Monday Service Plays

SPORTS ADVISORS

(2) Connecticut (20-1, 8-7 ATS) at (7) Louisville (17-3, 12-8 ATS)

It’s a matchup of Big East heavyweights, as UConn makes the trek to Freedom Hall in Louisville to face the Cardinals, with both squads riding nine-game winning streaks after going unbeaten in January.

UConn destroyed Providence Saturday 94-61, easily cashing as a 13-point home favorite, the Huskies third consecutive spread-cover. UConn is a perfect 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in Big East roadies this season, most recently going to Chicago on Wednesday and crushing DePaul 71-49 as a 13½-point road chalk.

Louisville extended its winning streak to nine with a 69-63 victory over West Virginia on Saturday, but just missed as a 6½-point favorite, halting a 7-0 ATS run. The Cardinals, who have held fie straight opponents to 63 points or less, are 8-5 ATS at Freedom Hall this season, including 3-1 ATS in the last four.

Both these teams are stingy on defense with UConn allowing just 61.8 points and 38 percent shooting, while the Cardinals give up just 60.3 ppg on 38.3 percent shooting.

The Huskies won the only meeting between these two last season, prevailing 69-67 and pushing as a two-point home favorite. The host has won three of the last four, but Louisville is 3-0-1 ATS during this stretch.

UConn is 5-1 ATS in its last six road games and 8-3-1 ATS in its last 12 on Monday. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are on ATS runs of 37-14-2 against Big East competition, 5-1-1 on Monday and 4-1 against teams with a winning record.

The over is 8-3 in the Huskies’ last 11 after a spread-cover, but otherwise UConn is on “under” stretches of 7-3 overall, 4-1 on the road and 5-1 on Monday. Louisville has topped the total in four of its last five home games, but the Cardinals have stayed under the total in six of their last seven Monday contests.

ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE

Kansas (17-4, 10-5 ATS) at Baylor (15-6, 6-7 ATS)

Two Big 12 teams going in opposite directions meet inside the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas, when the streaking Jayhawks take on Baylor.

Kansas moved to 6-0 in Big 12 action (5-1 ATS) with Saturday’s narrow 66-61 home win over Colorado, coming up way short of covering the 22-point line to end a 5-0 ATS run. The Jayhawks have tightened up their defense lately, holding five straight opponents to 67 points or less and giving up just 59.8 points and 38.4 percent shooting in those five wins.

Baylor enters this contest on a three-game SU and ATS losing skid, and the Bears are just 3-5 SU (2-6 ATS) in their last eight. Baylor went to Missouri on Saturday and got hammered 89-72 as 6½-point underdogs. The Bears have played little defense lately, allowing 83.8 ppg on 47 percent shooting over their last five outings.

Kansas has won seven straight (3-4 ATS) in this series, including a 100-90 victory in last year’s only meeting, coming up well short as a 16½-point home chalk. The last time the Jayhawks went to Baylor they rolled 82-56 as 9½-point favorites in January 2007. In fact, the visitor is 7-0 ATS in the last seven meetings between these two.

The Jayhawks are riding ATS streaks of 5-1 overall, 5-0 on Mondays, 7-2 on the road and 6-1 in Big 12 action. Baylor is 5-0 ATS in its last five Monday games, but otherwise the Bears are in the midst of negative ATS trends of 2-6 overall (all in Big 12 play) and 1-4 after a non-cover.

Kansas has stayed under the total in five of its last seven roadies, four of five Big 12 games and five of six after a straight-up win. Conversely, the Bears are on “over” streaks of 24-7 overall, 11-4 at home, 29-16 in conference play and 21-5 after a non-cover.

ATS ADVANTAGE: KANSAS

NBA

Dallas (27-19, 21-25 ATS) at Orlando (36-10, 31-14-1 ATS)

After a quick road trip north of the border, the Magic return home in search of their fourth straight victory as they host the Mavericks.

Orlando went to Toronto on Sunday and got a 113-90 victory as a six-point road favorite, the Magic’s third straight ATS win. They have averaged 104.8 points per game while allowing just 96.4 ppg in their last five, and Orlando is 18-4 this season in front of its home fans (14-8 ATS).

Dallas has won two straight, including Saturday’s 111-96 road win in Miami as two-point favorites. The Mavericks have found their offensive touch lately, hitting triple-digits in each of the last four and they’ve averaged 107.8 ppg in the last five while shooting 48.6 percent from the floor.

Dallas has won four of the last five meetings in this rivalry, including a 107-98 victory in Florida last season as a 4½-point pup. The Mavs are 3-1 SU and ATS in their last four trips to Orlando, and the visitor has cashed in each of the last five meetings. However, the Magic are 7-2 ATS in the last nine matchups overall.

The Mavericks are just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 after getting one day off and 2-6 ATS in their last eight after a spread-cover, but they are riding positive ATS streaks of 5-2 overall, 9-3 as a road ‘dog and 7-3 against Southeast Division squads. Orlando is on a plethora of positive ATS trends that include 35-17-1 overall, 8-2 at home, 36-16-1 against Western Conference Teams, 16-6 as a favorite, 7-2 as a home favorite and 43-20 as a favorite of 5 to 10½ points.

Dallas is riding “over” streaks of 4-1 overall, 4-0 on the road, 19-8 as a ‘dog, 4-1 after a straight-up win and 20-8 on the road against teams with a winning home record. Orlando has stayed under the total in nine of 12 at home, nine of 11 as a favorite and 42 of its last 63 as a home chalk of 5 to 10½ points. Finally, the over is a perfect 8-0 in the last eight meetings in this rivalry.

ATS ADVANTAGE: OVER

Portland (29-17, 24-22 ATS) at New Orleans (28-16, 19-23-2 ATS)

The Blazers will be looking for their fifth straight victory when they visit New Orleans Arena to take on the Hornets.

Portland scored a 122-108 home victory over Utah on Saturday and cashed as a nine-point favorite, the Blazers fourth consecutive SU and ATS win. The last time the Blazers went on the road was a week ago when they crushed the Clippers 113-88 in Los Angeles as 10½-point road favorites. Portland is 11-12 SU and 9-14 ATS on the road.

New Orleans has lost two straight, the first being Friday’s stunning 91-87 home loss to the Warriors as an 8½-point favorite. Then Saturday, the Hornets went to San Antonio and fell 106-93 as a 7½-point pup. New Orleans is 16-6 at home this season but a mediocre 10-11-1 ATS.

The host has won nine of the last 10 in this series and gotten the cash in eight of those contests. The only road win came exactly one month ago, when the Hornets went to Portland and prevailed 92-77 as 1½-point favorites. These teams have met three times this season with the Hornets holding a 2-1 (1-2 ATS) advantage. The favorite is 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.

Portland is just 1-5 ATS in its last six as a ‘dog, 0-4 ATS as a road ‘dog, and 1-6 ATS in its last seven on the road against a team with a winning home mark, but the Blazers are on positive pointspread streaks of 4-0 overall, 7-2 against the Southwest Division and 29-14 as an underdog of less than five points. New Orleans is riding ATS streaks of 51-22-1 after a non-cover and 45-20-2 after a straight-up loss.

The Blazers have topped the total in four of their last five road games, but they are on “under” streaks 9-0 as an underdog, 21-6 as a road ‘dog, 16-6 against the Southwest Division and 6-0 against teams with a winning record. The Hornets are on “under” runs of 20-7 after getting one day off, 10-2 as a home favorite, 5-0 on Mondays and 5-0 against teams with a winning record. Also, in this rivalry, the under has been the play in each of the last six meetings.

ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER

Bob Harvey

Georgia Southern -4

The ASU basketball team has won two of its last three games and looks to move up in the Southern Conference North division as the team faces Georgia Southern.

The Mountaineers (8-11, 5-6 SoCon) defeated Furman 77-75 on Saturday behind 16 points and 16 rebounds from sophomore center Isaac Butts. The double-double was his seventh of the season. Classmate Donald Sims led the team in scoring with 20 points and sank four late free throws to help ice the game.

Sims has scored in double figures each of the last six games, and has started the last five for Appalachian and now averages 11.5 points per game. Butts is the team leader with 8.9 rebounds per game.

Georgia Southern (7-12, 5-6) enters the game on a two-game skid after dropping road games at Samford and Chattanooga over the weekend. Willie Powers leads the team with 40 assists and 14.5 points per game.
The Eagles (7-12 overall, 5-6 SoCon) have won four of their five Southern Conference home games this year.

Georgia Southern is coming off a disappointing 100-87 loss at Chattanooga, despite hitting a season-high 15 3-pointers and shooting 53.6 percent from long range.

LT Profits

Dallas Mavericks +7.0

The Dallas Mavericks had a four-game winning streak vs. the Orlando Magic snapped when the Magic went into Dallas and upset them earlier this season, so look for a determined effort by the revenge-minded Mavericks tonight.

The Mavs are one of the better road teams in the NBA, going 13-12 straight up away from home so far, and they have won on their last two visits to Orlando including a handy 107-98 win here last season.

Dallas won the first game of this two-game Florida trek when they trounced the Heat 111-96 in Miami on Saturday. Their offense is in high gear right now, as the Mavericks are averaging 110.0 points per game in their last four games, scoring at least 100 points in all of those games. That makes these points look very generous here, especially with Dallas coming out of the stronger Western Conference.

Now granted, the Magic are an elite East team and they are 18-4 straight up at home. Keep in mind though that they played a fast-paced game in Toronto yesterday, winning 113-90, so they may not have their legs totally under them tonight. Besides, this spread is large enough that they can still win this game on the court without covering the spread.

Finally, the Orlando defense has slacked off a bit the last five games, allowing 96.4 points per contest. Thus, Dallas should approach the century mark again, making these points worth taking.

Pick: Mavericks +7

Cajun Sports

Butler Bulldogs -1.5 vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix
PLAY: 2* Wisconsin-Green Bay +1.5

The Resch Center will be the site of tonights Horizon Conference battle between the host Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix and the visiting Bulldogs from Butler. Both teams enter tonights contest off wins on their home floor in their most recent game.

Butler brings a 19-1 SU and 13-5 ATS record on the season into this contest. The Bulldogs are 8-1 both straight up and against the spread on the road this season. They are 10-0 SU and 7-3 ATS when facing conference opponents averaging 66.4 points per game versus teams that allow 64.9 points per game. Defensively the Bulldogs are allowing 58.9 points per game to teams that average 64.4 points per game.

The Bulldogs most recent contest was played at home versus Valparaiso last Friday and they won straight up 59 to 51 but didnt come close to covering the 18.5 point chalk the linesmaker assigned them. Wisconsin Green Bay actually had to face this same Valpo team right after losing to Butler on the road back on January 22nd, 59 to 68 and they went into Valpos house and defeated them 83 to 76 as a 5 point road favorite. That loss to Butler made its mark on the Phoenix they have not lost straight up or against the number since that time going 3-0 both SU and ATS.

Wisconsin-GB is 17-6 SU and 13-4 against the number this season. When taking their home floor they are 10-1 SU and a perfect 7-0 against the number averaging 77.9 points per game versus teams that would normally only allow 67.0 points per game and on the defensive end the boys from Green Bay allow 60.7 points per game to teams that average scoring 66.0 points per game. Green Bay has solid point differential numbers on both ends of the floor and reveal a dedicated home team that will be looking to avenge that earlier loss to these Bulldogs.

Wisconsin-GB has technical support in that they are 15-4 ATS when the line is pk-2.5 off a straight up win in their last game, if they happen to be playing at home their record is 9-2 ATS their last 11 in that situation. Green Bay is 13-4 ATS off an ATS win in their last game and if they are installed as a conference underdog their record is 10-2 ATS. If Green Bay went over the posted total in their last game and now face a conference opponent with a line range of pk-2.5 they are a perfect 7-0 ATS. Butler coming in off at least eight wins in a row have a record of 2-11-1 ATS and if they are a road favorite their record is 1-7-1 ATS. When the Bulldogs won their last game straight up and are now on the conference highway their record is 16-33-1 ATS. The Bulldogs off two wins and now facing a conference foe on the road they are 12-28-1 ATS and if installed as a favorite their record is 10-22-1 ATS, if the line is pk-2.5 they are 0-6 ATS.

With significant support from both the fundamental and technical indicators for this game we will back the host here as the Phoenix rises up and avenges their loss at Butler. Take the short price as Wisconsin-Green Bay gets the straight up win on Monday night.

PROJECTED FINAL SCORE: (2*) Wisconsin-Green Bay 67 Butler 62

JIM FEIST

SAN ANTONIO SPURS at GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Take: Under

This is a game about different styles of tempo, with the run-and-gun Warriors against the defensive-minded Spurs. Oddsmakers have been overvaluing the Golden State offense of late, on a 6-1 run under the total. San Antonio is on a 5-3 under run with the No. 6 defense in the NBA, allowing 94 ppg. These teams met once this season back on December 6, and who controlled the tempo? San Antonio allowed 88 points in a game that sailed under the total. Play the Spurs/Warriors under the total.

Marc Lawrence

Play On: Utah Jazz

The Jazz play host to the Bobcats in a nice scheduling spot for Utah this evening. That's because the Jazz play with revenge from a 104-96 loss suffered in November at Charlotte earlier this season. Meanwhile, the Bobcats are dead in the middle of a revenge sandwich in this the last leg of a 5-game road trip. Look for the host in this series to improve to 6-0 ATS here tonight.

Tom Freese

San Antonio at Golden St

San Antonio is 1-4 ATS their last 5 visits to Golden St and they are 3-8 ATS off an ATS win. The Spurs are 0-5 ATS off a double digit win and they are 11-24 ATS after winning 15 of their last 20 games. Golden St is 21-8 ATS their last 29 games as home dogs and are 5-0 ATS off a straight up loss. The Warriors are 5-0 ATS after allowing 100 or more points in their last game and they are 8-2 ATS their last 10 home games. PLAY ON GOLDEN ST +

Jimmy The Moose

Calgary Flames at Colorado Avalanche
Prediction: Calgary Flames

The Flames are red hot coming into this one. Calgary has won 3 straight and 7 of their last 9 games. In their last 15 games the Flames are a profitable 12-3. Calgary is 8-1 in their last 9 games vs. Northwest opponents. Colorado has lost 4 straight and 7 of their last 8. The Avalanche have lost their last 4 home games. In the last 5 meetings with Calgary the Avalanche are 1-4. Colorado is at home but will struggle tonight vs. Calgary. Play on the Calgary Flames -.

Matt Rivers

For Monday take the Clippers down in South Beach.

Backing the Clippers on the road is never something that can be deemed as a great play or a mortal lock. But in this spot I will grab the number and take my chances.

The Clips are not good and should lose this game as they are on the road all the way across the country in the midst of a road trip against a pretty good Miami team led by a superstar in Dwyane Wade. But the Heat are still far from a team that is worthy of laying big numbers and especially with Shawn Marion banged up and possibly getting ready to get traded.

When healthy, Los Angeles has the ability of being a decent enough squad. Unfortunately for them the franchise is dismal and seems to be cursed. Zach Randolph, Chris Kaman and others have been hurt for awhile but now with Baron Davis and Marcus Camby somewhat back in the fold I do expect this team to be a little more competitive and win a few games.

This is far from the lock of my life and nothing I would put my mortgage on by any means but the number is a lot and worth a small play on this at least semi capable dog against a team that is nothing better than alright.

Sports Gambling Hotline

LA Lakers at NEW YORK +6

In the NBA, let's grab the points and go with the Knicks to make the Lakers work at Madison Square Garden this Monday night.

Los Angeles is playing their third straight road game, and their third game in four nights, and while the Lakers have taken the last three series meetings against the Knickerbockers, it is New York that has covered four of the last five in this series, including a 2-point loss at the Staples Center in the middle of December.

New York has won their last 3, and 7 of their last 10 straight up, and they have covered their last 6 games against the spread.

With New York sporting a 14-9 mark both straight up, and against the spread at the Garden this year, and with Los Angeles now minus Bynum in their rotation, the chance for a Knicks upset is definitely there.

Take the points, and the Knicks.

4♦ NEW YORK

Bobby Maxwell

Portland at NEW ORLEANS -4

The Hornets have an abundance of talent on their roster, but sometimes they just disappear mentally and don't seem to be into the game. That happened to them Friday night at home against the Hornets and then carried over to Saturday in San Antonio.

Look for them to be focused for this one as they don't want to be humiliated in front of the home fans again. They lost to the Warriors 91-87 in a shocker Friday as 8 1/2-point favorites adn then delivered a dud at San Antonio Saturday, losing 106-93 as a 7 1/2-point 'dog.

But they will be ready for this one and have the chance to end Portland's four-game SU and ATS winning streak.

The home team has won nine of the last 10 in this series and gotten the cash in eight of those 10. The Hornets own the only road win in the last 10, going to Portland on Jan. 2 and getting 92-77 victory as 1 1/2-point road favorites. The favorite is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings between these two.

The Blazers are just 1-5 ATS in their last six as a 'dog and 1-6 ATS on the road against teams with a winning home record. New Orleans is going to rebound big and win this one by 10 to 15. Play the Hornets.

4♦ NEW ORLEANS

Karl Garrett

Charlotte at UTAH -7'

The Utah Jazz have been really struggling of late, as they did drop another game on Saturday, losing badly at Portland, 122-108. The wins, and the covers have been few and far between for Utah as the Jazz has lost 7 of their last 10 straight up.

G-Man expects them to get healthy against the Bobcats tonight, as Charlotte's loss of Gerald Wallace is a big blow to Coach Brown's team.

This is the end of a 5-game road swing for the Bobcats, and it looks like the road has caught up to the 'Cats, as Charlotte has dropped their last pair both straight up, and against the spread.

Utah lost the season's first meeting at Charlotte back in early November, but they have won and covered the last pair at home against Charlotte, and the Jazzmen are atill 18-6 straight up at home, and 13-11 against the number at home this year.

G-Man going to lay the points with the host in this one, as Utah is overdue for a solid showing.

2♦ UTAH

Jimmy Boyd

1 Unit on New Orleans Hornets -3

New Orleans has dropped back-to-back games and will be very hungry tonight at home against a Blazers team that has a losing road record. New Orleans is a solid 16-6 at home and has won 4 straight at home in this matchup the past 3 seasons. New Orleans is 19-6 ATS in home games when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 70%) over the last 2 seasons, winning these games by an average score of 98.5 to 89.3. One month ago, New Orleans won at Portland by 15 points. Portland is 9-22 ATS in road games revenging a home loss vs. opponent over the last 3 seasons. Portland is also 5-18 ATS after 3 straight wins by 10 points or more since 1996 while New Orleans is 8-1 ATS off a road loss this season. The Blazers are in a letdown spot here while the Hornets are in full blown bounce back mode. Take the Bees!

Vegas Experts

Kansas at Baylor

This is a must win for Baylor, who has lost three straight league games and was blown out in two of them. Kansas, meanwhile, has yet to lose in Big 12 Play. However, this line suggests they are about to. They have yet to play any of the conference heavyweights. They went 0-6 ATS last February. Baylor is 6-0 ATS coming off three straight conference losses.

Play on: Baylor