Ron Raymond
Rangers vs. Minnesota
Play: Minnesota -105
Keys to selection: Best goaltending matchup of the night, Sweden vs. Finland! However, by the Rangers losing 3-2 to the Islanders the other night and now 1-4 SU after that 7 game winning streak, you can see why the Law of Average exist! Wild are tough at home and Backstrom who is Finnish, will be looking to out duel his countries because rival, Sweden!
Angle When MINNESOTA played as any home/road team - During Last 2 Years - With 1 Over or More - Lost Last Game by 1 Goals or More - With SU Record of 1 Win 2 Lost in L3G; the Wild are 9-5 SU in this situation the last 2 years.
Evan Altemus
Toronto vs. Memphis
Play: Toronto -4
Toronto is another team that is undervalued right now. Their front court will be very tough for teams to contend with. The addition of Hedo Turkoglu looks to help the game. Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani will score at will against the Grizzlies, as they simply have no one to match-up with them. Meanwhile, Memphis has little to no home court advantage. Detroit dominated them in the first game of the year, and I look for Toronto to do the same. This team is going to be a force in the Eastern Conference this season. I look for them to dominate weaker teams and do well as an underdog against the better teams in the league. Toronto essentially just has to win this game to cover the point spread, but I expect them to win by double digits.
3 UNIT SELECTION TORONTO
Lenny Del Genio
Milwaukee vs. Philadelphia
Play: Philadelphia -7
Milwaukee is the 30th and final NBA team to get its regular season underway Friday night when they travel to the City of Brotherly Love. Expect a slow start out of the gate from the Bucks as their two best players, G Michael Redd and C Andrew Bogut, are coming back from major injuries. Rookie PG Brandon Jennings is probably going to get a lot of minutes, which could be a good idea over the long haul, but short term will be a disaster as you can expect plenty of turnovers. Tonight, they will find an angry Sixers team that is off a poor defensive effort in its opener, a 120-106 loss at Orlando. This has been a Philly-dominated series as the Sixers have covered six of the past seven meetings overall. Three of those wins have come by 15 points or greater and one of them here in Philly was by 43! We're expecting a blowout here tonight. Philadelphia is our 20* Eastern Conference Game of the Month.
Craig Trapp
Washington Wizards vs. Atlanta Hawks
Pick: Over 203
WASH and ATL both are really great scoring teams but neither team will be confused with defensive powerhouses. Both are coming off a days rest so they will have plenty in the tank to easily both score over 100. WASH is coming off a 102 scoring performance against a decent DAL team. On the other side ATL is coming off a 120 pt performance. This one will be a shootout and this one is a lock for the over.
Black Widow
6* Widow Wiseguy 2009 Big East GAME OF THE YEAR on West Virginia -3
South Florida has started their usual second-half slide and that continues Friday against a much superior West Virginia team. The Bulls started the season 5-0 against a very soft schedule, but then they came back to lose at home to Cincinnati 17-34 and on the road last week 14-41 to Pittsburgh. South Florida just never has the players that are mentally tough enough to get back on track following big losses. West Virginia is 6-1 this season and should be 7-0 had they not turned the ball over 6 times in their 30-41 road loss at Auburn. The Mountaineers have scored 24 or more points in every game, putting up 31.3 points/game and 421 total yards/game on the season. South Florida doesn't have the offensive firepower to stay with them Friday night. The Bulls have been held to 17 points or less in 3 of their last 4 games, and they clearly miss starting QB Matt Grothe who is lost for the season due to injury. The Bulls are 3-11 ATS in their last 14 vs. a team with a winning record. The Bulls are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0. Take West Virginia and lay the points.
5* Wiseguy NBA Friday Night BLOOD BATH Cleveland Cavaliers -12
Cleveland has opened the season 0-2, and you can bet the farm they aren't going to start the year 0-3 after tonight's game in Minnesota. Instead, the Cavs will win in a blowout as they get back on track following their tough start. The Cavs are 14-2 ATS (+11.8 Units) off a road loss over the last 2 seasons. Cleveland is 15-5 ATS (+9.5 Units) after 1 or more consecutive losses over the last 2 seasons. The T'Wolves are 1-14 ATS (-14.4 Units) in home games after 1 or more consecutive wins over the last 2 seasons. Minnesota is 1-10 ATS (-10.0 Units) in home games off an upset win as an underdog over the last 2 seasons. Need we say more? Take Cleveland and lay the points.
4* Knicks/Bobcats OVER 194.5
Whenever you see a Knicks' total of less than 200 points, it's time to take notice. New York gave up 115 points to the Heat in their road opener, and once again they will be near the bottom of the league in all defensive categories this year. But they do have an explosive offense under head coach Mike D'Antoni, and that will be on display tonight against the Bobcats. The OVER is 7-3 in Knicks last 10 games as an underdog of 0.5-4.5. The OVER is 3-0-1 in Bobcats last 4 games after scoring less than 75 points in their previous game. The Bobcats struggled to score in their opener against a good Boston defense, but they'll top the 100-point mark against this poor Knicks' defense tonight and we expect New York to follow suit as both team surpass 100 points. Take the OVER 194.5 points here.
Payne Sports
5 Units Under 47.5
This total should be around 54 with the way these teams score and have played to 8 overs and only 4 unders. This tells me that expect a defensive struggle with both teams running the ball an adequate amount of time to start and look for a low scoring first half with some fireworks going off in the second half like last night. The under is 4-1 in Mountaineers last 5 Friday games, 4-0 on unders between these two teams in their history, 14-6 to under last 20 with Bulls on grass.
PLayBook
Toronto Raptors at Memphis Grizzlies
Play: Memphis Grizzlies -3.5
Edges: Grizzlies: 18-7-1 ATS vs. Toronto, including 8-4 SU and 8-3-1 ATS home. Raptors: 4-8-1 ATS first road game season.
Betting Doctor
West Virginia Mountaineers @ South Florida Bulls
Pick: 5 units South Florida Bulls +135
Bulls back H and on 0-2 skid after 5-0 start. WVU got a late TD and then a pick LW to survive UConn in 28-24 MLF W. +2 TO helped as their D allowed > 500 yds. USF W 2 and covered L3 in series. Only L a 13-7 MLF LY; 356-280 yds, but -2 TO. Good match-up for Bull's D which has held Mountaineer's O to 153 YR/G L3Y (117/G below their average). They're a rare HD again. Although they L earlier TY in that role, there were numerous big plays that went against them and they were burned by a running QB for whom they didn't prep. We'll take the HD that has a track record of defending the WVU O well.
Street Rosenthal
*200 Dallas Stars Over 5.5
*200 South Florida +3
*200 Memphis Grizzlies +2
*200 Utah -8
*200 Chicago Bulls +12
Seabass
50 WVa/SFla under
100 CFL Edm under
100 Steam SFla
Powerplaywins
West Virginia -3
Teddy Covers
20* Big Ticket Warriors
Bucks
Timberwolves
Executive
200 S Florida
KBHoops
4* Philadelphia -6 **POD**
3* Utah -9
2* Nets +10
2* Hawks -6
3* South Florida +3
Teddy June
10* South Florida