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The Cleveland Cavaliers head to the United Center on Thursday night for an Eastern Conference matchup with the Chicago Bulls. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM, and the game will air on CHSN. Cleveland enters this game at 42-27, sitting 4th in the Eastern Conference and 2nd in the Central Division, while Chicago comes in at 28-41, good for 12th in the East and 4th in the Central. At first glance, this looks like a pretty simple handicap. Cleveland is the clearly better team, the Cavaliers have been far more consistent on both ends, and Chicago has had trouble defending quality offenses all season. The only real betting question is whether the number has gotten too big. Cleveland is laying

The Los Angeles Clippers head to the Smoothie King Center on Thursday night for a Western Conference matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM, and fans can watch on the Gulf channel. The Clippers come in at 34-35, sitting 8th in the Western Conference and 3rd in the Pacific Division, while the Pelicans are 24-46 and 12th in the West, good for 4th in the Southwest Division. This game is especially interesting because these teams are coming right back at each other after New Orleans handled Los Angeles in the previous meeting. That recent result is going to shape the market a bit, and it has helped push the Pelicans into the favorite role here.

Texas A&M and Saint Mary’s meet Thursday night in the South Region, with the 10-seed Aggies facing the 7-seed Gaels at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Tip is set for 7:35 PM ET on truTV, and this looks like one of the tighter first-round matchups on the board. Texas A&M enters at 21-11 after navigating a difficult SEC schedule, while Saint Mary’s comes in at 27-5, ranked No. 22 in the AP poll and carrying the steady profile bettors have come to expect from this program. There is a real style clash here, which is what makes the number interesting. Texas A&M wants pace, pressure, and scoring volume. Saint Mary’s is usually more controlled, more deliberate, and far more comfortable

The NCAA Tournament opens Thursday night in Greenville with one of the tighter first-round matchups on the board. VCU, the 11 seed out of the Atlantic 10, meets 6-seed North Carolina at Bon Secours Wellness Arena with tipoff set for 6:50 PM ET on TNT. VCU enters at 27-7 after winning the A-10 tournament and closing the year on a serious run, while North Carolina comes in 24-8 after a narrow ACC Tournament loss to Clemson. The market has this one close, with the Tar Heels laying 2.5 and the total sitting at 153.5. It feels like a classic 6-11 game for a reason. VCU brings pressure, balance, and real momentum. North Carolina brings higher-end talent, more size up front,