OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews the Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers.  There are many March Madness picks up, but plenty of opportunities to excel in NBA betting.

The Dallas Mavericks (47-19) probably will not catch San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference, but they can still capture the #2 seed ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers if they can finish the regular season strong.  The Mavericks (-1) will look to bounce back from a 96-91 home loss to the Lakers last Saturday as they begin a brief two-game road trip by visiting the Portland Trail Blazers (37-29) on Tuesday.

Dallas saw LA inch closer in the standings with a 97-84 home win over Orlando on Monday, cutting the lead for the second spot in the playoff race to a half-game.  Lakers star Kobe Bryant had suffered an ankle injury against the Mavs in their latest meeting, but he played through the pain and scored 16 points on 7 of 19 shooting from the field against the Magic.

Portland would face Dallas if the playoffs started today and wants to move up from the sixth slot by getting hot down the stretch as well.  The Trail Blazers just wrapped up a four-game East Coast road trip with consecutive losses at Charlotte and Atlanta, which was especially disappointing considering they had opened the trip with impressive wins at Orlando and Miami.  They struggled to score in the finale against the Hawks, falling 91-82 as the total went UNDER for the first time in three games.  The UNDER has also cashed in the team’s last three home games.

The Mavericks have not won or lost consecutive games the last six times they have taken the court, but they have had a difficult time covering the spread recently.  They are 1-5 against the line in their last six games overall and have seen the OVER cash four times during that stretch.  However, they have won nine of their last 11 road games and own a 10-5 mark in the first half of back-to-backs this season.

Portland has split the last six home meetings with Dallas after dropping the previous six games in the series there.  The Blazers have also covered the spread in four of the last six meetings overall despite losing both meetings with the Mavs this season straight-up by a combined eight points.  The UNDER is 3-1 in the last four meetings between the teams and 5-2 in the past seven.  The winner has cracked the century mark in scoring three times in the last seven meetings, including a 103-98 Dallas victory back on December 15.

Top expert pick on today’s card: Nobody has ever accused the Canadian Crew of being a hype machine. They are simply about winning. Recently it’s been 23-12 with named plays and 6-3 overall. They’ve never had a losing month.

The UAB Blazers vs. Clemson Tigers game is the NCAA Best Bet Play in Game Ever. Also get Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers on NBATV. The Canadian Crew continues to prove nobody exploits situations, mismatches, intangibles, motivational factors and more with the success rate as the Crew. Get some clear cut ones from the Big Dance tonight. It’s all up at OffshoreInsiders.com

It’s time, baby! March Madness betting picks begin this week. Who will make the Final Four? Here’s a region-by-region projection of how I think things will shake out.

EAST REGION

Favorite: Ohio State (+135)

Contenders: North Carolina, Syracuse, Kentucky

Cinderella: Washington

While the East looks like perhaps the toughest quarter in the bracket, I think picking Ohio State to get upset is overthinking things. The Buckeyes had a couple of surprising losses in the regular season, yeah, but they really found their groove down the stretch. Jared Sullinger is on fire and this team can shoot like crazy.

North Carolina is too inconsistent despite Harrison Barnes’ brilliance; Syracuse arguably lacks a true gamebreaker player to give the ball in the dying seconds; I do like Kentucky but its freshman-laden team seems like a better bet for next year. Washington might pull an upset or two.

In the end, I still think the seasoned Buckeyes take the East.

Free pick: Ohio State

SOUTHEAST REGION

Favorite: Pittsburgh +155

Contenders: Florida, Kansas State, BYU, Wisconsin, St. John’s

Cinderella: Belmont

Is the Southeast the most wide-open bracket? I’m not totally convinced. I know Pittsburgh lost two of its final four games but the Panthers came from the vicious Big East and have two outstanding players in Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker.

Florida’s spotty record against tougher competition makes me pessimistic. I prefer BYU over the second-tier contender group. Jimmer Fredette can carry that team on his own. Wisconsin’s “D” is impressive but it stumbled down the stretch and could be upset by streaking Belmont.

I like Pittsburgh’s combination of experience from a tough conference and elite players.

Free pick: Pittsburgh

SOUTHWEST REGION

Favorite: Kansas +125

Contenders: Notre Dame, Purdue, Louisville

Cinderella: USC

It’s tough to imagine anyone toppling Kansas. The Jayhawks shoot the ball with unbelievable accuracy and have a dominant one-two punch in the Morrises, Marcus and Markieff. Ben Hansbrough-led Notre Dame is viewed as a potential challenger, as is Purdue. The Boilermakers are a sneaky play because they struggled down the stretch but have two seniors built to succeed in the NCAA tournament: JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.

USC could play Cinderella thanks to an easy opening matchup and a potential upset setup in the round of 32 against Georgetown. But this is still Kansas’ bracket to lose. The Jayhawks are possibly the safest bet to reach the Final Four of any team in the nation, largely because their region isn’t too tough.

Free pick: Kansas

WEST REGION

Favorite: Duke +135

Contenders: San Diego State +385, Texas +465, Connecticut +485

Cinderella: Bucknell

It’s tough to go wrong with picking Duke here. The Blue Devils are the defending national champs and are in peak form having just won the ACC tournament. But they arguably face a tougher road than they did last year.

San Diego State hopes it can push the Blue Devils hard but the Aztecs have never won an NCAA tournament game. That spooks me. I worry they’ll choke under the pressure of being “expected” to make a deep run for the first time ever. Kemba Walker’s dominance could make UConn a popular pick but the Huskies still lack depth after him and could be tired entering the tourney after grinding out five wins in five days in the ACC tournament.

It’s boring to pick yet another No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four, but the seedings are accurate this year. What can I tell ya? No point picking an upset just for the sake of it. Only do it if you believe in it!

Free pick: Duke

For more information: There is no question where professional gamblers will get their 2011 March Madness picks. It’s from the top sports handicappers on the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

There will likely be claims from scam sites that they have Billy Walters or some professional gamblers picks for the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Nobody does. But Grandmaster Sports Handicapper Joe Duffy, CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com, the top sports betting site in the world is where the sharp money originates.

Most serious professional gamblers will get Duffy’s picks, then add their own line-shopping and point spread manipulation techniques. But there is no question that the best sports picks are at OffshoreInsiders.com

OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has an NBA free pick on the Golden State Warriors (+1) at Sacramento.

Reasoning: I have probably liked this Golden State team a lot more than the average guy and today I’ll take my chances on them as they are the clear cut more talented team on the court.

The road is never easy and I’m not saying that Golden State overall is better than average as the 29-36 record could attest to. But there are some pieces in play with this team and the skill level is fairly high or at least much higher than with the inferior Kings, even at Arco.

Monta Ellis is a baller who can fill it up with the best of them, David Lee is very tough in the middle and Stephen Curry and Dorell Wright are quality young guys that can be very good in any game. The Warriors are on a back-to-back after hosting Minnesota last night and that is never an easy task but when push comes to shove in a near pick-em game Golden State should just be too good.

Sacramento isn’t the worst team ever as they have shown something at times but 15-49 overall is 15-49 overall. Plus the Kings have now dropped six straight games and eight of their last nine. Sac-town is the worst defensive team in the league in my opinion as they have allowed at least 99 points in 18 consecutive games with only two of those contests ending in 99 meaning that they have allowed north of the century mark 16 of their last 18 and I don’t need to tell you how bad that truly is. The Warriors don’t exactly clamp down defensively themselves as the 105 points per game prove but lately they have been a little better than tonight’s opponent in the Kings.

For more information: The roll of a lifetime is here as it’s now seven of eight winning days, an 11-4 run after the monster 500,000* on Duke yesterday by a billion and over 2.7 million* of profit in that time alone. The getting is really, really good right now and will continue, that you can take to the bank. One play only needed on this Monday and it’s another absolute bomb! 400,000* NBA Burial against the number, Spurs-Heat. Please don’t miss out and kick yourself tomorrow, for your sake please don’t. Click now to purchase Rivers entire card.

Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews San Antonio Spurs at Miami Heat from a betting standpoint.

After suffering through a season-high five-game losing streak, the Miami Heat (45-21) appear to be back on track in hopes of finishing the season strong and securing one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference playoff race.  A rematch with the San Antonio Spurs (54-12) on Monday though will give them another measuring stick to find out how good they really are.

The Heat (-4) were crushed 125-95 at San Antonio in the midst of their skid, one of seven consecutive games in which they failed to cover the spread.  They have since rebounded by winning two in a row both straight-up and against the spread, including an impressive home win against the Lakers last Thursday followed by a 33-point victory against Memphis on Saturday.  Despite that win, Miami remains 15-18 against teams with a winning record this season.

New addition Mike Bibby finally came alive for the Heat in the rout of the Grizzlies, connecting on all five of his 3-point attempts en route to 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Bibby’s previous high with Miami was six points after he asked to be bought out from his contract with Washington.  He played nearly 29 minutes in the last meeting with the Spurs on March 4, scoring four points on 2 of 6 shooting (0 for 3 on 3-pointers) to go along with five assists.

San Antonio hit a franchise-record 17 of 28 attempts from 3-point range in that game, including six from Matt Bonner.  Eight Spurs scored in double figures in the blowout and six different players made a 3-pointer.  Manu Ginobili scored a team-high 20 points and dished out seven assists while Tony Parker had 15 and eight in a surprise return from a calf injury.  Parker was supposed to miss two to four weeks of action but came back after missing just two games.

The lone loss for San Antonio in the last six games came against the Lakers, which is also the only time the team was held under 108 points over that span.  The Spurs fell at home to LA 99-83 on March 6 but have since averaged over 111 points during a three-game winning streak.  However, they have covered just one of their last four games along with eight of their past 11.

The OVER has cashed in nine of San Antonio’s last 11 games, including three straight.  The OVER is also 10-2 in the Heat’s last 12 games against Western Conference opponents, although the UNDER is 7-1 in the last eight meetings with the Spurs, who have won the last four both SU and ATS.

Top expert pick on today’s card: Get an NBA Wise Guy and a Major as Center of the Handicapping Universe makes it winning days 9-of-12. It must be March as the Grandmaster has hit four straight Wise Guy plays. Click now to purchase

The sports handicappers breakdown of the 2011 NCAA Tournament Round of 64. All records are against the spread.

Belmont vs. Wisconsin

Belmont 5-0 is non-conference game. Wisconsin is 1-6 neutral site game.

Utah State vs. Kansas State

Utah State 14-6 on neutral courts. Kansas State is 6-13 to teams with a winning record.

Kansas State has gone under 12-2 in non-conference games.

Penn State vs. Temple

Penn State is 9-3 versus an opponent with a winning percentage of .600 or above. Temple 21-8 off loss and 23-11 to teams with a winning record. Temple has gone under 10-2 on neutral courts.

Northern Colorado vs. San Diego State

Northern Colorado 2-12 off spread win. San Diego State 15-5 to teams with a winning record. Northern Colorado over six straight.

Gonzaga vs. St. John’s

Gonzaga 1-6 last seven in NCAA Tournament. They’ve gone under 17-4 versus an opponent with winning percentage of .600 or above.

Wofford vs. BYU

Wofford 7-1 on neutral courts. BYU 34-16 off spread loss.

Morehead vs. Louisville

Morehead under 9-1 on neutral courts.

Richmond vs. Vanderbilt

Richmond 7-0 overall run. Spiders under 8-0 off straight up win.

Old Dominion vs. Butler

Old Dominion 7-1 overall run. Butler 10-1 on neutral courts and 52-23 in non-conference games, but 1-6 off straight up win.

Missouri vs. Cincinnati

Cincinnati 5-17 off straight up loss. Missouri has gone over 11-2 in NCAA Tournament.

Bucknell vs. UConn

Connecticut 7-0 in non-conference games, 16-5 on neutral courts, 23-8 off straight up wins. Connecticut over 8-1 in NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State vs. UCLA

UCLA 7-0 to teams with a winning record. Michigan State under 10-1 to Pac 10.

UC Santa Barbara vs. Florida

Santa Barbara 8-1 on neutral courts. Florida 9-19 off straight up loss. UC Santa Barbara under 17-5 neutral courts.

Princeton vs. Kentucky

Princeton 16-5 versus an opponent with a winning percentage of .600 or above. Kentucky 1-6 off straight up win.

For more information: Top sports picks, March Madness odds, and betting analysis are all part of the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

The NCAA Tournament has been expanded to 68 teams. Now here is the 2011 Big Dance opening round odds for Tuesday and Wednesday games from top sportsbooks.

Sports handicappers picks for the NCAA Tournament are on the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

The NCAA Tournament 2011 point spreads for Thursday are already up. Now here are Friday’s Big Dance March Madness 2011 Vegas lines for sports handicappers

For all the best point spread picks for the NCAA Tournament 2011, it’s the OffshoreInsiders.com Network.

Sportsbooks have posted the odds for the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Here are the Big Dance 2011 point spreads for first day of the Round of 64.

The top sports handicapper picks against the spread are on the OffshoreInsiders.com Network which includes Power of 620 sports services behind every selection, the MasterLockLine.