Rob Vinciletti
TCU vs. Wyoming
Play: Wyoming +1.5
In a battle of 2 sub par Mountain West Conference teams. Wyoming looks to be slightly better in this game and is getting 1.5 points. In the last meeting they beat TCU by 10 points, avenging an earlier loss. TCU has just one win in conference play and is a terrible 1-13 off a loss while losing their last 3 against losing teams. Look for Wyoming to take the rubber game here in the first round of the Mountain West Conference.
Tom Freese
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Boston Celtics
Play: Boston Celtics -9½
The Clippers are 24-40 straight this year. Los Angeles is 17-42 ATS their last 59 road games vs. a team with winning record. The Clippers are 16-40 ATS their last 56 road games vs. a team with home win percentage of over 60%. Boston is 46-15 straight up this year. The Celtics are 13-4-1 ATS their last 18 games when playing with two days of rest. Boston is 27-13-2 ATS their last 42 games following an ATS loss. The Celtics are 27-6 ATS after allowing less than 83 points in their last game.
Info Plays
3* Warriors -2
Reasons why Golden State will cover:
1) The Nets are playing with a depleted roster. Deron Williams will not be in action because of the birth of his child. New Jersey could also be without Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, Damion James, and Quinton Ross.
2) Golden State did just play last night, but are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 0 days rest, and are 23-9 ATS in their last 32 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.
3) New Jersey is just 19-40-1 ATS in their last 60 games vs. a team with a losing S.U. record, and just 13-29 ATS versus up-tempo teams averaging 83 or more shots/game over the last 2 seasons.
Steve Janus
1* Thunder +1.5
Oklahoma City lost a tough game against at Memphis their last time out, but that creates a prime opportunity to jump on the Thunder tonight. Oklahoma City is 38-18 ATS in their last 56 games following a S.U. loss, and are 20-11 ATS (+7.9 Units) versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing <=14 turnovers/game this season. The 76ers are just 1-10 ATS in home games after 3 straight games where both teams scored 100 points or more since 1996.
This game also falls under one of our highest rated systems. You want to play against all teams where the line is +3 to -3 (76ers) - average defensive team (43.5-45.5%) against a poor defensive team (45.5-47.5%), after 3 straight games - allowing a shooting pct. of 47% or higher, as its 30-7 since 1996! Bet the Thunder!
Black Widow
1* on Chicago Bulls -6.5
The Chicago Bulls are surging right now, while the Charlotte Bobcats are reeling. Looking for an 11th win in 13 games overall, the Bulls hope to avoid a third loss in four meetings with a Bobcats team that could again be without leading scorer Stephen Jackson on Wednesday night. One area in which Chicago has been extremely consistent is defense. While they are allowing an NBA-low 91.5 points per game, the Bulls have held opponents to 81.1 points on 40.2 percent shooting over their current 6-1 stretch. That doesn't bode well for Charlotte, averaging 81.2 points and shooting 40.7 percent over a season-worst five-game losing streak. The Bobcats are 3-22 when scoring 90 or less. The Bulls are 36-17 ATS in their last 53 games playing on 1 days rest. The Bobcats are 2-9-2 ATS in their last 13 home games vs. a team with a winning road record. Take Chicago and lay the points.
Ray Monohan
Clippers vs. Celtics
Play: Over 192½
Nice tilt tonight in Boston as the Clippers come to the Garden winners of 3 straight on their 5 game road trip. Eric Gordon is out again (Bad foul from Mozgov on Saturday). Ho Hum, the Clippers still have Mo Williams, Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman to turn to. (Kaman has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games off the bench.) The Celtics continue to win despite having five players sidelined with injuries, including Shaq, West and 6th man Davis. Boston holds a 2 1/2-game lead over Chicago for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston is shooting a league-high.493 percent - .107 better than No. 2 Dallas. In their last meeting this year Boston defeated LAC 99-92. If all goes according to plan this game should be over midway thru the 4th qtr and the B-Teamers will be out there running around and not playing any D. Tons of trends lead me to believe this ones goes OVER the nice value line tonight. Over is 4-1 in Celtics last 5 overall. Over is 4-0 in Celtics last 4 vs. Western Conference. Over is 4-0 in Celtics last 4 vs. NBA Pacific. Over is 11-5 in BOS last 16 home games, Over is 13-6 in BOS last 19 Wed. games, Over is 7-1 for LAC last 8 vs. NBA Atlantic. Over is 9-3 in Clippers last 12 games following a S.U. win.
BIG AL
Detroit @ San Antonio
PICK: Detroit +12
Gregg Popovich's crew certainly had an interesting weekend. On Friday, it handed LeBron James & Co. their worst loss of the season -- 125-95 -- when the Spurs set a franchise record for 3-pointers made in a game (17). But then in their next game, the Spurs suffered their worst first-half of basketball at home in their franchise's history when they were down by 28 at the break en route to a 16-point loss to the Lakers. But, perhaps, that should not have come as too big of a surprise, as San Antonio has started to come back down to Earth a bit after getting out to a 40-6 start. They're just 11-6 since, and have lost games to Philly, Memphis, Chicago, and the Lakers, among others. I expect them to have a bit of a hangover off that awful performance on Sunday and to struggle a bit against this seemingly overmatched Pistons team. Still, Detroit's fighting for a playoff berth, and comes in off a double-digit win over the Wizards. And Detroit is a super 98-69 ATS on the road off a 10-point win. Take the points with Detroit tonight.
Lenny Del Genio
Golden State Warriors at New Jersey Nets
Prediction: New Jersey Nets
No Deron Williams, no problem here for the Nets. We've been zigging and zagging with the Warriors and doing so with plenty of success as we've gone 3-0 ATS in their last three games. First, they stayed within a generous number at Boston last Friday. Then, they lost in OT at Philly in a game we were quite frankly lucky to cover. Last night, they took care of business on the road at Cleveland, winning 95-85 as five-point chalk in a game where they money came in on Golden State. This will now be the Warriors fourth road game in six nights and seventh in 12 nights. Contrast that with the Nets, who have been off for three days since winning BB games in London over the Raptors on Fri/Sat, and are 10-1 ATS when hosting Western Conference teams this season. Take New Jersey.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Philadelphia 76ers -1.5
Philly has dominated the NBA Northwest division this season to the tune of 7-0 ATS. One of those covers came clear back in November when the 76ers played OKC to a 6-point game on the road. Philly is a much better team now than it was at that stage of the season. OKC, however, is not. The Thunder have been affected by a trade, which essentially swapped Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins. Unfortunately, Perkins is yet to make his debut for OKC due to injury. In addition, Philly is 16-4 ATS when avenging a road loss to an opponent this season. The 76ers are winning by an average score of 103.7 to 94.9 in this situation. Take Philly.
Teddy Covers
Fresno State @ Nevada
PICK: Fresno State +2
Nevada was a major disappointment all season long. After sending a pair of draft picks to the NBA last spring (an extreme rarity for a program that has been overshadowed in the WAC by Utah State and New Mexico State in recent years), some rebuilding was expected. But the coaching turnover has been an issue as well, with Mark Fox coaching at Georgia these days and Trent Johnson coaching at LSU. Second year head coach David Carter simply has not lived up to his predecessor’s acumen. This Wolfpack squad didn’t get much better as the season progressed.
Nevada has no positive momentum heading into their opening round WAC tournament game at the Orleans Arena here in Vegas this afternoon. They were beaten at home in Reno in each of their final two home games, and got knocked off at New Mexico as short dogs last weekend. The Wolfpack struggled in both meetings against Fresno this year: 1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS; barely eking out a three point win against the Bulldogs at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
This year’s results are nothing new or different for WAC hoops aficionados. Fresno is 7-0 ATS in their last seven meetings with Nevada, dating back to the 2008 WAC tourney. And while Nevada comes into their tourney in the midst of a serious late season slump, Fresno comes in with some positive momentum after their blowout win over Hawaii to close out the regular season.
Fresno’s 6-10 center Greg Smith has finally lived up to his enormous potential in recent games– potential that has the NBA scouts drooling. Bulldogs guard Tim Steed has returned to the lineup following a three game suspension. You could make a legitimate case that the Bulldogs have the better personnel as well as the better momentum. Fresno head coach Steve Cleveland: “I really like the way we have played our last two games. The one thing we can always control is our energy and effort, and I believe if we do that like we did… good things will happen.” 2* Take Fresno State
Craig Trapp
Marquette vs. West Virginia
Play: Marquette +2
No one likes the style of play from Huggins better than me but just think this is a really bad matchup for WVU. L3 years MARQ has owned WVU going 3-0 straight up and ATS. WVU usually wins by defense and offensive rebounding but not today as MARQ gets rebounds and scoring from all 5 players. This is a dangerous MARQ team that could win this BIG East Tournament if they continue to shoot the ball well.
Dave Price
1 Unit on Bobcats +8.5
The Bobcats are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. the NBA Central and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog of 5.0-10.5 points. Charlotte has won 4 of its last 5 at home against Chicago and it has taken 2 of this season's first 3 meetings. With the Bulls much more interested in their upcoming revenge game with Atlanta, I expect the Bobcats to get the cover at home tonight.