Parlays

The Nashville Predators will take on the Chicago Blackhawks Sunday afternoon. The Predators are riding a 3-game win streak and currently sporting the last spot in the playoffs. Over the past 5 games, the Predators have only allowed 12 total goals. This is improved form compared to the 3.35 goals against average they have this season. These improvements are not only on defense; on the offensive side they have scored 3+ goals in 5 of their last 6 games. These improvements seem to be a clear motivation for a playoff push.

For the Blackhawks, they currently rank 14th in the Western Conference and have lost 3 of their last 4 games. The Blackhawks issues start on the offensive side. They are only averaging 2.58 goals per game which ranks them 30th in the NHL. Not only have goals been an issue, but the Blackhawks also rank last in total shots on target only averaging 24.3 shots per game. At home, the Blackhawks have lost 7 of their last 10 games. Overall, the Predators are playing for the playoffs while the Blackhawks are waiting for the season to end. I am rolling with the Predators on the money line.

Predators vs. Blackhawks Prediction: Predators ML (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are looking to keep things rolling on Sunday night when they travel to UBS Arena to take on the New York Islanders. The Blue Jackets have found a new gear under head coach Rick Bowness, who has led the CBJ to an astounding 17-2-4 record since taking over for Dean Evason in January. Bowness’ team enters this matchup riding a 4-game win streak and has found the win column in 5 of their last 6 games. The offense is firing on all cylinders, as they’ve potted 5 or more goals in 4 of their last 6 games and have 16 total goals over their last 3 contests. Facing New York backup goaltender David Rittich presents a favorable matchup, so the Blue Jackets should be able to stay in a groove offensively.

On the other side, the Islanders enter this matchup coming off back-to-back losses to the Senators and Canadiens. New York is just 5-5-0 over its last 10 games, giving Patrick Roy’s team far less momentum entering this pivotal matchup. The Jackets hold a 2-point lead over the Islanders in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and with the way they are rolling, they are the team to back in this one. Sometimes you just have to ride the hot hand.

Blue Jackets vs Islanders prediction: Blue Jackets ML (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Anaheim Ducks will be hosting the red-hot Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night. The Ducks, who were sitting idle on Saturday, will have the rest advantage in this game as the Sabres were in action on Saturday. The Sabres come into this game riding a four-game winning streak, and they are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games. Both of these teams have many offensive threats, but it is the quality of their defensive play that separates them. The Sabres are the eighth-best defensive team in the league, averaging 2.87 goals against per game, while the Ducks average 3.43 goals against per game, which is fourth-worst in the NHL. In their last four games, the Sabres have only allowed three games in total. They are dialed in defensively right now.

The Ducks are a very good team on home ice, and that is where they do most of their winning. They are 22-10-2 at the Honda Center. They are underdogs in this game and I think there is some value there if they can button things up defensively and get a solid performance from their netminder, Lukas Dostal, who is more than capable of delivering a good game. Give me the Ducks in this one.

Sabres vs. Ducks prediction: Ducks ML (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

We have a competitive division matchup slated for Sunday afternoon when the Portland Trail Blazers travel to take on the Denver Nuggets. The Trail Blazers have had a successful road trip that they will be looking to wrap up with a win. They have won three out of their last four games when playing away from home. They are coming off a 108-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in their last game. Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija scored a combined 51 points in the victory. The Nuggets have an opportunity to make a run at a better seed in the Western Conference. Denver is getting healthy at the right time, and 8 of their last 11 games are set to be played on their home court. Denver is currently the fifth seed in the West, but they are only three games back of the third seed. Denver will be looking to take advantage of the Trail Blazers turnover problems. Portland ranks 30th in the NBA in turnovers with 17.3 per game. The Trail Blazers were able to defeat Minnesota in their last game despite surrendering 17 turnovers. The good news for the Trail Blazers is that the Nuggets have not shown to be a team to take the ball away this season. Denver ranks 30th in the NBA with only 6.9 steals per game. On top of that, turnovers have been a problem for Nikola Jokic as of late. Since returning from his injury, Jokic has averaged 4.7 turnovers per game with his high usage rate. The Trail Blazers are a young and scrappy team that has been prone to mistakes, but there is a path for them in this game to win the turnover battle. I think if they can do just that, they can at the very least keep this game close.

Trail Blazers +8.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at +8.

Despite being bottom of the Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings have been able to pick up 4 wins from their last 10 games. They will have a chance to improve on that against a Brooklyn Nets team that has lost 6 straight games. The visitors today will also be without the likes of Nic Claxton, Michael Porter Jr. and Egor Denim. The absence of Claxton will be a major miss considering the production the host have been getting from their bigs. The pair have combined for 17.8 rebounds and 34.4 points per game over their last 10 showings. That is a level of production the Nets will have issues matching.

The main problem the Nets have been facing is scoring. Over the last 10 games they are dead last in offensive rating. They have scored 100 or fewer points in each of their last 6 contests. They have also been 24th in the NBA in the league in opponent points in the paint during that stretch. With the Kings 6th in scoring during that time in that category, they are well positioned to take full advantage. With the visitors having a points differential of -12.4 in road games this season, the Kings should have a great chance to cover the spread in this one.

Brooklyn Nets vs Sacramento Kings prediction: Kings -6.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to Kings -7.5.

Life without Ant Man continues for the Minnesota Timberwolves who are trying to bounce back following a narrow loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Only 21 assists in that game is a clear indicator that the offensive leader of the team is out and the team is still adjusting to life without him. The oddsmakers don’t fancy the T’Wolves chances on Sunday, they’re 9.5 point underdogs at TD Garden against the Celtics. Now, Minnesota did win the first meeting of the season when these two teams met at Target Center back in late November, but over the years this match-up has been owned by the men in green. Minnesota has won just 3 of the last 18 meetings and get this – they are on an 18-game losing streak in games played in Boston.

The Cs return home following a successful trip to Memphis where they beat the Grizzlies by 5 points. It was their 4th win in a row, with 12 games left it looking like they’ll have to settle for the 2nd seed despite the Pistons losing Cade Cunningham for the rest of the regular season. I’m sure the Celtics aren’t too concerned about which seed they are, the priority for them right now is to fully integrate Jayson Tatum into all the offensive and defensive schemes, which they’ve done really well up to this point. He might have to turn back the clock and become the pre-injury Tatum on Sunday, is Jaylen Brown isn’t able to play. He’s officially listed as questionable with a quad injury, it goes without saying that it would be a massive handicap for Boston not having their leading scorer in this game.

I mentioned the dominance of the Celtics in head-to-head meetings earlier, however as good as they’ve been against Minnesota, they’ve not beaten them by double-digits in almost 4 years. The last 6 meetings between the two sides have been decided by 4, 3, 2, 7, 5 and 2 points so the trends are pointing to another close finish. With both sides potentially being without their best players, I’d much rather back the underdog and the extra points here. Boston has covered only twice in 6 games and is just 17-17 ATS in 34 home games this season. Take Minnesota.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs Boston Celtics Predictions: Timberwolves +9.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

After a highly entertaining Saturday slate of March Madness action, we should see more compelling matchups in the Round of 32 on Sunday, including a battle between a couple of storied programs and Hall of Fame coaches — as St. John’s gets set to take on Kansas in the East Region. These teams strongly resemble each other in a myriad of areas, so it’s a bit of a surprise that we’re getting more than one possession with Bill Self and the Jayhawks in this one. The market is clearly down a bit on Kansas, but it’s important to consider that this team was still up by 26 points in the second half on Friday before taking its foot off the gas and allowing Cal Baptist to make the game interesting late. Furthermore, the Jayhawks have a top-1o defense and the best player on the court in Darryn Peterson, who should see success in isolation situations against a St. John’s defense that has not faced a guard of his caliber since the early days of the season.

On the other side, it’s undeniable that St. John’s has been playing at an extremely high level in recent weeks. Rick Pitino’s team has rattled off 7 straight victories heading into this matchup, but the competition has not been the strongest for the Red Storm during this run of form, especially compared to what Kansas has faced. This is still a St. John’s offense that ranks 188th in effective field goal percentage and sits well outside the top 200 in 3-point percentage on the season. Kansas’ defense is also excellent in transition, which is imperative against a Red Storm offense that likes to generate quick buckets early in possessions. Ultimately, it’s hard to see either team getting much separation in this one, so I’ll take the points with the underdog.

St. John’s vs Kansas prediction: Kansas +3.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to Kansas +3. 

The #9 seeded Utah State Aggies take on the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the West Regional. The Wildcats cruised past LIU on Friday, as expected, while the Aggies had to win a dogfight with Villanova. The Aggies pulled away late, but the game was back and forth for all but the final few minutes. Utah State is a good basketball team, but they are just outmatched here. The #1 seeds are #1 seeds for a reason, and we can expect Arizona to win by margin. Let’s take Arizona -12.

Utah State is a well-balanced team. They do everything well and nothing poorly. I have no real criticism for them. The issue in this game is that Arizona is just too good. The Aggies have no obvious advantages in the matchup, nothing that they can try to exploit to pull the upset. Arizona is more athletic and more talented at every position, and this is the time of year where talent wins. We shouldn’t really expect any of the 9 seeds to take out the 1 seeds, but we also shouldn’t really expect many of them to stay close either. Take the Wildcats.

Utah State vs Arizona Prediction: Arizona -12 (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -14.5.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Alabama Crimson Tide meet in the Round of 32 in a matchup that contrasts elite pace with offensive efficiency. Alabama enters as the highest scoring team in the country at 91.7 points per game, thriving in transition and relying heavily on tempo to create scoring opportunities. In their opening round win, the Crimson Tide put up 90 points, with Labaron Philon Jr. leading the way with 29 points while the team controlled the glass with 46 rebounds. Alabama’s ability to push pace and generate second chance opportunities makes them difficult to contain, but defensive inconsistency remains a concern, as they allow around 70.1 points per game and have struggled at times to get stops against efficient offenses.

Texas Tech counters with a more controlled and efficient offensive approach, averaging 80.7 points per game while ranking among the nation’s best three point shooting teams at 39.3%, knocking down 11.5 threes per game. In their first round win, the Red Raiders shot 64.2% from the field, with Jaylen Petty scoring 24 points and multiple players contributing offensively. Point guard Christian Anderson drives the offense with 7.7 assists per game, helping create high-quality looks in the half court. While Texas Tech allows 72.6 points per game, their ability to control tempo and execute efficiently could be key against Alabama’s fast paced style. If the Red Raiders limit transition opportunities and capitalize from beyond the arc, they can dictate the flow of the game and neutralize Alabama’s biggest strength. With Alabama’s defensive inconsistency and Texas Tech’s balanced offensive attack, this sets up as a competitive matchup where execution and tempo control could ultimately favor the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech vs Alabama Prediction: Texas Tech -1 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -2