KWAME, KOBE, KAREEM and HIS JACKET

That was a sweet night of basketball. All of the games and lines were close with the exception of the Lakers/Suns under which was an easy call. Tomorrow, Farfel likes the Grizzlies +1, as do I, especially since some sites have the line posted as even up. Memphis has been great at home all year and Memphis should be rocking tomorrow. You have to go under no matter what the total is- it just happens to be 181. The Pacers are getting two points and I think if you have to take one side or the other than this is the side to take. Of course, very few people are going to be required to bet on this game. The Nets are in a must win situation, trying not to fall behind 3-1 in the series. Jersey shot 7-16 from the 3-point line, they hit their free throws and only committed 8 turnovers, so that loss can'’t be easily explained by an aberrant breakdown in one category. The Nets haven't been that good on the road all year and are now 1-5 ATS this season against the Pacers. Indiana has been playing above themselves, so let's see if they have any killer instinct. How about them Lakers? Kobe is a new man. Mr. Positivity played a Steve Nash type game again, showing that he is the real MVP regardless of which Kobe shows up. And what can we say about Kwame Brown? I don't know who deserves the credit for turning him into a serviceable player but the conventional wisdom is that Kareem has been working with him. I only bring this up as justification to put up the photo of Kareem at game 2 in Phoenix. I had the Mets and Pedro today which worked out well, except the bullpen gave up two runs in the ninth to void my under. Glavine goes tomorrow and I think that would be a solid pick. The Braves are hitting .211 versus left-handers this season and despite today's mistep, the Mets have the lowest bullpen ERA in the National League. Blue Jays +250 looks like good value. Had the Blue Jays today which was an easier pick. Randy Johnson throws tomorrow and although he isn'’t just a regular lefty, the Blue Jays are killing southpaws to the tune of a .385 AVG, by far tops in the AL. The Yankees aren'’t too shabby as they hit everybody well but +250 is attractive. Besides, Johnson isn'’t as good during the day and had some problems with the Blue Jays last season. I don't like fading the Cubs at Wrigley but they are hitting .199 against lefties as they face Doug Davis tomorrow. Davis had some good outings last year and I believe he had a string of eight consecutive starts where he got no decisions where a fair amount of them should have been wins. He is a strikeout pitcher and is solid during the day. In fact, he went deep into games last season more often during the day (88 innings in 13 starts) than at night including 7 innings, 2 ER and 9 Ks in a loss at Wrigley. The Cubs are throwing Glendon Rusch who is inconsistent at best, so lets hope he doesn't pull out the nasty stuff that he seems to have every once in a while. Milwaukee is hitting .319 versus lefties, and El Caballo, AKA Carlos Lee is 4-5 with 1 HR and 2 BB against Rusch. The over/under on his longest hit tomorrow is 430 feet. Both teams have strong pens so that shouldn't affect the decision.    - nutlow