Mike Lundin

WEDNESDAY NIGHT NBA TOTAL

The Memphis Grizzlies have struggled on the defensive end lately, giving up 130+ points in back-to-back losses at Atlanta and Washington. Four of their last five have gone over the total, and here they'll face an offensive powerhouse in the Houston Rockets who have averaged 119 points through their last two games. 

The Rockets are coming off a 121-105 win over Atlanta Tuesday night and over is 6-2 in their last eight games playing on zero days rest. 

All-Star guard James Harden has scored at least 20 points in 13 straight games and contributed 31 points and 10 assists against the Hawks while veteran point guard Chris Paul recorded his second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.

8* play on OVER. 

TOP RATED WEDNESDAY NIGHT NCAA TOURNEY NO-BRAINER

The Arizona State Sun Devils look like a solid favorite here in their First Four matchup with the St. John’s Red Storm in Dayton, Ohio Wednesday night.

Arizona State has won six of its last eight, only losing to a surging Oregon team twice including an OT loss in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. The Sun Devils are 4-0 ATS in their last four games following a straight up loss and 5-2 ATS in their last seven games vs. a team with a winning straight up record. They recorded some big wins during the regular season, including victories over Kansas, Utah State, Washington, Mississippi State and Utah State.

Here they'll face a St. John's team that shot just 32.8% from the floor as it fell to Marquette in the second round of its conference tournament and has lost four of its last five games. We can also note that St. John owns the 12th worst offensive rebounding percentage in the nation and is one of the worst defensive squads in this year's Tournament. 

Arizona State is out-rebounding opponents by 4.8 a game and should be able to out-muscle this Red Storm team to advance to the next round and face Buffalo in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday. 

10* play on Arizona State Sun Devils. 

TOP RATED 10* NBA BOOKIE BREAKER

The San Antonio Spurs are the hottest team in the NBA and undefeated through nine games since taking an 85-101 loss at Brooklyn on Feb 25. They're 8-1 ATS during that stretch and coming off a solid won over defending NBA-champion Golden State at home on Monday. 

Here the Spurs will face a Miami team that has played its best basketball on the road (17-16) and is coming off an upset win at Oklahoma City. Miami is desperate for wins, sitting in the No. 8 spot in the East 1 1/2 games ahead of the Orlando Magic with 12 regular-season games to play, but I think it'll come up short here. 

Note that Spurs are one of the best home teams in the league and 18-4 ATS in their last 22 home games vs. a team with a winning road record and 26-5 ATS in revenge spots this season, which this certainly is with the Heat winning the last meeting in the series 95-88 back in November. 

10* play on San Antonio Spurs. 

NUGGETS @ WIZARDS THURSDAY NIGHT HARDWOOD HAMMER

The Denver Nuggets have won four on the bounce and clinched a playoff spot with a 114-105 win as a 4-point underdog at Boston Celtics Monday night. Risk for a hangover? I don't think so as the Nuggets are 6-1 ATS off an upset win as an underdog this season and they have had two days to zone in on their new task; defending the top record in the Western Conference. "We said what we wanted to do at the beginning of the season and that's what we did," Nikola Jokic told the Denver Post. "Now we want to do something more."

The Washington Wizards on the other hand took an overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night, their third loss in four games, to fall 5 1/2 games behind eighth-place Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference. 

The Nuggets are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games playing on two days rest and I don't see a fatigued Washington side keeping this close enough to cover the spread. 

8* play on Denver Nuggets.