Courtesy of OddsShark.com: Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Heat play host to the rival Magic down in Miami, while the Big Dance gets underway for top seeds Kansas and Kentucky. The college basketball odds have seen some point spread movements at the sportsbooks already.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . . The NBA has just two games on tap for Thursday, with New Orleans at Denver and Orlando at Miami. The Magic and Heat last met on February 28 in Orlando, with the home side rolling to an easy 96-80 win as 11-point favorites. Rashard Lewis poured in a game-high 22 points for the Magic in that contest, while Vince Carter picked up 17 points. Dwight Howard was held to just seven points and five rebounds on the day. Dwyane Wade was good for a team-high 21 points and five assists in that game for the Heat, while Jermaine O'Neal had 16 points in the loss.
However, the hardwood focus on Thursday will be on March Madness, with the first 16 games of the first round. There are two No. 1 seeds in action on Thursday, as Kansas takes on Lehigh in the Midwest Region, and Kentucky plays East Tennessee State in the East Region. The Jayhawks (32-2 SU, 14-16-1 ATS) aren't expected to have any trouble with their Patriot League opponent at Oklahoma City's Ford Center, as they've been pegged as 26-point favorites (with a total of 146). The Wildcats (32-2 SU, 17-15 ATS) are big favorites as well, as they're giving 20 points to the Buccaneers in their meeting at New Orleans Arena.
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Elsewhere in the East Region on Thursday it's No. 11 Washington vs. No. 6 Marquette (-1.5), No. 9 Wake Forest vs. No. 8 Texas (-4.5), and No. 14 Montana vs. No. 3 New Mexico (-9). Other Midwest action has No. 9 Northern Iowa vs. No. 8 UNLV (-1), No. 14 Ohio vs. No. 3 Georgetown (-13.5), and No. 11 San Diego State vs. No. 6 Tennessee (-3). As well, West Region action features No. 10 Florida vs. No. 7 BYU (-5), No. 13 Murray State vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (-3), No. 15 North Texas vs. No. 2 Kansas State (-16), and No. 12 UTEP vs. No. 5 Butler (-2.5). Lastly, in the South Region it's No. 11 Old Dominion vs. No. 6 Notre Dame (-2), No. 15 Robert Morris vs. No. 2 Villanova (-18.5), No. 14 Sam Houston State vs. No. 3 Baylor (-11), and then finally No. 10 St. Mary's vs. No. 7 Richmond (-2).
Taking a trip around the rink . . . Finally, the NHL offers up 11 games on Thursday night, with Ottawa at Atlanta, St. Louis at the Rangers, Washington at Carolina, New Jersey at Toronto, Phoenix at Florida, Buffalo at Tampa Bay, Minnesota at Nashville, Philadelphia at Dallas, San Jose at Vancouver, Chicago at Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh at Boston. The Penguins beat the Bruins 2-1 at home when the teams last met on March 7 in the game where Boston forward Marc Savard was concussed by Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke. Pascal Dupuis and Evgeni Malkin had the Pens' goals in that win, while Blake Wheeler scored for the Bruins in the losing cause.
