Art Aronson – AAA Sports NBA Picks & Plays

This is a 10* on UNDER

If you follow the NHL, you’re well aware that Buffalo has become quite the embarrassment. They were beaten again last night, 6-3 at home by New Jersey, and have now dropped 20 of their last 23 games. That includes a record-setting (for the shootout era) 18-game losing streak from February 25th through March 29th. There was a 3-0-2 run going into last night, but the Sabres allowing the Devils to score six times was a painful reminder why this is the worst team in the league. They are 1-16-1 this season against the top four teams in the division. They play one of those four tonight. Washington has lost three of five, but was 17-3-1 in the 21 games before that. They are 5-0-1 vs. the Sabres in 2021 with a 14-5 goal advantage in the three games here in Buffalo. We look for tonight’s game to stay Under the total. The Capitals are coming off a 4-2 loss last night in Boston, their fourth loss in six games. They didn’t score the game before that, but have also held two of the last four opponents to just one goal. The Caps are 5-0 Under L5 games without rest. The Sabres are 18-6 L24. Play on UNDER

AAA

This is a 10* on MINNESOTA

This is the kind of game where everyone just assumes the Celtics will “roll,” but doing that is often easier said than done. Minnesota may not have a very good record, but they’ve covered five of the last eight games and the last one (which they did NOT cover) was only a four-point loss. Boston is off a two-point win against the Knicks, but has not been scoring a ton recently and failed to cover four of its last six games. They finished with just 101 points against the Knicks after being held to 96 in a loss to the Sixers. That’s just not enough offense to make us think they can cover this large spread. This Celtics team hasn’t been above .500 in almost a month and basically lives off reputation. They were down seven in the fourth quarter to the Knicks. Minnesota will be looking for a win here as it has not prevailed in Beantown since 2005. Nor have they beaten the Celtics anywhere going back to 2016. That’ll be on the minds of players tonight and Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 32-12 against Indiana, should keep them in this one. Grab the points. Play on MINNESOTA

AAA

This is a 10* on UNDER

It seems as if the National League East is the consensus choice as the “toughest division in baseball” this season. We don’t expect many runs to be scored in this Phillies-Braves series opener on Friday. Both teams were off Thursday. Philadelphia has opened 4-1 and swept Atlanta at home to start the 2021 season. But the Braves, despite being 2-4, have to like their chances at revenge because they are 42-18 as a home favorite of -125 to -175 the past two seasons. All three games in the series at Citizens Bank Park last week stayed Under. The most total runs scored in any of the three was five! Philly’s recently completed series with the Mets went much differently as all three games went Over. Tonight’s game features a starting pitching rematch from 4/3 as Zack Wheeler opposes Charlie Morton. Wheeler was masterful in the game last Saturday as he went seven innings and allowed only one hit. He had 10 strikeouts and no walks. Morton wasn’t bad either; he gave up three runs over five innings. But it didn’t matter considering how good Wheeler was and the Phillies won the game 4-0. Look for another low-scoring affair tonight as the Braves are batting just .170 in the early going. Play on UNDER

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