The Bulls are without a series lead and superstar guard Derrick Rose. After the first two games against the 76ers, they counted on having both. Torn anterior cruciate ligament for Rose cost him the postseason and it may dent any chance the Bulls had of sweeping the Sixers in the best-of-seven series.

To win a game on the road since 2003, Rose’s absence in Game 2 was the break the Sixers needed to became the first No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers believe more than ever they can beat the top team in the East and make a big march of their own through May and they are ready to show Philadelphia they are more than a minor speed bump in Chicago’s playoff run.

In Game 6, the Sixers had the type of production they needed to have a chance at beating the Bulls over the next three games. The Sixers shot 59 percent overall and Jrue Holiday was 11 of 15 from the field for 26 points. Chicago product Evan Turner chipped in with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists and, going 8 of 13 after hitting just 1 of 6 shots in the opener; Lou Williams was clutch off the bench. In the league this season, Holiday might have blossomed into one of the top five point guards, he had the lockout not shortened the schedule and robbed him of valuable practice time.

The Bulls do not have that kind of luxury to get production from Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng. They combined for only 17 points. They were anticipated to help carry the load without Rose in the lineup. The pair missed five of six shots and let the Sixers run wild around them in the second half. In the first two games, Boozer has 18 points and 12 rebounds. At that pace, the Bulls will find themselves in a series hole.

The Bulls’ inability to stop the Sixers, particularly in the third quarter was the most alarming factor. Philadelphia wiped out a 55-47 deficit and Turner scored 11 in the quarter. Turning an eight-point deficit into an 83-69 lead, the Sixers outscored Chicago 36-14 in the third. The Bulls were outrebounded 14-5 in the frame.

With the series tied, both teams seeking a lead, Game 3 is going to be an exciting contest. Worth a watch!

NBA – Chicago Bulls vs. Philadelphia 76ers – Game 3 by Sports Picks Reviews

At the other’s expense Monday night at Charlotte, the bottom feeders of the Eastern Conference have an opportunity to end losing streaks. 25 teams entered play Sunday with 20 or more victories to put the 19 combined wins of Washington and Charlotte in perspective. The Bobcats are mired in an 11-game losing streak – their second one to reach double digits in the compressed season, while the Wizards have dropped five straight and 10 of 11 heading into this matchup, while the Bobcats are mired in an 11-game losing streak.

Washington (12-44) has been idle since ending a stretch of games on back-to-back-to-back nights with a 110-98 defeat at New Jersey on Friday, although they are wrapping up a three-game road swing. The Wizards trailed by 13 after one quarter and allowed the Nets to shoot 56.3 percent. They never led in the game.

Slow starts are being outscored by an average of 7.8 points in the first quarter while averaging 21.8 points and they have plagued the Wizards during their current skid. Point guard John Wall thinks his team can build a foundation over the final 10 games. On Saturday, Charlotte (7-47) tied the third-worst record through 54 games in NBA history with its 116-96 home loss to Atlanta.

The Hawks shot 52.4 percent, since poor defense again was the Bobcats’ main undoing Saturday. The 11th time it gave up 110 or more points in regulation and it was the 21st time Charlotte has allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better. Offensively, the Bobcats have rarely put together four good quarters. In at least one quarter in nine of their 11 losses in this losing streak, they have been held under 20 points.

Guard D.J. Augustin (knee tendinitis) missed a second straight game, therefore, Cory Higgins, though, provided a bright spot Saturday with a career-high 22 points. In a four-day span, two of Washington’s wins have come against Charlotte, including a 102-99 road victory Jan. 28 in the most recent meeting. After dropping six of the previous seven, the Wizards have won three straight overall between the teams.

The best NBA betting odds as per various sportsbook have Washington Wizards (13/16) and for Charlotte Bobcats (1).

Wizards vs. Bobcats @ Time Warner Cable Arena by Sports Picks Reviews

The Flyers are without red-hot starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He had a chip fracture in his foot. Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren is optimistic that might be the only game Bryzgalov misses. The goalie was hit in the right foot with a shot, during the pre-game warm-ups Monday night and an MRI Tuesday revealed a chip fracture in the foot. Holmgren believes to see Bryzgalov on the ice in one of the team’s games this weekend against Ottawa and Pittsburgh.

The Leafs were sixth in the Eastern Conference following a 6-3 win against Edmonton on Feb. 6. The Leafs are two points behind fourth-place Pittsburgh. The Leafs sunk to 14th in the East and officially were eliminated from playoff contention, following Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Hurricanes.

In two straight games, Flyers forward Matt Read has goals, tying him for the rookie lead with 22. Forward Clarke MacArthur has gone five games without a point for the Leafs, but seeing the Flyers could change that. He has 12 points against them in 16 games.

The Flyers will be without defenseman Kimmo Timonen (upper body) and Bryzgalov (foot). With an upper-body injury, defenseman Andreas Lilja is day-to-day. For the Leafs, forwards Joffrey Lupul (shoulder) and Nikolai Kulemin (finger) are out. For Thursday’s game, goalie James Reimer (upper body) is doubtful.

Randy Carlyle is 4-7-2 since taking over as coach of the Maple Leafs. Carlyle said that he and his staff would be using the final five games of the regular season to evaluate every member of the roster, now that the playoffs officially are out. He added that there is still some confidence about the current makeup of the team.

The betting odds for this season’s NHL matches have been interesting. The odds for the Flyers are 4/6 and for Maple Leafs 13/10.

Flyers vs. Maple Leafs – Mar 29 (7:00 PM ET) by Sports Picks Reviews

Even though the Bruins have not won one since 1971, they have five Stanley Cup championships to their name. Tim Thomas has been their best goaltender in the game right now and he faced two Game 7s in this postseason alone. Although Boston does have some players who can light the lamp, they are mainly a defense orientated team. Along with seven assists, David Krejci has a playoff leading 10 goals. With Nathan Horton Krejci shares a line. Both have been Boston’s two biggest clutch players. Horton has three game winners, and all of his eight goals have been in victories.

Since entering the league in 1970 sporting a 0-2 Finals mark losing to the New York Islanders in 1982 and the New York Rangers in 1994, Vancouver has never won a Cup. Since its last victory in 1972, Boston is 0-5 in Cup Finals. In the NHL during the regular season, Vancouver has the top ranked offense and defense. Henrik is top in playoff scoring with 21 points as the Sedin twins, Daniel, and Henrik, are playing quite well.

In this matchup a psychological element could play heavily as both teams have more demons to eliminate in the Finals.

In online sportsbook the over/under total is at 5.5 for this match whereas the Vancouver Canucks are a -200 moneyline favorite.

DonBest.com picks the Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks seemingly have the upper hand, as is demonstrated by the fact that they are minus 225 favorites to hoist the Cup coming into this series.

Askthebookie.com picks the Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks are favored by askthebookie simulations partly because they have a +3 edge in shots on goal and are projected for 35 shots on goal vs. 32 shots for the Bruins.

Boston Bruins Vs. Vancouver Canucks – Stanley Cup Final Preview by Sports Picks Reviews

The Magic will be looking to even things up before the series shifts to Boston, but if they do they are going to have to make a number of adjustments.

The Celtics for their part are sitting pretty. They’ve got someone who can guard Orlando’s best player and they’ve got Orlando scrambling to adjust to their game.

The Magic are 6.5-point NBA playoff odds favorites and the over/under is 189.

Lucky Lester picks the Boston Celtics

These teams have played some close games and Boston is playing championship-caliber basketball again so take all 7.5 of that lofty point spread.

PredictEm picks the Boston Celtics

The Celtics will continue to frustrate Dwight Howard and, while the Magic will adjust and use other weapons, the Magic won’t be able to cover the spread in this matchup.

The Sports Geek picks the Boston Celtics

The Magic will have a bounce-back game tonight, but the Celtics are bringing it night-in night-out and this game will come down to the wire.

Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic NBA Playoffs Picks Review by Sports Picks Reviews

The Montreal Canadiens look to complete their second consecutive massive upset in Game 7 against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Montreal knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy winning Washington Capitals in the first round and this series is looking very similar with Montreal effectively limiting quality opportunities for their more talented opposition.

The Pittsburgh Penguins for their part will need to be more physical and get traffic in front of the Montreal net. They’ve been talking about doing this for awhile, now they have to deliver.

The Stanley Cup betting lines list the Penguins at -260 and the Canadiens at +220 with an over/under of 5.5.

Betting Pro picks the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal has proven that they have what it takes to get an upset victory and at these odds are a good value.

Sports Untapped picks the Montreal Canadiens

All of the pressure is on Pittsburgh and, at this price, Montreal should be your play.

Cappers Picks picks the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal has been in this situation before and delivered. They have confidence, Pittsburgh has pressure.

Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Playoffs Picks Review by Sports Picks Reviews

The Oklahoma City Thunder seized all of the momentum in this series with consecutive home wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, but they will need to find a way to win in LA if they want to take the series.

Kobe Bryant is coming off of one of his least inspiring performances of the playoffs scoring just 12 points while Kevin Durant just completely out-classed him. Kobe has taken nights off in the playoffs before only to bounce back with dominant performances, so don’t write him off. The big question is, does Durant deserve the credit for Kobe’s Game 4 stinker? or does Kobe deserve the blame?

The Lakers are 6.5-point NBA playoff odds favorites at betED and the over/under is 194.

BSN Sports Blog Picks the Los Angeles Lakers

The Thunder really fed off of the home crowd in Games 3 and 4. They won’t have that advantage in Game 5, so grab the Lakers

Lucky Lester Picks the Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe’s made a career of killing opponents’ momentum. He and the bug guys on the Lakers are going to get the momentum back for LA.

Cappers Picks Picks the Los Angeles Lakers

The old men on the Lakers will benefit more from two days rest than the young and spry Thunder and they have been monster on home-court this season.

Predictem Picks the Oklahoma City Thunder

Finally a dissenter. The Thunder look good enough to upset the Lakers outright, so take the points.

Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers NBA Playoffs Picks Review by Sports Picks Reviews

The action shifts to San Antonio for Game 3 of the NBA Playoff Round 1 best of seven series with the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks tied with one game apiece.

Dirk Nowitzki owned the Spurs in Game 1 who simply could not stop him and the Mavs were rewarded with a win.

The Spurs put up a smoke screen ahead of Game 2 saying that they’d double-team Nowitzki, but the same players that couldn’t stop him in Game 1, were able to frustrate the big man in Game 2 and help the Spurs even up the series.

With the series shifting to San Antonio, the Spurs are now 3.5-point NBA Playoff odds favorites at betED and the over/under is 194.

NSA Wins Picks the Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs play just as well on the road as they do at home.

Sports Chat Place Picks the San Antonio Spurs

There is not a lot separating these two teams at the moment, but the Spurs get a slight edge as the home team.

Cappers Picks Picks the San Antonio Spurs

Dallas’s bench is struggling and home court will be enough of an advantage for the Spurs to cover.

Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs – NBA Playoff Picks Review by Sports Picks Reviews

Game 2 of the NBA Playoff match-up between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks goes tonight in Dallas with the Mavericks leading the series 1-0.

The Mavs kept feeding Dirk Nowitzki the ball in Game 1 and Nowitzki was money scoring 36 points.

The Spurs have vowed not to let that happen again and are planning on double-teaming Nowitzki to force someone else to make a shot.

Offensively the Spurs shot over 50%, but most of that came from their top scorers. The bench needs to step up and keep them in the game.

The Mavs are 3-point NBA Playoff betting favorites at betED and the over/under is 194.5.

Lucky Lester Picks the Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are the better team and they match up well against the Spurs.

Sports Chat Place Picks the San Antonio Spurs

Nowitzki won’t be able to duplicate his Game 1 performance so the Spurs should keep it close enough to cover and perhaps even win.

Cappers Picks Picks the Under

San Antonio will slow the game down to reduce the number of turnovers and neither team will shoot as well as they did in Game 1.

Predict’Em Picks the Dallas Mavericks

The ATS trends favor the Mavericks with the home team going 4-1 ATS in the L/5 head-to-head, the favorite going 9-4 ATS head-to-head, and the Spurs are 0-6 ATS in Dallas.

San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks NBA Playoff Picks Review by Sports Picks Reviews

The Miami Heat look to take advantage of Kevin Garnett’s one-game suspension as they face the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of their First Round NBA Playoff series.

The Heat dropped Game 1 after a Celtics defensive clinic completely stalled Miami’s momentum in the second half. The Celtics got the cover even though they have a horrible 13-28-1 ATS home record and Miami has a solid 24-18-0 ATS road record.

The Celtics are 1-point NBA playoff odds favorites in this one and the over/under is 183.

Sports Chat Place Picks the Miami Heat

Miami’s kept up with the Celtics in every meeting this season only to let the game slip away late. Dwayne Wade will see his team through this time.

Lucky Lester Picks the Boston Celtics

Glenn Davis and Rasheed Wallace step it up with Kevin Garnett out of the lineup.

Cappers Picks Picks the Boston Celtics and Over

Both teams shot poorly in game 1 dropping the total for game 2, so jump on it now.

Miami Heat at Boston Celtics NBA Playoff Picks Review by Sports Picks Reviews