Frank Jordan
Dallas Mavericks vs. Orlando Magic
Play: Dallas Mavericks +6
Dallas' lead is down to just one over San Antonio as they 17-12 on the road Mavericks head to Orlando. The Magic are in first place, are 21-5 and have won 8-2 in their last 10. Orlando is just 11-7 against the West while Dallas is 14-5 against the East. Look for Dirk and Dallas to be too much for the Magic to handle even at home as the the Mavericks shoot their way to the win. Play Dallas
Tom Freese
Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors
Prediction: Utah Jazz
Golden St is 14-38 Staight up this year. Shooting guard Monta Ellis scores 26.2 points a game. Forward Corey Maggette scores 20.4 points a game. Point guard Stephen Curry scores 14.9 points a game. Guard Anthony Morrow scores 12.9 points a game and forward Anthony Randolph scores 11.6 points a game. The Warriors are 20-38 ATS off a home win and they are 16-29 ATS off a home win by over 10 points. Utah is 34-19 Straight Up this year. Power Forward Carlos Boozer scores 19.2 points and 10.8 rebounds a game. Point Guard Derron Williams scores 18.5 points a game while dishing out 9.9 assists a game. Center Mehmet Okur scores 12.4 points a game. Andrei Kirilenko scores 12.3 points a game. Paul Millsap scores 11.6 points a game. Three other players score between 9.5 and 8.1 points a game. Utah scores 102 points a game. The Jazz are 8-0-1 ATS their last 9 games and they are 7-1 ATS when playing with one day of rest. PLAY ON UTAH -
Hollywood Sports
Chicago Bulls at Minnesota Timberwolves
Prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves
Despite their 13-42 record, Minnesota is quietly becoming a strong play when they are on their home court. While the Timberwolves have lost four in a row, only one of these games were at home -- a 1-point loss (and cover) against Charlotte. The T'Wolves had won their previous three home games before that setback. Furthermore, Minnesota has covered eight straight games at home -- and five of these games for the T'Wolves were as underdogs. Additionally, Minnesota has covered ten of their last eleven home games as underdogs of under five points. And the T'Wolves play well in winnable situations as they have covered thirteen of their last sixteen home games against teams with a losing record on the road. Enter Chicago (27-26) who are just 11-17 on the road this season. The Bulls have won two straight games in back-to-back games against the Knicks (playing without Nate Robinson) this week. But Chicago has failed to cover the spread in four of their last five road games as a favorite while they have also failed to cover the spread in five of their last seven road games against teams with a losing record at home. The Bulls will likely still be without Joakim Noah who remains listed as doubtful with his foot injury. Expect the Timberwolves to keep this game very close -- with an outright win being a very real possibility. Take the points with Minnesota.
BEN BURNS
Belarus @ Sweden
PICK: Sweden
This should be a mismatch. Yet, because the Swedes only won by two goals (2-0) vs. Germany, the line remains reasonably low, relatively speaking. Let's not forget that the Swedes are the defending champs and that they returned 13 players from that team. Also, keep in mind that they have six players on their roster who have won the Stanley Cup.
On the other hand, Belarus doesn't have much talent at all. The Belarusion team lost its opener by a score of 5-1 (vs. Finland) and it could have easily been worse.
Captain Ruslan Salei acknowledged as much. He was quoted as saying: "If we don't have a goalie, we don't have no chance. It's tough to compete with their skill level and pretty much everything else. Obviously, we don't have that horsepower that they have."
Making matters worse for the Belarusions, they're playing without NHL players, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski, both out with injuries.
The defending champs got off to a slow start vs. the Germans but eventually got it together. Goalie Henrik Lundqvuist noted: "At the beginning of the game, we were nervous and anxious. But we didn't panic..."
I expect them to put together a full effort here, winning with relative ease. Consider Sweden
Scott Rickenbach
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Charlotte Bobcats
PICK: Charlotte Bobcats +5
Very tough spot for Cleveland here. The Cavaliers had a nice long layoff with the All Star break and some generous scheduling that didn’t put them back into play until last night’s game versus Denver. Of course that was Game One of a big TNT double-header (the norm on a Thursday night) and the Cavs may “run out of gas” after battling with the Nuggets last night. While the Cavaliers head into this game in a “no rest” situation, the Bobcats come in well rested as they have been off since Tuesday’s home game against New Jersey. Also, while Charlotte is in a “Nets-Bucks sandwich” since Milwaukee is on deck, they certainly will have their full focus and attention on LeBron James and Company here. Conversely, the Cavaliers not only had the big Thursday night game versus the Nuggets, they also have a big game on deck as they visit Orlando on Sunday.
That makes this a very tough “sandwich spot” for the Cavaliers and we’re going to ride the rested and focused Bobcats against a Cavs team that is clearly in a “letdown/lookahead” spot! Because it’s LeBron and Company, we get line value (as usual) and note that the standings at the All Star break showed Charlotte with a better home record (19-6) than the Cavaliers home record (19-8). Having been so hot to wrap up the first half of the season, Cleveland is simply overvalued at this point and, as a result, the value is in going against them and that is particularly true when all the parameters line up like they do here. Big edges for the Bobcats from a situational perspective and we’ll take advantage of those. Consider a small play on Charlotte in the NBA Friday.
Jimmy Boyd
1 Unit on Bulls/T-Wolves UNDER 205.5
With Joakim Noah listed as doubtful, and with Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons being shipped out, I don't expect the Bulls to be as sharp offensively tonight. Plus, the Under is 5-0 in the Bulls' last 5 games as a road favorite. Minnesota has been an Unders machine at home this season. In fact, the Under is 21-9-1 in the Timberwolves' last 31 home games. The Under has especially been prevalent when Minnesota has found itself in the home dog role. The Under is 12-3 in the Timberwolves' last 15 games as a home underdog of 4.5 or fewer points and 23-8-1 in their last 32 games as a home underdog period. With Chicago likely having some chemistry issues tonight as it misses a couple key players, and with Minnesota looking to clamp down on the defensive end after head coach Kurt Rambis questioned his team's effort, we look for this one to stay Under the number.
Jimmy the Moose
San Antonio Spurs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Play: Philadelphia 76ers +3
The Spurs are 31-21 SU on the year but at the window they are 25-26-1 ATS. On the road San Antonio is only 12-11 SU and 10-13 ATS. The Spurs are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 overall coming into this one. San Antonio is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 as a favorite and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 as a road favorite. In their last 5 vs. a team from the Eastern Conference the Spurs are 1-4 ATS and in their last 27 vs. a team from the Atlantic Division they are 7-18-2 ATS.
Prior to dropping their last 2 the 76ers were playing some good ball having won 5 straight. Philadelphia is 13-6 ATS in their last 19 game as a home dog between 0.5-4.5 points. In their last 5 games vs. a team from the Western Conference they are 4-1 ATS and in their last 4 vs. a team from the Southwest they are 4-0 ATS. Philadelphia is a younger team than the Spurs and looks for their energy and youth to help them in this one.
San Antonio is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 trips to Philadelphia. In the last 18 meetings overall the 76ers are a money making 15-3 vs. the Spurs. Philadelphia has covered the line in the last 5 meetings and will do so again tonight.
SPORTS WAGERS
WASHINGTON +6/+1.97 over Denver
All action last night was focused on the Nuggets/Cav’s in a game that saw the Nuggets break the Cav’s 13-game winning streak. It was also the Nuggets first game since learning about George Carl’s sad news. The Nuggets responded big-time and played their hearts out in a game that had the intensity level of a playoff contest. The Nuggets last five opponents have been the Lakers, Jazz, Mav’s, Spurs and Cav’s, all big games and now they’ll fly into Washington to play a bottom feeder before heading home to play the Celtics on Sunday. This is the absolute perfect setup for a letdown and one really has to wonder what will motivate the Nuggets here. This game is more of an inconvenience for the Nuggets than anything else and you can be damn sure they’ll be looking ahead to Sunday’s nationally televised home game on ABC against the Celtics. The Wizards will show up and with a new look and new attitude, they’re in a perfect spot to pull the upset. Play: Washington +6 (Risking 1.05 units to win 1). Play: Washington +1.97 (Risking 1 unit).
Toronto –3 over NEW JERSEY
This is another one of those small favorites on the road that look too good but this Raptor team is coming off a loss at home in a game they were flat in and that’s unlikely to be the case here. Furthermore, the Raps are a team that is usually undervalued because of a lack of coverage or interest in the States. What is certain is that the Raps are so superior to these Nets in every way. Toronto has eight players that are all very capable of scoring double-digits and after a poor shooting night against Memphis it’s unlikely they’ll suffer the same fate here. The Nets are coming off a very nice win in Charlotte and a subsequent “good” three-loss at home to the Heat. However, they had a six-point lead in that game with 4½ minutes to go and D-Wade went down in the first quarter. The bottom line is that the Raps have no excuses for not being focused and as the superior team by a wide margin they should breeze past this putrid host. Play: Toronto –3 (Risking 2.1 units to win 2).
Bryan Leonard
William & Mary at Iona
Bracket Buster weekend gets underway tonight with two games featuring elite squads from their given conferences. William & Mary started the season on fire before losing some tough close games. But they have resumed their winning ways and have been especially good in tight contests which is what we expect tonight at Iona.
Iona is four games behind first place Siena in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. But they can get a preferable seed in the conference tournament if they can knock off Fairfield in their next game. Both squads are 11-5 and in second place in the conference. The Gaels have the far more important game on tap than the Tribe so the higher motivated squad will be William & Mary. That's enough to get us to take the points in what clearly will be a hard fought defensive struggle.
PLAY WILLIAM & MARY
Denver Money
1* Chicago Bulls -1
The Chicago Bulls will look to end a losing streak in Minnesota tonight when they face off against the Timberwolves. The Bulls have lost 4 straight in Minnesota dating back to their last win on Feb 13 2005. I don't think the trade of Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons will affect the play of the Bulls. This will be a spot for Derrick Rose to step up along with Joakim Noah (listed as day-to-day) and Kirk Hinrich who carried the Bulls to victory against the T'Wolves back on Jan 9th. The Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against the Western Conference and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Timberwolves have been playing much better lately going 8-0 ATS in their last 8 at home. Minnesota is also 10-1 in thier last 11 games as a home dog of .5-4.5. But they are also 0-4 ATS in their last 4 against the NBA Central while the Bulls are 5-1 ATS against the Western Confernence in last 6 games. Bulls are still playing for a playoff spot and getting this road victory tonight could help with motivation.
Lenny Del Genio
CHL +3.5 vs CLE
This is a tough spot for Cleveland and the Bobcats are a team that historically given them some difficulty. In fact, Charlotte has beaten the Cavs outright in two of three meetings this season, covering the spread in all of them! Obviously, you are aware of Cleveland's recent high-profile acquisition of Antawn Jamison. This will only serve to finally drive away any potential line value left with this team. They are also off a crushing OT loss to Denver last night at home, their first SU loss in 14 games. For Charlotte, this is not just an opportunity to play the team with the best record, it is also a chance to atone from what is most likely the team's most embarrassing decision of the season, a 103-94 home loss to New Jersey as 11-point favorites. It was their fourth consecutive ATS defeat as well. Note that home teams, playing its third or fewer game in 10 days, off a home loss are 49-19 ATS the last five NBA seasons. Take Charlotte.
Ron Raymond
MIN / CHI Over 205.5
When CHICAGO team played as a Road team - During the month of February - Total is between 200 to 205 - Allowed 110 or less points AGAINST in their last game; the OVER is 12-2-0 for the Bulls in this role.
Roz Juarbe
Celtics at Blazers
Boston is 2-0 on this road trip, one that the players are talking about defining the second half of the season. They played sensational defense at LA last night, holding the Lakers to 2 points in the final 7+ minutes! Portland will be without centers Greg Oden (left knee) and Joel Przybilla (right knee). Forward Nicolas Batum (illness) is probable, which is why they added Marcus Camby this week. The Blazers have lost eight of the last nine games against the Celtics and Boston looks as healthy as they’ve been all season. Play the Celtics.
Teddy Covers
Toronto Raptors @ New Jersey Nets
PICK: Toronto Raptors -2
We’re getting the usual betting market over-reaction to a key player’s absence tonight as Toronto travels to New Jersey to take on the Nets. Yes, Chris Bosh is not expected to suit up for the Raptors, missing his first game of the season. But teams around the league play well in their first game without their star. We saw Denver win and cover without Carmelo Anthony, New Orleans win and cover without Chris Paul, LA win and cover without Kobe Bryant, Boston win and cover without Paul Pierce – I think you get my point. Anytime a star goes down, his teammates tend to use that opportunity to step up – at least for one game. Savvy bettors make money off this angle every single year; 2010 being no exception to the rule.
The Raptors got beaten up on their home floor by Memphis in their first game out of the All Star break. Bosh scored 32; the other Raptors starters combined for only 27 points. Head coach Jay Triano: “We got off to a slow start and we were very sluggish. We had a hard time getting it going at all.” Expect a much better effort from the Raptors here, now that they’ve had a game to brush off their post All-Star break rust. And this is one spot where we can expect the Raptors starters to step up after their sluggish showing last time out.
New Jersey has been covering pointspreads of late; 7-2-1 ATS in their last ten, despite a 1-9 SU record during that span. But the Nets still aren’t winning tight games -- crucial in this pointspread range -- unable to hit big shots or get stops during crunchtime. The Nets are a woeful 1-11 SU in games decided by five points or less. New Jersey has no discernable homecourt edge, just 3-22 SU on their floor this year. And they’ve proven that they can’t trade points with high octane offensive teams like the Raptors (Toronto has scored 100+ in 18 straight games), losing both previous meetings to Toronto by a combined total of 32 points. 2* Take Toronto.
Black Widow
1* on Dallas Mavericks +6.5
The Mavs are a serious contender in the West now that they added Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood from Washington. Dallas struggled in their first game with these two adjusting to their new system, losing at Oklahoma City which was the Thunder's 7th straight win. But they rebounded the following night, beating Phoenix 107-97 at home. In their 3rd game in a Mavs' uniform tonight, Butler and Haywood will be even more comfortable as Dallas travels to Orlando to take on the Magic. This line has been inflated, as Dallas has been one of the best road teams in the league, going 17-12 S.U. & 16-13 ATS this season. The Magic are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Western Conference. Orlando is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 vs. NBA Southwest opponents. The underdog is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings and the road team is a perfect 6-0 ATS in the last 6 meetings. Take Dallas and the points.