SPORTS WAGERS
Cleveland +1.20 over ORLANDO
Antawn Jamison’s 0-12 performance in his Cav’s debut means absolutely jack. Jamison gives this already great shooting team another outstanding option and a lot more problems for the opposition. The Cav’s have already beaten the Magic twice this year and while the Magic dominated them in last year’s playoffs, this season the Cav’s are improved while the Magic did not. To compensate for the loss of Turkoglu, the Magic picked up Vince Carter and he’s one of the most selfish and overrated players this game has ever seen. Carter is a huge defensive liability and is great at making shots when they mean nothing. With the game close or on the line you can count on him to throw up a near impossible shot and miss it most of the time. When Orlando is not hitting the three’s they virtually have no shot of winning against the NBA elite squads. What you can expect from the Cav’s here is a completely different performance than the one they had against Charlotte on Friday. Jamison and LeBron along with a slew of other great shooters make this team so much better than the Magic in every way and for the third time this year they’ll very likely remind the Magic again of who is king of the East. Play: Cleveland +1.20 (Risking 2 units).
DETROIT +5/+1.71 over San Antonio
The Spurs continue to get way too much credit and they continue to be overvalued almost every game. They have a decent record at 31-22 but a close look reveals that most of those wins came against teams they should beat and they seldom beat teams that are ahead of them in the standings. They’ve been a bit better of late but in now way can this team be trusted laying this many points on the road. They struggle to score, they’re made up of a bunch of aging vets and they’ll play its eighth consecutive game on the road here before heading home to play Ok City on Wednesday. The Pistons, too, are loaded with some aging vets and they are having an awful year. However, they’re finally healthy and will have everyone back in the line-up for this one and with guys like Hamilton, Prince, Wallace and Stuckey, they have enough scorers and enough great defensive players to keep this one very close and even pull off the upset. The situation favors the Pistons, Tony Parker is playing on a bad hip, knee and ankle and Tim Duncan has 18 points in his past two games. Play: Detroit +5 (Risking 1.05 units) Play: Detroit +1.71 (Risking 1 unit).
St. Bonaventure +4½ over LASALLE
Laying points with bad teams is bad strategy indeed and the LaSalle Explorers certainly qualify. This is a team that has lost five straight and six of its last seven with only win over that stretch coming against 2-23 Fordham. Incidentally, Fordham is 0-13 in the conference. The Explorers virtually have no bench and if one of its top three go cold, which they always do, this squad has very little chance at succeeding. The Bonnies aren’t in much better shape, as they and the Explorers have virtually identical records, which stand at 3-8 in the conference and 10-14 overall. The difference, however, is that the Explorers are getting points, not laying them and they’ve also had some real close losses to some very good teams. In fact, the Bonnies went into Syracuse and lost by just 13. At Charlotte, they lost by just three and at St. Joes they lost by just seven. Early in the year the Bonnies beat the Johnnies and that’s a pretty good win, which is unlike anything the Explorers have accomplished. The Bonnies are perceived as a bad team and that may be true but they’re not the second best team in this match-up and taking points with them against a team that comes highly recommended. Play: St. Bonaventure +4½ (Risking 2.1 units to win 2).
BEN BURNS
San Antonio Spurs @ Detroit Pistons
PICK: Detroit Pistons +5
The betting public is lining up on the favored visitors here, yet the line has come down. There are still some 5's out there though and I feel that provides solid value with the home underdog Pistons.
The Spurs are off an upset loss at Philadelphia last time out. That will have the "joe public" players thinking that there's no chance they can possibly lose two in a row. However, let's keep in mind that the Spurs are a money-burning 5-11 ATS since mid-January. For the season, they're 6-7 ATS when coming off an upset loss and just 3-7 ATS after allowing 105 or more points in their previous game.
They've been mediocre (barely) on the road (12-12 SU and 10-14 ATS) all season and this marks the final game of their 8-game road trip.
Granted, the Pistons aren't exactly an elite team. That said, they've been competitive at home recently. While they've only won two of their past five games here, none of the three losses came by greater than six points.
A look at the series history shows that the Pistons are a profitable 6-3 SU/ATS the last nine times that they hosted the Spurs. They beat them here in 2008 and they lost by just four last season. With the Spurs potentially looking ahead to finally returning to San Antonio, consider grabbing the points.
Dave Price
1 Unit on Spurs/Pistons OVER 186.5
I really can't refuse the Over here when you consider that plays Over on all teams where the total is between 180 and 189.5 points in a game involving two poor defensive teams allowing their opponents to shoot between 45.5-47.5% from the field, after 42 or more games, are 72-38 the last 5 seasons. We'll take the Over.
Chris Jordan
Boston (+4) at DENVER
Now that you've read Big Bob's write-up, let me give you the winner in this one.
As tempting as it might be to side with the Nuggets in this one, I am sticking with the red-hot Celtics, who have had a night off and shouldn't be too affected by the Mile High altitude.
Since opening this five-game road trip with a loss in New Orleans, the Celtics have won three straight on the West coast, knocking off the Kings, Lakers and Trail Blazers.
And since the C's came into Denver last season, just around the same date (Feb. 23, 2009) and won 114-76 - the worst home loss for the Nuggets since Feb. 2, 1998 - without Kevin Garnett, I believe the surging beast of the East could very well steal this one outright.
Garnett, who dealt with injuries earlier this season, is seemingly finding his groove right now, and has increased his scoring output in every game this trip. He made his first six shots and scored 16 points in a 96-76 win at Portland on Friday.
Ray Allen, who is averaging 23.5 on 53.2 percent shooting in four games against Denver since joining the Celtics, has also had the shooters' touch on this trip, averaging 22.5 points on 65.5 percent shooting in his last two games.
Boston is on ATS runs of 10-2 when catching points in this range, 4-1 versus the Northwest and 43-18 as an underdog. On the flipside, the Nuggets are on ATS slides of 6-13 when in on one day's rest, 5-16 when laying points in this range, 1-4 when installed as the favorite and 1-6 on Sundays.
Grab the points here.
1♦ CELTICS
Michael Cannon
Arizona State (-2) at ARIZONA
I am now 81-73-4 with my last 158 free plays.
Take Arizona State for the road win over in-state rival Arizona.
The Sun Devils have revenge motive for an embarrassing 77-58 home loss to Arizona on Jan. 23.
Arizona State shot just 30 percent from the field and it snapped a five-game win streak over the Wildcats.
Now the Sun Devils find themselves as one of the bubble teams for the tournament and you know they would like nothing better than to deliver a big win on the road today.
Arizona State has won four of its last five, while Arizona has dropped three of its last four.
Take Arizona State as they grab the win and cover on the road.
3♦ ARIZONA STATE
Scott Delaney
Atlanta at Golden State
Playing the Hawks tonight in NBA action.
Atlanta's offense will return tonight, as the Warriors are giving up a league-high 110.8 points per game while allowing opponents to shoot 48.0 percent, ranking ahead of only New Jersey at 48.2.
Golden State, which is sitting in last in the Pacific Division, has lost 11 of 13 after losing 100-89 to Utah on Friday after shooting 37.2 percent.
This is a revenge game for the Hawks, who lost 119-114 to Golden State on Jan. 16. But the Hawks are still 5-2 SU and ATS the last seven meetings.
All Atlanta tonight.
5♦ HAWKS
BIG AL
San Antonio Spurs at Detroit Pistons
Prediction: San Antonio Spurs
At 6:05 pm, our selection is on the San Antonio Spurs minus the points over Detroit. The Spurs have been a frustrating team for its fans this season. After the offseason acquisition of Antonio McDyess and Richard Jefferson, Gregg Popovich's men were expected to contend for the NBA championship. But the team actually has taken a step no, several steps backward, and finds itself in the lower-tier of the Western Conference playoff teams. Popovich signalled just how much of a failure McDyess and Jefferson are when he recently moved both to the bench, and started Matt Bonner and Keith Bogans in their stead. Today, the Spurs will take on McDyess' old team, the Detroit Pistons, and will look to rebound off their upset loss in Philly on Friday. Notwithstanding their problems, San Antonio should get the 'W' today, as it's a terrific 56-24 ATS since 1991 off an upset loss, if it's matched up against a .446 (or worse) opponent, who is also in off a straight-up loss. Moreover, the Spurs are 94-66 off a double-digit defeat, and the Pistons are a poor 25-45 ATS at home their last 70 situations! With Detroit having covered just three of its previous 13 games, we'll lay the wood with the Spurs on Sunday.