Free Basketball Picks for Tuesday: Big East Tournament & NBA Action

I promised I’d throw some NBA games out with my college picks this week, and that’s what I’m doing with the Celtics and Bucks on Tuesday Night. However, the game that I’m most interested in is the Red Storm/Huskies game in Round 1 of the Big East Tournament. For the Huskies, they have to do a lot in this tournament, maybe even win the thing, to get into the Big Dance. That’s a lot of pressure, but at least they have the talent to get it done. In the NBA, the Bucks are making a playoff run and they have some very unheralded players playing good basketball of late. The Celtics have won a few games in a row after really struggling – but this is a big one for both teams, and there’s a lot to like about the match-up.

St. John’s Red Storm @ Connecticut Huskies (-4) (2:00pm ET, 3-9 – ESPN2):  I’m sure it’s going to be a huge public favorite, but I have to take the Huskies here. St. John’s has nothing to lose, really, as nobody expects them to win, and they’ll have to take a roster sans enough talent to pull off 4 Big East games in a row, and win the Championship to dance. UConn might have to do the same, but this team was supposed to challenge for a Big East Title – and one thing that’s great about college basketball, even if you have a bad regular season, you almost always have a chance to challenge for a title. Look for UConn to get some big performances out of their stars and win this won by 10.

Boston Celtics @ Milwaukee Bucks (-1) (3-9: 8:00 PM ET): I like the Bucks. Nobody really knows them, most people don’t even realize that Jerry Stackhouse is on their team and playing good minutes for this unlikely playoff squad. Most don’t realize that Bogut is one of the more dominant big men in the league. Most don’t know that Carlos Delfino is doing it all at the small forward position, scoring, rebounding, assisting – everything. The only guy people seem to know is Brandon Jennings, and he’s struggled a bit since his hot start – but he’s starting to come around a bit too. This Bucks team could be dangerous. Especially for the Celtics. Boston is older and slower, and the Bucks are younger and faster. Boston is on a nice little run, but the Bucks should win at home – and I’m taking them -1.