Art Aronson

This is a 10* play on UNDER Boston-NY Islanders

The Islanders have the division lead in the Metro, but they will certainly be more than tested tonight by Boston, who is the second place team in the Atlantic. Both teams are off one-goal decisions over the weekend. The Bruins beat Columbus 2-1 while New York beat Minnesota 3-2. But perhaps the most interesting part of this battle is that it pits two of the top three teams in the league in goals allowed against one another. The Islanders lead the league with an average of just 2.33 goals allowed per game. But the Bruins are right behind, allowing just 2.53. So expecting this to be a low-scoring game sounds quite reasonable. In the last four games, the Islanders have only given up five goals. All four games finished Under. Boston is 10-4 Under this year playing on the road when the total is 5.5. They are also 23-12 Under when facing a team that has a winning record. Play UNDER Boston-NY Islanders

AAA

This is a 10* play OVER Belmont-Temple

Belmont can score. The Bruins average 87.4 points per game on nearly 50% shooting. That scoring average is #2 in the entire country, behind only Gonzaga. The shooting percentage is tied for the 4th highest. So expect the OVC's regular season champ to score plenty in this Opening Round matchup vs. Temple. The problem is that the Bruins can't stop anybody. Opponents shot almost 35% from behind the arc in the regular season. They have gone Under in three straight games, but those games all had higher totals than this one. The number here looks a little low for playing a Temple team that has scored at least 70 points in every game since February 13th. Belmont doesn't force many turnovers. Something else to consider - Temple is an outstanding free throw shooting team as is Belmont. Play OVER Belmont-Temple

AAA

This is a 10* play UNDER Indiana-LA Clippers

The Pacers come off a tough loss last night in Portland as they fell 106-98. The loss prevented Indiana from clinching a playoff spot and it was also their sixth in a row on the road. Things get no easier tonight in LA. Maybe we're starting to see the effect of losing Victor Oladipo as Indiana isn't scoring as many points as they used. Last night marked the third time in the last six games they were held below 100 points. They haven't scored more than 108 in seven straight and only once topped 105 in that stretch of games. The Clippers have had some issues defensively of late and that's cost them at the betting window where they're 0-3 ATS the L3 games. But against an opponent that is playing in the second night of a back to back, we look for LA to turn up the defense tonight. At the same time, Indiana remains the top defensive team in the entire league in terms of scoring as they allow just 103.9 PPG. Play UNDER Indiana-LA Clippers

AAA

This is an 8* play on OVER Brooklyn-Sacramento

We're also playing the Over in this Nets-Kings matchup. As stated in our play on the side, this current road trip has gotten off to bad start for the Nets. They've given up almost 114 PPG in the three losses, but at least they were able to rediscover some offense in the loss to the Clippers Sunday. They scored 116 points in that game and should be right around that number again tonight as Sacramento still gives up about 115 points per game, which is one of the highest figures in the league. But we obviously expect the Kings to score plenty as well. They just scored 129 points in their last game and are averaging 119.5 the last four games. This is a big time revenge game for the Kings, who lost by 29 out in Brooklyn back in January. But what's fascinating about that final result is the Kings actually led 60-55 at halftime. They scored only 34 points total in the second half, something that certainly is unlikely to occur again. Look for the Kings to put two big offensive halves together this time and Brooklyn will score "enough" as well. Play OVER Brooklyn-Sacramento

AAA

This is an 8* play on SACRAMENTO

One of these teams (Brooklyn) will likely make the playoffs while the other (Sacramento) will not. But a pretty strong case can be made that the non-playoff team is better and the respective designations are simply a byproduct of the two uneven conferences. Sacramento, despite having little shot at making the playoffs, is in a good spot here. They've covered three straight, including a 129-102 win over the Bulls on Sunday. Shockingly, the Kings have been an outstanding bet when favored this season, going 15-4 ATS (17-2 SU). They are favored here to beat a Brooklyn team that seems to have hit a wall. A seven-game road trip has opened with three straight losses as the Nets have fallen to 11-16 SU vs. the Western Conference. Like Sacramento, the Nets typically take care of business when they're favored. They've been favored 24 times and won 20 of those games. But as an underdog, they're just 16-32 SU. With it being a short number, we'll lay it!  Play on SACRAMENTO

AAA