Toronto heads home after getting crushed in Boston on Wednesday by 36 points which came after a home loss to the Hawks by 23 points. It has been an up and down year so far for the Raptors but this is a good spot to get back into the win column as they catch one of the worst teams in the NBA while playing with revenge on top of it. Toronto is just 2-6 at home but this is just its third home game in its last 12 games and the Raptors hit the road again on Monday. Washington has been playing a lot better since the firing of head coach Flip Saunders but this is still a bad team. The Wizards held their own against Orlando on Wednesday but the Magic are playing some of the worst basketball in the league right now so that wasn't much of a surprise. Washington did have that shocking win over Oklahoma City but it was pretty clear after seeing that game that the Thunder didn't even show up. Two other wins came against 3-20 Charlotte. That fourth victory came against Toronto at home and the Raptors have not forgotten. The Wizards were playing horrible and were off to a 0-8 start before Toronto came calling and it resulted in a 15-point home win. Giving Washington its first win was an embarrassing situation for Toronto and they will be out for some payback at home. The home team has won the last six meetings in this series so the Raptors know they can take care of business in what is a rare home game. Toronto is also going to right the ship from the debacle against the Celtics. "You learn from getting your butt kicked like we did tonight," Toronto head coach Dwane Casey said. "I told the team, 'For the rest of your basketball careers, remember how this feels tonight, getting beat by 40.' It's something you never want to forget." The Wizards are 2-7 ATS in their last nine road games against teams with a home winning percentage of less than .400 so don't think Washington steps up even if the opposition is a step down. 10* (804) Toronto Raptors

We have gone against the Rockets in each of their last two games and both paid off in victories and while mentioning Houston's ship may have sailed, I think this is now a good spot to back the Rockets. The last two losses were frustrating for Houston as it lets a big lead fade against the Timberwolves and then two nights later, the Spurs rallied from a 19-point deficit, surging past the Rockets in the final three minutes to win 99-91 at AT&T Center. This team is not happy right now. Welcome the Suns. Phoenix is coming off a rare road victory and it was an easy one at that as it easily took care of New Orleans but the Hornets are one of the worst teams in the league right now. The Suns were stomped in their previous road game at Portland and I can see a similar outcome here. This team is very inconsistent right now as after that loss to the Blazers, it bounced back with a win over Memphis only to getting hammered by 23 points at home to Dallas in its game two nights later. While the Rockets bring in very little momentum to this game, it is a game that they need. After this, Houston hits the road for six straight road games so holding serve on its home floor against a very inconsistent opponent is necessary. The Rockets are 9-3 at home this season and while a lot of those games have come against some poor teams, the Suns can be argued to belong in that group. Phoenix is 6-4 against the bottom half of the league but just 2-9 against the top 16. The defensive effort has been horrible for Houston the last two games in the second half as it allowed a combined 126 points in the final two periods against Minnesota and San Antonio. That is not a good sign against a Phoenix team coming off a 120-point effort but that was a complete aberration as the Suns failed to reach 100 points in their previous nine games. Expect a big letdown for Phoenix which is 0-5 ATS in its last five road games against teams with a winning home record. 9* (816) Houston Rockets

Columbia enters this game with a disappointing 1-3 record in the Ivy League and it is disappointing on how it has transpired. The Lions lost to Penn and Princeton on opening weekend by two and four points respectively and after defeating Cornell at home, they lost the return trip against the Big Red by five points. Three losses by a combined 10 points is hard to take but they can get one back here. And with a game at Harvard Saturday, they know this is a much win game. Dartmouth has only four wins this season and none of those qualify as a quality victory. The Big Green defeated Bryant College, which is 2-20 on the season and Alaska-Anchorage, a Division II team. They then defeated Elon, which is their best win as the Phoenix sit at 10-10 and the fourth win came against Longwood, an independent team that is 7-14. in Ivy League action, the Big Green were hammered by Harvard both games and then lost at Brown and Yale last weekend. The Lions lost their best player, guard Noruwa Agho, two games into the season but it did not affect them much. After taking a couple games to adjust, Columbia went on to win 11 of its next 12 games and a lot of those wins were against formidable opponents. The Lions won at Loyola-Marymount and Manhattan, both of which are in the hunt in their respective conferences, and also defeated North Texas on a neutral floor. The Mean Green are just a game back in the Sun Belt West Division. Columbia works hard on defense and that will be the decisive difference here. The Lions are ranked 21st in the nation in scoring defense as they yield an average of 59.3 ppg and are allowing opponents to shoot 39.4 percent from the floor. Dartmouth is averaging only 57.6 ppg on the season including a mere 55.8 ppg over its last five games on 39.5 percent shooting. The Big Green made just a quarter of their three-point attempts in each of the two games last week, going 4-16 against Yale and 3-12 against Brown. 10* (827) Columbia Lions

The Blues are the last team to play a game since the All-Star break so they should be pretty fired up to get back in action, especially the way things ended prior to the break. St. Louis was on an 8-0-1 run before losing at Detroit, which all teams have been doing, and then losing in a shootout against Pittsburgh at home to close out the first half. It was a rare home loss as the Blues have 21 wins on their home ice which is the most home wins of any team in the league. The Kings opened the second half with a win over Columbus but that was at home where the Kings were playing their fourth straight home game in a span of 14 days so travel has been non-existent for a while. That is all about to change though as Los Angeles embarks upon its longest roadtrip of the season as it plays its next six games on the road. The Kings still have a fighting chance for home ice advantage in the playoffs as they trail Nashville by six points but it is unlikely with two teams ahead of them. As mentioned, the Blues suffered a rare home loss in their last game and they have had only seven losses at Scottrade Center, three in regulation and four in extra time. One of those three losses in regulation came against Los Angeles and you can guarantee that St. Louis has not forgotten. Not only do the Blues gets to play with a ton of energy because of the long layoff but they get to play with an added purpose. The Blues are 13-3 in their last 16 home games against teams with a losing road record. The Blues have given up a 102 goals, which is the lowest in the Western Conference, behind goalies Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott. Halak looks to be inside the pipes for this game as he has a 1.31 GAA over his last nine starts overall and he has a 1.94 GAA in four starts against the Kings. On the other side, Kings goalie Jonathan Quick is one of the best around but the Blues have been a nemesis as he has allowed 10 goals in his last three starts in St. Louis. The Kings are 1-6 in their last seven games following a win. 8* (6) St. Louis Blues

2012 has been MONEY as Matt is an EXTRAORDINARY 92-52-3 (63.9%)! He is riding a SIZZLING 11-4 (73.3%) NBA run and is a SENSATIONAL 45-25-1 (64.3%) L71! He has TWO NBA Winners Friday as well as a 10* CBB Enforcer which adds to his OUTSTANDING 66-40-4 ATS (62.3%) CBB run! And he adds to his EPIC 27-8 (77.1%) NHL run!

Memphis came away with a big road win on Thursday at Atlanta and while that was a horrible call on my part, it at least sets us up for an opportunity to go against the Grizzlies again in a much tougher situation. It was the second straight victory for the Grizzlies against a quality opponent as Denver was the victim prior to that in Memphis. The Grizzlies are now two games over .500 overall but two games under .500 on the road while going 3-7 on the season against teams ranked in the top ten. Oklahoma City is coming off a win at Dallas on Wednesday which made up for its poor effort in Los Angeles against the Clippers two nights before. The Thunder have only four losses all season long including just two in their last 14 games and a return home following a three-game roadtrip should keep them focused. Oklahoma City has had some difficulties against the elite teams, going 3-3 against teams ranked in the top ten in the league but it is 14-1 against every other team. The travel aspect is also hurting Memphis is this is its second game in two nights and this is just the second time all season long that the Grizzlies have had to play back-to-back road games. The first time, they were hammered in Portland following a road win the night before. With the truncated schedule, it makes it even more difficult this season and on top off that, the Grizzlies are playing their fourth game in five nights and fifth game in seven nights and its been travel every day during this stretch with the exception of one. Memphis lost to the Thunder in the playoffs last season so it would certainly like to get some revenge. The problem is that the Grizzlies have already had two shots at the Thunder at home and lost both of those games. It will get even tough on the road and even more so that they have lost three straight meetings in Oklahoma City. Memphis is 0-7 ATS in its last seven games as road underdogs between 5.0 and 10.5 points while the favorite is a perfect 5-0 ATS in the last five meetings. 3* (812) Oklahoma City Thunder