Nelly
Detroit Pistons + over Indiana Pacers
This is the same Pistons team that lost to Philadelphia on Saturday and barely beat the Bucks on Monday. Detroit has given mixed efforts in recent weeks in what has been another disappointing season but despite its faults, Detroit can score points. On the season Detroit averages 101 points per game and this has been one of the highest scoring teams in the NBA as the over/under record can attest. Indiana has been the opposite, a title contender led by defense. The recent offensive woes for the Pacers have been quite serious, scoring 86 or fewer points in seven of the last eight games including losing five of the last six games while failing to top 78 points. After laying a complete egg in a big game with the Spurs on Monday at home this is not a game the Pacers will be up for and the dissension within the squad appears to be growing. Detroit has given Indiana trouble this season as the Pistons are one of only five teams to win in Indianapolis this season. Detroit lost by just eight in two other meetings this season including falling in overtime when the teams met just three weeks ago. Detroit has managed to push all three games into a higher scoring range where the Pacers are less comfortable and even in a lost season this is a rivalry the Pistons will still get up for. Detroit is also 4-0 ATS when dogged by double-digits this season.
Cajun Sports
Nets / Knicks Over 197.5
The Nets and Knicks face off on Wednesday night in the Big Apple with tip set for 7:05PM Eastern Time. The Knicks are 11-5 Over their last 16 at Madison Square Garden. They are 24-12 Over as a favorite. New York is 22-15 Over playing with revenge for a SU loss and 12-5 Over with revenge for a home SU loss. Brooklyn is 11-4 Over their last fifteen as road underdogs in this price range. The Nets are 8-4 Over when facing division opponents. Brooklyn is 24-19 Over including 8-3 Over their last 11 when facing a team with a losing record. Our BTPR Index projects a point total advantage of 5.5 points against a total of 197.5. Play the Over in Gotham on Wednesday evening. OVER
Teddy Covers
Golden State at San Antonio
Play: Golden State +10
The quotes coming out of the San Antonio locker room are very clear – the Spurs are much more interested in resting and getting healthy for the playoffs than they are with extending their 18 game winning streak. As big home favorites tonight, that leaves San Antonio overpriced in the betting markets as they take on Golden State.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, in a candid moment with reporters earlier this week said that his team needed to get “slapped” to keep them grounded after all of these wins. Point guard Tony Parker: “I think he'll be happy if we lose anytime soon. I'm pretty sure because he's going to rest like half of the team." Hall of Famer Tim Duncan: “We'll worry about a couple of things, staying healthy, finishing the season strong and hopefully going into the playoffs with the confidence we're playing with now.”
Two of the three previous meetings between these teams this year were decided by a single basket, with San Antonio winning by two on both occasions. The Warriors also covered two out of three on this floor against the Spurs in the playoffs last year, including an outright upset victory.
Yes, Golden State is missing starting center Andrew Bogut and starting power forward David Lee (slight chance he’ll play tonight). But the Warriors have gotten great play from reserves Jermaine O’Neal, Draymond Green and Marreese Speights in recent games. And they haven’t been this big of an underdog in any game this year. In fact, the only previous time they were +7 or higher, they took OKC to overtime on the road, losing by a single point. No surprise here if the Warriors are an equally tough ‘out’ tonight!
Mark Franco
Bulls at Hawks
Play: Bulls -2
The Atlanta Hawks' steady slide is coming to a head, and they desperately need a win over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Wednesday try to hang onto the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta snapped a six-game skid by beating lowly Philadelphia on Monday to maintain its one-game edge over New York for eighth place. While the Hawks are just trying to hang on, the Bulls are trying to get a foothold for a climb to the No. 3 seed, for which they're tied with Toronto with eight games left. The Bulls getting the No. 3 seed would prevent them from having to face the top seed until the conference finals. Even if Atlanta can hang onto its playoff spot, it's probably just delaying the inevitable. The Hawks haven't had much offensive punch of late and have been subpar at the defensive end. The Bulls have won five straight meetings including all three this season, beating the Hawks by an average margin of 16.4 points during the streak.
Bob Balfe
Orioles / Red Sox Over 8.5
You never know with Ubaldo Jimenez you are going to get. Sometimes he looks great and other times like a young AA Pitcher. John Lackey is a great pitcher, but his home run rate is high and against this Orioles team all it takes is that one pitch to put 3-4 runs on the board. This Orioles team didn’t get great pitching last year and I don’t think throwing tons of money at a guy like Jimenez is going to solve their problems right away. Look for Boston and Baltimore to get on the board early sending this one over the total.
Hollywood Sports
Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs
Prediction: San Antonio Spurs
Golden State (45-28) survived a gritty 122-120 win in overtime as a 5-point underdog despite being undermanned in Dallas last night. Now they face a challenging test against the Spurs without rest. The Warriors have failed to cover the point spread in 4 of their last 5 games after a straight-up win as well as in 4 straight games after a point spread loss.
San Antonio (58-16) comes off a 103-77 destruction of Indiana on Monday -- and they have then covered the point spread in 7 of their last 8 games after a double-digit win. The Spurs have also covered the point spread in 5 of their last 6 home games. With Oklahoma City on deck tomorrow night, look for Gregg Popovich to play his big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli tonight before benching them tomorrow for rest. Take San Antonio minus the points in this one.
Jeff Alexander
Chicago Cubs +141
The Cubs are showing value at this price given their track record against Morton. The Pittsburgh starter is just 2-4 with an ERA of 4.91 in 9 starts against the Cubs. Chicago's Jackson, meanwhile, is 6-2 with a 3.19 ERA in 10 starts versus Pittsburgh. Playing against home favorites of -150 or more that had a winning record last season and are off a 1-run win over a division opponent has resulted in a 9-3 record the last 5 seasons.
TJ Pemberton
New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros
Play: New York Yankees -155
CC and the NY Yankees did not have the opening day that they wanted. Derek Jeter gets drilled on his 1st at bat and CC has a terrible beginning to the game before he can calm down but the damage was too much. The only good thing that came from yesterday’s Astro’s win was that we released it has a Premium Play and cashed for our clients.
Tonight the Yankees we give their number two man the nod, Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda was a good starter for the Yankees last year but then he went 0-6 in his last 8 outings. He worked hard in the off-season and should be able to put that behind him tonight. The Yankees are 4-1 in Kurodas last 5 starts when their opponent allows 2 runs or less in their previous game.
Even though the Yankees were beat by the Astros last night they still historically play well against them. The Yankees are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings in Houston & are 13-3 in the last 16 meetings.
Tonight calling the shots from behind home plate is Umpire Phil Cuzzi. The Yankees are 12-2 in their last 14 games with Cuzzi behind home plate.
John Ryan
Charlotte Bobcats vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Play: Philadelphia 76ers +8½
The simulator shows a high probability that Philadelphia will lose this game by fewer than 7 points and has a great shot at winning the game. Despite losing 26 straight games, the 76ers continue to play hard under head coach Brett Brown. They have a mix of players that are clearly buying into Brown's teaching and they have yet to give up in any game. They simply don't have the depth and the overall talent to win games, BUT they are exceeding their play given the lack of talent they possess. In this game, they do matchup well and I continue to play the 76ers as a vastly under valued team. Philly plays at a high pace and it takes it's toll on many teams. Philly has been playing much better defense over the past 12 games despite the media focus on the losing streak that has ended at 26 games. Charlotte is just 24-44 ATS (-24.4 Units) in up-tempo games where they attempt 84 or more shots over the last 3 seasons; 4-14 ATS (-11.4 Units) in a road game where the total is greater than or equal to 200 over the last 2 seasons; 3-12 ATS (-10.2 Units) after scoring 100 points or more 2 straight games over the last 2 seasons. Take Philadelphia.
Dave Price
NY Yankees -155
Houston took the opener, but it is a terrible 28-57 in its last 85 games following a win and 25-63 in its last 88 in the second game of a series. The Yankees have the edge on the hill with Kuroda, who is 4-0 (7-1 on the ML) with an ERA of 1.39 in 8 starts against the Astros. He hasn't given up a single run in his last three starts against them spanning 21 innings. The Astros, on the other hand, are just 2-6 in Cosart's last 8 starts. New York has won 13 of the last 16 meetings, including 6 of the last 7 in Houston. Take the Yanks.
Bruce Marshall
Islanders at Senators
Pick: Under
The playoff-hungry Senators try to match a season high to match a season high with a fourth consecutive win Wednesday night when they continue their five-game homestand against the Islanders. With only seven games remaining and five points to make up on Columbus for the last East playoff spot, Ottawa cannot drop many more points, but the Sens are 4-0-1 in their last five games as they hit overdrive. Expect Craig Anderson back in goal for the Sens considering his personal three-game winning streak against the Islanders, posting a 0.67 GAA while stopping 94 of 96 shots in the process. New York is also playing well lately but not because of its power play, which has been mostly on the blink (the Islanders are 3 for 22 in their last seven games with the man advantage).
Harry Bondi
SAN FRANCISCO (+105) over Arizona
Tim Hudson makes his first start for the San Francisco Giants tonight and he has owned the Diamondbacks. Hudson is 7-1 lifetime against Arizona including going 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA in six starts at Chase Field. Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill was a disaster in his first start, allowing 5 runs in only four innings of work, against the Dodgers and has struggled against the Giants. Cahill is 0-2 with a 6.08 ERA in four starts versus San Francisco at Chase Field. Lets ride those trends to another FREE WINNER tonight.
River City Sharps
NY Mets +130
Good pitching matchup here tonight between the Mets' Bartolo Colon, making his first career start for the Mets, vs. Gio Gonzalez for the Nationals. Gonzalez has been really solid during his career at Citi Field, going 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA in his last six starts versus the Mets, including 16 consecutive scoreless innings. Even with that under consideration, we are going to look the other way tonight as only three of the Nationals hitters have ever faced Colon in a game. We think that lack of comfort facing Colon works in the Mets favor, as well as getting Daniel Murphy and Chris Young back in the lineup tonight. Let's roll with the Mets to even up this series tonight.
Wunderdog
Chicago vs. Atlanta
Pick: Chicago -125
The Chicago Bulls have had a lot of obstacles this season, two of which are playing no Derrick Rose, and Luol Deng on the floor. It took awhile, but the Bulls are 33-16 over their last 49 games. Once upon a time, Atlanta was one of three NBA Eastern Conference teams above .500, but this team has slipped in a big way and is now nine games under .500 and are fighting for their playoffs lives. The Hawks broke a six game losing streak, but how much stock can you put into a win over Philadelphia at this point of the season? The Hawks have not even been close to competitive vs. a winning team, and if you want a most revealing stat then consider the fact that Atlanta is 1-18 straight-up in their last 19 games vs. a winning team. Chicago comes away with the road win, so play the Bulls on the moneyline.
OC Dooley
Celtics +8.5
It was a few nights ago when Washington had an opportunity to clinch the first postseason berth that the franchise has seen since way back in the 2008 campaign and they ultimately failed in a defeat where All Star John Wall was essentially shut down. Arguably the Wizards now must get over a psychological hump as a very young roster is not used to facing this type of pressure. Odds are that Washington will struggle to officially notch as playoff berth again as they have go up against a dangerous Boston contingent that WILL have Rajon Rondo in the starting lineup. Due to major offseason knee surgery the Celtics have not been using Rondo in consecutive tilts but he did not suit up in the team’s most recent game. Washington has NOT been able to defeat Boston with Rondo in the lineup for the better part of THREE YEARS. The most recent clash in this series was a very close contest decided by a TWO point margin where Boston’s Jeff Green put a grand total of THIRTY-NINE points on the scoreboard. I am aware that Boston as a team are currently on an 0-10 skid when playing on enemy hardwood, but that has only inflated tonight’s price tag which opened offshore down at the “seven” point mark