EZWINNERS
San Antonio Spurs -5.5
The San Antonio Spurs are coming off their worst offensive performance of the season against New Orleans but this game with the Golden State Warriors should get them back on track. The Spurs have enjoyed plenty of success offensively against Golden State, averaging 115.4 points on 52% shooting during their winning streak in the series. The Spurs have won the last ten meetings between these two teams and eight out of the last ten games have been double digit wins by the Spurs. I expect San Antonio to keep that trend going with another big win. The Spurs are coming off of a loss to New Orleans so I expect a focused effort from San Antonio. The Spurs are 5-2 against the spread after a loss and they have covered six straight games against the Warriors. Lay the points.
Red Dog Sports
William Mary vs. Northeastern
Play: William Mary +5
Red Dog Sports is the newest member at this site. Red Dog is listed as the #3 college hoops handicapper at The Sports Monitor and finished as the #1 capper for NBA action last year in the regular season and playoffs. Our free play is to take William and Mary +5 at Northeastern. This should be a low scoring game being held at Boston with few fans as the Huskies are struggling. This team lost Matt Janning and other key members from last year's squad. The Tribe of William and Mary is led by Quinn McDowell. They lost David Schneider and Danny Sumner from last year's team but should be able to stay within 5 on the road. My guess is 62-60.
JR O'Donnell
Va. Commonwealth -10.5
Lay It tonight "Boys" The 15-5 Virginia Commonwealth crew is a " Flat Out Beast" in the C A A. Look @ a flat out "POOR POOR" 4-14 Towson squad that will be way way overmatched here. Outstanding guard play & a team in the Rams that crushes the boards.... Skeen & Burgess can really bang the boards & the Rams can shoot the free throws @ 70%.... They also protect the rock!! The VCU & Old Dominion crews are the class of the CAA. VCU is a very good road team and they have hung up huge powerful W's in the Colonial Athletic Conference! They are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 road games. The Shaka Smart era at VCU has been a good one and they have won 6 in row!!! The Towson St crew checks in here at 1-3 @ home!! This is a 80-54 ball game!!
MTi Sports
Kings at Trail Blazers
Prediction: Under
The Kings have two days rest and they are off two overtime losses. The first was against these Blazers and the second was at Golden St. A number of UNDER trends were set up by these two games, and that?s the way we'll go. The Kings are 0-9 OU (-21.1 ppg) on the road after a loss in which Beno Udrih took fewer than 10 shots and 0-7 OU (-20.1 ppg) on the road with at least one day of rest after a road loss in which they scored less than 10% of their points from the three-point line. The Blazers are 0-5 OU (-16.1 ppg) after a win at home in which Nicolas Batum shot better than 50% from the arc and 0-4 OU (-15.9 ppg) after a home win in which more than 75% of their baskets were assisted. Consider these two UNDER.
Rob Vinciletti
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Toronto Raptors
Play: Toronto Raptors +4.5
The Raptors fit a solid system that is 72-26 ats. What we want to do is play on non Division home dogs with a win percentage of .415 or less that comes in off an ats loss vs an opponent that has covered in 3 or more straight games. Toronto has covered 4 of 5 vs South West conference teams, while Memphis is 0-3 straight up this season as a road favorite from -3.5 to -6. The Grizzlies come in off a big road win in Milwaukee. Toronto is off a pair of blowout road losses and should play better here at home tonight. Look for the Raptors to get the cover. Take Toronto tonight plus the points.
Teddy Covers
Cleveland @ New Jersey
PICK: New Jersey -9
At this point, the thought process behind fading the Cleveland Cavaliers is not longer ‘why’ – it’s ‘why not?’ The Cavs have lost 16 straight games; entering tonight with the worst record in the NBA. Obviously, it’s been a hard and fast fall for a team that won an NBA high 61 games last year; and an NBA best 66 games in ’09.
The Cavs have stopped trying; giving non-competitive efforts every time they take the court. They are 4-14-1 ATS in their last 19 road games, as the betting markets simply haven’t been able to catch up with how lousy this team actually is. Playing their 7th road game in a nine game stretch, tonight’s contest doesn’t have much ‘maximum intensity from the road dog’ potential.
The Cavs injury woes seem to get worse with each passing day. They’ve been playing without their best low post energizer, Anderson Varejao, and their All Star point guard Mo Williams. Now Williams backup, Ramon Sessions is hurt, as is shooting guard Anthony Parker. As a team, the Cavs have basically tuned out head coach Byron Scott halfway through his first season on the job. Cleveland is not a team primed for any type of winning pointspread streaks in the weeks to come.
Meanwhile, New Jersey has enjoyed a major positive uptick since their owner nixed the Carmelo Anthony deal, negating the ennui that had overcome much of their roster. They’ve rolled to comfortable wins over Utah and Detroit already on this homestand, and they’ve been an undervalued commodity of late, with five ATS covers in their last six ballgames. It’s worth noting that New Jersey won and covered in their lone previous try as pointspread favorites in this range this year; a wire-2-wire win over Washington. 2* Take New Jersey.
Ben Burns
North Carolina-Wilmington @ Old Dominion
PICK: Old Dominion -13.5
At first glance, this pointspread seems fairly high. After all, the Seahawks are off a 6-point win while the Monarchs are off a 9-point loss. However, those Saturday results have actually helped to keep the line a little lower than it could have been. I believe the Monarchs are the superior team and I expect them to demonstrate it here.
Saturday was just the Monarch's second home loss of the season. They're now 14-5 overall. Despite coming up short vs VCU, the Monarchs held a rebounding advantage once again. ODU has now outrebounded 18 of its 19 opponents. The Monarchs should enjoy a solid edge in that department again here and that should help in pulling away.
While many teams struggle when coming off a loss, the Monarchs typically aren't one of them. In fact, they're a profitable 10-2 ATS (11-1 SU) the last dozen times that they were coming off a conference loss.
The Monarchs are 12-8-2 ATS (22-0 SU) the last 22 times that there were listed as home favorites in the -12.5 to -15 range. They're also 3-0 SU/ATS against the Seahawks since 2009. They won those games by 18, 19 and 30 points. Given their past success at "bouncing back" from a loss, they've got a great shot at another convincing victory. Consider laying the points.
Jack Jones
Toronto Raptors +4.5
The Toronto Raptors are showing solid value tonight as a home underdog against the Memphis Grizzlies. I know Toronto is struggling, but they are coming off a brutal 5-game road trip with games against four of the top teams in the league in the Hornets, Spurs, Magic and Heat. I look for them to put an end to their recent skid when they return home Monday to face a Memphis team that is struggling on the road this season. The Grizzlies are 8-16 on the road this year and should not be favored tonight.
This play falls into a system that is 47-17 (73%) ATS since 1996. It tells us to bet on underdogs (TORONTO) - terrible defensive team - shooting pct defense of >=48% on the season against opponent hot shooting team - 2 straight games making >=50% of their shots. The Grizzlies are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as a road favorite of 0.5-4.5. The Raptors are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog of 0.5-4.5. Memphis is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games following a double-digit win. The home team has won 8 of the last 10 meetings. Take Toronto Monday.
Dave Price
1 Unit on New York Knicks -7.5
After 6 straight defeats, the New York Knicks will be out for blood when they return to Madison Square Garden tonight. They should have little trouble getting back in the win column against a Washington squad that is 0-20 on the road this season. The Wizards are just 5-15 ATS in those games as they are getting outscored by an average of 14.3 points. It is also worth mentioning that the Wizards are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as a road underdog of 5.0-10.5 points. In addition, the Wizards have had no luck at MSG, where they are 0-6 SU and ATS in their last 6 meetings. Lay the points with the Knicks.
Black Widow
1* on New York Knicks -7.5
The New York Knicks have been mired in a funk the past two weeks and are in danger of dropping to .500 for the first time in nearly two months. A home game against the Washington Wizards should help them get back on track. After dropping their sixth straight games on a buzzer-beater by Kevin Durant in a 101-98 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday, we fully expect New York to bounce back in a big way Monday night. The Wizards (13-29) have lost all 20 of their road games this season by an average of 14.3 points/game. This is the worst single-season road losing streak in franchise history, but they are still nine losses short of the all-time longest road losing streak to start a season, set by the 1992-93 Denver Nuggets. The Knicks have won the last six meetings at Madison Square Garden, including a 21-point victory on Nov. 5. New York also won at Washington 101-95 on Dec. 10, its fifth straight in the series. The Knicks should have a good shot at getting their offense in gear against the Wizards, who are allowing an average of 108.4 points away from Washington. The Wizards are 1-11 ATS (-11.1 Units) after 1 or more consecutive wins this season. Take New York and lay the points.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Oklahoma City Thunder +4
New Orleans is getting a little too much respect against an OKC club that has won the last 4 meetings in the series. New Orleans is running hot, but it hasn't stacked up well against explosive offensive teams. In fact, the Hornets are just 4-13 ATS in home games versus explosive offensive teams scoring 103+ points/game over the last 2 seasons, losing to these teams by an average score of 102.8 to 100.2. Revenge has not been a profitable angle for the Hornets either. New Orleans is only 5-16 ATS when revenging an upset loss at home over the last 3 seasons, losing by an average score of 97.9 to 89.3 in this situation. Take the Thunder.
Info Plays
3* New Orleans Hornets -4
Reasons why New Orleans will cover:
1) The Hornets are playing arguably their best basketball of the season, and still are only favored by 4 points at home where they are 18-5 overall and 13-10 ATS.
2) New Orleans is 15-5 ATS after playing a game as an underdog this season, while the Thunder are just 5-15 ATS after a close win by 3 points or less over the last 3 seasons.
3) New Orleans is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game, and are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Steve Janus
1* New Jersey Nets -9
New Jersey is going to come out with a lot of energy, as they know this is a game they can not only win but dominate. Cleveland is just 1-9-1 ATS in their last 11 games as a road underdog of 5.0-10.5.
New Jersey won at Cleveland 95-87 earlier this season, and the Cavs are just 4-15 ATS revenging a loss vs opponent this season.
New Jersey is 10-2 ATS in home games after having lost 5 or 6 of their last 7 games this season, and are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games.
Ray Monohan
Boston Bruins vs. Los Angeles Kings
Play: Boston Bruins
Love the Bruins tonight, as in my opinion they are one of the best road teams in the league, and have really hit their stride. Winners of 6 of 8 and scoring a ton of goals. ( The 6th best offense in the NHL averaging 3.1 GPG) Boston has kept plugging along this season and is full marks for their position in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bruins are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off an impressive 6-2 win over the Avs on Saturday. Something LA cannot do. The Kings can't win games consistently OR score for that matter of late. 3 wins in 13 games since mid-December. The Bruins are better between the pipes as well as Rask holds an edge over the "overrated" Johnathon Quick. (I loved him a couple weeks ago, but he's not impressing me of late.) Last meeting between these 2 clubs in Boston 2 months ago saw the Kings win 4-3 in OT. I see the Bruins outplaying the Kings tonight in a payback game. I'm the #3 NHL Capper for a reason folks. I find winners. Got another one tonight for you. (5* Free Play). Take the Bruins +100 vs. LA.
Dan Bebe
Phoenix Suns -4
This game is a tailor-made spot to fade the
Phoenix has been on a road for quite some time (10 days, roughly), and it has been a mildly successful road trip. However, Phoenix is coming off an ugly performance in Detroit in a game where, frankly, the Suns looked tired. Channing Frye couldn't throw it in the ocean, and without a big man to spread the floor, the Pistons were able to bunch into the paint, and force the Suns to find other ways to beat them. Phoenix put together a disaster of a 4th quarter, and blew a huge lead.
Now, a pair of days later, Phoenix is finishing up their 5 game trip with a game against the improving-by-the-day 76ers. I love to fade a team off a win streak, and that's just what we have with Phoenix. The loss to Detroit snapped a 5-game winning span for Phoenix, but all mid-tier teams go through a certain level of equilibrating before they can win again, especially when that next game is the final one of a long road trip.