Alatex
20* St. Louis
JEFF ALEXANDER
5* Heat/Pistons Over 187
4* Jazz -13
Computer Crushers Guaranteed Selections
NBA CRUSHER BLOWOUT WINNER
Atlanta -1
MATT MOORE
BLAZERS -10.5
Wunderdog
3 Units Carolina +150
JIMMY BOYD
4* Toronto Raptors -10
3* Boston Celtics -2.5
4* Saint Louis
Larry Ness
St. Louis
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
10* Montreal -170
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on the home side.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 4-1 win at Atlanta but I expect a letdown tonight.
Montreal crushed the Hurricanes 5-1 in Carolina back on December 23rd.
It's interesting to point out that Carolina is in fact a horrible 6-13 (-5.7 units) revenging a home loss vs. an opponent.
On the other side of the rink: The Canadiens fell to 1-2-2 in their last five games with Saturday’s 4-2 home loss to New Jersey.
Regaining its form on the powerplay will definitely turn this teams fortunes around; the Canadiens are No. 2 in the National Hockey League with a success rate of 22.3 percent, but they have struggled since the Olympic break. The power play went 0-for-4 Saturday night in a 4-2 loss to the Devils, and it is 6-for-47 -- a success rate of 12.7 percent -- since the break.
Remember though, the Habs are 4-2 their last six in front of the home town faithful.
Bottom line: The Canadiens sit in sixth place in the East and know that every game is important from here on out; I believe they start their playoff push with a big effort tonight; look for MONTREAL to improve to 22-13 (+10 units) vs. teams with a losing record and for Carolina to fall to 5-21 (-14.9 units) in a road game with a total of 5 1/2.
Tony George
VCU -1.5
This is best of out 3 series and apparently the young Bilikins of St Louis have met their match. VCU has been a solid team all year, and won the first game by 12 points at home. The problem is against VCU who averages almost 80 ppg, you have to score to win, and St. Louis has averaged just 60 ppg their last 5 games, and that does not cut it against VCU, who will trade punches on offense with anyone left standing here. Also a HUGE rebounding advantage for VCU here which means cheap baskets, and all they need is one extra with this cheap line to cover, I will lay the number. Play 2 Units on VCU
Marc Lawrence
Saint Louis +1.5
The Billikens host the Rams in Game Two of the CBI Tournament Championship Series with elimination looming should the lose tonight. We don't see that happening, not with St. Louis head coach Rick Majerus a sobering 123-10 SU at home in his college career against non-conference foes. Majerus is also 12-4 ATS as a home dog with St. Louis, including 2-0 SU and ATS when playing with same season loss revenge (Rams beat Billikens, 68-56 on Monday). In addition, St. Louis is 30-9 ATS as a home dog in games off a loss, including 10-0 ATS when playing with same season double-digit loss revenge. With VCU 0-4 SU and 1-3 ATS away versus .600 or greater opponents this season, look for this series to extend to three full games on Friday. We recommend a 3-unit play on St. Louis.
Bob Balfe
Toronto -10
The Toronto Raptors are fighting with the Chicago Bulls for the last playoff spot in the East. The Raptors have a big edge, especially considering all of the injuries for Chicago. These next two weeks present opportunities for the Raptors to take control of the 8 seed. They must win games against lousy teams (such as tonight) and they will be playing their best basketball in order to do so. The Clippers are awful, for lack of a better word. Without Baron Davis in the lineup, their scoring average will be below par. Toronto has to win this game and there is a reason that the line is so high, however it should be a lot higher given the circumstances. The Raptors have owned this series and will get another big win tonight that will further deflate the Bulls-who I will be keeping a close eye on down the stretch (lot of opportunity playing Chicago as they battle for the last playoff spot). Take Toronto.
Mike Lineback
Warriors/Jazz Under 232.5
The Duke's Sports
Saint Louis (+1) for 2.5 Units
We're jumping back o the Billikens here in the elimination game of the CBI Tournament Championship. Monday, in Game 1, VCU was able to score 25 points off 16 Billikens' turnovers tonight, on the strong home floor of the Billikens', where they defeated the likes of Richmond, Dayton, Rhode Island, they'll be able to slow the Rams' frenetic pace down and lock down defensively - forcing VCU to play out of character in a half court offense highly dependent on Saunders. St. Louis is a solid 6-2 ATS off a SU loss and 17-8 ATS as a small home dog. We'll look for veteran coach Majerus to push the right buttons here.
JR O'Donnell
MIL +9.5 vs CLE
Jr O is all over the 41-32 hot Milwaukee Bucks tonight. We will take the point as the Bucks own a 15-3 83% ATS record in this spot off a game the night before. They blasted the Clippers last night by 18. These Bucks have been playing well all season in back to back situations.We will grab the generous points as this road dog will stay inside the #. Cleveland will have all they can handle with the Bucks Wednesday. Cleveland is a sub par ATS cover play at home with a 15-21 record. Jr O moving to the Pro venue and we have followed the surprising Bucks since J Salmons came to the team. He is averaging 20+ points in 21 games since the trade.
Jeff Benton
15 Dime Miami Heat