Wunderdog
Pittsburgh -130
Ottawa +200
Buffalo / Boston Under 5.5
Tampa Bay / Atlanta Under 6
Toronto -115
Nashville / Colorado Under 5.5
Larry Ness
10* Hawaii -3.5
Jeff Benton
10 Dime Portland
Portland has delivered a very predictable season to this point. Match up the Pilots against strong opposition and the results are pretty ugly: 13-point loss at Gonzaga, 22-point loss at Washington, 16-point loss at Washington State, 31-point loss at Kentucky. But when Portland has been allowed to play the role of bully, it has come through strong, going 14-0 against lesser foes. That includes 10 wins of nine points or more.
Well, it goes without saying that San Francisco falls into the “lesser foe” category – certainly, the Dons aren’t in the same league as the Gonzaga's, Washington's, Washington States and Kentucky's of the world. Although it has won four of its last five (including three double-digit wins), San Francisco is still just 8-10 on the season. Its last four victims were Santa Clara and San Diego (two conference opponents that are a combined 13-24 this season), plus Dominican and Hampton. The Dons have also taken down such powerhouses as Seattle, Holy Names (what?) and Montana (in overtime at home).
San Francisco has lost four straight games to Portland by scores of 78-60, 72-67, 74-58 and 70-59. And while it’s true the Dogs are 11-1 ATS in their last 12 conference games, they also cashed in just one of those four contests against Portland (additionally, the favorite is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings and the road team is 6-2-1 ATS in the last nine).
Throw in the fact that A) the chalk is 14-3-1 ATS in Portland’s 18 lined games this season and B) the Pilots (73.3 percent) are the better free-throw shooting team than San Francisco (65 percent), and getting the superior all-around team at this cheap price (even on the road) is a bargain we cannot pass up.
Helmut
Wisconsin Over 126.5
Washington Over 154
Larry Ness
10* Hawaii -3.5
Las Vegas Insider - UCLA
Dr Bob
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
MR EAST
3 UNITS: EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHERS +14
Murray St. won 31 games a year ago and knocked of Vandy in the NCAA Tournament, and lost to runnerup Butler by just 2 points. The Racers still have a lot of key pieces left from that team, but they simply aren't playing as hungry. The ledger shows a 12-5 mark, but they own just a single win on the season by more than 14 points. Compare that to last year's team which shows them winning 20 games by 14 points or more. Eastern Illinois loves to slow things down making a big number harder to catch. The Panthers have held 10 of their last 11 opponents in the 60s or less (OT not included), and 5 of their last 9 in the 50s. None of their last 11 games have resulted in a loss that would cover this number. The Panthers are 6-1 ATS taking 10.5 or more, and are now 11-1 ATS facing a team with a winning record, 10-1 ATS if that team is over .600. Racers just 9-20-1 ATS after an ATS win. Panthers are now 8-3 ATS in their last 11 vs Murray St. and 6-1 ATS in this building. I'll go with eastern Illinois here
Stan Lisowski
3* Clippers / Blazers Under 194.5
Both clubs are playing their 3rd game in 4 days so the legs might not be there, and scoring down; especially with LA stars Griffin and Gordon a bit banged up while Portland is short-handed to begin with and are off of OT last night. The Blazers have an average score of 187.5 in their games played back-to-back this season.
Bill Marzano
Arizona at Washington
Pick: Arizona +9.5
I really like Arizona + the points in this game vs Washington...don't get me wrong, the Huskies are a pretty solid basketball team and boy can they score but so can Arizona...either way this is going to be a high scoring competitive basketball game...points will be plentiful and I expect Arizona to give Washington all they can handle...take the points
Marc Lawrence
Chicago Bulls -3.5
When the Mavericks meet the Bulls in Chicago Thursday evening Dallas will take the court after having played at home against the Lakers last night. That sets the table for tonight play as our powerful database notes that NBA road teams off a home game the previous day that was preceded by a four-plus road trip are just 6-22-1 ATS when facing an opponent off a SU favorite loss, including 0-15 ATS as a dog before Game 56 of the season. With the Mavs just 8-17-1 ATS away in games after facing the Lakers and Chicago standing 6-1-1 ATS the last eight games in this series, look for the Bulls to improve to 3-0 ATS in games off a SU favorite loss this season here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Chicago.
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
8* Anaheim / Toronto Under 5.5
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the "under":
The Ducks have seen the total go "under" the number in 28 of 47 games this year (with two "pushes"), including in 15 of 24 on the road; on Tuesday they won in Ottawa 2-1 in a shootout.
Note that the total has gone "under" the number in 11 of the Ducks last 16 on the road overall; also in 15 of 22 when playing against a team with a losing record.
On the other side of the ice: The Leafs have seen the total go "under" the number in 24 of 43 oval (with two "pushes"; last night of course they were hammered 7-0 by the Rangers in New York; suffice to say I expect an extremely concerted effort on the defensive side of the ice this evening; "They made us look silly," coach Ron Wilson said.
Important to take note that Toronto always plays tough at the Air Canada Center; its seen the total go "under" the number in 17 of its last 25 in front of the home town crowd; also in 9 of 17 when playing against a team with a winning record.
Bottom line: JS Giguere will get the start in net tonight after Jonas Gustavson let in 6 of those 7 goals last night; Giguere is 8-7-3 with a 2.73 GAA this year.
His counterpart will be Jonas Hiller who has been on fire of late; he's 7-2-0 with a 1.72 GAA with two shutouts in his last ten-games; he had 39 in the win over the Sens.
8* play on the UNDER!
Lenny Del Genio
Utah St. -22
This is a big spread and deservedly so. Defending WAC champ Utah State has opened conference play with five straight victories, including three straight wins and covers on the road. Tonight, they return to Logan to face a Louisiana Tech squad that has lost its last six games, including three straight as favorites. The Bulldogs are just 6-17 ATS off a SU loss as a fave, including 3-12 when playing on the road. Scoring may be hard to come by for this group this evening as La Tech scored just 48 points last time out while USU allowed just 39 to Fresno State. Last time these teams met was the WAC Tournament in March and we played the Aggies that day, riding them to a 30-point win and cover. Little has changed since then. Take Utah State.
PPP
5% Washington
Mike Neri
Wash St
Cleveland St
Denver U
ATS Lock Club
4 Units Denver U
3 Units UCLA
3 Units Florida Intl