Smooth44
Knockout Punch Of The Day- San Antonio -7-120
St. Louis +100
San Diego +170
Texas -110
Oklahoma City -1 -120
AntonWins
3 units Kansas City/Sidney Ponson +110.
Scott Rickenbach
2* (Top Play) Toronto Raptors (+) @ Chicago
As we expected, bettors are already jumping on the Bulls here. The line opened at a 9 and is already heading toward a 9.5 now in some books. This is offering fantastic value to the Raptors. Toronto has already proven they’re not going to quit on the season. They beat the Sixers in their home finale Sunday. Then they turned around on Monday and won at Washington. Most may look at that and say it’s no big deal because the Wizards have been so bad this season but, keep in mind, Washington now has Brendan Haywood back and they had been playing some of their best basketball of the season. The Wizards were playing their home finale and wanted that game and yet the Raptors rallied and got the win. Their frontcourt is capable of being a major force here. They beat the Wizards in the paint on Monday even though the Raptors were without Andrea Bargnani. He’s a 7-footer and he’s listed as probable tonight. He will join Toronto’s “Big Three” that combined for a huge effort at Washington on Monday. The Raptors were led by Shawn Marion, Chris Bosh, and Pops Mensah-Bonsu in their win over the Wizards. The problem for the Bulls is that teams that are strong in the frontcourt is exactly the wrong match-up for them. Yes, Chicago has been hot and yes the Bulls want to win this game to lock into the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, that is easier said than done in a situation like this! Not only are the Bulls facing a Raptors team that is showing they have no quit – they are now battling to avoid a 50-loss season – Chicago is also dealing with trying to be properly focused here. Why is that an issue? Because the Bulls just beat the Pistons in Detroit on Monday and that was a huge victory for Chicago. We used – and cashed in with – the Bulls in that spot. That was actually a better match-up for the Bulls than this one is. The Pistons frontcourt is not all that impressive and now, the Bulls face a team whose already beaten them two out of three times. Also, in the most recent match-up between these teams, the Bulls had to rally from a 17 point deficit just to send the game to overtime. Of course the key factor is that the reason the Bulls got in that hole is they can’t control the frontcourt players that the Raptors have. Bargnani, Bosh, Marion, and Mensah-Bonsu combined for 88 points and 30 rebounds. Toronto outrebounded the Bulls by 16 boards in that game. Even more concerning for Chicago here, in terms of match-ups, is that Raptors point guard Jose Calderon showed how tired he was of hearing about the Bulls Derrick Rose. Calderon had 22 points, nearly matching Rose’s 23, and the real key was Calderon’s 19 assists and 3 steals compared to Rose’s 9 assists and just 1 steal. The Bulls, and we knew we’d get a huge line offered to us here, simply do not belong in this high-favorite range against a Raptors team that presents match-up problems and that also is still playing very hard! Toronto is still playing ultra-competitive and they’ve only lost 3 of their last 19 games by more than 9 points. In fact, the Raptors are a respectable 8-4 their last 12 games. Yes, the Bulls have been hot but in going 11-3 over the last month (since March 15th) note that only two of those wins have come by more than 9 points. Again, this is simply a case of the markets getting too caught up with a team that needs to win instead of looking properly at a hungry dog that holds match-up edges and is playing as hard as they’ve played all season. One final note is that Bargnani is listed as probable tonight and we fully expect him to play. If for some reason he doesn’t, we’ve already seen what the Raptors were able to do up front with Marion, Mensah-Bonsu, and Bosh. They combined for 59 points and 42 rebounds at Washington Monday! This team is still playing extremely hard and that continues until the final horn tonight. Play Toronto plus the points as a Top Play selection.
1* (regular play) Philadelphia Flyers Money Line (+) @ Pittsburgh
This is a huge rivalry and, as a result, it’s expected to be possibly the most entertaining series in the first round of these playoffs. Whether or not that will end up being the case remains to be seen. However, one thing we do know is that there is going to be some “value spots” along the way and we feel that this is one of them! The Flyers are catching a good price here on the road and that is absolutely worth grabbing here. It’s amazing how this works but we’ve seen this type of situation in the past where a team is chastised for costing themselves a home ice edge late in the regular season and then they turn around and steal it right back in game one of their first round series. By losing their last game of the regular season, the Flyers lost the home ice edge they would have had against the Penguins. That is why this series is now opening up in Pittsburgh but this will not deter the Flyers in the least! Keep in mind that Philadelphia won their most recent game with the Penguins and that was less than four weeks ago, right here in Pittsburgh! The Flyers won 3 to 1 on the strength of special teams play and that could be a key again here. Philadelphia is solid both on the kill and on the power play. They also are known for their ability to get create short-handed chances for the offense when killing penalties. Philadelphia scored 16 goals short-handed and yet only allowed 1 goal all season when they were on the power play. Both of these numbers are tops in the league. In the Eastern Conference, only the Rangers are better on the penalty kill and only Washington is better on the power play. Yes, the Flyers are #2 in the conference in each of those important special teams categories. Note that Pittsburgh’s penalty kill has been solid but their power play productivity has disappointed. Note that Flyers goalie Martin Biron helped his team pick up 3 out of 4 possible points in his two starts in Pittsburgh. Biron registered a .915 save percentage and a 2.40 GAA. His most recent effort at the Mellon Arena was fantastic and the late March win here gives the team a lot of confidence heading into this match-up. The Flyers are playing this series with revenge against the Penguins since they knocked them out of the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Note that in those series the Flyers were hurting because of injuries to guys like Simon Gagne, Kimmo Timonen, and Braydon Coburn. All three of those guys will be on the ice tonight! As strong as Pittsburgh has been under new coach Dan Bylsma, we’re not sure that his systems are the best in terms of matching up with the Flyers. That had a lot to do with Philadelphia winning here in late March. Keep in mind that Philadelphia has six guys who have scored at least 25 goals this season and their balanced scoring, healthier roster, and the fact they’ve got additional confidence at the Mellon Arena now can absolutely combine for a Game One win here! Play Philadelphia on the money line as a regular selection
Dub Doogan
NBA:
ML BUCKS +325 10 Dimes
MLB:
ROCKIES +180 10 Dimes
ROCKIES +1.5 10 Dimes
MARLINS +1.5 10 Dimes
NATIONALS +120 10 Dimes
NATIONALS +1.5 10 Dimes
RON RAYMOND
5* Flyers / Penguins Under 6
5* Carolina Hurricanes +125
Robert Ferringo
7-Unit Play. Take New Jersey (+4.5) over New York Knicks
Note: This is our NBA Game of the Year
New Jersey has struggled on the road this season, yet in their last meeting with New York the Nets showed no signs of struggle. The Knicks all year long have been underdog darlings and this situation does not suit them. Neither team will want to lose this game even though it is meaningless in the standings. The New York/New Jersey rivalry is one that the fans and the players take seriously and the Nets will want to show The Tri-Cities area that they are the better team. Look for Devin Harris and Vince Carter to control the tempo of this contest and for the Nets to come out on top. New Jersey is 13-3 SU in their last 16 trips to MSG and they are looking to finish the year on a positive note after beating Charlotte and Orlando in their previous two road games.
Sorry about that Blade
Sorry about that Blade
Nah don't worry no harm no foul and I really appreciate the effort to help out.
SCOTT FERRALL PAY PICK'S:
UEFA PICKS FOR WEDNESDAY Villareal
ARSENAL -220 (TOP PLAY!!)
Manchester United
Porto FC DRAW AT+240
Mighty Quinn
Hit yesterday with Orioles
Today its the Cardinals
Asian Executive 200% Guaranteed NBA Lock
Orlando
Blade:Thanks again for your continued hard work. ATS-Baseball & Sebastian Sports Picks (out of Connecticut) are currently doing very well. Can we get their info at a low cost to us?
Brandon Lang
20 Dime Rockets
5 Dime Marlins
5 Dime Mariners
5 Dime Padres
FREE - Clippers
Everything I run across I post guys so if you don't see it I haven't seen it.
Big Al McMordie
Angles at Mariners
Pick: Over 8.5
At 10:10pm our selection is on the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners 'over' the total. The two starting pitchers in this game have the same first names (at least they are pronounced the same), but their similarities pretty much end there. The Angels' Jered Weaver is a right-hander that tries to overpower his opponents, and sometimes he succeeds, but often at the expense of his control. Seattle's Jarrod Washburn is a southpaw who relies on his craftiness and changing of speeds but often leaves too much over the plate and pays dearly for it. Somehow, Washburn - who hasn't had a winning season since 2004 - managed to shut out the Twins over eight strong innings in his first start of 2009. Not to be outdone, Weaver had a similar outing in his first start against the Red Sox. But Weaver has seen his winning percentage drop and his ERA rise each of the three years that he has been in the Majors. There is no reason to believe that either of these starters will repeat their unlikely performances in their second starts. They will likely wake up and realize that they are Jarrod Washburn and Jered Weaver. Not to mention the fact that both the Angels and Mariners lost their closers during the off-season, and so far their replacements have been shaky at best. Take the 'over'.