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The Cleveland Cavaliers head to Smoothie King Center on Saturday night looking to finish a perfect three-game road trip, and the timing matters. Cleveland is 43-27, sitting fourth in the East and still chasing better playoff positioning, while New Orleans is 25-46 and out of the real postseason picture even though it has been one of the league’s tougher home teams lately. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET in New Orleans, with the game available on FanDuel Sports Network Ohio, the FanDuel Sports App, and NBA League Pass. The market has Cleveland installed as a road favorite, which makes sense on paper, but this is not quite a clean spot. Donovan Mitchell is questionable with an eye contusion, Jarrett

The Los Angeles Lakers head to Kia Center on Saturday night looking for a ninth straight win, and they bring the hottest offense in the matchup with them. Los Angeles is 45-25 and up to third in the Western Conference after winning 11 of its last 12 games. Orlando is 38-31, sitting sixth in the East, but the margin is getting thin after three straight losses. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET in Orlando, with the Lakers laying a short road number and the total sitting in the low 230s. This is an interesting handicap because both teams still have real standings pressure, but they are trending in opposite directions. The Lakers just dropped 134 on Miami behind Luka

The NCAA Tournament opens Friday afternoon with a very live 7-vs-10 matchup, as the Santa Clara Broncos face the Kentucky Wildcats at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Tipoff is set for 12:15 PM ET on CBS. Santa Clara enters at 26-8 after a strong run through the West Coast Conference, while Kentucky comes in at 21-13 out of the SEC. On paper, it looks close, and honestly, the market agrees with that. Kentucky is only laying 3.5 in a game with a high total of 160.5. Santa Clara has the profile of a dangerous underdog. The Broncos score 82.9 points per game, shoot a lot of threes, rebound their misses, and move the ball well enough to stress a defense

The NCAA Tournament opens a very interesting 5-vs-12 game on Friday afternoon when the Akron Zips meet the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Tipoff is set for 12:40 PM ET on truTV, and this matchup has some real upset buzz around it. Akron comes in at 29-5 as the Mid-American Conference champion and has been one of the hotter mid-majors in the field, while Texas Tech enters at 22-10 out of the Big 12 and still carries AP Top 20 status despite a rough finish heading into the bracket. That is what makes the number so interesting. Texas Tech is laying 7.5 with a total of 155.5, which suggests the market still respects the Red Raiders’