Mr. Vegas
Atlanta at Portland
Play: Portland
Portland has quietly run 4 of the last 5, on a 4-1 spread run. They are home from a three-game road trip, winning at Washington as a dog, 108-98. Atlanta is on a long road trip, the start of a five-game trip out West. The Hawks are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 vs. the NBA Northwest.
Jeff Benton
Your Wednesday freebie is the Hokies plus the double-digits at Notre Dame.
With the Irish on a 2-5-1 spread slide their last 8, laying double-digits to the 12-6 V-Tech Hokies seems a little unrealistic tonight in South Bend.
Buzz Williams has the Hokies on a nice 4-1 run both straight up and against the spread their last 5 games, and I know he has reminded his team about the last series meeting in which the Irish went into Blacksburg and pounded the Gobblers by a massive 25 points!
Notre Dame is playing this one off an upset win at Duke, and they may very well be feeling a little full of themselves.
I say Virginia Tech keeps this one closer than expected tonight at Notre Dame.
3* VIRGINIA TECH
Gabriel DuPont
Free play for tonight: UCLA (+2) at Oregon State
The STORYLINE in this game today - Headed to the Pac 12 for Wednesday's free play, as I'm going to play the UCLA Bruins over the Oregon State Beavers in what is a crucial matchup for both squads. The Bruins (11-7) and Beavers (11-5) are both 2-3 in Pac 12 play, but what stands out for me with UCLA is it has recorded wins over three teams ranked in the top-25 poll: No. 1 Kentucky (Dec. 3), at No. 20 Gonzaga (Dec. 12) and No. 7 Arizona (Jan. 7).
The X-FACTOR in making this choice on this game - My x-factor is UCLA's momentum. The Bruins roll into this one having won two of their last three conference games after opening their Pac-12 schedule with two straight road losses at Washington and Washington State. This is the time to take advantage, and the Bruins are going to be motivated for this win.
BOTTOM LINE is - UCLA’s five starters are averaging at least 10.0 points per game, while it is the only Pac-12 team to have at least two scorers in the conference’s top 10 (Bryce Alford fourth with 16.9 points per game and Isaac Hamilton seventh with 16.2). The Bruins are also the only program with at least two players who rank in the conference's top 10 in rebounding (Tony Parker is third with 10.1 rpg, and Thomas Welsh is seventh with 8.6 rpg).
3* UCLA
Brad Wilton
Wednesday free play winner is the Over in the Celtics-Raptors contest.
Second meeting between the clubs, with the first back on October 30th landing Over the posted price, as the C's and Raptors have played Over the total now in 4 of their last 6 meetings.
Boston comes to the Air Canada Centre having played Over the total in 3 straight and 5 of their last 6 overall.
As for Toronto, the Raptors have eclipsed the posted price in each of their last 3, and 6 of their last 8 overall.
Have to expect the offense to continue to click for both sides, and have to expect the Celtics and Raptors to once again head Over the total here on Wednesday.
4* BOSTON-TORONTO OVER
Scott Delaney
My free play tonight is in the NBA, as I like the Houston Rockets, who are looking for a 10th straight home win, and will get it done over the Detroit Pistons.
I like the inspired play of Dwight Howard of late, as he's averaged 20.6 points and 14.7 rebounds while posting 10 straight double-doubles - the NBA's longest active streak.
The 12-year-veteran steps to the court after his first career 35-point, 25-rebound effort, with 36 and 26 in a 140-132 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
That was a tough loss for Howard and James Harden to swallow, and now the Rockets will be looking to avenge the loss. Harden, the league's second-leading scorer at 27.5 per game, scored 20 for the Rockets, who lost for the second time in three games after a season-best five wins in a row.
The Pistons defense has lacked lately, having allowed 104.5 points per game in their last four after giving up 91.2 over a five-game span.
I'm taking the home team here.
5* ROCKETS
Craig Davis
Your free play of the day is the Minnesota T' Wolves plus the points over the Dallas Mavericks. At the time of this writing, the Wolves are catching 8 1/2 points and the Mavs simply shouldn't be laying that many points to anyone.
Have you watched Dallas much this year? I have, and they aren't exactly built to blow teams out. It seems as if every time they build a double digit lead to anyone, they find a way to let that team back into the game.
In fact, the only time in 2016 that they've been able to hold onto a double digit lead was when they hosted the Golden State Warriors (without Steph Curry) and seemed to be as motivated as I've seen them all year long.
But since then, they've built double digit leads against nine different teams, and either they found a way to lose in the end or they held on for dear life to win a close game. In fact, two of their most recent games saw this happen... at home vs. Cleveland and at home vs. Boston.
Since winning the championship in 2011, Dallas has been one of those teams that loves to play close games and always seems to find a way to let an opponent back into a game.
Having just played each other, the T'Wolves are all too familiar with Dallas and should be able to keep this contest close throughout. Dallas will win, but Minny will cover.
Take the Wolves plus the points as your free play of the day.
4* MINNESOTA
Harry Bondi
LOUISVILLE -9.5 over Florida State
We have hit four of our last five free winners and today we go against Virginia Tech, who is coming off an emotional home win over Virginia and now must take on one of the hottest home teams in the country. Louisville has won 14 straight home games by an average of 29 points per game! After suffering its first ACC loss at Clemson on January 10th, the Cardinals have ramped up their defensive intensity including holding then #20 Pittsburgh to a season-worst 28.6 percent shooting in a 59-41 home win last Saturday. Louisville leads the nation in defensive field goal percentage allowing its opponents to shoot only 35.7% from the field and easily defeated Florida State last year on the road 81-59. Cardinal soar again this year.
Bruce Marshall
Thunder -9.5
After a spread slump that carried from Christmas into mid-January, Ok City rolling again with four wins after last night at Denver. Last week's stretch of four games in six days also consisted of nothing but SU wins, including romps past the Mavs and Heat. And speaking of romps, that's what Thunder did at Cable Box on Jan. 2 in 109-90 cruise, which was Ok City's tenth straight win in the series. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 45 points that night and didn't need to score any more because the Thunder bench outscored its Charlotte counterparts 42-22. Meanwhile, Charlotte not dealing as well with Al Jefferson's latest injury as it did during his earlier absence, losing 9 of 10 SU since Big Al (knee) went down for a second time this season in late December.
Dr. Bob
Opinion – Wake Forest (+19) over NORTH CAROLINA
Wake Forest is coming off a horrible game but that double-digit upset loss sets up the Demon Deacons in a 172-73-5 ATS big road underdog bounce-back situation and North Carolina applies to a 41-112-2 ATS big favorite letdown situation based on their long losing streak. My ratings favor UNC by 19 points so the line is fair, and I’ll lean with Wake Forest plus the points based on the situation.
David Banks
Golden State Warriors @ Chicago Bulls
Pick: Golden State Warriors-6.5
The NBA-leading Warriors have hit a tough patch in their schedule. After losses to Denver and Detroit (and a Jan. 18 matchup with Cleveland), Golden State sits at 37-4 at the midway point of the season. They head to Chicago for a Wednesday night meeting with the Bulls, who are 23-16 good enough for third-best in the Eastern Conference standings.
Chicago must overcome the loss of center Joakim Noah, who will likely miss the rest of the season after an MRI confirmed that he will need surgery to repair his dislocated left shoulder. Noah injured the shoulder in last week’s loss to Dallas. The 83-77 defeat was the Bulls fourth loss in five games after winning six in a row. Taj Gibson and rookie Bobby Portis will help make up for the loss of Noah. The Bulls will continue to rely on Jimmy Butler (22.6 ppg) and Pau Gasol (16.3 ppg, 10.8 rpg). Derrick Rose is not what he once was but still averages nearly 15 points and five assists per game. The Bulls defense will have to step up and put the clamps on the NBA’s No. 1 scoring team.
Golden State is, of course, led by NBA-leading scorer Stephen Curry (30.0 ppg). Backcourt mate Klay Thompson averages 20.8 points a game and forward Draymond Green is close to averaging a triple-double per game – 14. 7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and a team-leading 7.3 assists. The Warriors have stumble recently though. The Pistons played a marvelous game defensively disrupting passes and defending shots limiting Golden State to just 95 points. If the Bulls keep Golden State under 100, their chances of victory increase immensely.