Evan Altemus
1* Kansas St. +5.5
Missouri is coming off of a very tiring overtime loss on Saturday and now has to play two days later in a big game. Kansas State's coach Frank Martin shook up the line-up on Saturday against Texas Tech and the offense rolled to a blowout win. They also have Curtis Kelly back from suspension too. I'm not too impressed with either of this teams, but Missouri is in a real tough spot here, especially as a big favorite. I think there's great value on the Wildcats because the betting public hasn't caught up to how improved they will be getting Kelly back and with the new line-up change. Look for KSU to win outright.
Erin Rynning
20* Knicks Under
20* Grizzlies
Pacers
76ers Over
Lance Blankenship
Kansas at Baylor
Pick: Under 141
Although Kansas has been very impressive on the offensive end especially with their shooting from the floor, they will be going against a Baylor team who enjoys the 2-3 defensive and their length makes it difficult for teams to pass around it. If Kansas isn't hitting a high percentage of 3 point goals then this can be much lower than anticipated. Playing in Baylor will keep Kansas from raining in the 3 point goals so we see this under the total here.
Helmut
Baylor Under 141.5
Marc Lawrence
3 Units Baylor +4
Jim Feist
15* Thunder
The LA Lakers saw their 7-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the intra-city rivals, the Clippers, 99-92. The Lakers led by double-digits in the third quarter, but Clippers' star Blake Griffin put together a great second half after a shaky first half to bring his club from behind and beat the Lakers. The Lakers have played shaky at times this season, though HC Phil Jackson seems to have them back focused before Sunday's loss. Despite winning seven of eight and nine of 11, the Lakers have only covered two of their last six games and four of their last 13. Meanwhile the Thunder face the Lakers for the first time since last season's playoffs. The Thunder rattled the Lakers in the post season behind their dynamic trio of Durant, Green and Westbrook. Ok City playing just as well if not better this season with a 27-13 mark and 22-17 ATS record. The Thunder have been hot for bettors of late, going 13-5 ATS their last 18 games. The Lakers were six-point home favorites against the Thunder in the playoffs, and we get 5 as an opening number here. I still like the Thunder, especially catching the Lakers in a back-to-back spot. Take the rested Thunder over the Lakers here on Monday.
Crown City Sports
Big East Game Of The Year
7* Pitt -6
RAS
Fresno St -4.5
Lenny Del Genio
Baylor +3.5
We're not afraid of unbeaten and third-ranked Kansas in the least, particularly on the road. We played against the Jayhawks last Wednesday, on TV and on the road, when they visited Ames to play Iowa State and walked away with a pretty easy cover on a Cyclones team that was getting 9.5 points and only lost by five. On Saturday, KU again failed to cover, this time against Nebraska, making it 0-3 ATS their last three games overall, winning by an average of just 5 PPG. Baylor, meanwhile, is off a SU loss at the aformentioned Iowa State, which was a clear sign of a lookahead to this game on their home turf. It's a big revenge spot as well for the Bears, who got to beat just about every Big 12 team LY that had been kicking them around for years, except Kansas. In fact, in the lone meeting some 'home cooking' officiating really benefited the Jayhawks in Lawrence as they beat Baylor 81-75 as 14-point chalk. This will be the first time Baylor has gotten to host Kansas since '09 and note they did beat them that year in the conference tournament. The Bears have won 26 of 27 on their home court, winning the last 15 by an average of greater than 18 PPG. Baylor is our 20* Big Monday Game of the Month.
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
9* Portland -8
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the home side:
The Timberwolves are 20-21 ATS this year; on Saturday they lost 108-99 to the Magic as 8-point underdogs.
This team has struggled both in front of the home town crowd and on the road (particularly away from friendly confines); it's just 2-4 ATS its last 6 overall, but is just 1-14 SU its last 15 on the road; it's 9-12 ATS this year when playing against a team with a winning record.
On the other side of the court: The Blazers are 19-20-2 ATS this year, including 10-8 ATS at the Rose Garden; on Saturday they beat the Nets 96-89, unable to cover as 9 1/2-point favorites.
Portland has struggled to find consistency this season, but always plays its best in front of the home town crowd; 9-2 SU their last 11 played in Portland.
Bottom line: And although they've had an up and down season, Portland has a long history of dominating the Wolves, and we should expect this trend to continue tonight.
LaMarcus Aldridge continues to battle and had 27-points last time out; he's averaging almost 26 points per game and shooting over 53%, while grabbing 10 boards over the last 16 games; he had a career high 36 in a 107-102 win over the Wolves on December 17th.
The Blazers have been allowing just 92.7 points per game at home during their streak; they've defeated the Wolves by an average of 12.8 points during the series streak.
Without Michael Beasley in the line up, the already struggling Wolves are an even leaner team; Corey Brewer is doing his best to fill in; Kevin Love continues to be a bright spot for this team; however the Wolves allow 110.2 points on the road, which ranks 29th in the league.
9* WESTERN-CONFERENCE TOP REPORT on the PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS!