Donny's NBA Play of the Day is a 2 game parlay of the Knicks and the Lakers

Happy Valentines Day to all the love birds, couples, crushes, and daydreamers out there.  Today is a special day at the Air Canada Centre.  It's Asian Heritage Night and the ACC is expected to be crowded and full of energy in anticipation of the arrival of Jeremy Lin - the Asian overnight sensation.  Jeremy and the Knicks look to karate chop the Raptors into submission.

You know it's special when reporters and media coverage make the trip from New York and China to Toronto just to get a glimpse of the Lin-sanity.  The Raptors however are in no loving mood and are a bit jilted thanks to a narrow 2 point loss to the Lakers in their last game.  Dwane Casey says he's ready and has a game plan to contain Lin's penetrating drives and pick and rolls.  The Raptors were very disappointed to lose to the Lakers because they believed the game was theirs for the taking.  

It's funny because what the Raptors don't realize is that in 9 out of 10 games, the Lakers would have either won or destroyed the Raptors.  Good teams usually will do as little as possible to win against bad teams.  The psychology of the game is that the Lakers have zero motivation to try to go all out and beat the Raptors, so they keep it a close game and let the Raptors hang in there with them.  The Lakers were also tired.  When it comes down to the final moments of the game though, is when these elite teams shine.  With 4 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Kobe casually closed out the game with a jumpshot and they won by 2 points.  To the Lakers a win is a win no matter by how many points.  To the Raptors their 2 point loss means they were playing awesome and almost beat the Lakers.  False confidence.  Calderon had a game high of 30 points but only 6 assists.  

Calderon is pretty upset on this wonderful Valentine's day because all the focus is on Jeremy Lin and how he is going to run over the Raptors.  After tonight Calderon will need Prozac because he's going to be depressed after the Knicks stomp on the Raptors.  Amare Stoudemire will be back in the lineup this evening and will be playing in the memory of his brother who died in a car accident.  Lin and Stoudemire will be looking to run the pick and roll while the Raptors will have fits figuring it out.  The Knicks have play well and the whole team is on a positive flow, so Amare will only add to their offense.  Amare will be the biggest player in the game tonight and that is why the Raptors will lose.  

The other team on today's parlay special is the Lakers to beat the Hawks.  Not much analysis or belly button picking here.  The Hawks can't beat good teams and they are pretenders.  They have all the talent in the world, but play half-heartedly.  If the Lakers get a lead early expect the Hawks to folds their wings quietly on the way out the door.

Knicks and Laker on a parlay because it's too expensive to play either one straight up.

Good Luck, Play Responsibly, and with Discipline.

Donny Sports