Winning Angle
Play Chicago (-3) over Miami* (Top NBA Play)
Miami has lost 3 consecutive games against the spread and they have also lost 13 of the last 18 games against the spread when the line is between +3 to -3.
Play Portland (+3) over Golden State* (Top NBA Play)
Portland has covered the spread in 9 of the last 10 games coming off a home win by 10 points or more and they have also covered the spread in 23 of the last 33 games after scoring 105 points or more.
NCAA Hoops
Play St. Mary’s (+4.5) over Gonzaga* (NCAA Bonus Play)
NHL
Play Detroit (-285) over Minnesota* (NHL Bonus Play)
Eddie Mush
4* Celtics -2.5
4* ND +3
4* ASU +1.5
4* Warriors -3.5
6* Bulls -3.5
6* Wazzu -10
ATS Sports Club
NBA:
Blazers/Warriors over 217
NCAA:
Louisville -3
UCLA -1
Portland U -3
Oregon St/Washington over 134
NHL:
Canes -135
Flames/Kings over 5.5
Stephen Nover
Miami at Chicago
Play: Chicago -3.5
This is a case where the Bulls are playing well - 7-0-1 against the spread in their last eight games - and the Heat are in their worst slump of the season.Miami has lost and failed to cover in five of its last seven. The Heat are loaded with rookies and second-year players. They could be hitting the wall as All-Star break approaches.Miami is averaging just 88 points in its last four games and could be without Shawn Marion, it's second best player and top perimeter defender. He suffered an eye injury during practice Wednesday. The Heat may be wise to hold him out giving him extra time to recover since the regular season doesn't pick up until next week.The Bulls have plenty of talent and it's starting to come together. Chicago is 5-2 in its last seven games. The Bulls' only losses during this span came at Dallas by one point in overtime and to the Rockets in Houston by seven.Not only are the Bulls home, but this is a grudge match. The Chicago coaches were incensed during the Bulls' 90-77 road loss to the Heat on Dec. 26 that Miami took a timeout with 14 seconds left.
Mark Franco
Portland at Golden State
Play: Portland +3
The Warriors are off a 144-point explosion against the Knicks who play no defense. but are just 6-9 ATS as a favorite.The Blazers are a young team and solid in the second of back-to-back nights at 12-5 ATS. The Warriors show inconsistency after a win as they are 13-43-1 ATS in their next matchup. Portland is 9-1 ATS off DD home win while GS just 15-30 ATS as home favorite. Take Portland plus the small number.
Wayne Root
Chairman- Notre Dame
Millionaire- Arizona St
No Limit- Idaho
Insiders- St Marys
Jeff Benton
15 Dime UCLA
Bob Valentino
25 Dime UCLA
Seabass
Steam 100* Idaho
igz1 sports
NHL
3* Carolina -130
CBB
5* The Citadel -3
4* Fairfield -1
3* Wisconsin Milwaukee +11.5
3* St Josephs PK
Indian Cowboy
4 Unit Play. Take Northwestern +2 over Illinois
We have certainly gone around the merry-go-round once this week as we are 1-1-1 rolling into Thursday. Currently we are 17-9 out our last 26 college ball picks which is sound but I really want to repeat something similar to last week when we went 5-2 hitting at one point 5 straight underdogs, four of which won outright. We did solid in Januayr with +66 units and in February we are hovingering around +20 in total profit as we roll on with our tortoise and investment philosophy of 2 plays a day - 1 per college and 1 per the nba. For today's play, let's roll with an upset in the making in the Big10 - my favorite conference. Man, I love this conference. When it was announced that Tubby and Jimmy B were going to be two of the coaches in this conference, I was stoked. This is because I knew Penn State and Northwestern were going to be much better this year as they had recruited well and had a lot of returning talent come back. Such is the case when Northwestern went ahead and prevailed in countless surprising results this year. Remember, Northwestern is the same team that beat Wisconsin at home by 3, the same team that beat Minnesota at home, Michigan State on the road, and after starting the year 0-4 in conference play, now sit at 4-6 so they can certainly use all the conference wins they can get. They only play Illinois once this year and bear in mind, well over 70% of the public favor Illinois. I love Illinois basketball. In fact, it is the team that I have ridden the most in the 2008-2009 year for ATS covers. Heck, they were even my GOM twice this year. But, this is simply not a good spot for them. Illinois beat this team 70-37 at home last year so these group of young men who have now grown up and a are a bit more seasoned, remember that stomping. You don't think these fellas that defeated Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota do not have what it takes to take care of Illinois at home? Heck, this team even beat FSU at home as well. Illinois comes off a huge emotional win against Purdue and are in for a classic let down here as they are the same teams that of late have lost on the road to Wisconsin by 13 and Minnesota by 23. This game will swing back and forth, but let's ride the wave of the home crowd, with massive revenge from last year, our team that comes off a road loss as they return home and fading the public who is likely to get buried here as there is a reason why Northwestern is a +2 dog similar to what they were when they Minnesota and defeated them relatively easily.
Kelso Sturgeon
PAC-10 Game Of The Year
50 Units Arizona State (+1½) over UCLA
Arizona State by 5-6
Erin Rynning
Playmaker: Notre Dame
Scott Pritchard
USC at Arizona
Pick: Under 134
I have one play, one time. It's not how many you play, it's how many you win. USC at Arizona. I like the UNDER. I'm coming off another winner yesterday and am having a great college hoops season. I also have an opinion on the Boston-Dallas pro contest. Play the USC game UNDER and see the cashier.
BEN BURNS
MAIN EVENT
I'm taking the points with DALLAS. The defending champs got back on track last night. However, they're still just 2-4 ATS their last six games. I expect them to have their hands full tonight.
For starters, the Celtics, who saw Allen leave yesterday's game with an injured thumb, will be playing the second of back to back games. That's worth noting as the Celts are just 5-7 ATS on the season when playing the second of back to back games, including outright losses vs. the likes of the Pacers, Warriors and Rockets.
Additionally, with this being the final game before the All Star Break, the champs could easily get caught looking past tonight's opponent and ahead to the festivities. Regardless of whether or not that proves to be the case, they'll be dealing with a highly motivated Dallas team, one which is playing very well at home these days.
I played against Dallas last Thursday and the Mavericks got embarrassed by the Jazz, losing by 28 at Utah. That game was also on TNT and should work in our favor here. For starters, many people watched the game and were left with the impression that the Mavs are not playing well, which is helping to keep tonight's number where it is. While that may be true on the road, that's hardly been the case here at Dallas. Indeed, the Mavs have won 10 of their last 11 at the American Airlines Center, including five straight.
Perhaps more importantly, the loss to the Jazz should provide the Mavs with some added motivation here, as no team wants to get embarrassed on the same (national TV) network on back to back weeks. Speaking of getting embarrassed, the Mavs were blown out at Boston less than three weeks ago. That loss should provide even further motivation for the Mavs, who will be anxious to prove that they can compete with the best from the East.
Yes, the Mavs will be without Jason Terry - and that is a significant loss for them. However, they scored 118 points without him last time out and I believe that they've still got enough talent to earn the upset tonight, even without their valuable sixth man. The Mavs are 11-3 (9-5 ATS) on the season after scoring 105 or more points in their previous game. While no one talks about them much these days, this is still a playoff team which is capable of doing some damage on its homecourt. Catching their guests off a game last night and looking ahead to the All Star game/break, look for them to deliver a huge effort and avenge the earlier loss. *Main Event
ROAST
I'm taking the points with NOTRE DAME. I successfully played on Louisville when these teams faced each other exactly one month ago. The boxscore will show that the Cardinals won by a convincing 87-73 margin. However, I'll be the first to admit that it was a rather fortunate victory and it was anything but convincing. That's because the game was close the entire way before it went to overtime. Once in OT, having failed to close out the game in regulation, the Irish wilted. Despite the final score, that game showed that the Irish are fully capable of playing with the Cardinals and should provide them with some much-needed confidence for tonight's match. Star Luke Harangody promised the Irish would be fully ready for the Cardinals this time, noting of tonight's rematch: "It's going to be a fight and there's going to be punches thrown..." On an extended losing streak, there is no real pressure on the Irish here and that should allow them to relax. As guard Kyle McAlarney noted: "There really is nothing to lose. No one's going to pick us. So we really can go out there and let it all hang out and play with reckless abandon." Lets not forget that the Irish are still a very talented team. In fact, on paper, with four seniors and three juniors, including the reigning Big East player of the year (Harangody) this is one of Notre Dame's stronger teams in recent years. Note that the Irish even had the higher ranking than Louisville for last month's meeting. They haven't given up on the season yet and I look for them to get their turn-around started with a badly-needed victory. *Roast
ANNIHILATOR
I'm playing on Portland and Golden State to finish UNDER the total. The reason that we have such a high over/under line here is because the Warriors score the second most points (most at home) in the league and because they also give up the most. That was on display in the Warriors' last game, as they combined with the Knicks to score a whopping 271 points. However, the Knicks are a team cut from the same mold as the Warriors, as they like to run up and down the floor and don't care much for playing defense. Note that even with that result, the UNDER remains a profitable 7-3 the last 10 Golden State games. Unlike the Knicks, the Blazers are a team which is capable of playing excellent defense. Heading into last night's game, the were allowing 95.2 points per game. Therefore, it was no surprise that they limited Oklahoma City to only 92. The 96.8 points per game which they allow on the road is the third best mark in the Western Conference, seventh best in the league. Looking back at Portland's last 20 games and we find that only two of them produced greater than 217 combined points. While both earlier meetings finished above the total, the UNDER remains a highly profitable 13-5 the last 18 meetings in this series. Note that NONE of those 20 meetings had an over/under line as high as tonight's number. The highest over/under line of those 20 games was one of 214.5 in 2007. This year's earlier two games had totals of 205.5 and 209 points. Tonight's number is significantly higher, which gives us plenty of room to work with. Note that the Blazers have seen the UNDER go 5-2 the last seven times that they played a game with an over/under line of 210 or great, including a 4-1 mark in five road games. Look for them to do their best to slow down their hosts and for the final combined score to find its way beneath the generous number. *Annihilator
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I'm laying the price with NASHVILLE. Its not often that the Blues face an opponent playing with "triple revenge." That's the case here though, as the Blues have won all three previous meetings this season. Those games should provide the Predators with plenty of motivation, as they absolutely can't afford to lose four straight vs. the team with the fewest points in the Western Conference. Note that two of the earlier three games were played at St. Louis and that the Blues' victory here at Nashville was a 1-0 win in a shootout. A closer look at the stats from that game shows that the Preds had a 47-17 edge on shots on goal! Even with that loss, the Preds are still a profitable 7-2 the last nine times that they were a host in this series. The Preds lost 5-3 last time out. However, that was against a powerful Detroit team and its worth noting that the Preds are still a profitable 35-25 (+10.1) the last 60 times that they were coming off a loss by two goals or more. Look for them to bounce back and get some payback from the earlier losses with the Blues falling to 1-7 the last eight times that they were coming off three or more consecutive losses. *Personal Favorite
Big Al
3* Golden State
3* Troy State
1* Arkansas State
1* Sienna