Jake Timlin
Today's Selection
Marquee match up of the night I like the Cavaliers to win outright in Beantown tonight. After all given that Boston is down their best player in Garnett and with Cleveland owing this series by covering the last 7 meeting and 9 of the past 10 the only choice here is Cleveland. Yes even minus the small number the play has to be Cleveland tonight as they are just the better team right now thanks to having won 9 of their past 10 games. Meanwhile, for Boston over their last 10 games they have lost 4 games, including their last home game by 10 points to the Pistons. Well look for back to back home defeats for the Celtics tonight as Cleveland motivated to keep hold of the best record in the east will take advantage of an injured Boston team tonight. With that take Cleveland plus the points!
PICK: Cleveland Cavaliers
Craig Davis
Despite dropping just my second free play in nine tries Thursday, it was a profitable day with my 30-dime and 10-dime winners. We’ve still hit 10 of the last 15 free play winners and I play to make it 11 of 16 when Charlotte wipes the floor with Atlanta tonight.
The Bobcats have covered 10 of their last 12 home games, and seeing as the Hawks have beaten the Bobcats in all three previous meetings this year, you know it’s payback time.
It’s nearly impossible to sweep a four-game series from someone in the NBA and I’m not expecting it to happen tonight in Charlotte. Atlanta has really struggled recently on the road, losing five of their last seven by an average of 9 PPG.
Bobcats seek, and get, revenge with a comfortable win at home tonight.
2♦ CHARLOTTE
Karl Garrett
Cleveland +2 at BOSTON
G-Man going with Cleveland in tonight's big showdown against Boston, as it is clear the absence of Kevin Garnett is hurting the C's.
Boston has been scrapping by, as they have won 2 of 3 since their return from their long west coast swing, but the Celts have failed their last 4 against the spread, and they have also failed the number in 5 of their last 7.
Cleveland is feeling good right now, as the Cavaliers do boast a 4-game winning streak, and they have also gone 9-1 straight up their last 10 games, covering in 8 of those 10!
The Cavs were able to take the last series showdown with ease, and they have covered 7 straight against the Beantowners - playoffs included.
LeBron and Company would like to make a statement tonight that Cleveland is the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, and without KG clogging up the middle for the home team, I think the Cavaliers will indeed make a "statement".
Take Cleveland tonight.
5♦ CLEVELAND
Chris Jordan
Samford -7' vs. Furman
I like coach Jimmy Tillette’s decision for his Bulldogs. Instead of spending the day in a hotel while waiting for five games to be completed, the Bulldogs will attend their first two classes before making a two-hour bus trip to Chattanooga and gear up for tonight’s 8:30 p.m. tip by staying around familiar faces and recognizable surroundings.
Third-seeded Samford, which finished the regular season with a 14-15 mark, will have no trouble denouncing a Furman team that was 6-23 on the year, and that includes a 0-16 mark on the road. And here’s the worst part, one of those six wins came against the Dawgs, as these two split the regular-season series. That won’t sit well with Samford, and having played this team twice, the Bulldogs’ bite will be rabid for this team tonight.
Fact is, the Paladins are one of the worst teams in the league and comes in having lost its last five games on the regular-season. They were one of the worst offensive teams in the conference, scoring a mere 61.3 points per game. And that falls right in line for the Bulldogs, who have relied on a tenacious defense, one that finished up as the top defensive squad in the SoCo. Samford held schools to just 61.7 points per game.
Delving into the betting numbers, the Bulldogs are on ATS runs of 6-1 off a straight-up win, 4-1 overall (all in conference play) and 7-3 off a spread cover. On the flipside, the Paladins are mired in ATS skids of 2-5 when catching points in this range, 3-8 off an ATS loss, 2-8 as an underdog on a neutral site and 1-5 on Friday nights.
Lay the chalk in this one.
1♦ SAMFORD
Drew Gordon
Pennsylvania at CORNELL -15
That's 4 straight Free Play winners with Penn State outright over Illinois 64-63 last night! We keep it rolling on the college Hardwood with a FREE winner out of the Ivy League Friday...
This is a great spot to back the Big Red, as there's plenty of motivation for them in this contest, AND coupled with some serious injury issues on the Quakers side, this game is going to get real ugly, real fast!
First off, Cornell can win the Ivy League outright tonight, punching their ticket to the Madness! Needless to say, that's a HUGE motivator, and I expect the Big Red to bring their "A" game tonight because of it! Penn meanwhile, could really care less about this contest, and besides playing spoiler, all they want is this season to mercifully end.
Second, even at full strength, this game would've been tough, but the fact the Quakers will likely be without leading scorer Tyler Bernardini is a big-time loss. This Pennsylvania team struggles to score points anyway, averaging just 64 ppg on 39% shooting over their last 5 games, and without Bernardini it'll be even tougher. Note, the Big Red can and will score plenty at Newman Arena, averaging a hearty 80 ppg there on 51% shooting!
Finally, situationally this game sets up well for the Big Red, as they've played 4 straight on the road (2-2 SUATS), and will be more than happy to be back in Ithaca tonight. The Quakers are on the opposite side, enjoying 4 straight home games (1-3 SUATS), and now have to travel to hostile territory, against a team that beat them by 15 in Philly Febraury 7th (and that was with a healthy Tyler Bernardini). In the end, its the Ivy League, so we won't go crazy with the rating, but overall this is a good spot for Cornell Friday night!
Small play on Cornell over Pennsylvania in this college hoops match up.
1♦ CORNELL
Sports Gambling Hotline
St. John's +12 at NOTRE DAME
Our free play run stands at 20-9-2 the last 31 days!
Take the points in South Bend tonight, as the price on the "must-win" Irish is just a little too lofty for our liking.
The Johnnies are showing signs of life, as their comeback win over Georgetown makes it 2 in a row straight up, and 3 of the last 4 in the win column for the Red Storm!
St. John's has also won 2 of the last 3 against Notre Dame, including a 71-65 upset win at home over the Irish in January. The Red Storm is on a 4-game cover streak in this series as well.
Throw in the fact Notre Dame was trounced at home against Villanova their last time out to drop to 2-3 straight up their last 5, and just 3-12 against the spread their last 15, and we don't see any way in hell the Irish are going to get on top of this big number.
Play on the Johnnie's plus the generous spot.
4♦ ST. JOHN'S
GINA
Washington Wizards at San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs have dropped three of their last four games, but should have an easy task tonight at home against the gloomy Wizards. San Antonio has won the last six meetings versus Washington and the last eight at AT&T Center. The Wizards are 1-8 in their last 9 road games, 1-6-2 ATS and are 1-6-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings in San Antonio.
San Antonio Spurs - 13½
Mr A
Orlando Magic -9
Boston Celtics -2
Houston Rockets -6½
Johnny Guild
Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers
Look for the Lakers to grab a four-game season sweep with Minnesota. The struggling Wolves have lost the last five clashes versus the Lakers at Staples Center and 24 of their last 28.
Los Angeles has not been a profitable bet against Minnesota, just 1-5-1 ATS in the last 7 battles versus the Timberwolves at home and is 2-4 ATS in their last 6 home games, but the Timberwolves have taken a nose-dive. Minnesota has dropped seven straight and nine of its last 10 without their leading scorer Al Jefferson. Kobe and his crew should have no problem crushing the plummeting Wolves at home.
Los Angeles Lakers -15
NCAAB
Cornell Big Red -15
St. John's Red Storm +11.5
Illinois St. Redbirds -5
Dennis Macklin
Calgary Flames at Carolina Hurricanes
Prediction: Calgary Flames
The Flames are red hot winning six of seven, are one of the league's better road teams, enjoy some big tech edges in this matchup and money netminder Mick Kiprusoff is expected to start. Carolina is 6-4 over L10 but getting fat on Eastern Conference bottom feeders and tonight face on the Best of the West rocking 6-1 record in L7 versus winning records. Take the Calgary Flames.
King Creole
1* MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES plus the points vs the Los Angeles Lakers
Yes, the Timberwolves come into tonight's game on a current 7-game losing streak. But we;ll be ON em tonigt... in their BEST pointspread role. And we'll be fading the Lakers in one of their worst roles, that of a BIG0time favorite.
The LA LAKERS are already 2-11 ATS this season since December as big favorites of -12 or more points in ALL games. When they take on an opponent that's coming of a SU loss (like Minnesota), the results improve to a PERFECT 0-6 ATS. If we go all the way back to the 2002 season, we also note that LA is 1-9 ATS in this situation when playing a non-division opponent with a current W/L record of .333 or less (like MINNESOTA).
The TIMBERWOLVES are already a PERFECT 5-0 ATS this season as sizable underdogs of +12 or more points. And in the history of this franchise, they are 24-6 ATS as dogs this high when playing off a SU loss... and taking on a conference opponent off a SU win. In fact, since the 2005 season, they are a PERFECT 9-0 ATS in this exact same situation.
Los Angeles has been a favorite in each of their last 3 games... and they have failed to get the ATS cash in ALL three of those games. An 'in-season' System tells me that these teams are OVER-valued in their next game.
1-7 ATS this season for all NBA DOUBLE-DIGIT favorites playing off 3 straight games in which they were a favorite... and failed to get the ATS win. And if these teams actually WON that last game straight-up, the results improve to a PERFECT 0-5 ATS.
As mentioned above, Minnesota comes in on a 7-game losing streak. We can't overlook the pointspread value for these teams if they are catching 10 or more points.
Since 1991, NBA double-digit underdogs are 12-3-2 ATS when playing off 7 or more SU losses in a row... with the last game an ATS loss as a home PICK or FAVORITE (Minnesota). And since the 2001 season, these teams are an almost-PERFECT 4-0-1 ATS.