Basketball lost one of its great voices Thursday when Johnny “Red” Kerr succumbed to cancer at age 76. In his memory, we lead off this weekend’s list of 10 hoops stats and factoids by remembering that Kerr coached the Chicago Bulls into the NBA playoffs in their first season of existence: 1966-67. He will be missed.
Chicago at Washington: Chicago is 20-7 ATS in its last 27 contests after losing by double digits in the previous game. The Bulls were 111-99 losers to the New Jersey Nets (-1.5) on Wednesday in the Swamp.
Cleveland at San Antonio: The over is 4-0 in Cleveland’s last four games playing on zero days of rest. The over is also 8-3 in San Antonio’s last 11 games at home. Tim Duncan is reportedly a game-time decision with tendinosis (as opposed to tendinitis) in his right quad.
Orlando at Philadelphia: The underdog is 23-10 ATS in the last 33 meetings between these two teams. Orlando won 96-94 as a 5-point road dog in their last encounter in November, but that was when Elton Brand was still healthy and productive.
Detroit at Boston: According to Basketball Prospectus, new Celtics point guard Stephon Marbury, based on his career stats, is most comparable at age 32 (his birthday was Feb. 20) to another former Celtics pivot: Dennis Johnson. That’s mostly on offense – Johnson was also named All-Defensive nine straight years.
L.A. Lakers at Phoenix: The Suns lost 132-106 to the Lakers (-11) on Thursday at Staples Center to fall to 6-17 SU in games without Steve Nash since the two-time MVP point guard joined the club in 2004. Nash remains day-to-day with a sprained ankle.
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Notre Dame at Connecticut: Out of 344 teams in Division I, the Fighting Irish are ranked No. 335 with 15.9 percent of their points coming on free throws. UConn is the most disciplined team in Division I with 13.2 percent of opponents’ scoring coming from the charity stripe.
Oklahoma at Texas Tech: Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin had a sprained MCL last year and missed OU’s Jan. 19 game against the Red Raiders. The Sooners went on to lose 63-61 as 7.5-point home faves without their star forward. Griffin’s status for this Saturday remains in doubt due to a concussion.
Duke at Virginia Tech: Duke’s Nolan Smith also took one to the noggin against Maryland on Wednesday and is out indefinitely. Greg Paulus will play the point against the Hokies; Paulus is presumably a superior 3-point shooter, but is only hitting 33.7 percent of his treys this year compared to 35.4 percent for Smith.
UCLA at California: Bruins opponents have an effective field goal shooting percentage of 50.2 percent. That leaves the UCLA defense ranked No. 223 in Division I this year, down from No. 37 last year. The over has cashed in 10 straight times.
Missouri at Kansas: Missouri’s Leo Lyons is first in the nation in fouls drawn. Lyons, a 6-foot-9, 244-pound forward, draws 8.3 fouls per 40 minutes and connects on a healthy 75.1 percent of his free-throw attempts. He was 5-for-7 in the previous game against Kansas.
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