Brad Wilton
Wednesday night comp play is the Spurs at home over the Warriors in their big Western Conference showdown.
Right now the streaking Warriors - winners of 8 straight - hold a 2 1/2 game lead over the Spurs for the top-spot in the West, but the Spurs are also streaking - winners of 5 straight, and 7 of their last 9 - and the Spurs did have the night off last night.
Golden State was on the floor last night in Houston, and then there is the matter that they haven't bested San Antonio in 2 previous tries this season. The last meeting between the teams shows the Spurs with a 107-85 statement win at home over the Dubs earlier this month.
San Antonio is 4-1 against the spread the last 5 series meetings at home, and I will back them tonight to tighten things up in the West with another win and cover over the Warriors.
4* SAN ANTONIO
Scott Rickenbach
Golden State at San Antonio
Play: Golden State +4½
The Spurs and Warriors are doing battle in a big game that has a huge bearing on who will get the #1 seed in the Western Conference post-season which is, of course, right around the corner. That said, I like having the points here with a Warriors team that has lost its first two match-ups with San Antonio by a combined 51 points this season! Did the odds makers make a "mistake" by having the Spurs as such a small fave here considering KD is still out for Golden State and San Antonio is at home and just rolled the defending NBA champs? I highly doubt that! Long-time followers know how I feel about odds maker "errors". The objective of the line is to create balanced action and the reason this line is so small, in my opinion, is because there is going to be plenty of sharp money on the Warriors in this one. That said, had the line been larger, even some public money would have chimed in on Golden State but right now many are very enticed with the Spurs low number here and that is exactly what I expected. In a match-up of two hot teams, give me the points as the Warriors should take this one to the wire and have a great shot at the upset. The Spurs are 2-5 ATS (and 2-5 SU!) when they enter a game having played each of their three prior games at home. The Warriors have covered 10 of their last 14 games against teams with a winning record and are also 36-18 ATS the past 3 seasons combined when they are playing with revenge!
Brad Diamond
Coastal Carolina vs. Wyoming
Play: Wyoming -8
We saw the resilient effort by CC in game #1 on their home floor, not only shooting well enough to win but, garnering a total of 18 offensive rebounds. It was as if the Pokes had a disease reaching for the cylinder on the defensive end? However, tonight the Championship Series transfers to Laramie where the chalk Wyoming is a little more accustomed to winning…17-3 SU, while CC is a lethargic 3-10 SU away from their floor. One of the edges for Wyoming already coming into focus, as CC has lost guard Ray-St. Cyr who was injured, the visitor will miss almost 10 points a game. Over the last five games overall, CC has the edge defensively from the points allowed standpoint and rebounding. Wyoming has been running with more effective shooting numbers from the floor, arc and the foul line. Technically, CC is a perfect 4-0 ATS in non-conference games but, they show 0-6 ATS in this underdog price range. Wyoming is 5-2 ATS in this home chalk price range and 20-7-1 ATS off a SU loss. Further, the Pokes are 6-1 ATS at home vs. a school with a losing road mark. One fundamental key for the home squad is the rejuvenation of Justin James who clearly needs a big night for Wyoming. He was not sharp down stretch in Carolina.
Dave Price
Bucks vs. Celtics
Play: Bucks +8
The Milwaukee Bucks have been on a tear over the past month and are still lacking the respect they deserve from oddsmakers as 8-point underdogs here to the Boston Celtics. The Bucks are 12-3 SU & 10-5 ATS in their last 15 games overall. Boston is getting too much respect here due to its four-game winning streak. But the Celtics are 0-7 ATS following four or more consecutive wins this season. The Celtics are 5-16 ATS in their last 21 games playing on 2 days rest. The Bucks are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 0 days rest.
Mike Anthony
Milwaukee vs. Boston
Play: Boston -7.5
Boston will do what they have been doing all year long, look to get production from their backcourt - from a wide variety of very skilled sources. 27 year old G, Isaiah Thomas is getting them 6 dimes, and 29pts/game for Boston - the Bucks starting Gs won't stop that scheme here. Sometimes Giannis Antetokounmpo can hang his shots a little - leaving himself open for tighter defense. He is a real challenge to guard with his smooth shooting, but he has been knocking down only 28% of his trey ball shots this season. The Bucks don't knock down a lot from behind the arc very much, ranked at just 23rd in FGM - The C's tough perimeter D will be too difficult to handle, allowing just 33% shooting.
Harry Bondi
CHARLOTTE (+6) over Toronto
Call us contrarians tonight as we are going against over 75% of the betting public that are backing Toronto. Sure, the Raptors have been playing well lately but Charlotte has covered 12 of their last 16 games in Toronto and after a lackluster effort in losing at home to Milwaukee last night we expect the Hornets, whose playoff lives are on the line as they are 3 games back for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, to give us a great effort tonight. Take Charlotte plus the points.
Cal Sports
Warriors at Spurs
Play: Under 208
The Warriors are not nearly playing at the tempo of the past several season, or like they were earlier this year with Durant in the line-up but they are still playing to inflated totals. In their last 11 games Golden St in 0-10-1 O/U and going back further they are 1-15-1 their last 16 games. The Warriors are now playing B2B nights after a huge battel at Houston (219 pts scored w/ O/U total of 235.5). The Spurs D is playing like it always does and they have not allowed an opponent to top 50% shooting in their last 27 games. The last 3 matchups versus Golden St here in San Antonio saw the teams combine for 192 points, 178 points and 166 points.
Carmine Bianco
Los Angeles Kings at Calgary Flames
Play: Calgary Flames -135
Wednesday's free play is a play on the Calgary Flames who are playing some of their best hockey as the playoffs approach and have gone 15-5 their past 20 and 9-1 their past 10 at home. They'll meet a Kings side on the 2nd of a back to back (having lost in Edmonton last night 2-1) and who currently sit 11 points back of a play-off spot and with only 7 remaining games. The offseason may be what the Kings are looking for right now.
Buster Sports
Furman at St. Peter's
Play: St. Peter's -3
The one CIT semi-final is being played in Jersey City, New Jersey tonight as the St. Peters Peacocks play host to the Furman Paladins. These teams can both play some defense as the Peacocks are ranked 5th in the nation while Furman is ranked 40th. The Peacocks are at home tonight which we believe will give them a real advantage. What will be the bigger advantage is that 3 days ago Furman HC Niko Medved shocked everyone and took the Drake job leaving the Paladins high and dry. It is going to be very tough for Furman to be excited about this game especially as they only have one senior who starts for Furman so most of the squad will be back next year. The majority of these kids will be destroyed. Here at Buster Sports we are not in the feelings business, but in taking advantage of an edge to make money business. We will lay the low number with the Peacocks tonight.
Bruce Marshall
Heat / Knicks Under 210.5
The Knicks have had worse records in recent years, but that is faint praise for the continued dysfunctions this season. New York still doesn't have a win streak longer than one game in calendar 2017, and now Joakim Noah's 20-game suspension only adds to the woes in the first year of a four-year, $72 million contract that was looking ill-advised (to put it mildly) well before the suspension. Miami getting a real gift in its quest to make the playoffs with back-to-back games vs. Knicks. Would dismiss NY's long-ago win at AA Arena on Dec. 6, back when Knicks were actually trying and before Heat took flight in mid-January. Though Miami had lost 3 of 4 entering the week, shooting only 30% from beyond arc, while Goran Dragic has shot 34 percent overall (with almost as many turnovers as assists) in that stretch. Heat made up for the bad shooting with 25 second-chance points in recent win over Phoenix, but needs to start making shots (and get Dion Waiters back to active duty) as Miami tries to hold onto the eighth and last playoff seed in the East. Also look "under" tonight with Heat that way (minus Waiters) in 3 of last 4.
Ben Burns
Arizona +1.5 -185
These teams just met, at St. Louis, a couple of days ago. The Blues won that one by a 4-1 score. They also beat the Coyotes by a 3-0 score here less than two weeks ago. With this evening's rematch being played in the desert, I expect a much better effort from the revenge-minded Coyotes. With the Blues farily heavy favorites on the money-line, we're able to get an extra +1.5 goals with the Coyotes for a relatively reasonable price. In a game that could easily "come down to the wire," that extra +1.5 goals could well prove significant. The Blues only score 2.6 goals per game on the road, while allowing 2.5. That makes winning by more than a goal difficult. The Blues are only 9-12 on the road, when the O/U line with less than 5.5. They're also only 10-14 (vs the moneyline) after scoring four or more goals in their previous game. Look for the Coyotes to give them all they can handle with a solid shot at the outright upset.
OC Dooley
Wyoming -8.5
This is actually a reaction to the opener of the CIT Championship series (best of three) back on Monday when their was a late offshore surge that made Wyoming a "road favorite" even though going just 4-11 in true road games on the campaign. Even though the Cowboys lost by double-digits on Monday permitting 91 points, they have been installed as a hefty favorite tonight versus an opponent who has won-and-covered 4 in a row, which speaks volumes. In what I feel is a sign of solid coaching, spanning the entire season when shaking off an outright loss Wyoming has bounced back immediately (11-3 ATS) for investors