Wednesdays Service Plays

WINNING POINTS

NBA

Wednesday, November 7

*Toronto over Orlando by 8
Both of Toronto?s point guards are better than Orlando?s Jameer Nelson and the Magic
were on the road last night. TORONTO 94-86.

Phoenix over *Atlanta by 5
The Suns may limit the minutes of 33-year-old Steve Nash and ease up if they have a
big fourth-quarter advantage since this is their third game in four nights and second
in 48 hours. PHOENIX 105-100.

*Indiana over Los Angeles Clippers by 3
A loss here might finally convince the Pacers they need to rebuild. The Pacers were the
worst-shooting team in the NBA last year. The roster looks the same. Point guard
Jamaal Tinsley shot less than 39 percent from the floor last season. INDIANA 90-87.

*Philadelphia over Charlotte by 6
The Bobcats hosted the Suns last night, which could mean a letdown spot if they were
to pull off a surprise. This is Charlotte?s Sam Vincent?s first time being in the second
of back-to-back games as a head coach. PHILADELPHIA 93-87.

*Boston over Denver by 7
The Nuggets may be vulnerable in this spot, taking the floor for the third time in four
days and second in 48 hours. The Celtics could be in a take-no-prisoners approach to
keep their fans excited about the trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
BOSTON 103-96.

*San Antonio over Miami by 10
The Spurs came into the season covering 21 of their past 29 home games. The Heat
aren?t going to be competitive against elite Western Division clubs until Dwayne Wade
returns. SAN ANTONIO 92-82.

**PREFERRED
*Utah over Cleveland by 13
The Jazz have had three days to rest and prepare for this matchup, while the Cavaliers
played at Golden State last night and at Phoenix the night before last. Not only do the
Cavaliers figure to be tired, but they have to adapt to a whole different style with Utah.
LeBron James doesn?t have enough offensive weapons to keep up with high-scoring
Western clubs. Ronnie Brewer could give the Jazz a spark at shooting guard. He averaged
17 points and more than two steals per game during preseason. UTAH 101-88.

*Seattle over Memphis by 2
The Sonics not only had a losing spread mark (13-16-1) when favored, but were horrible
against the number at home last season going 16-23-2 ATS. SEATTLE 94-92.

*Portland over New Orleans by 1
The Hornets had the second-best spread mark last season at 47-33-2. If Brandon Roy
is less than 100 percent, the Trail Blazers have serious problems. PORTLAND 91-90.

JEFF ALEXANDER

Take Denver Nuggets
1 Unit on Denver +6 These two teams appear to be about as evenly matchup as any in the league. So we'll take the points here as we see this one going down to the nitty gritty. Boston is 0-8 ATS in home games versus excellent foul drawing teams attempting 30 or more free throws/game over the last 3 seasons. Boston is 2-11 ATS in home games after 2 straight games with 10 or less offensive rebounds over the last 2 seasons and 2-11 ATS after a close win by 3 points or less over the last 3 seasons. Boston's layoff hurts the Celtics here against the run and gun Nuggets. Boston's big three are not transition players. Denver will dictate tempo and come up with the ATS win.

JIMMY BOYD

Take Cleveland Cavaliers
1 Unit on Cleveland Cavs +9 Utah has shown us that it isn't going to play any defense at all this season. We'll take these nine points in what figures to be a game of trading buckets. Utah is giving up 107.7ppg this season while Cleveland has been somewhat better defensively allowing 101.2ppg. Utah is 1-10 ATS in home games off a road loss by 10 points or more over the last 3 seasons. Cleveland is 3-1 straight up and 4-0 ATS versus Utah over the last 3 seasons. Oddsmakers have undervalued Lebron and company tonight. Take the points.

DAVE PRICE

Take Indiana Pacers
1 Unit on Pacers -5.5 The Pacers have won 13 of their last 14 home games against the Clippers and we don't see this one being close tonight. Indiana is well rested having not played since November 3rd. The Clippers will be playing back-to-back here and we feel it catches up with them tonight because of the lack of depth that injuries have dealt them. Indiana is 9-1 straight up and 6-3 ATS at home against the Clippers since 1996. The Pacers are 2-0 straight up and ATS at home against LA the past 3 seasons. Lay the points.

John Ryan

New Orleans Hornets vs. Portland Trail Blazers (NBA)
Nov 7, 2007 10:35 PM EST

Play: Portland Trail Blazers

Ai Simulator 3* graded play on Portland ? AiS shows a 73% probability that Portland will win this game. Supporting this graded play is a system that has gone 28-8 ATS over the past 5 seasons. Play against road teams after 4 or more consecutive wins and is an extremely tired team playing their 3rd road game in 4 days. NO is off to a strong 4-0 start both SU and ATS, but they have been traveling quite a bit coming off last night's game at Lakers and 11/4 game at Denver. Portland is winless and truly needs to get a home win. NO is in a terrible role as well with last night's 14 point road win at the Staples Center. NO is 1-10 ATS (-10.0 Units) in road games off a win by 10 points or more as an underdog since 1996. Portland has brought their best level of play when facing winning teams. Portland is 13-4 ATS (+8.6 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons. Take the Trailblazers.

Robert Ross

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers at Utah Jazz Nov 7 2007 10:35PM
Prediction: Cleveland Cavaliers

Reason: Jazz, 1-10 ATS in home games off a road loss by 10 points or more over the last 3 seasons lost by just that many in their last at the Lakers. Cavs off big win in Golden State last night in which LeBron was as much a facilitator as a scorer. If they play that way that keeps them inside this big number. Take Cleveland!

Lenny Del Genio

Game: Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs Nov 7 2007 8:05PM
Prediction: San Antonio Spurs

Reason: Two seasons removed from the first championship in franchise history, Miami (0-3) is struggling without its MVP from those finals. Dwyane Wade, who averaged 34.7 points as Miami beat Dallas in six games and a career-high 27.4 last season, has yet to play in 2007-08 while recovering from surgery to his left knee and shoulder. Wade participated in his first full-contact practice since undergoing the surgery in May this week but he still does not know when he'll be able to return to the lineup. No matter who has been on the floor, the Spurs (2-1) have rarely had trouble beating the Heat in San Antonio. They are 19-1 all-time at home against Miami. San Antonio's lone home defeat to the Heat was a 90-79 loss on Dec. 23, 1996, during the season before Tim Duncan entered the league. If things weren't already tough enough for Miami, it catches the Spurs off a loss last night at Houston. Look out below. Lay the points with the Spurs!

AAA Sports

NBA: New Orleans Hornets at Portland Trail Blazers - Blazers +3 -110
Game Date: 11/7/2007
Note: A nice win with the Hornets last night as they totally outclassed the Lakers on their homecourt. Those are the Lakers and these are the Blazers and a different attitude altogether. Certainly playing back to back games on a west Coast trip is nothing anyone wants to do but one would suspect that this one could be easy as Portland comes in at 0-3. But all of those games were on the road and verses some damn good teams, Houston, San Antonio, and these Hornets. That is going to work to our advantage as the Blazers find themselves in a situation of an early season must win. Starting 0-4 in the NBA can be devastating and I expect an all out effort tonight playing a team that thumped them just a few days ago. Portland has won 6 straight home openers and they have been a much better NBA Squad at the Rose Garden over recent years. This team is ready to perform and in a great spot to do so tonight. Grab the 3 points as this line is probably going downward and is already 2.5 at some houses. A classic battle between two teams that have been on opposite sides of the Winner's Circle but I do think that all changes tonight in Oregon..

Donald Tran
Wednesday, Nov 7, 2007

Sport: NBA
Matchup: Miami at San Antonio
Prediction: Miami Heat +10.5

Jennifer Barry
Wednesday, November 7 2007

Sport: NBA
Matchup: Orlando at Toronto

Prediction: Toronto Raptors -4

Chad Jordan
Wednesday, November 7 2007

Sport: NBA
Match up: New Orleans at Portland
Prediction: N.O. Hornets -3.5

Matt Fargo

Orlando Magic v/s Toronto Raptors 11/7/2007 7:05:00 pm
Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors 7:00 PM ET
Toronto Raptors -4.5 -110

I went against Toronto last night based on the matchup and the spot it was in and it showed as the Raptors were trounced by 27 points to the Bucks. The situational spot was coming off that overtime loss against the Celtics and how playing a home game against Orlando. Toronto has won four straight and six of the last seven meetings in this series and most of those were when Toronto was not even a serious contender. That has all changed.

The Magic are contenders now as well as the acquisition of Rashard Lewis was a huge pickup. He shot lights out against Minnesota last night as he made seven of nine shots from behind the arc. The Timberwolves actually outshot Orlando but went to the free throw line 19 fewer times, the ultimate difference. Orlando will be short-handed again tonight and it will be a bigger difference than last night. J.J. Redick is out until Saturday with back Spasms while Jameer Nelson will be a gametime decision

Generally, as Chris Bosh goes, so do the Raptors. An awful night by Bosh seemed to underline the entire evening. Bosh picked up two quick fouls and sat out a large part of the first half, only to do nothing when he did get on the floor. He finished with only one point, two rebounds and three turnovers in 16 minutes of court time. Milwaukee's starting five, featuring heralded rookie Yi Jianlian, all scored in double digits and out-scored Toronto's starting five 75-28.

Look for Toronto to bounce back in a big way against a Magic team that is traveling again and playing their third straight road game. The first two road wins came against Washington and Minnesota, who are a combined 0-6 on the season. This will obviously be their first road test and one that will be up against a hungry and pretty angry Toronto team after last night?s debacle. Play Toronto Raptors 1.5 Units

Larry Ness
COMP

Phoenix Suns v/s Atlanta Hawks 11/7/2007 7:05:00 pm

Boris Diaw started in place of Stoudemire on Tuesday for the Suns and had 15 points and 11 assists in a 115-83 win at Charlotte. The Suns (3-1) set a season high for points and scored 52 points in the paint without their star center. Phoenix had been concerned about its up-tempo offense in its first three games, including the 119-98 loss to the Lakers. However, the Suns shot 50 percent, committed only 10 turnovers and led by as many as 34 points against the Bobcats. Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Shawn Marion led eight players in double figures with 16 points apiece, and the Suns held Charlotte to 37 percent shooting. Phoenix, which opened a four-game road trip against Southeast Division teams, has won 15 of its last 16 road games against Eastern Conference teams dating to last season. The Suns have also won five straight in Atlanta. The Hawks (1-2) are returning home after a pair of road losses, including Tuesday's 87-82 defeat in New Jersey. Atlanta got to within two points of the Nets with about five minutes left but couldn't pull even, one night after losing 92-91 in Detroit. Josh Smith and reserve forward Josh Childress each had 18 points for the Hawks, who are averaging just 91.3 points per game. Atlanta ranked last in the league in 2006-07 with a 93.7 scoring average. Hawks guard Speedy Claxton (knee), center Zaza Pachulia (knee) and center Lorenzen Wright (foot) all missed the game and have not played yet this season because of injury. Lay it with the Suns.

WAYNE ROOT

Chairman - Bobcats
Millionaire - Celtics

Desert Cappers

NBA
Suns -6

Net Prophet

LA Clippers/Indiana UNDER 207'

Bob Balfe-

Suns -5 over Hawks

STAN SHARP'S NBA BLOWOUT OF THE WEEK

Double bet : New Orleans -2.5 Over Portland

Ats Lock Club

Hoops
4 Phoenix
3 NO
3 Boston

Shark Handicapping

NBA
Und Utah 195

Insider Sports Report

NBA
Tor over 190

Brandon Lovell

Game: Suns - Hawks
OVER 207

Bobby Bo

Game: Cleveland vs Utah
Prediction: Over 195.5

RJ MILLER

CLIPPERS +5.5 -107 at Pacers

Mike Rose

Suns / Hawks UNDER 206