Sam MartinFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Arizona at ColoradoFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Prediction: ColoradoFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Rematch from the great game played in Arizona that the Wildcats eventually won in overtime thanks to a controversial call, but now Colorado has the chance to exact revenge. Arizona's offense has not been the same as it had been during their hot start, including a 39% shooting effort their last time out in an outright home loss against California (lost by 8 points as a big 12.5 point home favorite). Colorado is very good on their home floor, going 9-1 straight up, and after scoring 83 points on 48% shooting in Arizona, we look for another strong offensive effort from a Colorado squad that scores 79 ppg on 50% shooting here in this building on the season. We're not the biggest fans of using revenge as a handicapping tool, but in specific spots we do feel it adds value and this is certainly one of those times. Colorado starts fast and finishes strong in their win and cover!
Bill Obrien
Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Play: Miami Heat 1st Half
Miami will come out and prove a point tonight that their championship is not a fluke as okc regular season record means nothing, take Miami +2.5 1st half
Charlie ScottFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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UCLA vs. CaliforniaFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Play: UnderFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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By now, everyone has watched the Unders cash while scoring is down in NCAAB this season for numerous reasons. This Total is inflated and I expect California to control the pace. While UCLA players like to run, Howland isn't comfortable running and in close games tend to slow down game and emphasize defense. Cal struggles to score on the offensive end and gives a decent effort on defense. UCLA games have scored less than 144 points in 7 of their last 10 games, while California games have scored less than 144 in 8 of their last 10 games.
SPORTS WAGERSFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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N.Y. Islanders +156 over N.Y. RANGERSFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT included. It’s not customary for us to play cold versus hot but this is an opportunity to take back a significant price on a very live pup. The Rangers have picked up their play by winning three in a row and six of their past eight games with only losses over that span occurring against Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Over their past three, the Blue Shirts have outscored the opposition by an impressive 13-5 count while scoring at least four goals in each game. So what is there to like about the Islanders?
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Despite losing five straight, these Islanders are too talented to keep losing at this pace. On Saturday, they outshot Buffalo 42-15 but lost 3-2. On Monday, against Carolina, they scored four times on Cam Ward but Rick DiPietro was awful and allowed six. Evgeni Nabokov will be back between the pipes tonight. The Islanders special teams, both power-play and penalty-kill rank in the top four in the league. The arrival of Lubomir Visnovsky gives the Islanders one of the best pair of puck-moving defensemen in the league along with Mark Streit. The Islanders are going to start winning games again very soon and with the money being offered here, this is as good a place to start as any.
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Phoenix +115 over NASHVILLEFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT included. The Predators have scored a league low 25 goals in 13 games. To put that into perspective, the Lightning have scored 46 in 12 games. Nashville is a solid defensive team with great goaltending but you can’t keep winning games 1-0 and 2-1 in OT. The Preds have now gone three straight games without scoring more than once in any of them. As the favorite, the Predators pose an unadvised risk.
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The Coyotes continue to win games just like they’ve been doing for three years running. They have less fanfare than any team in the NHL, going basically unnoticed. The Coyotes have now won four of their past five with only loss over that span coming against the 10-0-3 Blackhawks. After a shaky start, goaltender Mike Smith has regained the form that made him the story of the year last season. The ‘Yotes have shut out the opposition three times in the past seven games, they’ve defeated Nashville in four of the past five meetings and there’s no reason they can’t keep things going here.
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Pass NBA & CBB
Dave PriceFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Saint Mary's +1FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Gonzaga has been rolling right along but I believe it runs into a brick wall tonight. Saint Mary's is a perfect 13-0 at home on the season, and it won last season's home meeting against Gonzaga by 21 points. These two have split the 8 last meetings and have alternated wins over the last 4. That's about as even as it gets. Gonzaga got the first one this season by 5, and now it's the Gaels' turn. The Bulldogs are 0-7 ATS in road games the last 3 seasons after 2 straight wins by 15 points or more. They have lost by an average score of 72.0 to 69.3 in these contests. Much of Gonzaga's success stems from beating teams on the boards, but it will have trouble outrebounding Saint Mary's, which has won the battle of the boards in 3 of the last 4 meetings. Consider that the Gaels are 6-0 ATS the last 2 seasons when at least 15 games into the schedule versus good rebounding teams that outrebound foes by 4.0 or more per game. Saint Mary's has defeated these teams by an average score of 74.8 to 65.3. Take Saint Mary's as another highly rated team falls in a season filled with parody.
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Los Angeles Lakers +3FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing their best basketball of the season over the past few weeks. They have won eight of their last 11 games overall with their only losses coming on the road against Miami, Boston and Phoenix. They shouldn’t have lost that game to the Suns after holding a 13-point lead in the 4th quarter, but they simply ran out of gas in a back-to-back situation.
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The Clippers are going to be in a very tough spot Thursday night. They will be playing the second of a back-to-back and their 4th game in 5 days after beating Houston 106-96 at home on Wednesday. Both teams played at a pretty fast pace, so that will certainly leave the Clippers with tired legs heading into this one.
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This play falls into a system that is 44-17 (72.1%) ATS since 1996. It tells us to bet against favorites (LA CLIPPERS) - in a game involving two good offensive teams (98-102 PPG), after leading in their previous game by 20 or more points at the half.
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The Clippers are 0-8 ATS in road games after scoring 60 points or more in the first half last game over the last 3 seasons. LAC is 1-9 ATS after a game where they made 12 or more 3 point shots over the last 2 seasons. The Clippers are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a losing S.U. record. Bet the Lakers Thursday.
Don Best Consensus
Arkansas Little Rock vs Arkansas State
Pick: Over
The over is 14-5 in Arkansas Little Rock's last 19 & 11-4 in ARK-LR last 15 road games. The over is 10-3 in Arkansas State's last 13 home games
Tony GeorgeFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Heat / Thunder Over 204FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The battle of Titans tonight, and of course a matchup for the 2 teams who made the finals last year. The Heat have flat out owned the Thunder covering the last 5 in a row, and LeBron is on an epic run of 6 games shooting 60% and scoring 30 or more for the Heat. Just unreal how King James is backing up an MVP year and the Heat look unbeatable right now, which is a perfect setup for tonight with them getting BIG points from oddsmakers. Both teams clicking on offense at 109 ppg each their last 5 games each, and while it is tempting as hell to take the points with Miami, especially after the Thunder’s ugly loss at Utah where they self destructed and lost their composure, I will not drink the kool aid on that line, which has oddsmakers begging you to take Miami. I feel the VALUE is in the totals play, and the fact both teams will be gunning for the basket and running the floor and scoring points at a rapid pace. As a matter of fact 8 out of the last 11 in this series in OK City have went over the total. Look for a shootout tonight.
WunderdogFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Toronto at CarolinaFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Pick: Carolina -145FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Since losing to the Hurricanes 4-1 on February 4th, the Maple Leafs have reeled off four straight wins. So they are hot, right? Well it probably won't matter. Carolina has won four of five so they are hot too. And, Toronto is without Matt Frattin and James Reimer. Carolina has won nine of the last twelve in this series. Toronto is just 15-35 the past two seasons when facing good offenses like Carolina's (teams averaging over 29 shots per game on goal). The Leafs are 9-20 dating back to last season revenging a same season loss. Take the home team in this one.
DAVID BANKS
Heat / Thunder Over 205
A rematch of the NBA Finals highlights the last NBA on TNT Thursday doubleheader before the All-Star break as the Miami Heat (35-14, 25-24 ATS) pay a visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-13, 31-19-2 ATS) at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma at 8:05 ET. The Thunder are tied with the Heat for the second best home record in the NBA at 23-3, trailing only the San Antonio Spurs. However, the Heat are a perfect 2-0 straight up as underdogs this season, as that is one role that always motivates them, and they have the hottest player on the planet in LeBron James.
It is not a stretch of the imagination to say that James is currently riding the best six-game stretch of all time. After all, he has become the first player in NBA history to record six straight games of scoring at least 30 points and shooting at least 60 percent from the field, and on top of that, he has hit on an utterly insane 60 of his last 80 field goal attempts for 75 percent! For the entire season, James is averaging 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists, and the last player to average at least 27/8/6 over an entire season was some guy named Jordan for the Bulls in 1998-99. James is also now shooting 56.5 percent for the season, and he has been so good that people are forgetting that the Heat are supposed to be the best "team" in the Eastern Conference. Sure Miami has been lazy at times this season but they are rolling at the moment riding a six-game winning streak coinciding with James putting the team on his back, and the two times that the Heat have been underdogs this season they won outright beating the Nuggets in Denver and the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Now the Heat figure to be bigger underdogs in this game than they have all year, as the Thunder may have gotten caught looking ahead to this game when they lost 109-94 at Utah on Tuesday for only their second double-digit loss all season. After all, Oklahoma City has now won seven straight home games while going 7-0 ATS in those games and winning by an average of +22.3 points! They also have arguably the second most dynamic play in the league in Kevin Durant, who is averaging 29.0 points and 7.4 rebounds, and they are ranked ahead of the Heat in field goal percentage allowed (43.0 to 44.0) and in total rebounds per game (42.9 to 38.7), as the Heat are dead last in the league in rebounding. Then there is that little matter of revenge after losing to the Heat in five games in the Finals, something that the Thunder were unable to get in a 103-97 loss at Miami on Christmas Day. So the question now becomes is all of that enough to overcome what James is doing by himself right now?
The Heat are 5-0 ATS in their last five games after allowing at least 100 points in their previous game, 5-1 ATS in their last six games vs. the Western Conference and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games vs. the Northwest Division. The Thunder are 2-7 ATS in their last nine games vs. the Southeast Division.
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Minnesota - over WisconsinFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Minnesota is in a tailspin with losses in six of the last eight games but the early season results for Minnesota are undeniably strong. This is a team that would still project as a solid #5 or #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament right now and a team that could get on a nice late season run to close out the Big Ten schedule. Losing at home to Illinois was an unacceptable loss but the Illini were the more desperate team in that match-up. After losing by one point against Wisconsin in Madison, this will be a critical game for a now desperate Gophers team. Wisconsin enters this game coming off back-to-back overtime wins, beating Iowa last Wednesday and then miraculously beating Michigan on Saturday. Both of those wins came at home, as did the ugly 45-44 win over the Gophers less than a month ago. In that game Minnesota shot less than 35 percent but still had a chance to tie the game with a final free throw attempt. Minnesota actually had fewer turnovers than Wisconsin in that game but the Badgers made more 3-point shots. Wisconsin has lost two of the last three road games and the Badgers only have three true road wins all season long. Wisconsin has been a terrible ATS team on the road with a 2-7 ATS mark and Minnesota is still capable of dominating at home. Minnesota has won by double digits in three of six Big Ten home games and in 11 of 14 home games overall. The home team has won five of the last six meetings between these rivals and the defensive numbers are quite similar for both teams. Minnesota is a much better shooting team on offense from the floor as well as from the free throw line and Minnesota should also have an edge in rebounding in this match-up. This has the look of a clear letdown spot for Wisconsin coming off such an amazing win last weekend while Minnesota needs a nice win to get back on track this season after consecutive losses.
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Heat 5 over ThunderFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Miami has this teams number and until OKC breaks the trend we will keep going against them. Some teams and players just match up better against other teams. This is the case in this game. Lebron is on fire this month and I don’t see him being stopped on primetime TV. Take the Heat.
Joe Gavazzi
Gonzaga vs. Saint Marys
Play: Saint Marys
Since losing earlier in the season in Spokane, 83-78, the Gaels have ripped off 9 straight wins to remain just 1 game behind the Zags for Top spot in the WCC. That all changes tonight. In that 1st meeting, the Gaels used their grit and determination to outboard the Zags by a 34-23 margin. Though Gonzaga is deemed to be a giant inside, for the season they have just a +6.5 rebound margin compared to St. Mary’s who is +9.4 on the boards. Each of these teams has great offense with the Zags averaging 79/51/39 with 16 APG. St. Mary’s counters with an attack that averages 78/49/40 with 15 APG. From a technical perspective we give the edge to the home team who is 57-6 SU 3+Y at Mckeon including 13-0 SU this season. February home dogs are 107-58 ATS play vs. Road favorites off 6 or more consecutive wins. Though the Zags cruised in off wins of 19 vs. Loyola and 26 vs. Pepp, know that in the last 3 years Mark Few’s minions are 0-7 ATS on the road following consecutive 15 point victories. Behind Matty Dellavedova, the best perimeter player in the League, look for St. Mary’s to use their strong home court, revenge motive, and underrated rebounding advantage to gain this victory and even the standings atop the WCC.
Kyle Hunter
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
Play:Wisconsin
The Minnesota Golden Gophers looked like one of the top teams in the Big 10 earlier this year, but they have been playing some bad basketball of late. They have lost 6 of their last 8 games, and I don't understand this line. Wisconsin plays a ton of very close games because of their style of play, and Minnesota hasn't blown anyone out in a very long time. Look for a game that isn't decided until the final buzzer. Grab the points and the underdog here. Take Wisconsin.
Jeff Alexander
California -2½
UCLA covered the spread its last time out with a 14-point win against Washington State. However, those who went to the well with the Bruins in that game may want to think twice before backing them again. After all, UCLA is just 1-7 ATS this season following a game in which it covered the number. Cal checks in off an upset win at Arizona, but I don't expect a letdown as it will be hungry to avenge an earlier loss to UCLA. Fading road teams that are off a double-digit home win and matched up against an opponent that's off an upset win as a road underdog of 12 points or more has produced a 39-14 ATS mark since 1997. Also, February favorites that check in off an upset win as an underdog of 10 or more are 24-5 ATS the last 5 seasons. Bet Cal.