NBA and NCAA Basketball Picks: Free Basketball Picks

Here are my basketball picks for Thursday Night. The NIT Finals and some NBA on TNT. Enjoy!

Orlando Magic (-1.5) @ Dallas Mavericks (4-1: 8:00 PM ET – TNT): The Mavericks needed overtime to beat the Memphis Grizzlies last night in a tough battle of two Western Conference teams while the Magic haven’t played since the 28th. I like Orlando to beat up on the tired Mavs, and that’s about it.

Portland Trail Blazers (+5) @ Denver Nuggets (4-1: 10:30 PM ET – TNT): Portland walked over the Knicks last night, so much so that I don’t even think they broke a sweat in the 2nd half. That game was at home, so it’s not like the extreme road trip can be to blame for a poor showing in Denver. The Nuggets are coming off a long road trip where they lost 4 out of 5, and they’ve lost 5 of 6 overall. The Blazers have won 9 of 10. These two teams are going in opposite directions, and I’m willing to bet this one is real close, so I’ll take the Blazers and the points.

North Carolina Tar Heels @ Dayton Flyers (-3): I really don’t think North Carolina can keep the NIT magic going in this one. That’s what it has been. The only reason they had a chance to win two nights ago was four straight missed free throw by Rhode Island and a freakish play at the end of the game where a Carolina player and a Rhode Island player got their feet tangled and no call was made. That makes just about every NC game played in this tournament a close one and eventually they are going to finish on the other side of that. Dayton looks really good, and they’ve been playing solid basketball. I think they out hoop the Heels in this one.