Panthers vs. Friars
Once upon a time, Pittsburgh was enveloped in the top ranking in the country for the first time ever. That ranking was short lived and the Panthers tumbled with two losses in a short period of time. Seven straight and nine wins in their last 10 contests have propelled the Panthers to the top again. They will put their top ranking on the line as they face Providence on the road.
The top spot has not been a sought after spot this season as the teams in that spot have tumbled out of it and those approaching it have been stopped along the way.
Pitt (25-2, 12-2) will reluctantly, or otherwise, serve out their role. They are rolling, winning each of the last seven by an average of 15.7 points. Their big victory came over the prior number one team, Connecticut last Monday. They also were able to avoid a letdown and decimated DePaul 80-61 on Saturday.
Dominating the last two games, as he has done all season, has been DeJuan Blair. He dominated U-Conn's star player Hasheem Thabeet by scoring 22 points and snatching 23 rebounds. His encore was a 20 point, 18 rebound performance against the Blue Demons. The Panthers are 21-0 when Blair scores 10 points or more.
Providence (16-11, 8-7) once had high hopes and were a shoe-in for the NCAA Tournament as they started 6-2 in the tough Big East. But all the good feelings have been lost when they dropped five of seven after their 103-84 home loss to Notre Dame.
Weyinmi Efejuku did his best to turn the tide of his team, scoring a career-high 31 points in a losing effort. He has averaged 23.7 points in his past three games. Sharaud Curry scored 23 points as well.
Providence is 1-10 all-time against number one teams.
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Washington vs. Philadelphia
Anytime Alexander Ovechkin and Sydney Crosby get together, it is quite a spectacle. This was the case on Sunday as Washington defeated Pittsburgh 5-2 behind Ovechkin's goal an assist. He and his teammates will attempt to continue their winning ways when they welcome Philadelphia into the Verizon Center on Tuesday.
The Capitals (38-17-5) star has a league-best 43 goals and leads his team with 77 points. He has been effectively shutdown in both of these categories in his two meetings with the Flyers this season.
Over his past dozen games, Ovechkin has scored 12 times and tallied 18 points. He even got under the skin of Crosby in the waning moments of Sunday's game.
Jose Theodore figures to get the start for the Capitals since he has fared well against the Flyers, going 4-1-0 with a 2.02 goals against average in his last five games.
Philadelphia (31-17-9) saw their three-game winning streak broken when they dropped a home game to Pittsburgh on Saturday as Crosby netted the game winner with 2:45 remaining in the game.
Crosby's goal, by his own admission, was nothing spectacular. He simply took advantage of a mistake by Philly goalie Martin Biron, who failed to clear the pick after a Pascal Dupuis breakaway. The puck landed on Crosby's stick and found its way to the back of the empty net.
Still the Flyers have won five out of their last seven, largely behind the efforts of Mike Richards and Mike Knuble. Each player has scored in the last three games. Richard has tallied nine points in those three games.
The rivals have split their last six games, including a pair this season with each team winning on their home ice.
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Orlando vs. Chicago
After finally breaking free from the win one, lose one mold, the Magic will set their sights once again on regaining the Eastern Conference's best record. They will have their work cut out for them in catching Boston, who they trail by three games in the loss column (and have played three less games then the Celtics) and Cleveland, who they trail by three games in the loss column. Still they will have to accomplish this feat without Jameer Nelson and will head to Chicago to take on the Bulls Tuesday night.
Nelson was one of the reasons that Orlando (41-14) alternated wins and losses. They went 3-3 through the first six games without him, but were able to finally win two straight for the first time since late January and early February when they defeated Charlotte and, most recently, Miami.
To counter that loss, the Magic picked up Rafer Alston, leading up to the trading deadline. He got off to a sluggish start in his first game against the Bobcats, going 1-of-9 with eight assists and three steals in the 92-80 victory. Sunday he seemed to find his way, scoring 12 points and nine assists in the rout of the Heat 122-99. Three of those assists went to Dwight Howard's stellar 32 points and 17 rebounds.
The Bulls (25-31) have also had an inconsistent stretch, but unlike the Magic, the Bulls did not get off to a tremendous start to have the ability to ride it out. Chicago followed up a two-game winning streak with a 98-91loss to Indiana. In that game, Brad Miller, John Salmons and Tim Thomas made their Chicago debut after being picked up in a trading deadline acquisition. The trio combined for 23 points off the bench in the losing effort.
Ben Gordon scored 28 and has averaged that same amount over his last six games. Although Gordon, like his teammates, have struggled against Orlando. Gordon has averaged only 11.4 points in his last five games against the Magic and the Bulls have dropped six straight to Orlando.
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San Antonio vs. Dallas
With two key players out, two of the Texas NBA teams have has to fill large holes. For San Antonio has been missing Manu Ginobili's presence of the bench. His achievements were so impressive a season ago that he won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. While not receiving an award for his efforts of the bench, Jason Terry is still missed by his team, Dallas. Each player will be missing another two weeks or so and will miss out when their teams face each other Tuesday in San Antonio.
Ginobili had missed the first 12 games of the season after surgery on his left ankle. Now his right ankle is bothering him. Terry, who leads the league with 20 points off of the pine is recovering from surgery on his left hand.
Grab a date and prepare for the dance, San Antonio because the Spurs are having their homecoming. As February is in its final week, the Spurs (37-17) will play at the AT&T Center for the first time in the month.
With nearly 11,000 miles of travel over 19 days, the Spurs had been evicted from their home while the rodeo dazzled the locals. They went a respectable 5-3 on the grueling trip and still lead the Southwest Division. The last time the Spurs played at home was January 31st, a 106-93 victory over New Orleans.
They capped the extensive road trip with a 98-67 destruction of Washington. Former Wizard Roger Mason led the team with 25 points and hit 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Mason needed to step up as Tim Duncan was held to a dozen points and Tony Parker netted 9. San Antonio is 8-8 in games without Ginobili.
In their last game, Dallas (33-22) had an easy time of it, thrashing Sacramento 116-95. The Mavericks were able to rest their starters and rely more heavily on the bench on the basis of their 70-50 halftime advantage. That gave some reserves and role players more time to shine. Brandon Bass recorded his season high of 20 points while James Singleton set his high with 19 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. The Mavericks won their third game in five games that Terry has been absent.
Dallas has dropped four out of their last five against San Antonio. The teams have split their two prior contests this season with each team winning on the road. The Spurs won their most recent matchup in overtime on December 9th, 133-126.
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Cleveland -6 1/2 vs. Golden
Alternating wins and losses over their last four, the Cleveland Cavaliers have not been their usual juggernaut selves, however they have a great shot at turning around this trend by winning two straight against the 30-loss Golden State Warriors when the teams met up Friday night at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland (32-8) was defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening game of their western road trip 105-88, but they bounced back to defeat Portland 104-98. The victory over the Trail Blazers prevented Cleveland from losing two straight games for the first time all season. The Cavaliers are in close step with Boston and Orlando for the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
After being beaten up by the Lakers, the Cavs’ defense returned against the Blazers. Cleveland held Portland to 40.7 percent shooting one game after allowing their season worst 52.4 percent to Los Angeles.
Cleveland is leading the league in scoring defense by only allowing 89.6 points per contest. A matchup with Golden State may seem easy on paper, but the Warriors are averaging a little over 107 points per game and that is without their high-octane scoring guard Monta Ellis, who will return to the lineup for the first time this season on Friday.
The Warriors (13-30) will welcome back Ellis, who has been out while recovering from a sprained ankle from a scooter accident during the off-season. The relationship between the player and the team was strained when Golden State suspended him for 30 games without pay for the incident after the Warriors had signed him to a six-year $66 million dollar contract just prior to the accident. He was rewarded handsomely for his career year a season ago when he averaged 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
This will be the second and final meeting of the year between the clubs. Cleveland held Golden State’s potent offense in check in their first meeting November 28th in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 112-97 and held the Warriors to 39.8 percent shooting. The Cavs have won four of the last five matchups and the last two at Oracle Arena.
Dallas +3 1/2 vs. Detroit
In his two seasons coaching the Detroit Pistons, Coach Rick Carlisle made his name with a stingy defense, with his current squad, the Dallas Mavericks—well not so much. Carlisle’s present team will travel to face his former team Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Dallas’ defense reached a new low in their last contest, Wednesday night in Milwaukee. They allowed the Bucks to score the most points they have given up in seven years en route to a 133-99 rout. It was also the Mavericks’ (24-18) worst loss since November 2001.
Giving up 99 points per game, Dallas has seen that stat bloom to 109.6 in their last seven contests, of which they have lost five. Dirk Nowitzki is trying his best to keep his teams in these games. Over the past five games, he has averaged 31.4 points and has shot 52 percent.
The Pistons (24-17) are looking for their third straight victory after dropping five in a row from January 10th-January 17th. Wednesday, they defeated Toronto 95-76 in a solid defensive effort which saw Detroit hold the Raptors to 42.5 percent shooting. Tayshaun Prince led the way with 25 points on 11-of-16 from the field.
Detroit has been solid on defense much of the season, ranking fourth in the NBA in field goal defense and fourth fewest points allowed per game with 92.7. Their recent slide has more to do with their offense than their defense as they have struggled to reach 100 points. The Pistons have hit the century mark only once in the last 15 games.
This will be the first meeting of the year between the teams. They have alternated wins and losses in each of their last eight meetings at the Palace of Auburn Hills, with the Pistons taking the most recent game played there 90-67 last February 3rd.
Phoenix -4 vs. Detroit
Two teams that were on different planes a few weeks ago have been streaking in opposite directions. The Phoenix Suns have had trouble winning consistently lately, while the Charlotte Bobcats have been winning more frequently lately. It could possibly be the growing pains for one team has persisted, while the other has grown out of it as these two teams were involved in a six-player swap on December 11th and will meet up for the first time since then Friday night in Charlotte.
Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley were sent to Phoenix in exchange for forward Boris Diaw, guard Raja Bell and guard Sean Singletary. With no clear victor in the trade the result on the court will have to stand as proof and it appears Charlotte (17-25) got the better of the deal as they have won four of their last five.
In their last game, on Wednesday, the Bobcats improved to 10-9 since the trade with a 101-86 home victory over Memphis. Diaw and Bell have been paying off in spades for Charlotte. Diaw is averaging 13.6 points along with Bell’s 12.1 since the trade.
Charlotte looks to continue their momentum, win two straight and defeat Phoenix for the first time in its five year history on Friday. As it stands right now, Charlotte is only 2 ½ games out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
The Suns (23-17) have bested the Bobcats in each of their eight previous games, but have little confidence left after losing four of their last five overall. Phoenix is 10-7 since the trade and is tied with Dallas for the final playoff spot in the West. Many of those 10 victories came early on after the trade. Now the Suns have been struggling as was evidenced in their 114-109 loss to New York on Wednesday.
Jason Richardson, who came over in the trade, did his best to earn his team a victory by posting 27 points against 20 points for Shaquille O’Neal. Richardson has averaged 15.7 points since joining the Suns.
This will be the first matchup of the teams this season. Last year, with a lot of the components of each team’s current squad on the other team, Charlotte lost both games by an average of 23 points.
Tennessee -3 vs. Baltimore
Two one-time division rivals will meet up in the playoffs for the third time. If it is anything like the previous two, it will be quite a show. The red-hot Baltimore Ravens will meet up with the rested Tennessee Titans in Nashville Saturday afternoon in a matchup of two of the best defenses in the NFL.
For the Titans (13-3), this matchup is a painful déjà vu of 2000 when the team finished 13-3, just like this season; clinched home-field advantage, just like this season and faced the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round, just like this season. Baltimore won, just like this season? Tennessee certainly hopes not.
The teams also met in 2003, when the heavily-favored, AFC North champion Ravens went down in the first round to the wild-card Titans.
This game will be played in the present and the present squads did meet up on October 5th in Baltimore (12-5), with the Titans improving to 5-0 en route to a 10-0 start with a 13-10 victory. The game went down to 1:56 remaining for the game to be decided as Kerry Collins hooked up with Alge Crumpler for a game-winning 11-yard touchdown.
Most expect a game like that to repeat itself as the Titans and Ravens have two of the best defenses in the NFL and that was seen in their Week 5 game as both offenses combined for 495 yards and committed 21 penalties for 169 yards.
The suffocating defenses are near the tops in the NFL and not separated by much. Tennessee ranks second in scoring defense with 14.6 points per game. Not to far behind is Baltimore, ranked third with 15.3. In total yards, Baltimore was second with 277.1 and Tennessee was tied for fifth at 277.1.
The Titans could be even more dangerous if Albert Haynesworth can come back as planned. The All-Pro defensive tackle is day-to-day, but had targeted this game to come back after missing the final two regular season games and resting up through last week's bye week. Also on the mend is defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who is recovering from an injured groin and could be back for the first time in a month.
Collins doesn't have to be outstanding given Tennessee's running game. The Titans averaged 137.4 yards per game led by Chris Johnson and LenDale White, who combined for 2,001 yards and 24 touchdowns. White rushed for a career-high 15 touchdowns this season.
While Tennessee rested, the Ravens hit on all cylinders when they beat the AFC-East champion Dolphins in Miami 27-9. They forced a usually steady Miami defense into four Chad Pennington interceptions en route to victory. Rookie Joe Flacco was not particularly sharp, but he did not have to be as he threw 9 of 23 for 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The teams have split 18 meetings, with Tennessee winning three of the last four; however five of the last six have had a margin of victory of six points or less.
Carolina -9 1/2 vs. Arizona
After the joy of the first home playoff victory in their franchise since 1947 and two home cities ago, the Arizona Cardinals realized where the divisional round would take them: the dreaded Eastern time zone against a team who has not lost at home this season. Arizona will travel to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina for a second time this season when they take on the Panthers Saturday night.
The Cardinals (10-7) were 0-5 in the East this season. They lost to Washington, the Jets, Philadelphia and New England by an average of 24 points. Arizona has won 2 games in their last 22 trips into the Eastern time zone.
They played a bit better in their Week 8 trip to Carolina (12-4), but still lost 27-23. Arizona actually held a commanding 17-3 lead in the third quarter of that contest until Carolina rallied to take the lead. Arizona drove to Carolina's 15-yard line late in the fourth quarter in an attempt to regain the lead until Kurt Warner was intercepted by Jon Beason, the Panthers All-Pro linebacker.
The encouraging point for Arizona from that game was the fact that Warner was able to throw for 381 yards against Carolina's defense, which was the second highest total a quarterback achieved against the Panthers this season. Further, Carolina's secondary has struggled at times this season and will have their hands full with the second best offense in the NFL.
While the Panthers rested, the Cardinals flapped their wings and defeated Atlanta 30-24 to win their first postseason game in a decade. The home victory was actually considered a mild upset because Arizona did not fare well outside of beating up on its own weak division.
The Carolina Panthers have been phenomenal at home this season. They are hoping for the perfect storm of improving to 9-0 and have Philadelphia defeat New York, thus allowing the NFC championship game to be played at Bank of America Stadium. The undefeated home regular season is the Panthers first since they went to their first NFC championship game in 1996. They have won their eight home games by an average of 15.4 points.
While Arizona will rely heavily on their passing game, Carolina will be going up against the running back duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Williams was the third best back in the league with 1515 yards and 18 touchdowns, 16 of which came in the last nine games. Stewart, a rookie out of Oregon, added 836 yards and 10 scores.
The teams have met eight times since Carolina was added as an expansion team in 1995 and the Panthers have won six of those. Arizona has not won since winning in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002.
New York -4 vs. Philadelphia
The New York Giants have to be frightened with this Sunday's matchup with their division-rival Philadelphia Eagles. After all, no one knows you better than a team you face twice per year, but the Giants fright may be in the fact that the Eagles are looking eerily like the 2007 edition of the New York Giants.
The Giants foundered their way through the regular season a year ago and entered the playoffs as a wild-card team. In the divisional round, they face a Dallas Cowboys team that won the NFC East and dominated the league until the last quarter of the year. The Giants who rode a hot streak into postseason play surprisingly dominated the Cowboys and earned a berth in the NFC championship game, which would, of course, later result in a Super Bowl title over the heavily-favored New England Patriots.
The Eagles (10-6-1) have the same record the Giants had a year ago and are in the same fifth seeding which New York resided in. Philadelphia had to be red hot in the final month of the season following a season of ups and downs.
New York (12-4) rested last week after losing three of its final four regular season games. Meanwhile Philadelphia was able to handle the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings, on the road, 26-14.
The Eagles won four of their last five games to get into the postseason. They seemed to respond after two weeks of negative attention was shown to Philadelphia and their quarterback Donovan McNabb. The veteran was criticized for not understanding the tie rule in the NFL after the Eagles and Bengals played to a Week 10 draw. The following week, the team was thrashed by Baltimore, which resulted in the benching of McNabb.
McNabb responded and so did the Eagles. Philadelphia was able to give New York their only home loss of the season on December 7th, 20-14. McNabb passed for 191 yards and was helped by running back Brian Westbrook's 131 yards rushing and 72 yards receiving, including a 40-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
That same week was the same week that may have turned the Giants season around for the negative. Plaxico Burress and Antonio Pierce were involved in a nightclub incident that left Burress with an accidental shotgun wound to his leg. Burress was dismissed from the team and the Giants offense has suffered since.
The offense also struggled in the second half because starting running back Brandon Jacobs was in and out of the lineup due to various injuries. He was forced out at halftime in the December game against Philadelphia but ran for 126 yards and two scores when the Giants dropped the Eagles in Philadelphia 36-31 on November 9th.
Despite the most recent nod going to Philly, New York has won six of the last nine meetings. This will be the fourth time that the rivals have met up in the postseason, with the Philadelphia Eagles winning the last matchup, 23-20 in a January 7, 2007 wild-card contest.
