MLK Day NBA Referee Assignments

[Mendoza Line]

Loads of early starts today!

Here are the earliest...

Orlando at New York: (Orl -2 and 194.5) Nothing noteworthy here. Derrick Stafford is the only experienced ref here, and he is fairly neutral with these teams. Violet Palmer very rarely works an east-coast game, and young ref J.T. Orr has never worked a Knicks game.

Chicago at Memphis: (Chi -4 and 177.5) Ref Michael Smith has a general lean to the Over this season, but he is 4-7 o/u in his last 11 games with a total below 185 points. Chicago is 2-6-1 o/u in their last 9 with Smith, and Memphis is 0-5 o/u in their last 5 with him. Ref Greg Willard has had a slight general lean to the Over during the last couple of seasons, but he is just 1-1 o/u with totals below 185 this season, and these teams tend to go Under with him. Chicago is 2-4 o/u in their last 6 with Willard, and Memphis is 2-7 o/u in their last 9 with him.

Milwaukee at Philadelphia: (Phi -9 and 185.5) Mostly neutral numbers for this crew, with ref Zach Zarba leaning Over. He is 8-2 o/u this season, including 5-0 o/u with totals below 195 points. He was 17-13 o/u with those games last season. Milwauke is just 3-4 o/u (1-0 o/u this season) in their last 7 games with Zarba, but Philly is 4-0 o/u in their last 4 with him.

Houston at Washington: (Hou -5 and 191.5) Some conflicting trends here. Home dogs of 5 or more are 12-2 ATS in their last 14 with ref Marc Davis, but Washington is 1-9 ATS in their last 10 with him. Home dogs are on a 17-7 ATS run with ref Mark Lindsay, but both teams are pretty even ATS with him.

Cleveland at Charlotte: (Char -2 and 193.5) Road dogs getting fewer than 5 points are 17-7 ATS with Monty McCutchen and 10-3 ATS with ref Haywoode Workman. This crew is mostly neutral with team-specific trends for this one, though.

Back shortly with the rest of the schedule....

[Mendoza Line]

Portland at New Orleans: (Por -5.5 and 182) Home dogs are 16-5 ATS with ref Tony Brown since the start of last season, but both teams have a great ATS history with him. Portland is 6-1 SU & ATS in their last 7 games with Brown, and NO is 5-1 SU & 6-0 ATS in their last 6 with him, with all 5 SU wins being at home. This is ref Bennett Salvatore's first game this season, but home dogs were 13-7 ATS with him last season. Portland is 1-5 SU & ATS in their last 6 with him, while NO is 5-2 SU & ATS in their last 7 with him.

New Jersey at L.A. Clippers: (LAC -9 and 195) A little bit mixed for this one. As mentioned before, Dick Bavetta is the all-time best Under ref in the league, but he leans to the Over with higher totals. He is 3-0 o/u with totals above 185 points so far this year. LAC is 5-2 o/u in their last 7 with Bavetta, but NJ is 0-6 o/u in their last 6 with him. Ref Mark Ayotte is just 1-8 o/u so far this year, but he was a decent Over ref last season, and he leans Over with both teams. LAC is 7-3 o/u in their last 10 with Ayotte, and NJ is 7-2-1 o/u in their last 10 with him. The Clippers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 with Bavetta and 6-0 ATS in their last 6 with Ayott; the Nets are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 with Bavetta and 2-6 ATS in their last 8 with Ayotte.

Toronto at Atlanta: (Atl -10 and 177.5) Ref Curtis Blair is 2-7 o/u this season, and he is 1-5 o/u in his last 6 games with totals lower than 185 points. Blair's last 3 Toronto games have gone Under, as have 5 of his last 7 Atlanta games. Rodney Mott was a great Under ref last season, going 28-46 o/u overall, including 1-4 o/u with totals below 185 points. He is 4-6 o/u so far this year, but this is his first game with a total below 185. Toronto is 2-4 o/u in their last 6 with Mott, and Atlanta is 1-6 o/u in their last 7 with him. Double-digit dogs are 11-3 ATS with Mott since the start of last season. Toronto is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 with Mott, while Atlants is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 with him. Both teams are a poor 3-7 ATS in their last 10 each with Curtis Blair.

Night games next...

[Mendoza Line]

Oklahoma City at Boston: (OKC -2.5 and 187.5) A mixed bag here. A three refs pretty neutral on the side, and split on the o/u.

Sacramento at Minnesota: (Min -7 and 197.5) Road-team referee Tony Brothers working for the 2nd-straight night. He helped Utah to a 10-point SU win as a 10-point road dog last night. Road dogs of between 5 and 10 points are on a 30-20 ATS run with Brothers. Sacto is just 1-5 SU & ATS in their last 6 with Brothers. Minn is just 2-8 SU, but 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games with Brothers, but Minn was not favored, and the 6-4 ATS includes 5-1 ATS as the road team. Tony Brothers is 2-8 o/u so far this year, including 0-4 o/u with totals above 195 points. Sacto is 2-4 o/u in their last 6 with Brothers, and Minn is 3-7 o/u in their last 10 with him, including 0-4 o/u in their most-recent 4 with him.

Dallas at L.A. Lakers: (LAL -3.5 and 182) Home faves are just 2-4 ATS with ref Joe Crawford this season, and home faves of fewer than 5 points are on a 7-14 ATS run with him. The Lakers are 5-3 SU & 4-4 ATS with Crawford, but Dallas is on a 7-2 SU & ATS run with him. LA is 7-2 SU with ref Eric Lewis, but just 4-5 ATS in those games, while Dallas is 7-2 SU & 6-1-1 ATS in their last 9 with him. Mixed numbers for the o/u. Joe Crawford leans to the Over here, while Courtney Kirkland leans heavy to the Under, and Eric Lewis is neutral.