INSIGHT

The Pelicans and Clippers and the Grizzlies and Pacers are squaring off on Sunday, with Kris Dunn and Los Angeles looking for a big home win. Ben Sheppard and the Pacers host the Grizzlies seeking to reverse the losing trends. McBets is targeting both players in his two game parlay.

The New York Knicks (38-22), sitting third in the Eastern Conference, host the San Antonio Spurs (43-16) at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, March 1, tipping off at 1:00 PM ET on ABC, with both squads near full health in a matchup that has "future Finals preview" written all over it. San Antonio arrives riding an 11-game winning streak, the longest active run in the NBA, as the league's hottest team by every meaningful metric over the last ten games, while New York brings a 23-8 home record and one of the most efficient half-court offenses in the league. The Spurs are installed as 1.5-point road favorites, practically a pick'em, and for good reason: six of their last seven meetings with the Knicks have cleared 230 combined points, the total is set at 228.5, and both starting lineups are locked and loaded for what shapes up as the most compelling early afternoon tip of the season.

The Los Angeles Lakers (35-24), sitting seventh in the Western Conference with their eyes on a top-six seed, host the Sacramento Kings (14-47) at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, March 1, tipping off at 9:30 PM ET, with Sacramento missing Zach LaVine (hand surgery, out for the year), Domantas Sabonis (knee, out for the year), De'Andre Hunter (retinal repair, out for the year), Keegan Murray (calf), Drew Eubanks (thumb), and Devin Carter (ankle) while Russell Westbrook enters as questionable with a thigh issue, leaving DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, and a skeleton crew to hold off a Los Angeles squad that just ended its three-game losing skid with a bounce-back win over Golden State on Saturday, with Luka Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer at 32.6 points per game, and LeBron James looking to feast on the league's most depleted rotation in what shapes up as the softest spot on the Sunday slate and the cleanest spread on the board at Lakers -13.

The New Orleans Pelicans (19-42), riding a four-game winning streak and playing their best basketball of the season, travel to Intuit Dome to face the Los Angeles Clippers (27-31) on Sunday, March 1, tipping off at 9:00 PM ET, with Trey Murphy III ruled out for the fifth-plus straight game with a shoulder contusion, Zion Williamson likely out after spraining his ankle in Saturday's Utah win, and Dejounte Murray listed as game-time decision, this matchup puts a shorthanded Pelicans squad playing on the second night of a back-to-back road trip against a Clippers team getting Kawhi Leonard back at full health after he sat out Thursday's loss to Minnesota, as New Orleans arrives as an 8.5-point road underdog carrying one of the best cover records in the league as a big dog while the Clippers fight to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff race at home in a spot that looks tailor-made for Kawhi to take over.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (46-15), the best team in basketball, head to American Airlines Center on Sunday, March 1 for the final meeting of the season with the Dallas Mavericks (21-38), tipping off at 8:00 PM ET. Oklahoma City arrives as 15.5-point road favorites fresh off a statement overtime win over Denver, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back in the lineup and looking every bit the MVP frontrunner he was before his nine-game absence. Dallas, meanwhile, rolls out a rotation that would give a G League front office pause: Cooper Flagg is out with a midfoot sprain, Kyrie Irving is gone for the season, Dereck Lively II hasn't played since December, and a handful of other contributors are banged up heading into tip. This is the basketball equivalent of bringing a plastic spoon to a sword fight.