THE SPORTS REPORTER
*PHOENIX over MIAMI by 20
By this time, the Heat will be playing their fourth road game in five days. That equals two back-to-backs on the West Coast, and if you think back just a couple more days you’ll realize the Heat are completing their third road back-to-back set in nine days. You have to think that kind of brutal schedule will take its toll on the Heat, who have their fair share of problems without the intrusions of the schedule. Phoenix has coasted at home all season and they should find themselves in the middle of a blowout, early.
PHOENIX 119-99
Jim Feist.
My free pick of the day is the game between (701) ATL Hawks and (702) ORL Magic. Take "Under". How bad is Atlanta's offense? They went uptempo the last game...and still scored just 86 points! Their defense is still decent, allowing Memphis 1-for-15 shooting from 3-point range. Atlanta is 13-5 under the total and 7-1 under on the road, where they average just 87 ppg. Orlando is playing well, except for turnovers. After having the second-most turnovers in the NBA last season, the familiar problem is resurfacing for the Magic. They had 24 turnovers against the Pacers and 19 in the game before that against the Golden State Warriors. This shapes up as a defensive battle. Play the Hawks/Magic under the total!
Dave Cokin.
My free pick of the day is the game between (703) HOU Rockets and (704) PHI 76ers. Take "(703) HOU Rockets". Dave had a monster weekend, sweeping his 3-Team College Parlay of the Year Saturday and going 4-0 with his top NFL sides on Sunday. Wrap up the gridiron week with tonight's Saints-Falcons play FREE at 1-888-389-7223!..."The Rockets will be intent on getting back in the win column after Sunday's disastrous second half at Toronto. The good news for the Rockets is that they love visiting Philly. Houston is 8-2 outright and 9-1 ATS on the road in the series, and off the ugly loss I like their chances of rebounding strongly against the limited 76ers. I'll spot the points here with the Rockets."
Vegas Experts
Milwaukee Bucks at Sacramento Kings
Monday, December 10th, 10:05 PM ET
Kings host the road-weary Bucks knowing Sacramento is 21-11 SUATS in this series. With Milwaukee winding down in the last leg of a 5-game West Coast road trip, we'll stay at home with the Kingsmen tonight. Good luck -Marc Lawrence
Play on: Sacramento
Michael Cannon
KINGS
Take the Kings as the small home chalk tonight over the Bucks.
Sacramento’s Brad Miller has picked up his play in recent days and rookie Spencer Hawes is also ready to contribute. Ron Artest is a good defensive stopper who can control Michael Redd.
The Kings already boast a 10-point win against the Pistons at Arco Arena and a surprising 13-point win over San Antonio as well.
Milwaukee hasn’t played well on the road this year and they are playing their fifth game in the last seven days.
Lay the points as the Kings grab the home win and cover.
Ted Sevransky free play:
Dallas Mavericks/New York Knicks OVER
REASON FOR PICK:
Both the Knicks and the Mavericks have been consistent Over teams when facing an uptempo opponent. Just as importantly, neither squad has been playing a lick of defense in recent weeks. We can expect an ample supply of easy scoring chances when these two disappointments face off tonight in Madison Square Garden, making the Over worthy of a wager in this ballgame.
The Knicks have been playing some of the worst defense in the NBA in their last five games, allowing opponents to shoot better than 50% from the floor against them. We’ve seen New York face off in track meets against other uptempo teams here at the Garden in recent weeks, with final scores of 219 against the Suns and 222 against the Jazz in recent home games. Facing a hot shooting Mavs squad that has cracked the century mark in nine of their last ten meetings against Isiah Thomas’s squad, we can expect the Knicks defense to be their Achilles heel once again here.
But Dallas isn’t playing a lick of defense either. We saw the Mavs get torched by a Tim Duncan-less Spurs team on national TV last week, then follow up that performance by allowing 122 points to the Nuggets and 117 points to the Jazz in their next two games. For the season, Dallas is 15-6 to the Over, perfectly content to run-n-gun without exerting themselves on the defensive end of the court. The loser here could easily score 100+, sending this game flying Over the total. Take the Over.
Sports Advisors Comp Picks:
Matt Rivers..76ers
Trace Adams..Mavs
Jeff Benton.. Atlanta Hawks
Jake Timlin..Suns
Scott Delaney..*5 (His top comp play)..Mavs/Knicks OVER
Larry Ness' 20* Non-Confernce Total of the Month (just 2nd 20* total TY, already 1-0!)
My 20* is on Mil/Sac Over at 10:05 ET. The Kings will try once again for their first win without leading scorer Kevin Martin this season when they host the slumping Bucks on Monday night. Martin, who leads the Kings with 24.5 PPG, has scored at least 20 points in all but four of the 17 games he's played this season. He had a team-high 25 in Tuesday's 117-107 win over Utah but strained his groin and is expected to miss four to six weeks. Sacramento has failed to reach 100 points and dropped both of its games since Martin suffered the injury, following a 97-87 home defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night with Saturday's 101-97 loss at Denver. However, Sacramento has other scoring options, as five players aside from Martin are averaging in double figures. Ron Artest, who has played in 11 games since returning from a season-opening suspension, leads the way with 21.1 PPG. Let's note that when the Kings win they score, while when they lose, they don't! The Kings are averaging 109.7 points in their seven wins but only 94.3 in their 12 defeats. In Milwaukee, the Kings have a team they can beat. Milwaukee began its five-game road trip last Tuesday, with an 87-78 win at the Clippers. The Bucks have lost the last three, allowing 120, 104 and 117 points! This will be the team's fifth game in just SEVEN days and Milwaukee is coming off an OT loss yesterday. Milwaukee is a tired team and has allowed 109.6 PPG (I'm NOT including Sunday's OT period!) its last three. The total is lower than expected because of Martin's absence and that is a GOOD thing. I'm going over the total, as I expect BOTH teams to reach triple digits in this one. Non-Conference Total of the Month 20* Mil/Sac Over.
Marc Lawrence
SACRAMENTO KINGS
Kings host the road-weary Bucks knowing Sacramento is 21-11 SUATS in this series. With Milwaukee winding down in the last leg of a 5-game West Coast road trip, we'll stay at home with the Kingsmen tonight. Good luck -Marc Lawrence
Burns NBA
SUNS (-13 or better)
Game: Miami Heat vs. Phoenix Suns Game Time: 12/10/2007 9:05:00 PM Prediction: Phoenix Suns Reason: I'm laying the points with PHOENIX. I feel the situation strongly favors the Suns. Phoenix returns home, having yesterday off, with a bad taste in its mouth off an upset loss at Minnesota on Saturday. The Heat, on the other hand, finally got a win yesterday. However, they're still just 1-5 their last six games and also 1-5 when playing the second of back to back games this season. This isn't your typical back to back situation though. For starters, they're playing the Suns, a team capable of running anyone right out of the building. This is also Miami's fourth game in the past five nights. They don't make teams play five games in five nights or five games in six nights, so four in five is as gruelling as it gets. Additionally, this is Miami's sixth straight Western Conference road game. They got their token win yesterday and now the team is already thinking about getting home. The loss to Minnesota notwithstanding, the Suns are playing really well right now. They also fared very well at this time of year last season. In fact, looking back to December 1st of last season and we find them at 17-3 SU and 13-6-1 ATS in 20 December contests. The Suns have also dominated the Heat on this floor. Looking at the last three meetings here and we find that the Suns have gone 3-0 SU/ATS winning by margins of 15, 18 and most recently 28 points. I'm expecting the Suns to have the fresher legs tonight and for them to record a fourth straight double-digit blowout in this series on this floor. *Annihilator
UNDER bucks/kings (195 or better)
Game: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Sacramento Kings Game Time: 12/10/2007 10:05:00 PM Prediction: under Reason: I'm playing on Sacramento and Milwaukee to finish UNDER the total. Off yesterday's overtime loss at Portland, I expect the Bucks to have some trouble scoring tonight. This will be the third time this season that the Bucks have played a road game after having played the previous day. The first two games both stayed below the total by a combined margin of 27 points. Overall, the UNDER is 7-3 the last 10 times that the Bucks played the second of back to back games, including 4-0 when they played on the road in that situation. The Kings saw their most recent game, at Denver, fall comfortably below the number. That game had a total of 214 and finished with 198 combined points. Prior to that, in the Kings most recent home game, they combined with the Clippers for just 184 points. That game also fell below the number which brought the UNDER to 5-2-1 when the Kings have faced a team with a losing record. The Kings will be forced to rely on their defense more than usual here. Already playing without Mike Bibby, they're also now without leading scorer Kevin Martin, who has averaged 24.5 points per game on the season. Looking at the series history and we find that the UNDER is 4-1 the last five times that the Bucks traveled to Sacramento. I'm expecting another low-scoring affair with the final combined score falling beneath the generous number. *Blue Chip
GOLD SHEET
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10
ORLANDO 100 - Atlanta 83
After losing and failing to cover 3 of 4 vs.
Atlanta LY, Orlando would seem to have upper hand this season, especially
after Magics quick break from gate (16-3 vs. line thru Dec. 2). Orlando has
been a good bully this season, covering first 6 laying more than 6 points. Note
Hawks under last 6 thru Dec. 2. 06-ATL +3' 95-82 (194), ORL -7 98-79 (190),
Atl +9 93-90 (180), ATL +4 93-83 (181)
Houston 98 - PHILADELPHIA 87
Philly could be excused for not looking
forward to this visit from Houston after Rockets throttled Sixers on both
occasions last season (wins by 21 and 50, the latter at Wachovia Center). Don?t
like Philly C Dalemberts chances of keeping Yao Ming from dominating in the
paint, and look for Rockets to get on track. Philly ?under? 6-2 as host thru Dec.
2. 06-HOU -9' 105-84 (184), Hou -5' 124-74 (187)
Dallas 98 - NEW YORK 97
Dallas not exactly proving trustworthy as road
chalk in early going (1-6 vs. line first 7 in role thru Dec. 2). And though backand-
forth, Knicks have covered 3 of last 4 at MSG thru Dec. 7. NY also 4-2 as
a home dog through same date. 06-Dal -8' 92-77 (192), DAL -11' 105-103 (189)
PHOENIX 103 - Miami 89
Phoenix couldnt quite clear 8-point spread
hurdle at Miami Dec. 9 (won by only 5), but Suns also couldnt cover as chalk at
American Airlines Arena last season before blasting Heat by 29 in return match.
Miami has scored just 85 ppg on the road this season, and Heat played last
night in L.A. against the Clippers. If Miami is off a SU win in that game, note its
0-4 spread mark after first 4 Heat wins. 07-Pho -8 106-101 (196); 06-Pho -11
99-89 (206), PHO -19 108-80 (205) TV?NBA NETWORK
SACRAMENTO 105 - Milwaukee 92
Sacto providing awfully good value at
Arco Arena in early stages of campaign (8-1 vs. line first 9 as host, including 3-
0 as home chalk, thru Dec. 3). Meanwhile, Bucks notorious for their home/road
pattern (Bucks 6-2 SU as host & 1-6 SU away thru Dec. 3). King HC Reggie
Theus is getting major contribution from Kevin Martin (25 ppg; 5 rpg), and Martin
is ready to outperform Buck counterpart Michael Redd. 06-MIL -3 104-91 (193),
SAC -10 114-106 (199)
Insider Sports Report
4* Houston/Philadelphia (NBA) OVER 182.5
Range 181 to 184.5
3* Orlando -9.5 over Atlanta (NBA)
Range -7.5 to -11.5
3* New Orleans -3.5 over Atlanta (NFL)
Range -2 to -5.5
Elite Sports Picks
Milwaukee/Sacramento (NBA) OVER 196.5
Discount Sports Picks
5* Houston/Philadelphia (NBA) OVER 182.5
Charlies Sports Members Section
nba. knikcs+5 (20*)
nba. dallas @ knicks over 201 (20*)
nba. sacramento-3' (10*)
nba. orlando-9 (10*) free play
Sebastian
Baskets Pro
10* Phoenix
20* Milwaukee Over
matty o shea
Mon, 12/10/07 - 7:05 PMMatty O'Shea | NBA Total
double-dime betORL / ATL Over 194.0
Analysis: Last Tuesday we saw what happens when the Hawks get a chance to run the floor against a great offensive team, as the total went OVER for the only time in their last 10 games in a 106-95 loss to Detroit. I see a very similar situation tonight against the Magic, who have surrendered 109.8 points per game in their last 4. Orlando is also averaging 110.4 points in its last 5 and should be able to control the pace of this game. We also have two referees working this game that are among the league leaders in OVER games, as Derrick Stafford and Bob Delaney are a combined 22-7 OVER this season. In addition, Atlanta leading scorer Joe Johnson averaged 30 points in 4 games against the Magic last season, the most vs. any opponent he played more than twice. Johnson will be a key figure in tonight's game since the Hawks have not scored more than 96 points in their last 11 games. I think they will break that barrier in what will be a high-scoring affair at Orlando, so I'm betting the OVER as my Double Dime NBA Total Play O' the Week.
Alex Smart
Sacramento Kings
-4.0 / 3 units
WAYNE ROOT:
Millionaire - Knicks
ace-ace
sac -4