Larry Ness
Toronto -4.5
Lenny Del Genio
Kings / Knicks Under 218.5
Sam Paolini
10* Washington Under 6
Mike Lineback
Pistons/Raptors Over
Dwayne Bryant
Detroit U +5.5
Don Wallace Sports
3* Indiana +1
3* Sacramento +9
3* Boston -9
3* Houston -2
Antony Dinero
Utah -14.5
Anthony Redd
30 Dime LA Clippers
15 Dime LA Clippers 1st Half
Jeff Benton
15 Dime Indiana
5 Dime Celtics-Bobcats Under
Indiana
Just cannot trust the Chicago Bulls on the road right now. They’ve dropped three in a row away from the United Center, and if not for a 95-92 overtime win at Detroit, they’d be on a five-game road losing streak. As it is, Chicago is 17-3 on its own turf but 8-10 as a visitor, failing to cash in its last five on the highway (four times as a favorite).
The Bulls’ last three road losses, while close (96-94, 105-99, 96-91), were all against inferior competition (New Jersey, Philadelphia and Charlotte). In fact, going back to Nov. 26, Chicago has split 10 road games, but the wins were against the Pistons, Wizards, Raptors, Cavaliers and Kings. Those five teams are a combined 51-135, and the victories over the Pistons, Wizards (87-80) and Cavaliers (88-83) were hardly convincing.
Indiana has followed up a 1-6 slump by winning its last two in a row, knocking off the 76ers in Philly (111-103) and the Mavericks at home (102-89). True, Dallas was minus Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler, but it was still a 12-point blowout win for the Pacers, who have also held their own at home against such quality opponents as the Spurs (90-87 loss), Hornets (94-93 win), Thunder (110-106 overtime loss), Magic (90-86 loss) and Nuggets (144-113 win).
The home team has won nine of the last 10 meetings in this rivalry, which includes Chicago’s 92-73 rout of the Pacers on Dec. 13 (putting the Pacers in a bit of a revenge sitluation tonight). Additionally, while the Bulls have failed to cover in five straight road games (0-4 ATS as a road favorite), Indiana is on ATS runs of 8-2-2 against Central Division rivals, 19-9-3 when coming off one day of rest and 3-0-1 when playing on Friday.
Bobcats-Celtics Under
Not sure how the oddsmakers can justify a total this high. Going back to the end of the 2007-08 season, these teams have played eight games against one another. Two went into overtime (and both teams cracked triple digits), but here are the final scores of the other six meetings:
Boston 101, Charlotte 78
Boston 89, Charlotte 84
Boston 92, Charlotte 59
Boston 108, Charlotte 90
Boston 104, Charlotte 80
Boston 93, Charlotte 62
Of those games, only one got over tonight’s total of 187 1/2!
Now, I’m sure the first thought that popped into your head was “given those final scores, why not lay the points with the Celtics tonight?!?!” Answer: Because Boston wil once again be without Kevin Garnett, and I don’t lay upwards of double digits with a team that’s missing one of its best players! Besides, Charlotte is playing with confidence, having won (and covered) four in a row.
Indeed, the Celtics have been a scoring machine at home lately (119, 102, 122, 105 points in the last four games, all of which flew over the total). However, those were against four of the worst defensive teams in the NBA (Sacramento, Houston, Toronto and San Antonio). Also, the Celtics haven’t played five consecutive “overs” at home since the tail end of last season (when they were on cruise control going into the playoffs).
Charlotte is on “under” runs of 11-5 overall, 8-3 as an underdog, 15-4-2 on the road against an opponent with a winning record, 4-1 versus Atlantic Division squads and 7-0 on Friday. Boston has stayed low in six of its last eight against the Eastern Conference.
Finally, when these teams met in Charlotte on Dec. 11, the teams combined to make just 52 of 142 field goals (38.7%) and finished with a combined 155 points – a full 34 points below this posted price! Play this one low.
Chuck O'Brien
20 Dime Cleveland Cavaliers
Craig Davis
30 Dime Wright St
15 Dime San Antonio
Jim Feist
3* Valpariso
2* Pistons
2* Bulls Under
Carolina Sports
5* Fairfield
JB Sports
3* Golden St.
2* Charlotte
Alatex
Detroit U
Wright St