Brad Wilton
The Moccasins have won each of the last 6 series meetings versus the Citadel, but the Bulldogs have made good with the points in each of the last pair of meetings, including the Mocs 84-78 win in the middle of January as the -12 1/2 point road favorite.
Big number on Chattanooga's home floor, but suggest laying it, as Tenn Chatt is now 18-3 straight up this season and riding a 5 game win and cover streak heading into this conference battle tonight.
Have a feeling Matt McCall's team may be doing some big dancing come March, and if so, this is the type of game they simply must play the bully.
On this 10-game Monday card, look for this final to be the most lopsided of the 10.
Tennessee Chattanooga by a lot!
2* TENNESSEE CHATTANOOGA
Craig Davis
Your free play of the day is the Washington Wizards plus the points over OKC. At the time of this writing, the Wizards are catching 9 1/2 to 10 points in Vegas and offshore.
The Wizards are a tough team to figure out as they're 5 games under .500 at home while they're two games over .500 on the road.
Tonight I like their chances because they match up well with Oklahoma City with both teams wanting to get up and down the floor.
Just like in their game with Houston the other night when they pulled off the improbable upset in Houston, they had eight players score between 10 and 20 points... and if OKC continues to play defense like they have, tonight might not be any different.
I don't expect Washington to win the game, but considering they've covered two of the last three in OKC, I'll take my chances.
Take Washington plus the points as your free play of the day.
2* WASHINGTON
Jeff Benton
Your Monday freebie is the Spurs over the Magic.
The Magic just completed a home-and-home with Boston yesterday, as Orlando was able to take care of business on their floor last night.
I don't see them keeping pace tonight with the rested Spurs who were beaten down on Saturday night at Cleveland.
Look for San Antonio to bounce-back tonight with a dominant effort.
The Spurs are still unbeaten at home at 25-0, and they have gone 18-7 against the spread in those 25 home games this season.
San Antonio has won 8 straight in this series, and they have covered in 6 of those 8 victories.
Big price, but with good reason. Go ahead and lay it with the Spurs at home over the Magic.
3* SAN ANTONIO
SPORTS WAGERS
OKC -9½ -103 over Washington
This is strictly a situational bet against the Wizards and it’s a good one. Washington is in the second game of a quick little road trip to Houston and OKC. They won in Houston on Saturday, 123-122 in a game that came right down to the wire so they’re guaranteed a 1-1 trip vs. Western Conference teams. Head coach Randy Wittman’s brother died prior to the Houston game and they all played their hearts in support of Wittman right to the bitter end of that game. Wittman won’t be there tonight, which is all the more reason for the Wiz to slack off against an opponent that can take advantage of the lapses. We’ve seen the Wizards pull their fair share of no-shows this year and this looks like close to a sure thing that another no-show will occur here. OKC loves to get up and down the floor in a hurry. The Wizards think they do but then they have Nene and Gortat holding them back.
The Wizards are looking ahead to a home game vs. the Warriors on Wednesday with a chance to try to pull off the NBA's equivalent of a would-be court-storming. Situational betting doesn’t get much better than this. The Wiz are ripe for the pickings and with a high total posted of 221, we’re confident that the Thunder will score the majority of those points. The Wiz show up in body only here and likely get paved over.
Dr. Bob
Detroit (-7) over BROOKLYN
Detroit lost to Cleveland and at Toronto on Friday and Saturday but I expect a bounce-back performance tonight against a struggling Nets team that is just 3-11 straight up and 4-12 ATS since losing Jarrett Jack to a season ending injury. It’s not that Jack was great but rather that the players taking his minutes are terrible. Detroit applies to a 71-20-2 ATS road favorite bounce-back situation and my ratings favor the Pistons by 8 points with current lineups. I’ll take Detroit in a 1-Star Best Bet at -7 points or less and I’d lean with the Pistons up to -8 points.
Milwaukee (+1½) over SACRAMENTO
The Kings are a horrible team without star DeMarcus Cousins on the court, as Cousins’ +93 plus-minus in 1328.4 minutes (+3.4 points per 48 minutes) is incredible for a team that has an overall scoring margin of -76 points in 2281 minutes for the season. That means that the Kings are -169 points in 952.6 minutes (-8.5 points per 48 minutes) when Cousins is not on the court. That difference is not just because other starters have also been sitting when Cousins has been sitting as the other starters are all pretty bad when they’re not on the floor with Cousins. The starter that’s played the most minutes without Cousins on the floor is Rudy Gay, who has a plus-minus of -135 points in 528.2 minutes when he’s not playing with Cousins, which is -12.3 points per 48 minutes. The starter with the next most minutes playing without Cousins is Rajon Rondo, who is -15.9 points per 48 without Cousins (-168 points in 506.3 minutes). Overall, the other 8 regular players for the Kings are -8.6 points per 48 minutes without Cousins and Sacramento is 1-7 straight up and 2-6 ATS in games without Cousins this season with an average game rating of -8.8 points (which takes into account score, opponent, site, and rest scenario). I favor Milwaukee by 1 point with current lineups and I expect a better than normal effort from a Bucks team that has lost their last two games. Milwaukee is now 27-8-1 ATS the last two seasons after consecutive losses, including 11-0 ATS since late November. I’ll take Milwaukee in a 1-Star Best Bet at +1 or better.