Take your pick of any of the NBA and NHL games on tap for today and they’ll all be outstanding contests.  Whether it’s San Antonio and its game against Atlanta as it hopes to extend its lead, or Las Vegas looking for a season rebound against Columbus, there are a lot of possibilities across the leagues that will keep fans glued to their TVs, as well as their betting slips.

The San Antonio Spurs will take on the Atlanta Heat tonight and the team from the Lone Star State is ready to go the distance.  They’re now 4-2, with both losses coming from teams out of LA in two of their last three contests.  Overall, the Spurs have been on top of their game, even if they’re only just squeaking by with the wins.  They started the season with three straight wins and are ready for another one tonight.

The Hawks have kind of gone in the other direction.  They started the season with two wins, but fell apart after that, losing all three of the next meetings.  Injuries abound and Trae Young’s sprained ankle isn’t helping anything.  A +180 moneyline for the Hawks doesn’t speak of great confidence in the team’s ability tonight, but is, unfortunately for the team, accurate.

The Denver Nuggets get to play on their own court tonight as they take on the Miami Heat.  This should be an interesting matchup, given the performances both teams have been showing this year.  The Heat is 5-1 going up against the 4-2 Nuggets and both teams have been strong on defense, as well as offense.  If the Nuggets could base tonight’s game on last season’s home record, they’d be guaranteed to win.  A 34-7 performance at home was the best in the NBA and the team continues to get better.

The problem is going to be how to combat Miami’s aggressive play and fast pace.  The Heat have already surprised everyone this season with the stats they’ve produced and a combination of experience with rookie energy is driving their success.  The moneyline is +425 to the Heat, but this doesn’t mean that the Nuggets can be counted out.  However, don’t expect any miracles.

In the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights have hit the road for an interconference battle against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The battle will most likely be lopsided, though, if the Golden Knights can keep things together.  In their last game, they lost in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets, to everyone’s surprise, and will be looking for payback tonight.  Chances are good they’ll get it, too.

The Blue Jackets are 5-9 and couldn’t do anything against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.  They’re 26th in the league in both scoring and goals against and only convert 13.6% of their power plays – another stat that puts them at 26th in the NHL.  They have continued to struggle this year and it doesn’t look like things will get any better tonight.  It’s safe to say that the Golden Knights are going to taste victory tonight and that they’ll improve to 9-5-2.