WINNING POINTS
***BEST BET
*Washington over Memphis by 16
Neither team could play defense last year. The difference this season is the Wizards have improved their defense holding foes to less than 97 points per game and 44.4 percentshooting from the floor compared to giving up 104.9 points last season and 47.3 percent shooting. Already the Wizards have held four opponents below 80 points, something they didn’t do once last season. Memphis entered the middle of this month ranked third-from-last in scoring defense and second-to-the-bottom in defensive field goal percentage. The Wizards have revenge from a 124-118 road loss to the Grizzlies in November when Memphis shot a sizzling 52.6 percent from the field. Look for the Wizards to clamp down this time around and don’t expect Juan Carlos Navarro and Rudy Gay to combine for 21-of-33 shooting. WASHINGTON 108-92.
*New Orleans over Los Angeles Clippers by 18
Now that the Hornets have proven they can cover big margins, we feel confident laying large spreads in the right spot. This is such a spot. The Hornets have been playing well, covering nine of their past 11 through Jan. 20. They’ve already covered doubledigit spreads recently at home versus the Heat and Timberwolves. The banged-up Clippers back-court can’t stay with Chris Paul. The Hornets have won four in a row against the Clippers, including twice this season by margins of 11 and 14 points. Tyson Chandler held Clippers center Chris Kaman to one-for-10 shooting from the floor in the team’s last meeting. NEW ORLEANS 106-88.
***BEST BET
Atlanta over *Seattle by 9
We know the Hawks aren’t a great road team, but their overall improvement is for real.Josh Smith and Josh Childress, off the bench, are playing their finest ball. The Hawks can beat any foe at home and they’ve reached the point where they can be trusted on the road to cover against weak competition. The Sonics remain unsettled in the backcourtand star rookie Kevin Durant could be starting to hit the wall as we get closer to the All-Star break. The Sonics lack the athletic skills of Atlanta and have no motivationat home, realizing there’s a strong possibility the franchise will be relocating.ATLANTA 106-97.
THE SPORTS REPORTER
BEST BET
*DENVER over NEW JERSEY by 22
You thought keeping up with Golden State was tough, how about trying to keep up with the Nuggets in Denver one night after playing in Oakland? For kicks, let’s make this your fifth road game in seven days. All of that spells out into one huge disaster of a night for the New Jersey Nets. It could get disastrously ugly in the fourth quarter as the collective New Jersey starting unit runs out of steam – be prepared for a lot of the second unit tonight, as Coach Frank tries to salvage the final game of the road trip from hell against Minnesota on Sunday. DENVER 117-95
THE SPORTS MEMO
FAIRWAY JAY
Orlando at Detroit
Recommendation: Under
This week we’ll take a ‘shot’ with another quick turnaround game
between a pair of division leaders in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit played at Orlando Monday night, and the Piston’s enter
the week just 5-5 in January and losers of three of their past
four games, all against teams with losing records. Detroit has
lacked their usual energy, chemistry and determination. The
players have pointed to re-focus on the defensive end, which has
been their signature strength. Orlando has the second best road
record at 16-9 and is the league’s most profitable team at 27-
15 ATS. The Magic have a deep offensive arsenal led by Dwight
Howard, but the loss of point guard Jameer Nelson (sprained
foot) prior to the Portland game last Saturday could impact offensive
flow and production. Orlando had regressed defensively
the past month, but played with great energy in the Portland
victory, although the Trailblazers admitted they were tired in
back-to-back games. Coach Stan Van Gundy says his team is
progressing defensively with Howard and Rashard Lewis controlling
the paint. The posted total in Monday’s Magic – Pistons
contest was 191, the lowest Orlando total in two months. Detroit
is still one of the league’s top three teams in defensive field
goal percentage, and a premier perimeter defense to slow the
Magic’s outside shooters. Detroit’s No. 2 scoring defense is even
stronger at home, and look for more energy in the rematch at
home following a three game road trip. Play ‘under’ the total.
SONNY PALERMO
New Jersey at Denver
Recommendation: Denver
The schedule maker was not kind to the Nets in this spot. Dealing
with the Denver altitude is a task in itself - try to do it with no
rest after having played the night before and it’s double tough.
Add to that the fact Denver is rested, having had the night before
off, and you can see why the Nets could be in trouble here.
And it gets worse - New Jersey comes into this Friday contest
after playing the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. After
playing “Warrior ball” and running up and down the court all
night you have to wonder what NJ will have left in the tank for
the Nuggets. Not an easy schedule quirk for any team, and especially
tough on Eastern Conference squads. A quick perusal of
the schedule shows the Knicks and the Cavs have already been
in the no-rest-versus-a-rested-Denver-squad spot this season.
The Cavs came in after playing the Clippers (a 103-95 win) and
got spanked by 22 points, 122-100, as 8 point dogs (outscored by
15 in the first half) and the Knicks, coming in after a loss to the
Kings the night before, were getting a generous 14 points, and
STILL got beat by more than TWICE that number, 83-115. Once
again, it took time to adjust for the visitors, as they were behind
by 18 points at the half. Sum it up: on the road+no rest+vs.
rested+rare air+after GS = trouble for Jersey. I’m making two
plays here - Denver in the first half as they jump on NJ early
while the Nets try and assimilate, and Denver in the full game
THE GOLD SHEET
NBA KEY RELEASE
**KEY RELEASE **
ATLANTA by 12 over Seattle
CTO
Portland 101 - Houston 89 10*
Mighty Quinn
76'ers +2.5
Gator's NBA/CBB 70% Report
Friday: Play Against NBA road teams revenging a home loss vs an opponent of 10 points or more, off a home win by 10 points or more 51-18 ATS the last 5 seasons (73.9%) PLAY: New Orleans -11.5
Bob Akmens
Northern Arizona @ Weber State o135.0
This play is the result of a successful computer model that has allowed Bob Akmens Sports to finish in first-place in 152 different categories of documented monitored handicapping contests since 1978.
The computer models I’ve developed for each sport look at the most-predictive variables that go into the winning and losing of games.
Several interesting factors in today’s play are as follows:
In this Big Sky Conference game, we don’t have to go much further than seeing how these two teams do in similar circumstances; namely in conference affairs:
Northern Arizona is 26-12 OVERS in its last 38 conference games.
Weber State is 25-11 OVERS in its last 36 conference games.
With this remarkably similar level of performance,
GO WITH OVER THE TOTAL OF 135 IN THIS 900PM EST MATCHUP.
Jimmy the Moose
Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks
Both teams have won 8 of their last 10 games SU. On the road the Lakers are 11-7 SU and 10-8 ATS. LA is 5-2 in their last 7 games as a dog. In their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning record the Lakers are 7-3 ATS. Dallas is 10-21-1 ATS in their last 32 games following a win. Dallas is 5-13-1 ATS in their last 19 games vs. Pacific Division opponents. The Lakers are 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings between the teams.
Play on: Los Angeles
MadduxSports Comp
Phoenix & Cleveland Under 211.5
TOM SCOTT'S NBA SUPER SYSTEM PLAY
Minnesota at BOSTON
Play ON:BOSTON minus the points
As long as Boston continues to excel in games off a loss, I will continue to follow the Green to the window. Only once in six tries did the Celtics, who allowed an average of 80 ppg in those six games, fail to deliver a big win following a loss. Now, after that last second home loss to Toronto, Boston gets the lowly Timberwolves who are coming into town off back-to-back stunning upsets over Golden State and Phoenix. Keep in mind that Minnesota is a team with 33 losses, 19 of which were by nine or more points (The T-Wolves did not cover the spread in any of those 19 losses), is off BB wins for the first time this season and is off four straight covers for the first time this year. Remember that Boston defensive average off a loss this season? Minny is 0-16 ATS in its last 16 games scoring 86 or less. The angle, the trends and the reversal all await you at the Boston window.
PREDICTION: BOSTON 110- Minnesota 86
Cappers Access
Cavaliers
Nuggets
LT'S LOCK
Rockets +2'
Vegas Experts Tip of the Day
Minnesota Timberwolves at Boston Celtics
Return to Boston for Ryan Gomes and Al Jefferson, sent packing in the Kevin Garnett trade. T-Wolves playing better of late, winning two in a row, covering four-of-five. Boston 7-7 ATS its last 14 and 2-5 ATS its last seven at home. It lost its last to Toronto 114-112 and is 52-81 ATS in home games after allowing 105 points or more since 1996.
Play on: Minnesota
Brandon Lang
10 Dime: Hornets
10 Dime: Rockets
5 Dime: Kings
Free Pick: Wizards
Burns
NBA Div GOM Knicks
Pers Fave Mavs
Alex Smart
Detroit Pistons -7.0
The Detroit Pistons prepare to reap revenge for a 102-100 road loss to the Orlando Magic this past Monday night. The Pistons are in good position to get pay back, in a place (Auburn Hills) that has seen them go 10-3 ATS in their L/13 overall. It must also be noted that the Pistons have also owned this Magic franchise in the past, here in Motown ,winning 8 straight meetings by an average of 10.5 PPG. Add one more double digit margin of victory to that number! Play on Detroit
LT Profits
Houston Rockets +3.0
The Portland Trail Blazers have won 12 consecutive home games while going a fantastic 11-1 against the spread in those games, but we think that their streak is in jeopardy vs. the Houston Rockets tonight.
The Rockets have been hot themselves, going 8-2 straight up in their last 10 games, and they are now back at full strength with Tracy McGrady back. McGrady has been coming off the bench since his return, yet he still managed to lead the club with 28 points in a win at Seattle on Wednesday. Also, the Rockets have not been intimidated by playing on the road this season, posting a winning 12-11 mark both SU and ATS away from home.
Now the Blazers are obviously one of the best stories of the year in the NBA, but this is their first game back home following a road trip on which they went just 3-4 SU and ATS. Teams coming home after a long road trip oftentimes come out sluggish in the first game, and given the quality of the opponent here, we do not think that Portland can win without being on top of their game.
With all due respect to what the Blazers have done at home this year, this simply looks like a tough spot for them, so we are calling for a Houston upset.
NBA Free Pick: Rockets +3
WINNERS EDGE
NY Knicks -2.5 3 unit NBA GOW
Magic/Pistons under 192 2 units
MR. A's
Detroit Pistons -7
Utah Jazz -7½
Portland Trail Blazers -2½
BIG AL
Boston
New York