Chris Jordan
My free winner for Friday night is on Siena, as the Saints roll into town with the much-better record than Rider.
While the Broncs (11-16) are sitting in seventh place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Siena boasts an 18-9 mark this season and is sitting comfortably in third place.
With first and second place Monmouth and Iona doing battle tonight, this is a good opportunity for Siena to gain some ground on whichever team loses.
Take the road pup, as Siena will win this outright.
2* SIENA
Gabriel DuPont
Free play for tonight, as I look to improve on my 17-7 runwith complimentary plays: Northern Illinois at BALL STATE (-3)
The STORYLINE in this game today - My complimentary winner is out of MAC play, as I like the Ball State Cardinals to destroy the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Huskies might be 18-8 on the year, and could be a threat in the postseason tournament, but they're going against the leader out of the MAC West, and Ball State wants 20 wins before the tournament.
The X-FACTOR in making this choice on this game - My x-factor is #MuncieOut. Honestly, I have no clue what the hell that is, but it sounds like they're planning something big in Muncie tonight, for this crucial home game against the Huskies. Any time you have a battle for supremacy, combined with a homecourt edge and a promotion, there will be positive hype.
BOTTOM LINE is - Northern Illinois has seen more success at home, as seven of its eight losses have come on the road. Ball State, meanwhile, is 17-9 this season, but is a tremendous 10-4 at home. Look for the Cardinals to handle this one with relative ease.
3* BALL STATE
Brad Wilton
Your Friday freebie is the Hawks over the Heat.
Both teams finally back in action tonight after a long break that saw plenty of trade talk, but certainly not a lot of movement between these 2 combatants.
Miami is now without Chris Bosh for the foreseeable future, and Hassan Whiteside will sit this one out with his one-game suspension.
The Hawks looking for a little payback, as they won and covered the first series meeting this year back in November to put them on a 7-game series winning streak. Problem is, Miami has won and covered the 2 subsequent tilts.
Atlanta is still 4-1 against the spread their past 5 times hosting Miami, and with the Heat compromised with 2 of their key players out, cannot see Miami turning the "hat trick" tonight.
Go ahead and lay it with the Hawks at home.
2* ATLANTA
Jeff Benton
Your Friday freebie is the Raptors over the Bulls.
Chicago was back in action last night, as they suffered another loss, losing in Cleveland 106-95.
Yes, the Bulls did cover as the +12 1/2 point underdogs, but the fact is without Jimmy Butler's scoring, Chicago is just simply not going to stay in too many games.
Chicago has lost 5 in a row, and 7 of their last 8 overall, with just 2 covers in that 8 game stretch.
Toronto eases back into things after the long All-Star break having won 14 of their last 16 games straight up!
Series numbers show total domination by the Bulls with 7 straight wins and covers, but the dynamics this time around are quite different, as Toronto is a "buy" stock these days, while Chicago is a "sell" stock.
Lay the road wood with the Raptors.
5* TORONTO
Andy Iskoe
New York Knicks -4
This situation favors the Knicks as it has given interim coach Kurt Rambis more than a week to put together more of a game plan going forward after replacing Derek Fisher shortly before the All Star break. At one time the Knicks were 20-20 and thinking of the Playoffs as a realistic possibility. But a 110-104 loss on this court to the Nets on January 13 presaged the start of a sharp decline. That loss came following a stretch in which the Knicks had won 5 of 6, going 6-0 ATS. The Knicks followed the Nets loss with a loss at Memphis which was followed by a pair of wins to stand 22-22 on January 20. But since then the Knicks have gone just 1-10 SU (3-8 ATS). The Nets also made a coaching change prior to the All Star break but have not threatened to sniff the Playoffs all season. They start tonight 14-40 and suffer from a general lack of above average talent. In Kristaps Porzingas and Carmelo Anthony the Knicks have the two best players on the court. With both teams fresh following the long All Star break the Knicks' talent should enjoy a significant enough edge to justify laying the two baskets in what is really not much of a road trip going just a few miles south from Madison Square Garden to the Barclays Center where the Knicks likely will enjoy the bulk of the crowd support.
Bruce Marshall
Columbia -8
Harvard has disappeared from the Ivy race quicker than Lincoln Chafee dropped from the Democrat primaries, stumbling to 6 SU losses in its last 7 games, and still without a spread cover in calendar 2016! HC Tommy Amaker has yet to develop offensive options other than 6-9 jr. Zena Edosomwan (only DD scorer at 14.3 ppg). President Obama's alma mater Columbia already won at Cambridge on Jan. 30 and continues to provide spirited chase to Yale and Princeton in the Ivy race as the Lions and their four double-digit scorers set themselves up for some kind of postseason invitation.
Vegas Butcher
Detroit Pistons +2
The Pistons made a few moves (Harris, Motiejunas, Thornton) and have gotten healthier (KCP) over the break. Looks like they’ll be trying to make a run here. Facing an inconsistent Washington squad that is playing on a b2b I like Detroit’s chances in this one. The Pistons should control the boards tonight and I don’t see Gortat having as good of a game as he had last night. Drummond will be a load for him to handle. The Pistons lost a close one earlier this season but I think this is a good spot for them to exert some revenge.
Dallas Mavericks +1.5
The Mavs are 19-7 against a team with a ‘losing’ record while the Magic are 8-18 against a team with a winning one. Orlando got rid of Harris and Frye over the break, but brought in Ilyasova and Jennings, two non-factors from my perspective. It’ll be interesting to see how these guys mesh with the youngsters. The Mavs are better offensively, they don’t turn the ball over (#1 in TO-rate), and they utilize a break-but-don’t-break mentality on D, where they control the boards and very rarely send their opponent to the charity stripe. I think Mavs have solid value as an underdog in this matchup.
Minnesota Timberwolves +4.5
Memphis lost Gasol for the season, but they’ve also shipped out Green and Lee during the break. Without their two starting wing-players and without their best player at Center, this team has clearly given up on the season. By comparison, a young Wolves squad has won 3 of the last 4 games, against a teams like LAC, CHI, and TOR. They’ve played the Grizzlies close both times this year, winning one of them. I expect a close game here but to me, the Wolves are underrated at the current number.
Dr. Bob
Opinion - New York (-5) over BROOKLYN
New York played tired in the final couple of weeks before the All-Star Break and they enter the second part of the season hoping to end a 6 game losing streak under their new head coach while also avenging a January loss at Brooklyn. Carmelo Anthony’s knees should feel better after some time off and New York applies to a 178-68-6 ATS bounce-back situation that is 4-0 ATS in the first game after the All-Star Break. The Knicks also apply to a 130-66-3 ATS road favorite revenge situation. My ratings favor New York by 4½ points, so there is no line value, but I like the situation enough to lean with the Knicks at -5 or less and and I’d take New York in a 1-Star Best Bet at -4 or less.