Joel Tyson
Gotta grab New Orleans minus the points tonight over Chicago, as the Bulls are playing the last of 7 in a row on the road.
Somehow Chicago has won 4 straight on this trip, but tonight does not appear to be their night, as the home team in this series is on a 6-2-1 spread run the last 9 meetings.
The Bulls have been able to win and cover the last 3 in this series, but as I pointed out, they have been way too hot on the road these days, and are due for a setback.
The Hornets have been on an uptick of their own, winning 2 in a row, and 5 of their last 7. I like them to erase the 3 game series skid with the win and cover tonight.
3♦ NEW ORLEANS
Pete Angelo
Portland at Houston
Taking the home team in this one, as the Blazers will continue to try and get by without Brandon Roy - but will fail miserably tonight in Houston.
Portland's offense struggled to get in a groove without its All-Star point guard in Wednesday’s 106-95 loss to Utah, as it missed 15 of its first 16 shots while falling behind 21-2 six minutes into the game.
And since the Blazers haven't had much success in H-Town, losing five straight and 11 of 12 there, I'm thinking this is the right spot for the Rockets to catch fire after opening a season-high six-game homestand with three consecutive losses.
Lay it at home with the chalk.
1♦ HOUSTON ROCKETS
Chuck O'Brien
Take the Grizzlies plus the points at San Antonio in Friday’s NBA action.
You probably don’t know it, but only one game separates these two teams in the Southwest Division standings (Memphis is 25-19; San Antonio is 26-18). And when it comes to covering pointspreads, it’s no contest, as the Grizzlies are 26-17-1 ATS and the Spurs are 22-21-1 ATS.
When examining recent results, you’ll see that the Grizzlies have won three in a row, seven of their last eight and 15 of their last 19 (and they’re 18-6-1 ATS in their last 25 games), while the Spurs have lost five of their last seven both SU and ATS. And that includes a meeting in Memphis two weeks ago, when the Grizzlies prevailed 92-86 as a 1½-point home underdog to end a five-game losing streak to the Spurs.
I’d have been looking strongly at Memphis tonight even if the Spurs were 100 percent healthy, but they’re not. Star point guard Tony Parker has been ruled out for this game with a sprained ankle. Even though Parker scored just four points in San Antonio’s loss at Memphis earlier this month, he’s still the main piston in the Spurs’ engine, and without him, his aging teammates are going to be in trouble, especially against a young, athletic, confident team like Memphis.
The Grizzlies aren’t the strongest road team in terms of SU wins and loss, but they have cashed in seven of their last eight on the highway (all as an underdog). They’re on additional ATS runs of 4-0 against Southwest Division rivals, 23-6 after a SU victory and 7-2-1 when going on one day of rest.
4♦ MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Jeff Benton
How easy was that free-play winner on Xavier last night? For Friday, I’ll shift to the NBA and lay the chalk with the Hawks at home against Boston.
Although Atlanta got punked at San Antonio on Wednesday (105-90 loss as a three-point underdog), it is still on an 8-3 SU and 7-4 ATS roll, and it continues to hold a percentage-points lead over the Magic in Southeast Division. Two of the reasons for the Hawks’ success this year: They’ve been dominant at home (18-5 SU, 16-7 ATS), and they’ve owned the Celtics, winning and covering the first three meetings, and none of the three were very close (11-point road win; 8-point home win; 6-point road win).
While Atlanta has been playing solid basketball of late, you can’t say the same for Boston. By blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead in Orlando last night (losing 96-94), the Celtics have now dropped nine of their last 15 games, going 5-10 ATS (and that includes two losses and non-covers against the Hawks). Now Boston is in a back-to-back spot, which has not suited this veteran squad well lately (1-7 ATS last eight in back-to-backs).
Yes, the Celtics got the money as a 3½-point underdog last night in Orlando (ending a five-game non-covering slump). But over their past 23 games, the Celtics have cashed in two straight contests just once – and they had three full days of rest between those back-to-back to covers. Throw in some rock-solid ATS trends for Atlanta (35-17-1 as a favorite, 27-11-1 as a home favorite, 7-2 when laying less than five points, 9-2 both off a SU loss and ATS win, 6-0-1 after a double-digit, 10-2 against Atlantic Division teams), and this one’s a no-brainer, especially at this cheap price.
6♦ ATLANTA HAWKS
Stephen Nover
The Bulls are playing well, in particular second-year point guard Derrick Rose. But Rose still has to take a backseat to Chris Paul, the premier point guard in the NBA.
Paul has been getting backcourt help from rookie Marcus Thornton, who has scored 37 points in New Orleans' last two games making 14-of-25 shots from the floor during this span.
Chicago has posted consecutive road victories against the Suns, Rockets, Spurs and Thunder during the past six days. That's a remarkable achievement although the Suns and Rockets haven't been playing well.
But now the Bulls are playing their seventh straight road game. It's also their fifth game in eight days.
New Orleans has one of the top home marks in the league at 16-4. The Hornets have won eight of their last nine at New Orleans Arena.
2♦ NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
Nelly
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS +6
At first glance, most would peg the 76ers as one of the worst teams in the NBA considering their 15-29 record. A 7-15 home record would suggest no real advantage but a closer look reveals much stronger results over the past few weeks. The 76ers are 8-7 in the last 15 games and wins have come against quality teams with four road wins in that span and wins over Portland, New Orleans, Denver, and Dallas. Since Christmas, the 76ers have not lost more than two consecutive games, a sign of a team that is heading in the right direction. The Lakers clearly are the cream of the crop in the Western Conference but Los Angeles is 7-12 ATS on the road with just an 11-8 SU mark. This will be a sixth straight road game for Los Angeles with games all on the east coast and the Lakers had a road-heavy start to January as well for a very taxing month. Although Los Angeles has some nice wins in that span, there are several upset losses and many of the road favorite covers have come by razor-thin margins. There should be exceptional value on the home underdog 76ers for this game and it should be tough for the Lakers to bring their best, even if it is a homecoming for Kobe Bryant. Take the points.