Cyber Max

As we near the midpoint of the NBA regular season, injuries are playing a major role for most teams. This is the case tonight as both TNT national TV games have key players missing.

The Knicks will likely be without point guard Stephon Marbury for the second straight night, while the Kings could possibly be without three of their top four scorers. While injuries are important, their effect on the pointspread is often overrated as both the Knicks and Kings covered the spread in their past games, despite playing short-handed.

Below is a look at both national TV games this evening.

DETROIT at NEW YORK - 8:05 pm ET (TNT)

The Pistons were one win away from winning back-to-back NBA championships last season and they appear to be the team to beat this year. Detroit improved to 31-5 SU with an easy 117-89 win at Atlanta last night. The Pistons were able to rest their starters as they entered the fourth quarter with a 22-point lead.

Detroit already beat New York at home, 106-98, as an 11

Share This

So I just finished watching the Spurs/Bucks game, and the only thing on is Mavs/Lakers. Between the two, I hadn’t been that entertained watching an NBA double-header like that in awhile, and one of them was a blowout. Occasionally, a player like Tony Delk or Cliff Robinson will score 50. But it takes supreme all-star status to reach the 60’s. Not only did Kobe Bryant score 62 last night versus Dallas, he did it playing only 3 quarters. He could’ve gotten more and should’ve gotten more. But lame-ass sportsmanship got in the way of greatness.



First off, it must be noted that Dallas displayed perhaps the worst defense I’ve ever seen. How many points does one man have to score before you double-team? Yet the Mavs were just fine with single-coverage on Kobe. At one point, when Kobe was in the low-50’s, he was able to get a wide-open 3 during a fast break. I mean Dallas practically ran out of towels to throw with this defense.



The NBA record is 100 points by Wilt Chamberlain, which will forever be out of reach for every basketball player. The main reason is that the games in which these performances occur in are normally blowouts. So when guys get anywhere close to scoring nirvana, they’re almost always forced to sit out the 4th.
Sportsmanship. We’ve all been critical of the high number of shots Kobe takes. But if I’m not mistaken, you play to win the game, and they did win by 22. Who cares if he had 0 assists if his team wins. We watch sports games for entertainment like that, not to be engulfed with mercy. Besides, the Mavs were asking for it. Dallas got so caught up in watching, that their final shot of the 3rd quarter was like throwing a crumbled piece of paper into a wastebasket- they knew they were wasting their time.



The stop-rubbing-it-in-our-faces complaints began in college, where teams like Duke basketball or USC football will frequently beat teams by 60. But this is the pros, these guys are making millions of dollars! They should be able to put up with 40-pt losses. And when you look at those old games where Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and David Robinson scored between 70-100, we notice that they all played into the 4th quarter and their games where blowouts. Kobe should’ve gotten the same privilege.



One player isn’t above the team, and that goes for everyone. However, there are games where teams should let the guy with the hot-hand continue. It was a ton of fun watching him steamroll through Dallas. Had Kobe played, he could’ve honestly scored about 90 points (the D was that weak). No one has finished the game in the 80 or 90-point total area. Bryant only needed 14 more for 2nd most points scored ever in a game. It’s a shame he didn’t get the chance.

Visit Basketball Betting Systems for more expert articles on sports.

Share This

Duke beat Maryland 76-52 and Florida handled Miss St 75-60 on Wednesday, keeping both teams undefeated. The nation’s only other undefeated team, the Pitt Panthers, play at home tonight against DePaul (ESPN at 9:00 ET). The 12-0 Panthers have made a habit of fast starts the last few seasons opening 10-0 last year, 18-0 in 2003-04 and 9-0 in 2002-03.

The school’s last loss in the months of November or December came on 12/31/02 to Georgia. DePaul (8-5), in its first year in the Big East, will be playing Pitt for the first time since the 1936-37 season. Pitt is favored by 12 points with a total of 130 1/2.

My free play for Thursday is on Middle Tenn St over Arkansas St in college hoops at 8:00 ET. Tonight I feature my BIGGEST play of the season in the Pac-10, my 20* Game of the Year. Also, I have my 10* Sun Belt Game of the Month in college hoops plus a HUGE play (no rating!) on tonight’s Finals Showdown Rematch in the NBA (Det/SA)!

Speaking of long waits, Baylor, competing its 100th year of basketball this season, lost its 15th straight game last night. What was so unusual, was that the school’s 15th straight loss came 307 days after its 14th loss (77-57 to Iowa State in last year’s Big-12 tourney). As part of NCAA sanctions, the team was not allowed to play any non-conference games this year.

Southern Illinois beat Evansville last night 66-38 and the school from Carbondale, Illinois has now quietly joined Gonzaga and Illinois with 30 consecutive home wins, the longest active streak in college basketball.

While the DePaul/Pittsburgh game leads a 31-game college basketball slate tonight, the NBA features just a three-game card. However, at 8:05 ET on TNT, it’s a Finals rematch from last year, the Pistons at the Spurs. Detroit owns the league’s best overall record at 27-5 and its best road mark (13-3). San Antonio owns the league’s second-best mark at 27-8, as well as its best home record (17-1).

These teams met Christmas Day in Detroit with the Pistons winning 85-70. Ginobili missed that game for the Spurs and Detroit won on the strength of an 18-8 advantage in the first quarter and a 28-17 4th-quarter advantage. San Antonio is favored by 4 1/2-points with a total of 177.

The second half of TNT’s doubleheader goes at 10:35 ET, with the LeBron and the Cavaliers visiting Kobe and the Lakers. Kobe scored ‘just’ 41 points last night in LA’s 113-103 loss at Portland, ending his streak of games with 45-plus points at four. The Lakers are favored by 2 1/2-points tonight with a total of 193 1/2.

Kobe leads the league averaging 34.3 PPG and LeBron ranks third at 30.8 PPG. Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson is second with an average of 33.7 PPG, giving the league THREE 30-plus PPG scorers. The last time the NBA had three players average 30 or more PPG for an entire season was in 1981-82. The players were, George Gervin, Moses Malone and Adrian Dantley.

Friday’s Ness Notes will be devoted to this weekend’s NFL Divisional Playoffs.

Larry Ness is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Larry_Ness.htm

Share This