Info Plays
3* Hawks +5
Reasons why the Hawks will cover:
1)Utah has covered the spread just once in the last six games, and once again they are overvalued at home. Atlanta will be looking for revenge against the Jazz, after playing a fourth quarter lead at home earlier this season. The Hawks also know what it takes to win at Utah, as they beat the Jazz 105-100 in their last visit.
2) The Hawks are playing the second game of a back-to-back, but that hasn't been a problem so far this season, as they are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 0 days rest.
3) The Jazz are just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games as a home favorite, and are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on San Antonio Spurs +2.5
Pop yanked Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker from last night's game against the Knicks with three minutes remaining to send a message. I expect the Spurs to respond tonight. The Spurs haven't dropped consecutive games since last season's playoffs. They have bounced back nicely from their other four losses this season, winning the subsequent four contests by nearly 11 points on average. Plus, the Spurs won't have to deal with Kevin Garnett, who is out with a calf injury. The underdog is 8-0 ATS in the last 8 meetings in this series and the road team is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings. Take the Spurs.
Joe Gavazzi
La Salle vs. George Washington
Play: La Salle +2
George Washington has yet to recover from the loss of their top returning scorer, Kromah. The Colonials are averaging only 64 PPG on just 39% shooting, and only 59% from the foul line. They’ve only stepped up to one major opponent, UAB where they lost 79-44. Compare this to a La Salle team who averages 79 PPG on 48%. They have accomplished this against a much harder schedule, including Providence, Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Villanova against whom they’ve averaged 82 PPG. Seventh-year La Salle HC Giannini is one of the nations few coaches with an inverted home-road dichotomy. If you had played the road team in each of La Salle’s games during his tenure, you would be 82-42 ATS including 5-1 ATS TY. They get the victory tonight on a court where GW is only 26-20 SU L3+Y.
Jack Jones
Houston Rockets -5.5
Home-court advantage has really been huge in this Portland vs. Houston rivalry. I'll side with the home team tonight as the Rockets catch the Blazers in a very tough spot. Portland is coming off a hard-fought 81-84 road loss at Dallas last night, playing a Mavericks team that was without Dirk Nowitzki. The injuries are piling up in Portland and they are without their best player in Brandon Roy, making these back-to-back situations very hard on them.
The home team is a perfect 10-0 in the last 10 meetings in this series. Houston is 9-0 in their last 9 home meetings with the Blazers. The Rockets are 10-5 at home this season, while the Blazers are 6-14 on the road. The Rockets are 6-0-2 ATS in their last 8 games following a S.U. loss. Houston is 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 games as a favorite. The Rockets are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 home games. Take Houston Wednesday.
David Chan
Calgary Flames @ Vancouver Canucks
PICK: Calgary Flames
I bet value where I see it and look for Calgary to pull off the upset against the red hot Vancouver Canucks.
Vancouver may be the hottest team in the league right now, having not lost in regulation since December 5th, but Calgary will be playing with "revenge" as its lost three in a row to the Canucks.
It will also be extra motivated tonight, as it had its four-game win streak broken in a 5-2 home loss to the Isles on Monday (note that the Flames are 8-3 [+6 units] this season after a loss by two-goals or more in their previous contest).
I believe the Canucks will finally suffer a "letdown" tonight, and come out a bit complacent against this hungry Calgary club (note that Vancouver is 1-3 [-2.6 units] this season after playing three-consecutive road games).
All signs point to the CALGARY FLAMES as the sharp wager here.
Sam Martin
Purdue at Penn State
Prediction: Purdue
The Boilermakers have been staying under the radar this season with the loss of Robbie Hummel prior to the start of the season, but they have quietly put together a 13-1 start to the year, including two blowout wins to start Big Ten play. In fact, Purdue has won seven straight games by double-digits heading into tonight's showdown at Penn State. The Nittany Lions won't be able to keep up offensively here, and should be crushed in the rebounding department. Boilermakers win in another blowout!
Hollywood Sports
Chicago Bulls at New Jersey Nets
Prediction: New Jersey Nets
New Jersey (9-25) hopes to get a couple players back on Wednesday and take advantage of a Chicago (23-10) team that hosted the Raptors last night and defeated them by a 111-91 score. While the Bulls are 8-7 away from home this season, Avery Johnson's team has covered the points spread in 4 of their last 5 home games against teams with a winning record on the road. They will be looking to steal a win against this club before they endure a stretch where they will be playing six of seven games away from home. The Nets' solid defensive field goal percentage of 43.9% has helped them cover 7 of their last 10 games at home. And the Bulls remain without Joakim Noah with his torn ligament in his thumb. Look for New Jersey to keep this game closer than expected.
Matt Fargo
St Bonaventure vs. Arkansas LR
Play: Arkansas LR -1
This is the first home game for Arkansas-Little Rock since December 11th as it has played three road games and three neutral court games since then. The Trojans are coming off two conference road games and both resulted in losses, the last coming in Denver by a bucket. This is the final non-conference game of the season and while one may think of it as a letdown, it is a good opportunity to get things going in the right direction prior to three straight Sun Belt home games. While this is the first home game for the Trojans in close to a month, this is the first true road game for the Bonnies since December 7th. That game resulted in a huge upset over St. John’s but I think that was more St. John’s not showing up than St. Bonaventure being that good. It is 2-2 in its other road games with the two wins coming against Binghamton and Cornell. The Bonnies have been up and down all season long as they have dropped three of its last five games after opening the year with a 5-2 record. The Trojans are looking for some payback as well as they lost in Olean by 13 points last month setting up a rare non-conference revenge game. The Bonnies led by 15-or-more for a majority of the final 30 minutes, building a 19-point advantage with only 3:49 to play. Andrew Nicholson recorded the second of his six 20-point games this season and the Bonnies handled the Trojans’ physical play as they went 30-of-37 from the free throw line while holding the Trojans to just 20 free throws. Play against road teams where the line is +3 to -3 that are shooting 45 or better while allowing opponents to shoot 42 percent or worse on the season going up against an opponent after a game it shot 50 percent or better from behind the arc. This situation is 60-32 ATS (65.2 percent) over the last five seasons. Arkansas-Little Rock is 14-5 ATS in its last 19 home games revenging a double-digit road loss. 3* Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans
Larry Ness
Toronto @ Cleveland
PICK: Cleveland -2
Has anything gone right for Cleveland since LeBron's return to that city back on December 2? The answer, quite frankly, is no. We all remember that debacle, a 118-90 Miami win. The game before that, the Cavs had lost to the Celtics (106-87), and as they get set to host the Raptors on Wednesday night, the Cavs have lost 17 of 18 games to fall to 8-26, a record better than only the 7-25 Kings. To add insult to injury, the Heat have won 19 of their last 20 games and look every bit as good as they 'promised' to be. Now only time will tell when it comes to the Heat but as for the Cavs, their 'story' was "written in stone" the night of "The Decision." This team is a mess and wishing won't make it not so. That being said, here's a chance for the Cavs to win. Varejao (9.3-9.8), who will wear a protective mask, and Gibson, who has averaged 14.5 PPG in 10 games since cracking the starting lineup Dec. 8, are both expected to play tonight. The Raptors lost 111-91 at Chicago last night, the team's 12th loss in its last 15 games overall. Toronto is 11-23 on the year, including 4-13 on the road. Also, Toronto has lost 11 straight games in Cleveland and while LBJ was there for those 11 losses, I'm giving the mental edge to the Cavs tonight. They desperately need a win and what better team to get it against? Cleveland gets its first one-game winning streak since beating the Knicks 109-102 in OT on Dec 18.