Tuesday NBA Picks
Our team of writers and handicappers hand out their NBA picks and predictions for Tuesday, March 24.
Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls, 8:05PM ET
Home games dominate the Chicago Bulls’ schedule for the final three weeks of the regular season. If they plan on making the playoffs, they’ll need to continue their strong play at the United Center.
Currently the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed, the Bulls will hope to secure a spot by playing eight of their final 11 games at home, a stretch that starts Tuesday night against the short-handed Detroit Pistons.
Chicago (33-38) has won seven of eight at home to jump into playoff position in the East, with the lone loss coming Saturday against the West-leading Los Angeles Lakers.
The Bulls led by 14 at halftime, but let the lead slip away in the fourth en route to a 117-109 defeat.
Chicago’s first chance to bounce back came Monday at woeful Washington, and it nearly lost another double-digit lead. This time the Bulls led 88-77 with 6:09 left in the fourth quarter, but had to hold on for a 101-99 victory that pulled them 1 1/2 games ahead of ninth-place Charlotte.
NBA Free Pick: Detroit – View Game Matchup | Best Line: +5.5 SPORTSBETTING.COM
Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs, 8:35PM ET
Tim Duncan’s late scoring burst helped San Antonio beat the Golden State Warriors in February. His failure to produce down the stretch in his last game is partly to blame for the Spurs’ fall from the Southwest Division lead.
Coming off a costly late-game collapse, Duncan and the Spurs look to win their 22nd straight home game against the Warriors on Tuesday night.
San Antonio (45-24) lost 87-85 to Houston on Sunday, dropping a half-game behind the first-place Rockets in the Southwest.
It was the third loss in four games for the Spurs, who started pulling away midway through the fourth quarter before Houston went on a 10-2 run and won it on Yao Ming’s pass to Luis Scola underneath for a basket with 11.9 seconds left.
NBA Free Pick: San Antonio – View Game Matchup | Best Line: -10.5 SPORTSBETTING.COM
Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz, 10:35PM ET
A season-ending injury to Tracy McGrady and the trade of their point guard appeared to signal the Rockets could have trouble just making the playoffs. Instead, Houston has flourished and now finds itself atop the Southwest Division and second in the Western Conference.
The Rockets will try to expand their slim leads Tuesday night when they visit the Utah Jazz, one of the few teams that has solved them recently.
Houston (47-25) lost McGrady for the remainder of the season after he underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee last month. The All-Star swingman hasn’t played since a 124-112 loss at Milwaukee on Feb. 9. Ten days later, the club traded Rafer Alston to Orlando in a three-team deal that landed it guard Kyle Lowry from Memphis and forward Brian Cook from the Magic.
The Rockets, though, haven’t slowed down, going 16-4 without McGrady. They won again Sunday, beating San Antonio 87-85 on the road to move one-half game ahead of the Spurs in the Southwest.
San Antonio, Northwest Division-leading Denver, New Orleans, Portland and Utah (43-26) are all within three games of Houston for second in the crowded West standings.
NBA Free Pick: Utah – View Game Matchup | Best Line: -5.5 SPORTSBETTING.COM
Did you like this article? Subscribe to our Basketball news feed for the fastest updates delivered right to you – Click here to Subscribe
Posted: 3/24/09 12:46PM ET