Paul Bovi
LA Lakers at Golden State
Play: Over 228.5
Not too long ago these two hooked up in what was to be a 114 106 Lakers victory. It's been only 6 weeks since that contest, but much has changed which will only serve to weaken defenses that were already suspect, much more so in the case of the Warriors who lack presence on the inside. Biedrins is out for GS who averages only 13 but provides shot blocking prowess (he had 3 in that game) as is Andrew Bynum for LA who himself had a pair of rejections in that Laker win. Stephen Jackson sat out for the Warriors in that one as did Monta Ellis, the latter who is 11 games removed from an ankle injury that forced him to miss the early part of the season. LA beat the Hawks last night in a yawner but nobody was put out to pasture. Lamar Odom led with 34 minutes. Adam Morrison gets his first field goal tonight and the Lakers and Warriors play out a wild one that hits the 240 mark.
INDIAN COWBOY
4 unit play Take NC Wilmington +10.5 over Old Dominion
Great game yesterday as Vandy gets it done for us although the first half might have given you a coronary. For today's action, I nearly settled on Florida as they come back home off of back to back losses and will likely look for a blowout against the Tide. But, the Tide were imperssive against South Carolina at home only losing by 2 so I laid off. Instead, let's look at a classic type of play we like to roll with and that is a home dog that is catching a butt load of points on revenge. Such is the case with the Seahawks today. We are 2-0 on the week and we will look to the Seahawks to get us to 3-0 and get a nice stranglehold on the winning week. The Seahawks are 6-21 SU. There is no doubt when you look at the SU record of this team they are abysmal. But, this team at home does have the capacity to play well. Remember, this is the same team that beat a top VCU team by 9, lost to James Madison by 6 at home who is a top 125 team, lost to Hofstra by 2 at home who is a top 140 team and lost to Richmond at home by 7 who is also a top 125 team. Yes, these two met earlier this year and NC Wilmington got drilled by a score of 57-87. But, what if I told you they got drilled by a similar margin against VCU on the road earlier this year by a score of 59-88 only to come back home and defeat the same team 81-72. The difference between NC Wilmington at home and on the road is that they can shoot at the friendly confines of their gym as compared to the on the road they can't shoot worth a lick as it is obvious. Look for NC Wilmington, who comes off a tight loss to Georgia State on the road by just 3, as they return home, with revenge, in a similar game as the VCU contest (who is a top 100 team as compared to ODU who is a top 125 team), who has covered their last 6 of 7, and their last 3 at home to be very game for this contest.
BEN BURNS
Personal Favorite
I'm playing on NEW ORLEANS. Both these top tier teams come off narrow victories last night. The Hornets won by two at Oklahoma City. The Magic needed overtime to get by Charlotte. While neither team covered, with the exception of a very big game from Dwight Howard, the Hornets were arguably more impressive overall. Winning at OKC isn't easy these days. However, the Magic shouldn't have had so much trouble beating a Charlotte team which doesn't play well on the road. Both teams are currently dealing with some "issues." The Hornets made a major trade yesterday, which saw them deal center Tyson Chandler. Although Chandler had been hurt recently, his loss does weaken the Hornets inside. Meanwhile, the Magic are still dealing with the injury to Jameer Nelson, a huge blow to their team. It's true that the Magic have been an excellent road team. However, their road record (18-7) is only marginally better than the Hornets' home (18- 9) record. The Hornets should be the more motivated team and I expect that to prove to be the difference. For starters, the Magic are comfortably on top of the Southeast Division. They could still catch Boston and Cleveland, the loss of Nelson makes that less likely. However, with an 8.5 game lead on their nearest division rival, they're still highly unlikely to finish less than third in the East. Conversely, the Hornets are fighting for their playoff lives. Only 3.5 games back of the Spurs, they could easily still finish on top of their division. However, they're also only 2.5 games ahead of the ninth place team (Phoenix) in the highly competitive West, which has nine teams fighting for eight spots, the bottom six of them separated by a mere 3.5 games. Additional motivation will be provided by the fact that the Hornets were blown out at Orlando on Christmas Day, losing by a score of 88-66, their lowest scoring output of the season. Chris Paul is extremely competitive and he'll have the Hornets, who are a profitable 59-37-2 ATS in the revenge role the past few seasons, fired up to earn some payback. Look for him to lead by example and for the home team to come away with the important victory. *Personal Favorite
Annihilator
I'm taking the points PHILADELPHIA. We're getting a very reasonable line on the 76'ers here, due in part to the fact that they played last night. However, this back to back situation isn't nearly as difficult as usual. Often, teams will be playing their third game in four nights or even their fourth game in five nights. That's not the case here though because yesterday was the first day back from the All Star Break, so the players had plenty of rest before yesterday's game. Note that the 76'ers are 3-1 ATS when playing the second of back to back games in 2009. It's also worth mentioning that the Nuggets are 1-4 ATS on the season when playing with three or more day's rest in between games. While the talented Nuggets are certainly worthy of respect, winning at Philadelphia has been no easy task in recent weeks. Indeed, the 76ers have won four straight, 10 of 13 and 12 of their last 16 games here at the Wachovia Center. They were 9-5-2 ATS during that 16-game stretch, playing particularly tough against teams from the West. They did lose by two points to Dallas. However, they beat the likes of the Spurs, Blazers and Suns all by double-digits. In fact, Philly beat those three teams by a combined 60 points! (They also defeated the Rockets by eight.) Additionally, although not a Western Conf. team, note that they also played the Celtics very tough here during that 16 game stretch, losing by a single point. Including the 21 and 22 point victories over San Antonio and Portland, the 76'ers are a perfect 4-0 (3-1 SU) as home underdogs of three points or less. They've played the Nuggets tough the last two meetings. They lost by four at Denver, covering as 6.5 point underdogs, back in December. The previous meeting was here at Philadelphia, 11 months ago, and that resulted in a 2-point victory for the 76'ers. I expect the 76'ers to continue their strong play on this court and for them to score the minor upset. *Annihilator
Best Bet
I'm taking the points with TORONTO. The Cavaliers had an outstanding first half and they were nearly unbeatable on the road. They were rather ordinary on the road though, going 14-12 ATS. That's admittedly still a lot better than the Raptors' home record. That said, the Raptors showed some real spark heading into the break. Indeed, they closed out the first half of the season with an eight point win at Minnesota, followed by an outright win over the Spurs, who were red hot at the time. They won both those games without Bosh. Conversely, while the Cavs did win their final game, they were still 1-3 ATS their last four, including 0-2 ATS their last two on the road. Every game is important to the Cavs, as they want to finish ahead of Boston and Orlando for the top spot. In my opinion, this game is more important for the Raptors though. The Raptors are second last in the Conference and are probably too far back to actually make the playoffs. However, the last couple of wins have given them new hope and a closer looks that they're actually only 5.5 games back of the 8th place team. If they really want to make a push, every game is extremely important. They'd also like to get a win under their belts to feel good about the recent O'Neall/Marion/Banks trade. Additionally, added importance and motivation comes from the fact that the Raptors already got crushed twice at Cleveland. The Raptors have played the Cavs tough here at Toronto. While they've only won two of the last five series meetings here, the three losses came by only five combined points, two of them coming by a single point. Look for the new look Raptors to give their guests all they can handle once again. *Best Bet
NHL
Western Conf. TOY
I'm playing on the Kings and Ducks to finish UNDER the number. These teams both come off losses against the Thrashers. In both cases, a ton of goals were scored. The Ducks were beaten 8-4. The Kings lost 7-6. That's not "normal" for either team though and I expect both to be determined to play much better defensively this evening. Prior to the game vs. Atlanta, the Ducks had seen their previous two games finish with scores of 3-2 and 2-1. Likewise, prior to facing Atlanta, the Kings had seen their previous two games finish with scores of 3-2 and 2-0. The Kings have seen the UNDER go go 10-6 this season after allowing four or more goals. The last time they allowed four or more goals, they responded by holding the Devils to one goal in their next game. The last time that the Ducks allowed four or more goals, they also responded by allowing just a single goal. Anaheim doesn't often string together back to back high-scoring games either. The last time that the Ducks scored four or more goals, they were shutout in their next game. Including that result, the UNDER is 12-5 the last 17 times that the Ducks scored four or more goals in their previous game and 43-28-9 their last 80 in that situation. Anaheim player Ryan Getzlaf noted the importance of bouncing back with a strong defensive effort: "We've got to go back to work... We're a team that prides itself on not giving up so many shots. We didn??t respond the way we needed." Six of the last nine series meetings have fallen below the total and I expect another relatively low-scoring affair this evening. *Western Conf. TOY
NCAA
ILLINOIS-CHICAGO
Jack Clayton Guaranteed Selections
5* Nets/Mavericks over the total
There are plenty of offensive weapons on both sides, and neither team plays a lick of defense. New Jersey averages 98 ppg but allows 100 ppg. The Mavs average 100 ppg, but allow 99 ppg. Antoine Wright scored 23 points, his best scoring game in nearly three months, Howard also had 23 points, and the Mavericks won 118-100 over Sacramento last week to make the Kings the first NBA team guaranteed to have a losing season. Surprised this total wasn't above 200. Dallas I on a 3-2 run over the total, while the Nets just allowed 108 to San Antonio. Look for plenty of points, play the Nets/Mavericks over the total.
PROFIT ON SPORTS
NBA Milwaukee Pk
CBB Florida St. -2.5
CBB Mississippi St. -3
RON RAYMOND
5* Canadiens / Capitals Over 6 -120
St Louis Blues +125
Anaheim Ducks -150
BobbyClarkeSports
Notre Dame +9 Wager 1100 to win 1000
Virginia Tech +1.5 Wager 550 to win 500
St Josephs +1 Wager 660 to win 600
BONUS: Raptors +7.5
EZ Winners
3* Houston -4.5
3* Texas Tech +1.5
3* Lakers -4.5
NSA
20* Notre Dame +9.5
10* Rhode Island -1
10* Florida St -2
10* Illinois -9.5
10* Providence +13
10* Philadelphia +1.5
BIG AL
3* Nets
3* Wisc-Milw
1* Akron
Maddux Sports
Basketball
3 units on Orlando +1
3 units on Eastern Michigan +11
3 units on Georgia Tech +14
4 units on NC State +20
3 units on Eastern Kentucky -4.5
Hockey
3 units on Montreal +175
3 units on Los Angeles +130
igz1 sports
5* Youngstown State +15
4* Rider +4.5
Alatex
20* Miss +5.5
Wisc-Milw +5.5
Hoftra -3.5
Tennessee Valley Sports
20* NC Wilm +10.5
PointspreadPros
5 units PORTLAND -11 over Memphis
(5 Unit out of 5 Unit max)
Bob Valentino
30 DIME - Penn State-Illinois UNDER the total