A title contender in the NBA might be in big, big trouble.
The NFL champs might be about to somehow get better, and as always, we have the trends you need to know in NBA + NHL.
Contender Down In NBA Race?
What Happened: Unfortunately, a familiar sight. LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard left Tuesday’s game with back spasms. And when we say left, we mean left. He was so uncomfortable from the injury he exited the arena entirely, heading home to try and get comfortable. Yikes.
Why It Matters: Leonard is a question mark for the Clippers’ road trip to tomorrow’s game at Chicago, followed by a Friday game in New Orleans. Coach Tyronn Lue was non-committal.
FanDuel currently has the Clips with the third-best chance of winning the title this season (+500), trailing only the Celtics (+230) and Nuggets (+390). But if this back injury hampers Leonard moving forward, LA will become an incredibly risky bet. Suddenly, teams such as the Thunder (+1700) and Suns (+2700) look a lot more attractive to get out of the West.
How We’re Feeling Today
Exasperated after another busy day of NFL free agency. As the other 31 teams chase the two-time defending champion Chiefs, news breaks that their cheat code QB Patrick Mahomes agreed to help free up salary cap space for the team to spend elsewhere. Oh, how nice of you Patrick! What a generous and kind champ. As if Kansas City needs another advantage on the competition, they now have their franchise player helping pull off salary cap gymnastics. Good luck, everyone else.
The Look Ahead
Valeri Nichushkin – Nichushkin has straight up been producing lately. Over his last five games, he’s racked up five goals and three assists. Plus, he scored and assisted on a goal against the Canucks back in November, so he has their number. Over 0.5 points is -184, but over 0.5 goals is tempting as well at +155.
Vasilije Micic POINTS + REBOUNDS –Â Micic continues to log a heavy work load in March, playing 30+ minutes in four of six games (and in three straight.) He’s averaging 13.8 points and 3.3 boards for the month, so a 14.5 P+R line at -110 is something that interests us.
DeAndre Ayton POINTS + REBOUNDS –Â A 31.5 P+R+A line for Ayton at -105? Across his last five games, the Portland big man has gotten over that mark four times with points and rebounds alone. The Blazers are banged up, with more of the offensive burden falling on Ayton. We expect him to respond accordingly.
