Steve Janus
Milwaukee Bucks +2½
This will be the third meeting between these two teams over the last 10 days. The Magic won the first meeting at Milwaukee 99-94 thanks to a 21-6 over the last five and half minutes of the game. Orlando would then beat the Bucks 94-85 after closing the game out on a 17-0 run.
Outside of the final minutes the Bucks pretty much dominated the game, and those losses are ones that are hard to let go. I look for Milwaukee to come out extremely motivated in this game and to play much better in the fourth quarter this time around.
While both teams played Sunday, the Magic went on the road to face the Heat in an intense showdown on ABC and the Bucks went on the road to face a struggle Nets team. I think Orlando will struggle to come out with a lot of energy in this game, especially considering they have already beat this team twice in a short period of time.
Jack Jones
San Antonio Spurs -3
The San Antonio Spurs are absolutely rolling right now. I'll back this red-hot team as they travel to Utah to face the Jazz tonight. Utah will be playing the second of a back-to-back and their 3rd game in 4 days, while San Antonio is playing just their 2nd game in 5 days. The Spurs will clearly have more energy to give tonight.
San Antonio has won 10 straight games heading into this one. The Spurs are 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 games as well. What is most impressive about this streak is that seven of those 10 games have been on the road. After struggling away from home early in the year, the Spurs are proving they can win anywhere.
The Jazz have lost six of their last eight games overall with one of their two wins coming at home against the lowly Washington Wizards. San Antonio has their number, and I fully expect that to continue tonight. The Spurs have gone 4-0 SU & 3-1 ATS in their last four meetings with the Jazz, winning all four by 7 points or more.
This play falls into a system that is 67-30 ATS over the last 5 seasons. It tells us to bet against home underdogs (UTAH) - extremely tired team - when playing their 3rd game in 4 days, in February games. The favorite is 19-7 ATS in the last 26 meetings. Bet San Antonio Monday.
Jimmy Boyd
1 Unit Texas -2
Baylor has lost 3 of its last 4 and things get no easier at Texas tonight. The Longhorns are 14-2 at home with those 2 losses coming to Kansas and Missouri by a combined 4 points. Baylor is 0-4 against Kansas and Missouri this season, losing those contests by an average of 12.0 points. Also, Baylor has dropped 12 of its last 13 visits to Texas with those 12 losses coming by an average of 16.5 points.
The Bears are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall, 8-22 ATS in their last 30 vs. the Big 12, 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games as an underdog and 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games as an underdog of 6.5 points or less. The Longhorns are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Texas took Baylor down to the wire last month, losing by just 5 points on the road. Expect Texas to have its revenge here.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit LA Lakers -4
The Lakers will have revenge on their minds when Portland rolls into town tonight. LA fell in Portland last month but will have an excellent opportunity to even the score at home. The Lakers are 13-2 SU and 10-5 ATS at home this season. The Blazers, meanwhile, are 5-10 SU and 6-9 ATS on the road. The Lakers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as a home favorite, and the home team is 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings. Also, the Trail Blazers are 6-13 ATS in their last 19 road games and 3-10 ATS in their last 13 games as an underdog. Lay the points.
Dave Price
1 Unit DePaul +5.5
DePaul has lost 6 in a row but will come out strong tonight as it is confident it can beat this young St. John's squad. The Red Storm haven't earned the right to lay this many points. They are just 10-21 ATS as a favorite over the last 3 seasons. They ended a 4-game skid with a win over UCLA Saturday but are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games following a victory. The Red Storm are also 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs. the Big East and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a losing record. We'll take DePaul.
Black Widow
1* Golden State Warriors +3
The Golden State Warriors are showing excellent value Monday as a home underdog to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors are playing much better of late. Though they are only 3-3 in their last six games, two of those three losses came by a combined 3 points. The Warriors are 4-2 in their last six home games, with both losses coming by 3 points or less to the Thunder & Blazers. The Clippers are 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 road games vs. a team with a losing home record. The home team has won five of the last six in this series, and the home team is 18-8-1 ATS in the last 27 meetings. Take Golden State and the points.
Jeff Scott Sports
4 UNIT PLAY
Washington/ Phoenix Under 202.5: The Wizards have had a couple of really high scoring games on this trip, but really how much will the Suns have in the tank to run and gun after back to back games vs the Lakers. Lost year you could expect Phoenix home games to hit 200+ points almost every night, but this year that has happened just 3 times and one of those game hit right at 200. I just see a couple tired teams playing a slower game tonight. Mid 190's at best.
3 UNIT PLAYS
LA Clippers -2.5 over GOLDEN STATE: The Clipps lost a tough OT game at home to the Spurs in their last game, but prior to that this team had won 4 of their last 5 and have really played well on e defense allowing just 82.8 ppg in those previous 5 games. The Warriors have averaged 99.9 ppg at home but they don't play great defense, allowing 99 pg at home. The Clippers need to get back on track after their tough loss and behind their tough defensive play they should get it vs a Warrior team that has lost 3 in a row.
New Orleans/ Oklahoma City Over 188: New Orleans has played great defense of late, but the thunder has averaged 105.2 ppg at home and they have hit 10o+ points in 7 of their last 8 games. New Orleans struggles to score, but the Thunder are not a great defensive team as they have allowed 96.5 ppg overall and 94.4 ppg at home. OKC should hit 100+, while the Hornets should be good for about 90.
2 UNIT PLAY
Atlanta/Chicago Over 181: Play Over - Home teams where the total is between 180 and 189.5 points (CHICAGO) - after scoring 90 points or less 2 straight games against opponent after a combined score of 175 points or less. This play is 26-8 the last 5 seasons.
1 UNIT PLAY
New York/ New Jersey Over 195.5: NEW JERSEY is 15-7 OVER when playing 6 or more games in 10 days this season. With Linsanity running the show in New York and with the addition of Smith you can now expect Dantonio to get his wish for that run and gun style offense. Plenty o0f points in this one.
Jeff Scott Sports
4 UNIT PLAY
St John's Depaul Under 152: The first meeting between these teams put up 168 points, but that was on Depaul's home floor and this one will be on the Red Storm's home court, where their games have averaged just 136.9 ppg. Depauls games overall have averaged 150.8 ppg, but their road games have averaged just 142.3 ppg, so you can see the influence they have at pushing the tempo on their home floor. Even though St John's won the game 87-81 in that first meeting, that is not their style of play. They prefer a game in the 60's like their last one (66-63) vs UCLA. The Redmen have scored 68.6 ppg on their home floor, but they are not a great shooting team as they have hit just 43.65% of their shots at home and 42.5 of their shots overall. Purdue has averaged 74.1 ppg overall, but just 68 ppg on the road, plus they don't shoot well on the road as they have hit just 41.6% of their shots away from home. Depaul's defense has been bad both overall and on the road, but I just don't see a St John's team that has averaged just 63 ppg in their last 5 games, putting up anything more than 72 or 73 points in this one. Thois is really too high a line, especially considering how low scoring St John's home games have been this year. I don't expect either team to hit 75 in this one.
3 UNIT PLAY
Texas Southern/ Miss Valley State Under 136: To good defensive teams square off if this SWAC meeting tonight. Ok overall Miss Vall has allowed 70.5 ppg, but this team is 14-0 in the SWAC and have played great defense in those games allowing just 60.9 ppg on 39.9% shooting. The have clamped down even more in their last 5 games allowing just 59.2 ppg on 40.1 % shooting, while also being stingy from long range, allowing just 23.2% during the last 5 games. Taking it a little further we see that they have allowed just 60.2 ppg on 39.5 % shooting at home. That last stat is pretty good to know as the TSU comes in averaging just 55.1 ppg on 38.8% shooting on the road this year. They did put up 84 points in their last road games vs Ark Pine Bluff, but in their previous 5 road conference games they averaged just 62.2 ppg and one of the games went to OT. TSU has had 2 OT games in their last 10 games and if we look at just regulation points we see that this team has allowed just 59.3 ppg in those games, including just 60.6 ppg in their last 6 on the road, so this is a team that can play solid defense as well. They will have a tough time tonight as the Delta Devils come in averaging 73.1 ppg in the SWAC and 73.6 ppg at home, but they do come in having scored just 59 ppg in their last 2 games overall and the first time these teams met they scored just 63 points (regulation) off of TSU. As you can see the defense is there for a low scoring game, plus only one team can really score in this one. The Last time these team met the game went to OT and just 126 points were scored in Regulation. I expect no more than that tonight.
2 UNIT PLAYS
Texas/ Baylor Over 138: Google News Play. The Bears have played solid defense for much of the year, but within the Big 12 they have allowed 67.7 ppg, while on the road that number goes up to 68.7 ppg. Texas is a team that can score on you as they come in averaging 73.9 ppg both overall and at home. Baylor has struggled to score of late as they have failed to score 60+ points in 3 of their last 4 games, but they still are a solid offensive club that has averaged 73.7 ppg overall and 71.6 ppg in the Big 12. Texas has played great defense at home this year (57.7 ppg), but they still allow 67.8 ppg in Big 12 play and they have allowed 77 ppg vs the 6 ranked teams they have faced this year. Both of these teams have the ability to hit 70 points in this, plus with this game being an expected close game we could have FT's at the end that will help as well. This is a huge game for both teams so I don't expect them to hold anything back as this one hits 140+ with ease.
UConn/ Villanova Over 137: The Cats have hit 70 points in 8 of their last 9 games, while UConn has allowed 80+ points in both of their last 2 road games. A weak Huskies offense should have a good showing vs a Villanova squad that has allowed 76.6 ppg in their last 10 games. I expect this one in the 140's.
Free NCAAB Release for 2/20: Villanova +3.5 over Connecticut. The Wildcats are showing excellent value here as a home dog to the Huskies. These two teams met up a month ago in UConn and Villanova lost by two points but covered as a 3 point road dog. Tonight we get them at home with the same 3 points. The Wildcats haven't been the best paying team this year, as they're just 6-17 ATS. But they are a solid 9-4 SU at home and shouldnt be an underdog here to a team that is just 2-6 SU on the road. Neither team has been strong in conference play, but Villanova moves the ball around pretty well and they're outscoring and out rebounding UConn statistically. The Wildcats should be well prepared for this game having lost three straight now in this series. Villanova is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings between these two. Connecticut is 1-2 SU in the last three visits here, and just 1-4 ATS in their five visits. We'll side with the home dog in this matchup, Villanova +3.5. Our free plays are now 165-87-1 overall, 5-2 L7. Sign up today to receive the best free basketball picks via email at www.iseewinners.com. Thank you, and best of luck.