Lock Of The Day
Denver Nuggets-4.5
The Denver Nuggets are playing much better lately. They are well-rested and ready to put up 120 points on the Bulls. The Bulls are the downslide. That huge trade yesterday is not a good sign. This squad has no team chemistry. The Nuggets should win big tonight.
Spritzer
ko.............................kings
tko.......................pistons
tko......................raptors
5 star......................celtics
Cokin
3 star...................darmouth
total.............................celtics under
under the hat....................nuggets
3 star..........................rockets
Feist
total....................nets over
platinum.................pacers
inner circle.......................kings under
5 star.........................pistons
Alatec
Winthrop +3
15* Superplay: Cal-Santa Barbara +4
ER
Houston +4
Seattle +2
Playmaker
Boston +1
Mr.A's
Cleveland Cavaliers - 2½
Detroit Pistons -12
Golden State Warriors - 10
Johnny Guild
Boston Celtics (41-11) at Phoenix Suns (37-17)
The hot Celtics have cooled down, following back to back losses, mainly because their stingy defense has played below par. Expect to see a speedy tempo in a close battle tonight in Phoenix. The total has gone over in 6 of the last 8 clashes in this series and 9 of the last 13 at US Airways Center. Take the Suns. Phoenix is averaging 110 points per game and should grab a victory, especially if the Celtics continue playing weaker defensively.
Phoenix Suns - 1
Over - 217
Daily Picks
Cornell Big Red - 7.5
PSYCHIC
NBA
2 units New Jersey +5
3 units Toronto -6
DA STICK
5 units Detroit -115
Gina
Washington Wizards (25-28) at Cleveland Cavaliers (30-24)
The struggling Wizards have dropped nine of its last 10, going 3-7 ATS and have lost eight of the last nine meetings versus the Cavaliers. Go with Cleveland tonight at Quicken Loans Arena. Cavaliers' LeBron James should have it easier with the assist of Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and Ben Wallace in the lineup this evening when they take on the gloomy Wizards. The home team has won eight of the last 10 in this series.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Sports Monitor
MATCHUP: Seattle SuperSonics (14-38) at Portland Trail Blazers (28-25)
THE LINE:
Portland is -1.5 and the total is 189 points
TRENDS: Portland has covered three of their last 17 games. The underis 6-1 in Seattle's last seven as the underdog. Five ofPortland's last sixgames have gone under the total.
GAME SUMMARY: The Trail Blazers will try to complete a home-and-home sweep ofthe Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night at KeyArena.
SPORTS MONITOR
PREDICTION: Seattle and Portland under the total
ODDS ON SPORTS
NBA
Bulls +5
Under 200 Clippers/Jazz
NY Knicks +6
Under 197 Knicks/Raptors
Golden st -9
Pistons -12.5
NHL
Dallas -191
Over 5.5 Dallas/Edmonton
Over 5.5 Colorado/Phoenix
Under 5 Anaheim/St.Louis
Alex Smart
4 unit play on Penn +1
ANTON WINS
4 unit Denver -4.5.
Vegas Runner Official "steam"
2*Davidson /Winthrop Under 131.5
KELSO
25* New Orleans Hornets
5* Davidson
4* Cal- Santa B
3* Cornell
Mike Rose
Phoenix Suns -1.0
If tonight's match-up between the Atlantic Division leading Boston Celtics and the Pacific Division leading Phoenix Suns is anything like Wednesday night's affair in the desert, sign me up. Boston invades the desert on a two-game losing streak, while Phoenix looks to rebound after dropping that unbelievable game against the Lakers Wednesday night. The Celtics have been simply sensational on the road this season by winning 18 of their 25 games SU and bringing their backers home returns in 15 of those 25 games 60%). Phoenix has picked up victories in 20 of their 27 home games this year, but they've failed to bring home a return ATS by posting a meager 10-16-1 mark (38%).
Boston was last in action on Wednesday night when they lost a tough one at Golden State, 119-117; in a game they held a double-digit lead in on a number of occasions. The loss was their second in a row after losing another close one in Denver (124-118) the night before. The Celtics are yet to lose three games in a row this season, but you know what they say...streaks are meant to be broken and tonight's match-up against a hyped up Phoenix club might just be the spot to see it snapped.
The Suns are coming off an unbelievable game that saw them unfortunately lose to the Lakers by a 130-124 final count. Even though they lost, Head Coach Mike D'Antoni was very pleased with what he saw on the court throughout the contest. Shaq accounted for 15-points and 9 boards in his suns debut, and he allowed Amare Stoudemire to go off and have one of his biggest games of the season racking up 37 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.
Oddsmakers tagged the Suns as 2-point choices for this contest and set the 'Total' at a lofty 218 points. Overnight bettors favor the Celtics and the Under here since the line now sits at Phoenix (-1) and 216.5. You can go along with John Q. Public or you can take a contrarian view and go the other way.
The Suns have toyed with the Celtics throughout their L/10 meetings by winning 8 of them, but we all know this is a different Celtics squad from the last couple years. The visitor has dominated the spread in their L/11 meetings by posting a 10-1 mark (91%), and Boston actually covered its L/4 meetings in Phoenix. That said, with the spread so miniscule and every game being so important in the jam-packed Western Conference; look for the Suns to scratch the win column for the first time with its new look roster against a C's club that could be in the midst of a prolonged losing streak out west.
Michael Cannon
15 Dime –
ROCKETS
Take the points with the Rockets tonight when they travel to take on the Hornets.
Houston has been white-hot lately, winning 10 in a row. They are currently in seventh place in the West, just four games behind the conference-leading Hornets.
With a healthy Tracy McGrady back in the lineup the Rockets are a dangerous team. They also have a good enough defense to bother the Hornets Chris Paul.
New Orleans could be in a let down spot tonight, as they’re coming off a win over the Mavericks on Wednesday and travel to play the Spurs tomorrow night.
Take the points with the Rockets as they stay within the number on the road tonight.
5 Dime –
WARRIORS
Take the Warriors as the home chalk tonight over the Hawks.
Two teams headed in opposite directions here.
Golden State is shooting for its fifth win in six games while Atlanta has lost six straight.
The Warriors match up well with the Hawks because Atlanta doesn’t have the rebounders to slow down Golden State’s fast-break game.
This is also Atlanta’s third game in four nights, so they may not have the legs to compete for the full 48 minutes.
Take the Warriors as they grab the home win and cover
YOUNG GUNS
5* Denver GOM
3* Toronto OVER
3* Phoenix
Fast Eddie Sports
NBA Clippers +5
California Sports
5* NO
4* G ST
3* Jazz
Larry Ness
Charlotte Bobcats
Many Sacramento players were involved in trade rumors for months because of the team's failure to emerge as a legitimate playoff contender in the loaded Western Conference. In the end, Mike Bibby was moved to Atlanta but Artest (19.4-5.8-3.9), despite strong interest from Denver, remained with the Kings as Thursday afternoon's trade deadline passed. Martin (23.3) has proven to be a legitimate scoring threat this year and Brad Miller (14.4-9.7) remains a consistent center. Salmons (14.0-4.2) proved himself while Martin was out hurt and Udrih (12.0-4.1 APG) replaces Bibby as the team's full-time PG. Udrih had 18 points and 10 assists Wednesday and he's averaging 14.0 PPG and 5.0 APG in 33 starts this season, most of which came while Bibby was sidelined with a thumb injury for the first 2 1/2 months of the season. A bit of bad news is that third-year swingman, the 6-7 Garcia (12.4), remains sidelined and his loss is significant (had averaged just 5.8 PPG in his first two years with the Kings). Sacramento visits Charlotte tonight and the Kings are just 8-18 SU on the road this year. The Bobcats are coming off their second-worst shooting performance in the four-season history of the franchise. Charlotte shot just 28.6 percent in its 85-65 loss at San Antonio on Tuesday night and got just 13 field goals on 49 attempts (26.5 percent) from the its starters. Point guard Raymond Felton (14.0-6.8 APG) led Charlotte with 19 points in the loss to the Spurs and while Gerald Wallace was just 0-for-9 on FG attempts on Tuesday, expect a much better performance here, as he's averaged 20.9 PPG and 6.2 RPG on the season. Richardson (20.0-5.1) and Okafor (13.4-11.1) have also been consistent this year for the Bobcats and Mohammed (7.6-5.9) has contributed nicely since being acquired from the Pistons. The Kings improved to 4-0 at home all-time against the Bobcats when they beat them 105-91 on Jan 30 but they're 0-3 against them here in Charlotte. It's hard to see the Kings as road favorites with that 8-18 SU mark, so I'll take the Bobcats.