Free Picks: Service Plays for Friday, February, 1

NCAAB

Columbia at Pennsylvania
The Lions look to take advantage of a Penn team that is 0-5-1 ATS in its last 6 Friday games. Columbia is the pick (-3 1/2) according to Dunkel, which has the Lions favored by 6. Dunkel Pick: Columbia (-3 1/2)

Game 825-826: WI-Milwaukee at Valparaiso (8:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: WI-Milwaukee 45.838; Valparaiso 61.927
Dunkel Line: Valparaiso by 16
Vegas Line: Valparaiso by 18 1/2
Dunkel Pick: WI-Milwaukee (+18 1/2)

Game 827-828: Yale at Harvard (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Yale 49.783; Harvard 63.629
Dunkel Line: Harvard by 14
Vegas Line: Harvard by 12
Dunkel Pick: Harvard (-12)

Game 829-830: Cornell at Princeton (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Cornell 48.481; Princeton 63.402
Dunkel Line: Princeton by 15
Vegas Line: Princeton by 13 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Princeton (-13 1/2)

Game 831-832: Columbia at Pennsylvania (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Columbia 52.781; Pennsylvania 46.682
Dunkel Line: Columbia by 6
Vegas Line: Columbia by 3 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Columbia (-3 1/2)

Game 833-834: Brown at Dartmouth (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Brown 46.968; Dartmouth 50.574
Dunkel Line: Dartmouth by 3 1/2
Vegas Line: Dartmouth by 1 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Dartmouth (-1 1/2)

Game 835-836: Youngstown State at Detroit (9:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Youngstown State 55.796; Detroit 66.349
Dunkel Line: Detroit by 10 1/2; 159
Vegas Line: Detroit by 11 1/2; 154
Dunkel Pick: Youngstown State (+11 1/2)

Game 837-838: Manhattan at Siena (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Manhattan 52.032; Siena 47.325
Dunkel Line: Manhattan by 4 1/2; 121
Vegas Line: Manhattan by 3; 118 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Manhattan (-3); Over

Game 839-840: Rider at Fairfield (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Rider 55.522; Fairfield 58.436
Dunkel Line: Fairfield by 3
Vegas Line: Fairfield by 8
Dunkel Pick: Rider (+8)

Bryan PowerFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Portland vs. Utah
Pick: UtahFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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After suffering their worst home loss in franchise history, losing by 45 to Houston on Monday, the Jazz bounced back two nights later with a 104-99 win over the Hornets. But they failed to cover. Expect a different story tonight as they are laying a short number to a Portland team that really struggles on the road. Entering the week, the Jazz was 15-4 SU at home while covering the spread 13 of 19 times.
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The Trail Blazers are 7-14 straight up on the road this season, allowing an average of 101.3 PPG. The team has lost 7 of 10 overall and what's most troubling about that is that most of those losses came at home. This will be only the team's second road game in two weeks. They have lost their last three road games, including a 17-point loss in LA over the weekend. Portland is fortunate not to be on a two-game losing streak as they came from behind to nip Dallas at the buzzer to start the week.
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Utah won all four games with Portland last year. Laying a short number is key considering the Blazers' 13-27 ATS mark the last 40 times they have been a road underdog of six points or less. Meanwhile, Utah is 6-2 ATS this season off back to back ATS losses. The Jazz's scoring average also jumps up a full three points per game here at home.

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Cornell vs. Princeton
Pick: PrincetonFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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When the Tigers host the Big Red in Princeton Friday evening Cornell will take the floor knowing they are 5-13-1 ATS as visitors in this series, including 0-4 ATS the last four visits. With Cornell just 6-12-2 ATS in Ivy League games when playing with a win percentage of less than .590 on the season and off a SU underdog win, we'll stay at home with the Tigers in their den tonight. We recommend a 1-unit play on Princeton.

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Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers
Play: Miami HeatFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Heat have double digit loss revenge in this one and the Pacers apply to a solid system that plays against home teams with 1 day of rest that scored 90 or more as a home favorite, while shooting 45% or less, vs an opponent that scored 100 or more as and shot 50% or higher as a road favorite. These home teams are 1-13 ats. Miami is 40-9 after allowing 85 or less points and have won and covered 3 of 4 in that role this season. Look for Miami to turn up the Heat on the Pacers tonight. Make it Miami.

Jim Feist

Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons
Pick: Detroit Pistons

Cleveland is struggling on defense, allowing 100.7 ppg (24th in the NBA) and with rebounding because of the injury to Anderson Varajeo. The Cavaliers are 5-16 ATS in their last 21 vs. the NBA Central and take on a Detroit team that is 11th in points allowed and is delighted to be home after playing 4 of the last 5 away. The Pistons are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a losing record. The favorite is 20-7 ATS in the last 27 meetings and the Cavaliers are 0-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings. Play the Pistons!

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Columbia at Pennsylvania
Pick: ColumbiaFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Good news for beleaguered Penn as the Quakers should finally have Fran Dougherty back in the lineup following a lengthy absence due to mononucleosis. But this is still a bad basketball team and on paper, it's a pretty good matchup for Columbia. The Lions take good care of the basketball, Penn does not. Columbia is about automatic at the stripe, knocking down 77% of its free throws. The Lions almost never get any offensive boards, but neither do the Quakers. At least Columbia hits the defensive glass pretty well, and that should be the case here as they own a size advantage. Plus, the road team can knock down treys at a decent clip. In other words, Columbia seems to do just about everything a little better than does Pennsylvania. That's enough to warrant a shaky, but it's the best I've got on this razor thin card, call on Columbia to sneak home the win and cover.

DAVID BANKS

Miami Heat -2.5

The Miami Heat (29-13, 21-21 ATS) are coming off of a 20-point statement win over the Nets in Brooklyn, and they now have revenge as a motive when they visit the Indiana Pacers (27-19, 24-22 ATS) Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 7:00 ET on ESPN. The Heat were held to a season low point total the first time these teams met this season in an 87-77 loss right here in this building on January 8th. The Pacers meanwhile just snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday by beating the reeling Detroit Pistons.

The Heat do not always show up for during the regular season, and a noticeable drop-off in defensive intensity compared to last season is a key reason why Miami is just a .500 team against the spread this season, although that record does not vary too much from the ATS records the first two seasons that LeBron James has played at South Beach. The offense has been fine as the Heat rank fifth in the NBA in scoring at 102.7 points per game, and they lead the league in field goal percentage and are second in three-point shooting. The defense has been spotty however, ranking 12th in points against at 96.7 per game. The Heat did show up in the 105-85 win over what had been a hot Nets team on Wednesday, shooting a blazing 51.8 percent from the field including an incredible 57.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc (11-for-19) while holding Brooklyn to only 44.9 percent shooting. Memories of their first trip to Indianapolis should be enough to spur the Heat to another all out effort here vs. an Indiana team that had the Heat on the ropes during the playoffs last season.

The Pacers have cooled off after leading the Central Division for a while as they now find themselves in second place at 1 games behind the Chicago Bulls, Indiana lost the last three games of a just completed Western Conference road trip, and it did not play very well in its first game back home either but was fortunate to be facing the 17-29 Pistons while coming away with the 98-79 victory. The Pacers do continue to play great defense, ranking second in the NBA in points against at a scant 89.9 per game while leading the league in both field goal percentage against and three-point defense. However, a determined Heat team that is averaging 107.0 points over the last five games may not be impressed and even if Miami scores around 90 points, it could be enough to win this game as long as the Miami defense comes to play. That is because Indiana ranks second to last in the NBA in points scored at 91.8 per game, and the Pacers are in danger of dropping to last in that category considering how hot the last place Washington Wizards have been lately.

The Pacers have been rather erratic as of late as they are 1-5 ATS in their last six games following a straight up win. Indiana is also 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games vs. Southeast Division teams.

Dave Busk

Philadelphia (-1.05) over Washington

Very tough spot here in the schedule for the Washington Capitals here after playing Thursday night in Toronto losing their second straight tight game by identical scores of 3-2. Washington will have struggling goalie Braden Holtby in net after not starting the last five games after losing the first two games to start the season. While Holtby may bounce back and play well here the rest of the team will be playing on fumes after flying back from Toronto last night and with tonight marking the Capitals sixth game in the last nine days with including Friday this being the fourth different city that they will play in, extremely hard. Philadelphia on the other hand has been resting since losing to the Rangers on Tuesday in New York 2-1. Now I understand the Flyers have had trouble scoring outside of the Florida game were they put up seven goals on the board but I also understand that this team has young talent that definitely has the ability to do some damage. I will take advantage of the schedule here and take a desperate and rested Philadelphia team on the road.

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Phoenix at Dallas
Pick: Over 5FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Both the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Dallas Stars are off to poor starts on the season as they enter this contest with identical 2-4-1 records. I think they will both smell a win against a struggling opponent and try to put pressure on the defenses with an aggressive style. The Coyotes are allowing over 3 goals a contest, and the Stars have surrendered 13 goals over their last four games. Dallas has played above the total at home. Just one of their last six home tilts have fallen short of the total, while the Coyotes have bagged six OVERs in their last eight overall. Play this one OVER the total.

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Philadelphia -116 over WASHINGTONFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Regulation only. The Capitals played last night in Toronto and led 2-1 in the third period before the Maple Leafs rallied for two goals to deservedly win it, 3-2. Washington was out-shot 40-22 and if not for the goaltending of Michal Neuvirth, the game would not have been close. With their heads down and with one win in seven games, the Caps will head home to play their third game in four days and sixth game in eight days. We would also expect Braden Holtby to get the start here, as Neuvirth has played the previous five (check our starting goaltenders for confirmation). New coach Adam Oates and star player Alex Ovechkin are not a good fit, as OV looks lost out there and it sure doesn't help that Oates has him playing with grinders.
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The Flyers have problems too but one of them is not a lack of talent. They're loaded with pure scorers and it's only a matter of time before they get on a run. Philadelphia has just four points in seven games, one more than the Caps and Flames for the worst total in the league and one point behind the Nash-less Columbus Blue Jackets. Rested, hungry and vastly superior to this free-falling host, the Flyers are very likely to get off the mattress here.
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TAMPA BAY -½ -105 over WinnipegFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Regulation only. We're don’t see how the Jets are going to compete here. Very few teams have performed well in the second game of this two-game set in Florida over the years and we don't expect Winnipeg to have much success either. We saw the Jets run out of gas in the third period last night when they surrendered five third period goals en route to a 6-3 setback to the Panthers and will now play their third road game in four days. Winnipeg has also allowed an alarming 14 goals over its past three games and will now have to face the highest scoring team in the NHL that has more goals in six games than every other team has in seven.
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The Lightning have just one loss on the year and it occurred on the road. At home, they're 4-0 where they have scored five goals or more in every game. The Bolts haven't lost in regulation time against Winnipeg/Atlanta since April 11/09, going 8-0-1 during that stretch and this edition is their best since then. Tampa is well-rested too, as they will play its fourth straight home game here. It's also worth noting that the Bolts are getting solid goaltending from Anders Lindback and when you put it all together, that being form, momentum and scheduling, it should result in an easy Lightning victory.
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St. Louis -104 over DETROITFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Regulation only. The Red Wings are 3-1-1 since an opening night loss to these Blues and that mini-run has them overvalued here. A close look reveals wins against Columbus, Dallas and Minnesota. The Wings injury list is longer than most and they're simply more beatable this year than they've been in well over a decade.
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St. Louis might be the cream of the crop. The Blues have legit players on the ice at all times, as their fourth line could be the second line on a lot of teams in this league. The result of that depth is that they don't have to overwork anyone or lean on two or three guys to produce. From the opening face-off to the final buzzer, to beat the Blues, the opposition has to be near flawless. St. Louis is 6-1 to start the season and that's after playing six games in nine days. St. Louis defeated the Red Wings on opening night 6-0 and there's probably nothing the Red Wings can do here to avenge that lopsided defeat.

Pass NBA & CBB

Sean MurphyFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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St. Louis vs. DetroitFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Pick: OverFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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We'll see a more competitive game than we did back on January 19th, when the Blues skated to an easy 6-0 win on home ice. That doesn't mean we won't see another 'over' result, however. The Blues are known for their stout defense and elite goaltending, but this is a team that can score as well. They've potted exactly four goals in regulation time in each of their last three games, and I feel they're good for at least three tonight. Detroit has been hitting stride offensively as well. The Red Wings have scored five and four goals in their last two home games, sandwiched around a one-goal effort in Chicago - a game in which they fired 30 shots on goal but were stonewalled by a red hot netminder in Corey Crawford. I don't think Detroit is going to win many 2-1 games this season. This isn't the same defensive team we've seen in years' past. They've given up at least three goals in three of their first six games this season. Last year, they held four of their first five opponents to two goals or less. Jimmy Howard has been inconsistent between the pipes, but is coming off back-to-back strong performances. I'm not convinced he can string together a third. The Wings will find a way to crack the Blues defense, however, and I fully expect to see an enertaining, back-and-forth game at the Joe.

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Bucks / Knicks Over 204.5FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Milwaukee has really picked up their scoring since getting rid of Scott Skiles. This is a team that had scored 108 or more points in five straight games before the loss to the Bulls, but Chicago is a very good defensive team, especially at home and even that game went over the total.
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New Yorks' offense has been solid too whenever they step out of the division. The have put up 100 or more in five straight non-division games. The Knicks are scoring 102.7 ppg on their home floor by shooting 39.7% from the 3-point line. I think you are going to see this game go OVER the high number, but since odds makers are catching up to Milwaukee's scoring the value is only there for a small play.

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Winnipeg vs. Tampa BayFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Pick: Tampa Bay -1.5FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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I had a Free Play winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning at home over Ottawa last week and expect the Lightning to pick up an easy winner against the spread in this game. Take the Lightning at home -1.5 goals in a rout.
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The Winnipeg Jets are currently sitting 2nd in the Southeast Division with a record of 3-3-1. They are coming off two straight losses and will be playing their 3rd game in 4 nights on Friday when they take on the Lightning in Tampa Bay. The Jets do not have a great offense and usually score by committee with two defensemen sitting at the top of their scoring leaders list. In 7 games this year Winnipeg is averaging 3 GPG while allowing 3 GPG. The Jets are 1-2-1 on the road this season and have struggled in Tampa Bay losing 8 of their last 10.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning have gotten off to great start to the season, posting a record of 5-1. They have a ton of talent up front with veterans Vincent Lecavlier and Martin St Louis as well as youngsters Cory Conacher and 50 goal man Steven Stamkos. They are #1 in the NHL in scoring, averaging 4.8 GPG. Their special teams have been very good as well as their defensive play. Opposing teams are managing just 2.5 goals against the Lightning defense. GM Steve Yzerman was masterful in the offseason bringing in 3 lettered defenseman. Eric Brewer captained the Blues last season while Matt Carle and Sami Salo were assistants with their respective teams and bring a ton of depth and veteran leadership from the point.
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Take a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning friday with an easy victory ATS.

Jack JonesFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Los Angeles Clippers -4.5FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Los Angeles Clippers continue to play well despite some injury concerns. They have won back-to-back games with a 96-83 home victory over the Blazers, and a 96-90 road win at Minnesota. This will be just their 2nd game in 5 days, so they come in well-rested.
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I believe some of these injury concerns have kept this number lower than it should be. Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups and Matt Barnes are all questionable to play tonight. This team has proven it is as deep as any in the league, so it doesn't matter who suits up.
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Toronto is going through a transitional phase after making the move to get Rudy Gay from Memphis. The Raptors will be short-handed tonight as Gay is expected to sit out. They aren't nearly as deep as the Clippers, and with Jose Calderon and Ed Davis shipped out to their new teams, depth is going to be an issue for them in this one.
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The frustrations are piling up in Toronto as this team has likely reached its boiling point. It has lost eight of its last ten games overall with its only victories coming against the Magic and Lakers, which are two teams with losing records.
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The Clippers have won three straight meetings with the Raptors, including a 102-83 home victory as a 10.5-point favorite in their lone meeting this season. The Raptors are 21-45-1 ATS in their last 67 home games vs. a team with a winning road record. Bet the Clippers Friday.