Cappers Sports Picks

Despite the season being almost halfway over the Lightning are still yet to play with their optimal line-up so far. As it was already confirmed, Ondrej Palat is out until California trip. Ryan McDonagh, who hasn’t played since January 6, is getting closer to his return per Derek Lalonde and could play tonight. It was a good sign when he participated in drills at yesterday's morning practice. Erik Cernak, who couldn’t finish Thursday’s game is also questionable for tonight’s game. Cernak has been dealing with nagging injuries over the past two seasons and has already missed 18 games this season.

The Jets have done a lot more practicing than playing over the last couple of weeks, with Tuesday’s game in Washington against the Capitals just their second in the last 12 days. But while the current surge in COVID-19 cases has forced a total of nine games over the past month to be postponed and has spread to several players over that stretch, things are about to look like business as usual over the next week, with the Jets playing four games over the next six days.

I need to see this Jets team play more but when we left off the Jets were not as reliable as you would like when the total is 6

Curry has been dealing with some right (shooting) hand soreness that caused him to miss Sunday's game vs. Minnesota. Maybe that hand explains why Curry is shooting just 35.4 percent this month and 29.9 percent from deep. His scoring average is only 19.6 points in January, and he's down to sixth in the league at 26.3 ppg. Thus, the MVP race could be far from over also involving Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo (+300) and Denver's Nikola Jokic (+600).

The Wolves allowed fewer than 100 points for the 13th time and also held the Warriors to 39 percent shooting, marking the second time in the past six contests they held an opponent under 40 percent. Not great for the Knicks who are coming off a horrible shooting night. 

On Monday, we told you that Golden State's Steph Curry was now the clear favorite to win a third-career NBA regular-season MVP Award thanks to the injury suffered by former favorite Kevin Durant, and Curry will play Tuesday night in what appears to be a major mismatch against the visiting Detroit Pistons after sitting out Sunday. The Dubs remain without Draymond Green but are still 15-point favorites. I think the books are trying to coerce you to bet the Pistons, but we won't fall for that. 

After briefly climbing back over .500 with Saturday's 117-108 win at Atlanta, New York trailed by as many as 23 and absorbed a 97-87 loss to the Hornets that snapped a five-game home winning streak.

The Knicks were doomed by a poor start as they allowed the game's first seven points and trailed by 18 at halftime before allowing 35 points in the second half. They also had no answers for Charlotte's Miles Bridges, who scored 38 points, and shot a dreadful 11 of 21 from the free-throw line.

I think the Wolves are in a better spot right now. 

Evansville (4-11, 0-4) has lost four straight games, including a demoralizing 79-47 setback Wednesday night at Bradley. The Purple Aces shot just 29.1 percent from the field, including 6 of 26 on 3-pointers, and were dominated 47-26 on the boards. I expect that to be better tonight. 

Duke is a really good team; they excel in many different aspects on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they’re one of the best in the country (8th, to be exact) at protecting the ball… for the most part. Miami turned them over 17 times, easily the most Duke has turned it over this season. Not much of a spoiler but expect heavy ball pressure from Florida State as they try to replicate that. 

They’re extremely efficient from the floor, shooting 56% on 2s and 36% on 3s. Their 3-point shooting ebbs and flows, like many teams, with 5 games shooting above 40%, and 4 games shooting less than 30% (both of their losses have come while shooting less than 30%). Duke runs a fast tempo, which will be an interesting matchup for an FSU team that has really slowed it down the last few games. Duke has only had three games with season with fewer than 69 possessions.

The Roadrunners are a mess.  I don't think the talent level is very good and I don't think they're well coached. This is a team that looks like a typical playground team. This low total doesn't scare me away. 

With Fresno State being one of the worst offensive teams in College Basketball, I don't think they're going to do their part in this one. Although the Aggies are going to give us 70-75 points, I think the Bulldogs defense will douse that offensive flame some. 

When you handicap both of these teams it's difficult to find the area that's going to hurt us by betting the under. Missouri is hitting 25% from beyond the arc and neither team is consistent at the free throw line. Both teams are decent rebounding teams so the second chance points will at a minimum. The under is the play here.