight battle for 1st place in the Central (w/ Nashville) all season long, the Jets certainly don’t want to blow it now. They’ve got two games in hand as well, which is probably even more important right now than being one point ahead of the Predators. It’s an advantage they don’t want to waste away and fortunately for Winnipeg is they draw the lowly Kings tonight. Even w/ the game in LA, the opponent should be all-too accomodating for an easy two points.

While they may not have the fewest points (Ottawa does), I have the Kings ranked as the worst team in the league this season. They have a league-worst -59 goal differential, a metric which is far more important than the number of points a team has. Granted, LA doesn’t have many points (58) and is buried at the bottom of the Pacific. They’ve scored the fewest number of goals in the league and that’s a problem against anyone, let alone the 6th highest scoring team in the league (Winnipeg). The Kings have won only two of their last 17 games overall.

Winnipeg just beat two very good teams, Boston and Calgary, at home. While not quite as strong on the road as they are on home ice, the Jets have the edge in every statistical category in this matchup w/ the Kings. They just went 5-3 SU in an eight-game stretch against all likely playoff teams. Meanwhile, LA has lost 12 of 13 to teams that have winning records. A real key here could be Winnipeg’s 4th ranked power play going against LA’s 29th ranked penalty killing unit. The Jets are a far better team even at even strength, if they get a man advantage this one could turn ugly in a hurry. 7* Winnipeg

8* Portland (10:35 ET): The Blazers lost more than a game 48 hours ago. C.J. McCollum went down w/ a left leg injury in the team’s 108-103 loss at San Antonio Saturday and he’ll be out for “at least a week.” The Spurs were actually my *10* Game of the Week, so I “benefited” from the injury. I feel we can do so again tonight, albeit in a much different way. Portland opened up too low here and should be favored by significantly more against an Indiana team that has been w/o its best player for two months now. The Pacers have done a nice job “treading water” w/o Victor Oladipo, but have lost six of their last 10 w/ all four wins coming at home. Lay the short number. 

Indiana, like Portland, is 4th in its conference. They are coming off a last second loss at Denver Saturday night. In that game, the Pacers got off to a hot start as they were up 34-25 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 18 in the second. But they went 0 for 11 from three-point range after halftime. Losing 102-100 will be difficult to get over for a team that has now dropped five straight on the road. That includes a 19-point loss to Milwaukee and 17-point loss to Philadelphia. Over the L5 games, the Pacers are averaging less than 100 PPG! 

Even without McCollum, Portland should be okay as long as Damian Lillard has the ball in his hands. Lillard had 34 in the losing effort vs. San Antonio Saturday. He also recently scored 51 in a game. The home court advantage is huge here for the Blazers. Not only has Indiana lost five in a row on the road, they haven’t won in Portland since 2007! Portland is 8-1 SU in the L9 head to head meetings w/ Indiana, including a 103-93 road win very early on in the season. Being that they’re 25-9 SU at home, I think they overcome the McCollum injury here and get the ‘W.’ 8* Portland 

10* Under Nuggets/Celtics (7:35 ET): Both of these teams would obviously like to “move up” in their respective conference’s standings. Denver has been in a battle w/ Golden State all season for the top spot in the Western Conference and currently trails the Warriors (who play @ SA tonight) by one game. Boston, largely viewed as an underachiever this season, is currently 5th in the Eastern Conference. But I can see them making a late move, getting all the way up to third by the end of the regular season. Regardless of the outcome of this game, I envision it being low-scoring. Take the Under. 

Denver has strictly been an Under team of late. They are 10-1 Under the L11 games and while some of that has to do w/ high totals, they’ve also been playing some pretty good defense as well. Over the L5 games, the Nuggets have allowed an average of just 105.4 PPG, which is below their season average. During that stretch, only Golden State has exceeded 107 against them. The last two games, both wins at home, were really low scoring. They beat Dallas 100-99 and Indiana 102-100. Of course, the Nuggets’ offensive production also goes down when they leave Denver. They are averaging 107.9 PPG on the road this season, well off what they average at the Pepsi Center. 

Denver is fully healthy right now, but Boston is not. Both Al Horford and Gordon Hayward sustained injuries in Saturday’s 129-120 win over Atlanta. The last four Celtics games have all gone Over the total, a stark contrast to Denver, though before the four-game streak, Boston had gone Under in six straight. The Celtics have also won five of six and I expect a team that ranks in the top five in defensive efficiency to “show up” tonight. At home, Boston is allowing just 106.6 PPG. This should be a much lower-scoring game than anticipated. 10* Under Nuggets/Celtics