“The Picker” has plenty of advice tonight

Looks like the caffeine was flowing at Casa de Picker today.

Our man who likes to “play” basketball is weighing in with five picks tonight, hoping to improve upon his 11-7-1 record built over the past nine nights.

Here is a link to the odds on tonight’s games. It’s a great link because it shows where the line opened, and where it has moved. (Last night, “The Picker” shrugged off the move from 5 to 7 1/2 points in the Clippers-Timberwolves game and went with Los Angeles, which covered. His other pick, Miami, would have come in if a certain someone had hit a free throw — not that we’re singling LeBron James out for criticism or anything.)

Tonight, the line on the Denver-Lakers game has moved from Los Angeles by 7 to Los Angeles by 3 1/2 with the news that Kobe Bryant (shin) will not play.

Before we get to the picker’s latest picks, a word of caution: Do what you want with his information, but understand that we do not condone or endorse illegal gambling. For those of you in Nevada and outside of the United States where sports gambling is legal, different standards apply.

Tonight, the picker likes Miami -9 (first half) against the Bobcats, the Bucks -5 and under 202 against Detroit, Dallas -3 at Portland, and Atlanta on the money line (1.85 to 1) against Orlando.