Free Picks: Service Plays for Sunday April, 1

Marc Lawrence

Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers
Prediction: Golden State Warriors

When the Warriors meet the Lakers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Sunday evening Golden State will take the court looking to avenge a pair of same season losses suffered in this series this campaign. That sets the table for tonight's game as the last 40 teams seeking same season double revenge-exact against the Lakers are 28-11-1 ATS, including 15-2 ATS on this floor. With the Warriors riding a 4-0 ATS win streak in this series, the points become the play tonight. We recommend a 1-unit play on Golden State.

John Ryan

Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins
Prediction: Philadelphia Flyers

5* graded play on the Philadelphia Flyers as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins set to start at 12:30 PM ET. The simulator shows a high probability that Philadelphia will win this match. Supporting this graded play is a system that has produced a record of 169-162 for just 51% winners, but has made a whopping 88.5 units per one unit wagered since 1996. Play against any team against the money line and is a hot team having won 15 or more of their last 20 games and is a tired team playing their fourth game in seven days. The average play has been a dog of +146 and reflects the need for any handicapper to focus their attention on dogs that can consistently win in the money line sports of the NHL and MLB. Speaking of which, arguably my best sport in terms of profits earned starts Wednesday night so be sure to get down on all my MLB plays each. It is the most overlooked sports betting opportunity of all the majors and I will show you how to make money in MLB starting this week. Back to Hockey. Philadelphia is a strong 10-4 against the money line (+6.8 Units) in road games against good power play killing teams that allow their opponents to score on <14.5% of chances over the last two seasons. Take Philadelphia.

Vegas Experts

Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
Play: Miami Heat

Miami is "heating" up yet again, having delivered back to back double digit victories over Dallas and Toronto on Thursday/Friday. After being embarrassed on national television last Sunday at Oklahoma City, we can't see the same thing happening here against a Celtics team that might be playing well, but is also a money burning 2-11 against the spread off a win by 20 or more points. Lay the number.

Rob Vinciletti

Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks
Play: Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks have controlled the series the past years taking 9 of the last 10 vs Edmonton. This season they have taken all 3 meetings outscoring the Oilers 13-2. The Ducks have won 11 of the last 16 vs losing teams and Edmonton is 13-49 after scoring 1 or less goal and 26-69 off a loss by 2 or more goals the past few season. This year the Oilers have dropped 19 f 29 on the road when the total is 5.5. Look for Anaheim to take another from Edmonton.

Guillermo Sanchez Perez

Panthers @ Red Wings
PICK: Over 5

Both teams have lost two straight.

The Panthers lost 4-1 at Columbus on Friday. Tomas Kopecky tallied the lone marker. “We looked tired for one,” Florida coach Kevin Dineen said. “We looked tight and certainly there were some coaching mistakes that happened that obviously get hung on me. That’s the state of things right now.” Florida is four points ahead of Washington for the Southeast Division crown.

The Wings lost 4-1 to Nashville on Friday. “We had some real good looks,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “But their goaltender made some real good saves.” Jimmy Howard stopped 23. Jiri Hudler potted the lone Detroit goal. The Red Wings have now lost eight of their last ten. “We got to get playing way better than we have and feeling better about ourselves,” Babcock finished.

To say this is an important game for both teams would be an understatement.

The Panthers are trying to hold off the Sabres and Capitals, while Detroit is trying to regain fourth spot in the Western Conference over the Predators, which would give it home ice advantage in the first round.

The O/U for Florida this season is 29-36-13. However, it's 17-16-6 on the road.

The O/U for Detroit is 34-41-3. However it's 19-19-0 at Joe Louis Arena.

Both teams are desperate for a win. Both teams need to build momentum heading into the playoffs.

I believe we'll see each club push the pace of this contest from the opening face-off until the final horn, and as a result, you should consider a second look at the "over" in this one!

Jimmy Boyd

Washington Wizards +6.5

The Wizards, who are quietly playing some quality ball, are being undervalued here. Their recent good play has led them to a 7-3-1 ATS mark in their last 11 games. Washington is just 2-6 SU in its last 8 contests but only 1 of those defeats came by more than 5 points. That's pretty impressive considering it has played the likes of Memphis, Indiana, Atlanta and Philadelphia during this span.

The Wizards are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a losing home record and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games overall. The Raptors are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a losing record and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning percentage below .400.

Washington has won 2 of the season's first 3 meetings, and it has what it takes to give the Raptors a game this evening. The underdog is 10-4 ATS in the last 14 matchups between these foes. We'll grab the points.

Jack Jones

Indiana Pacers +4

The Houston Rockets are in a world of hurt right now health-wise. Kyle Lowry (illness) and Kevin Martin (shoulder) are both out right now. That's huge because they are their two leading scorers as Martin averages 17.0 points and Lowry puts up 15.9 points per game.

Indiana (30-21) should not be catching points tonight against the Houston Rockets. The Pacers are one of the most underrated teams in the league this season. They are battle-tested after facing the Spurs last night, and they'll be ready to beat up on the weaker Rockets tonight.

The Pacers are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game. The Rockets are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 vs. Eastern Conference. Houston is 3-12 ATS after having won 4 or 5 of their last 6 games this season. Bet the Pacers Sunday.

Dave Price

Toronto Raptors -6

The Wizards are coming off a double-digit win over Philly but are just 16-45 ATS in their last 61 games following a win and 5-22 ATS in their last 27 games following a win of more than 10 points. Plus, the home team has dominated this series, winning each of the last 8 meeting by an average of 10.8 points. Take Toronto.

Jim Feist

Minnesota Timberwolves vs Portland Trailblazers
Pick: Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota and Portland are both in dire need of a win here on Sunday evening. The T'Wolves are 3 1/2 games back of Denver and Houston for the eighth playoff spot in the west, while Potrland is four games back. Oregon hasn't been a good place to play for Minnesota. Before this season's win in Portland by the Wolves, 122-110, Minnesota had lost the prior 11 visits. The Blazers thought could be without LaMarcus Aldridge for a second game, as he's still recovering from an elbow injury. The Wolves have covered both meetings this year with Portland and now that they have the monkey off their collective backs in Oregon, I'm going to take the points here on Sunday. Take the Wolves.

Dave Cokin

New Orleans Hornets vs Phoenix Suns
Pick: Phoenix Suns

The Suns cannot afford any losses to lesser teams if they want to maintain any hopes of making a late charge to get a spot in the playoffs. Give New Orleans credit for fighting very hard on this trip. But it's the fourth in five nights for the Hornets and they're a bit shorthanded to boot. I'll look for the Suns to win this pretty big.

Tony George

OK City Thunder -5.5

A Huge Game for both teams, possible NBA Finals preview here at OK City. the Bulls are winning without Derrick Rose but I think it catches up here and Westbrook is on another level right now for OK City and Da Bulls will have no answer on defense. The Thunder have played Eastern Conference teams well all season, and have covered 18 out of their 23 against east. No doubt the Bulls are the beast of the East, but I think the Thunder off a big win on TNT Thursday and 2 days rest get it done. The Thunder are scoring 115 a game their last 5 games and hitting 52% from the floor.

SPORTS WAGERS

Golden State +10½ over L.A. LAKERS

The Lakers are a tired team. They’re old and this unforgiving schedule is only making things more difficult. As a 12½-point favorite yesterday afternoon, the Lakers needed a three-pointer by Kobe Bryant with 20 seconds remaining to knock off the 13-39 Hornets. Over its past 17 games, Los Angeles has one double digit win. They have another five games coming up this week and they’re really not that interested in running over teams the way they used to. They’re interested in winning and resting players for extended periods of time. The Lakers have played the Warriors twice this season and while they won both games, the Warriors stayed well within this range in each match. Golden State is losing a lot of games. However, they rarely get blown out, they have young, fresh legs and they play hard under the guidance of demanding coach, Mark Jackson. Klay Thompson has been a real find in place of the injured Stephen Curry. The Lakers are just too risky laying this type of lumber. They’re proven so all season and will likely prove so again here. Play: Golden State +10½ (Risking 2.1 units to win 2).

Pass NHL

David Banks

Golden State Warriors +10.5

Sunday's pro hardwood slate wraps up in Tinseltown where the Los Angeles Lakers (31-20, 22-29 ATS) will attempt to win their regular season series against the division rival Golden State Warriors (20-29, 26-23 ATS); tip-off from the Staples Center is set for 9:30 ET.

After dropping back-to-back heartbreakers to both the Trailblazers and Lakers, the Warriors were spent when they took to the hardwood to face a recently streaking New Orleans outfit their last time out. The Hornets went on to pound Golden State 102-87 as short 2.5-point road underdogs. Still, the pointspread defeat was only Head Coach Mark Jackson's squads second in its last six games. That said; one has to wonder how likely the Warriors will continue to give it their all considering they sit six-games outside the Western Conference playoff picture looking in with only 17 games remaining on their regular season docket. They'll have a home clash with the New Jersey Nets before traveling to Tinseltown to battle the Lakers for the second time in a five-day stretch. Golden State checks in 9-14 SU & a lucrative 14-9 ATS away from Oracle Arena on the year.

The Lakers are most definitely slurping up a big 'ol portion of humble pie after the team was embarrassed throughout the second half of their Thursday night TNT match-up with the Western Conference leading Oklahoma City Thunder. Going into that game, Kobe Bryant was backlashing at reporters wondering why everyone gave them no credit and thought they sucked. "Why is everybody acting like we're in eighth place?" Bryant said. "You guys were kissing the Clippers' (butts) at the start of the season, and now we're in the third seed and everybody's acting like we (stink). I don't understand it." Well, after dominating most of the first half before OKC went on a mini run to close it out, LA got its lunch served in the second half of the game getting outscored 58-44 to eventually fall by a 102-93 final count. The loss dropped them to 5-8 SU against the Sagarin Rating's Top 10 teams, but thankfully tonight, the Warriors rank amongst the bottom 20. The Lakers have won 20 of their 25 home games played to date, but have only covered 13 of those games ATS.

The Lakers have owned the Warriors from an outright perspective winning nine of the division rivals L/10 overall confrontations. However, Golden State has been the team to back on the betting odds as they covered seven of those games. LA's won but failed to cover each of these teams meetings this season having last needed Kobe Bryant to come up huge just last week to escape the Bay with the 104-101 win as hefty eight-point chalk; the 'over' has cashed in both games this season, and stands 6-4 in the L/10 overall. Over the L/10 occurrences, the Warriors have gone 2-8 SU but 5-5 ATS when dogged by more than eight points, while the Lakers have gone 8-2 SU but a bankroll bursting 2-8 ATS when favored by that same margin.

CRAIG DAVIS

Today's free play is on the Golden State Warriors plus the ridiculous amount of points vs. the Lakers.

It's not that I have a ton of faith in Golden State, but I do have to admit I'm surprised with that Mark Jackson has been able to do with this team... especially now that he's had to deal with some turnover with his personnel.

This team looks different than it did two months ago and it doesn't have Stephen Curry, who is out till mid-April with an injury. Golden State is definitely sporadic and is just as capable of losing by 15 as they are winning this game outright. I do like how they play... reckless abandon; not a care in the world.

The Lakers, on the other hand, have been very consistent lately... they aren't covering.

They've failed to cover five straight and nine of the last 10 games they've played because Vegas still lists them as if they were defending champs. They're not. They are winning and losing every other game... and just don't look good doing it.

Kobe is inconsistent. Pau Gasol looks old. Andrew Bynum is worried more about shooting three-pointers than getting physical in the post.

This team is heading in the wrong direction and should not be favored by double digits. That's crazy.

Take Golden State plus the number as your free play of the day.

4♦ GOLDEN STATE