Evan Altemus
Oklahoma City +2
Oklahoma City is much better than oddsmakers are giving them credit for this season. The Thunder also will be featured in another nationally televised game on ESPN tonight. They dominated Milwaukee in their last national TV game, as the young team came out very motivated with something to prove. Dallas has been a good road team this season, but they haven’t played particularly well lately. The Mavericks are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games with very close wins against Charlotte, Phoenix, and New Orleans. They also have a home game against Houston looming 2 days from now. I don’t expect them to take this game as seriously as Oklahoma City will. The Thunder are coming off two straight losses to Cleveland and Denver, so they will be eager to turn things around in this game. Look for Oklahoma City to get the home win.
3 UNIT SELECTION THUNDER
Bob Balfe
LA Lakers -5.5
Lenny Del Genio
Denver -7.5
If 'disgraced' former referee Tim Donaghy's allegations are true than the Houston Rockets could be in some trouble tonight. HC Rick Adelman spent his Monday by criticizing the league for setting his team up with 'so many' back to back situations over the next two weeks (team will play four). "Every team should have a chance where they're home a little bit," he said. "We have no chance. This is the most ridiculous schedule I've ever seen." Welcome to the NBA, Rick, and thanks for the heads up. If Adelman was so worried about this, then why did he play three of his players (Brooks, Budinger and Scola) 40+ minutes in last night's home win over Detroit? We're not worried in the least about the return of Tracy McGrady, who just desperately wants to accept an unwarranted All-Star starting selection. Meanwhile, its back to the old rested Nuggets playing at home vs. an unrested visitor angle for us. Denver is 34-15 ATS coming off a home win and 37-17 ATS if they were a home favorite last game. Nuggets have just barely missed out on covering last two games. They get it done tonight. Take Denver.
CHARLIE
500* Miss St -11
500* Clemson -14
500* San Antonio @ Golden St Over 214
30* Atlanta -9
20* Charlotte +4
20* Cincinnati -1'
10* Illinois St +2
OK City +2 Free Play
Kiki Sports
2* NBA GOM - Atlanta
Young Guns
5* Minnesota
3* Dallas
Tim Trushel
Sacramento Over
Ohio U
Seabass
NBA
100* Minn
100* Det
NCAAB
200* Richmond
100* UAB
NHL
50* NYR
NHL PRO PICKS
Montreal +176
NY Islanders +140
Carolina +111
Phoenix +115
St. Louis +209
BEN BURNS
I'm playing on Dallas and Oklahoma City to finish UNDER the total. I played on the Mavericks to finish below the total in their most recent game. That resulted in a relatively easy winner as they combined with the Hornets for just 184 points. It was the fifth time in their last six games that the Mavs had combined with their opponent for less than 200 points - the other had 203 and that was against high-scoring Phoenix - a game that had a total of 216.5. Overall, four of those six games stayed below the total with an average combined score of only 186. The Thunder have also been involved in a number of low-scoring games recently. In fact, the UNDER is a perfect 4-0 their last four games. Even though they've played some high-scoring teams, like Denver and Golden State, none of those games finished with greater than 196 points. The Mavs haven't played at team from the Northwest Division since way back on 11/13. That games, which came vs. Minnesota, produced a mere 166 combined points. Including that result, they've seen the UNDER go a highly profitable 64-33 their last 97 games vs. foes from the Northwest. Given those stats, its not surprising to learn that the Mavs have seen the UNDER go 6-2 the last eight times that they faced the Thunder/Sonics. Looking back further and we find the UNDER at 12-5 the last 17 meetings in this series. That includes a 8-1 mark when the Thunder/Sonics were the home team. The Mavs only previous trip to OKC saw the teams combine for 183 points. I expect another relatively low-scoring affair this evening. Note that the total has climbed a couple of points from its opener, providing us with some additional line value. *8 Blue Chip
I'm taking the points with UAB. The Bearcats have already recorded some big wins and are certainly worthy of respect. That said, given the situation and venue, I believe that the wrong team is favored in this one.
Cincinnati is off a very tough double-OT loss vs. rival Xavier on Sunday. That was their first true road game and even Coach Cronin acknowledged: "My guys lost their cool. We were concerned about everything except executing offensively and defensively..." That type of loss can be tough to recover from, particularly as they battled back only to eventually lose. Now, they take on a well-rested UAB team which has won seven straight games and which is perfect at home on the season.
While the Bearcats may still be thinking about the Xavier loss, this is a very important game for the Blazers. UAB admittedly lost a number of key players from last year's team. However, the cupboard is far from bare. Elijah Millsap (Paul's brother) has been excellent. He's averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds. Senior F Howard Crawford, the team's top returning scorer from last year, is averaging a healthy 14.2 points and 3.9 boards. Meanwhile Jamarr Sanders is contributing 11.3 points and four rebounds per game, while averaging 2.7 assists. Speaking of assists, Aaron Johnson is leading the team with 4.2 assists per game, to go along with his 9.4 points. The junior produced 123 assists with just 63 turnovers last season. He's one of the Blazers' all-time assist leaders and UAB entered this season with a 26-7 record when he'd managed at least four assists.
That's not all though. The NCAA ruled that transfers George Drake and Kenneth Cooper, both of who already graduated from their previous schools, were eligible to play for the Blazers this season. The pair or seniors are combining to average 14.5 points and 8.2 rebounds. Prior to the season, Coach Davis had this to say of the NCAA ruling: "This is great news. You are talking about two fifth-year seniors with over 170 college games played between them. They will give us leadership, depth and maturity. We are very excited to have them cleared to play with us..."
UAB lost by seven at Cincinnati last season. They crushed the Bearcats (73-54) when the teams met here the previous season though. They also won 80-69 the previous time (2004) that they hosted the Bearcats.
The Bearcats are 0-3 ATS their last three games and 1-4 ATS the last five times that they were listed as favorites. They're just 2-8-1 ATS the last 11 times that they were favored by two points or less. They're 2-5 ATS their last seven against CUSA teams and 3-9-1 ATS the last 13 times that they played a road game with a total in the 120s.
While the Blazers haven't played the type of schedule that Cincinnati has, this is their chance to show that they're capable of playing with and beating a good team from a top tier conference. They've had the game circled and I expect them to rise to the challenge, scoring the minor upset. *10 Best Bet
Erin Rynning
Playmaker - Wizards +3.5
Rockets Under 207
igz1 sports
3* New Jersey PL +155
Eric Degarde
3* Sacramento -3
PRIMETIME SPORTS ADVISORS
1 Unit Minnesota -1
1 Unit Milwaukee +5
1 Unit Cincinnati -1.5
1 Unit Oregon State -4
1 Unit Stanford -2
1 Unit Ohio -1
ASA
3* Oregon St -4
3* UAB +2