Rocketman
Miami vs. Denver
Play: Miami +5.5
The Miami Heat travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Friday night. Miami is 3-4 SU overall this year while Denver comes in with a 4-4 SU overall record on the season. Miami is scoring 109 points per game on the road this year. Denver is allowing 109.6 points per game their past 5 games overall. Miami is 2-0 SU and ATS at Denver past 3 years. Denver is off a huge win over a good Toronto team and they have Golden State on deck. I feel like the Nuggets will be looking past the Heat here tonight.
John Martin
Pelicans vs. Mavs
Play: Mavs +5
I'll take a shot with the Dallas Mavericks as 5-point home underdogs to the New Orleans Pelicans tonight. The Mavs are 1-8 on the season and getting zero respect from the books because of it. But now they face a team they can beat in the Pelicans, who are just 3-5 on the season and are coming off a 16-point home loss to Orlando and a 6-point home loss to Minnesota. The Mavs have won 29 of their last 34 home meetings with the Pelicans. The home team won all four meetings between these teams last year, and the home team has won 9 of the last 11 meetings overall.
Teddy Covers
Pelicans vs. Mavericks
Play: Pelicans -4½
Teddy is riding a SCORCHING HOT 83% NFL Run over the last three weeks. He came a single point away from another PERFECT SWEEP last Sunday; cashing at a 66% clip in the NFL since Week 1! Don't miss any of Teddy's Top Rated winners this weekend, including his One & Only NFL GOY on Monday Night.
Dallas opened 2-13 SU last year; an early season slump that essentially doomed their campaign. They spent the entirety of training camp talking about how that wasn’t going to happen again this year. And yet here we are, 2 ½ weeks into the season and the Mavs are sitting at 1-8, the single worst record in the NBA. The 1-7 Hawks notched their only victory against this Mavericks team, in Dallas. Sacramento, too, has one win on the season – against the Mavs, in Dallas. And there’s not much hope moving forward for a squad that has quietly morphed into a true bottom feeder. It’s surely worth noting in this pointspread range that six of the Mavs seven losses this season have come by five points or more.
New Orleans biggest issue this season has been with turnovers, ranked #26 in the NBA with more than 15 giveaways per game. But the Mavs aren’t playing much on-ball defense, unable to force the turnovers that lead to easy fast break buckets. And the Pelicans twin towers of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins should feast in the low post against a Mavericks team that ranks dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing a whopping 111.5 points per 100 possessions – worse than the Cavs, Nets, Suns or Kings. Coming off back-2-back losses against quality foes, this is a legitimate ‘step-up’ spot for the road favorite!
Dave Price
Cavaliers vs. Wizards
Play: Wizards -3½
The Cleveland Cavaliers are broken right now. Kyrie Irving's worth is through the roof right now with the Cavs off to a 3-5 start, including 4 consecutive losses to Brooklyn, New Orleans, New York and Indiana by a combined 63 points. They have lost to these 4 teams by nearly 16 points per game! And the Nets, Pelicans, Knicks and Pacers aren't exactly juggernauts. Now they have to take a step up in competition against one of the best teams in the East in the Wizards. The Cavs are without Isaiah Thomas, Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson and will continue struggling until they get healthy. The Wizards will be at full strength tonight. Ty Lue is 1-11 ATS in road games when the total is 220 to 229.5 as the coach of Cleveland. The Cavs are 0-9 ATS off a double digit loss as a favorite of 6 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
Tony Karpinski
Marshall vs. Florida Atlantic
Play: Florida Atlantic -6
Coach Lane Kiffin has his Florida Atlantic squad’s offense in high gear and playing some great ball, putting up and scoring 42, 69 and 58 points in its last three games. Marshall comes off a bad home loss to FIU, and I believe they are over-rated and getting lucky with turnovers. Marshall's defense gives up a lot of yardage and their Special teams are shaky. I like Flor-Atl here on Friday night!
Frank Sawyer
Marshall vs. Florida Atlantic
Play: Over 63½
Florida Atlantic (5-3) comes off a 42-28 win at Western Kentucky last week — and they have played 5 of their last 6 games Over the Total after scoring at least 40 points in their last game. First-year head coach Lane Kiffin has immediately made his presence felt on the offensive side of the football. The Owls generated 461 yards of offense last week against the Hilltoppers in that game — and they have then played 5 straight games Over the Total after gaining at least 450 yards in their last game. Marshall (6-2) passed for 363 yards themselves last week in a 41-30 loss to FUI — and they have then played 14 of their last 20 games Over the Total after passing for at least 280 yards in their last game. And in their last 4 games played on grass, the Thundering Herd has played all 4 games Over the Total.
SPORTS WAGERS
FAU -6 over Marshall
The Owls opened as a double-digit favorite in some instances. As a result of heavy steam rolling in on The Thundering Herd, that number has dropped dramatically to its current position. Generally, when we see the consensus gravitate to a dog with such vigor, we are forced to take a look more closely at the chalk. Very simply, Florida Atlantic is not known as a football team that spots such lumber against more recognized teams like Marshall. After all, the Owls have not made a bowl appearance since 2008 and have won no more than three games in five of its last six seasons. This is a football team known as a perpetual bottom feeder and perennial cupcake. However, the culture is changing in Fort Lauderdale after the Owls secured the services of one of college football’s most polarizing figures, Lane Kiffin. Though Kiffin may have a nefarious reputation with some parties, his hiring was monumental for a notoriously maligned program such as Florida Atlantic. After all, Kiffin spent time in the NFL as Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2007 to 2008, Tennessee in 2009, and in college at USC from 2011 to 2013. Furthermore, Kiffin served under Nick Saban at Alabama as Offensive Coordinator from 2014 to 2016. He had an influential role in ‘Bama’s success as a stalwart in the College Football Playoff era and helped the Tide capture a National Championship in 2015. With his litany of coaching at the highest levels of football both collegiately and professionally, his acumen has quickly rubbed off on the Owls, as they have won their last four in a row. In doing so, Florida Atlantic has scored 207 points over that span. While we are not in the habit of getting behind these high scoring teams, FAU has been such an irrelevant program for years so the market has not taken notice yet. They are still very much under the radar. Furthermore, Marshall has never lost to FAU before, which also influences the market.
Marshall is getting far too much credit here because of their 6-2 record and because of recent blowouts victories over Cincinnati (38-21), Old Dominion (35-3) and Mid Tennessee State (38-10). Cinci and MTSU have some market credibility but that, too, is misdirected, as Marshall’s six wins this year have come against teams who are now a combined 13-35. This is a Marshall team that at home, hung on for dear life against Miami (Ohio) and won ugly over Kent State. The Herd are out of the frying pan and into the fryer, as they will have to take on a red-hot FAU program in an atypically-animated environment, as the Owls will host what could be a landmark game for its program. FAU will be playing for bowl eligibility and the ability to keep their unblemished conference record alive and well in unprecedented fashion. The Owls are poised to usher in a new era to the Conference USA and we get to step in on them as a clearly undervalued choice. Lastly, we must point out that Marshall’s over/under win total this year was 5. In a weak conference, that’s a bold statement by the oddsmakers but Marshall has exceeded that already. Truth be told, Marshall is also a weak team that caught lightning in a bottle and now they’re about to be exposed for the second week in a row. Swallow the points.
Pass NHL
Bruce Marshall
Marshall at Florida Atlantic
Pick: Over
The "total" is dropping like a rock for this C-USA showdown at Boca Raton. Why, not sure, as Lane Kiffin's FAU has been scoring points like going out of style, scoring 53 ppg the last three, all "overs" for the Owls. Marshall scoring plenty as well behind QB Chase Litton, scoring 30 or more in three straight.
Bruce Marshall
Marshall at Florida Atlantic
Pick: Over
The "total" is dropping like a rock for this C-USA showdown at Boca Raton. Why, not sure, as Lane Kiffin's FAU has been scoring points like going out of style, scoring 53 ppg the last three, all "overs" for the Owls. Marshall scoring plenty as well behind QB Chase Litton, scoring 30 or more in three straight.
Dr Bob
Memphis @ Tulsa
Memphis has averaged 43.3 points per game this season against teams that are collectively 1.4 yards per play better defensively than Tulsa is and the Tigers are projected to run a few more plays than usual in this game due to Tulsa’s fast pace. Tulsa will have a lot of possessions to score as well, but the Golden Hurricanes are jus taverage offensively (6.0 yppl against teams that would allow 6.0 yppl to an average team) and Memphis is average defensively (5.7 yppl allowed to teams that would allow 5.7 yppl) so it will be tough for Tulsa to keep up with what their horrendous defense allows – Tulsa has allowed 553 yards per game at 7.6 yppl to teams that would average just 5.7 yppl against an average team. A small play on Memphis would be okay at -14 or less.
OC Dooley
Heat +5.5
From a pure wagering standpoint Miami is the ONLY team in the entire NBA to have "not" covered a single spot so far going 0-5-2 in seven attempts against the number. Thus one has to wonder why I am labeling this as a "percentage" wager but the fact of the matter is that in the past TWO YEARS Miami is UNDEFEATED where it counts going 9-0 ATS/ROAD after coming off consecutive "spot" defeats. I am aware that Denver crushed an Eastern Conference foe at home (Toronto) in an 18 point romp back on Wednesday and that the Nuggets offense in the past 4 games combined is averaging a hefty 117 points per pop. However there is POSITIVE injury news regarding Miami as big man Hassan Whiteside (13 points along with 14 rebounds in 26 minutes for the Heat in their last outing) has finally returned from a five-game absence where he battled knee problems