Scotty Spreitzer
Tapout TKO: Magic -7
Power Play Wins
San Antonio Spurs -11.5
Jimmy Boyd
5* GOW Magic -7
4* Trail Blazers -6
Great Lakes Sports
5* GOM Sacramento
Chris Jordan
1000* Trail Blazers -6
Brandon Lang
10 Dime St. Peters +3
Sam Paolini
20* Pittsburgh / Carolina Over 5.5
Calgary -105
LPW Sports Forecast
5 Units Cornell +10.5
5 Units Manhattan +12.5
4 Units Dartmouth +13
Teddy Covers
Big Ticket Pacers
Wunderdog
Clippers +10.5
Hawks ML
Wizards
Kings / Bobcats Over 202
Jeff Benton
20 Dime Timberwolves
I’m not going to try to defend the Minnesota Timberwolves – they’ve been as horrendous as advertised this season, despite the presence of arguably the best rebounder in the game (Kevin Love). And they come into this one having lost six in a row overall (1-5 ATS) and six in a row at home (0-6 ATS). However, here’s one positive thing you can say about Minnesota (aside from Love): They’ve had no trouble at all against the Hornets this year
Back on Dec. 27, the TWolves welcomed the Hornets to the Target Center as a four-point underdog and rolled to a 113-98 victory, with point guard Wesley Johnson (24 points) outdueling Chris Paul, and Michael Beasley (30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists), Luke Ridnour (12 points, 11 assists) and Love (16 points, 11 rebounds) all having huge games. Then just 18 days ago in the Big Easy, the TWolves punked the Hornets 104-92 as an eight-point pup, and while Love (27 points, 17 boards) had another huge game, Johnson (three points in 22 minutes), Beasley (14 points, five rebounds) and Ridnour (DNP) hardly contributed.
True, New Orleans big man Emeka Okafor didn’t play in that latter contest, and he’s due back tonight after misesing eight of the team’s last nine games with a muscle pull in his abdomen. However, you know Okafor won’t be close to 100 percent, and besides he was a non-factor in the first meeting (nine points, eight rebounds).
To further illustrate that the TWolves are a bad matchup for New Orleans, consider this: Minnesota is 7-2 ATS in the last nine meetings, including 4-0 ATS at home and 6-1 ATS as an underdog. And even though the Hornets had been on a seven-game SU winning streak in this rivalry prior to the TWolves winning the initial two meetings this season, look at the scores of those seven Hornets victories: 114-86 (in New Orleans), 96-94 (in Minnesota), 97-96 (in Minnesota), 98-89 (in New Orleans), 94-93 (in New Orleans) and 101-97 (in New Orleans, with the Hornets barely covering as a 2½-point favorite).
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, how do even trust the Hornets to win right now, let alone cover a number? They’ve lost nine of their last 12 games (going 2-10 ATS overall and 2-8 ATS as a favorite), going 1-6 SU and ATS on the road during this span.
Given that, plus Minnesota’s two wins over New Orleans this year, plus the TWolves’ recent spread-covering success against the Hornets, this pointspread doesn’t make any sense. All over the home ‘dog here, and an outright upset is well within reason.
JB Sports
3* Portland
2* Atlanta
1* Washington
1* New Orleans
Keith Glantz
25* Knicks
25* Bobcats
Joe D'Amico
Jazz at Pacers
Pick: Pacers -6
Back in December, Utah thumped Indiana 110-88. Recently, the Jazz dealt away their team leader and best player, Deron Williams. Their long-time HC, Jerry Sloan retired. They now have a replacement coach, and newly acquired Devin Harris and Derrick favors. It’s going to take a while for the team to mesh. They face an Indiana squad that is 6-1 SU at home their L7. Can you say “Payback?” The Jazz are 2-6 ATS their L8 games played at the Pacers, 4-10 ATS their L14 games played on 1 days rest, and 7-19 ATS their L26 overall. The Pacers are 9-1-1 ATS their L11 as a home favorite of 5-10 ½ points, 34-16-3 ATS their l53 games played on 1 days rest, and 7-3 ATS their L10 vs. the NBA Northwest. Take Indiana.
The Duke's Sport
Indiana (-6) for 2.5 Units
The Pacers are out to avenge their 110-88 loss at Utah back on December 1st. This is a good time to do it considering the current state of both teams. The Pacers are 9-3 SU / 7-5 ATS since Vogel took over as interim HC. The area of productivity most apparent during Vogel's promotion is the Pacers' offensive productivity; after all, they've averaged 107 ppg over that stretch. The Pacers are catching the Jazz in a downward spiral on a 7-19 ATS slide; moreover, it will probably get worse now that Sloan (resigned Feb 10) won't be stressing defense only like he could. Furthermore, the Jazz' offensive chemistry will be altered to the downside without one of the top PG in the league (Williams) running the show. Earl Watson struggled running it at Dallas Wednesday. In the Sloan/Williams era, the Jazz weren't very productive on 1 day rest (4-10 ATS) nor were they after allowing 100+ points (6-13 ATS). We see Corbin (new HC) dropping to 0-5 SU / 1-4 ATS here. The Pacers are a sweet 9-1-1 ATS as a home favorite in this range and should deliver.