Dave Price
Charlotte Bobcats +3½
The Key: We'll take the Bobcats at home this evening considering the home team is 7-2-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings in this series. It is also worth noting that 3 of the last 4 matchups have been decided by 3 points or less. So these points could come in handy in what has been a very close series. Take the points.
Jimmy Boyd
San Antonio Spurs -5½
Expect the Spurs to be hungry when they hit the floor tonight. The Spurs, who finished last season with the best record in the West, will be looking for a little revenge against a Memphis squad that bounced them in the first round of last season's playoffs. The Spurs are typically strong at home (36-5 last season), and their home dominance has certainly held up in this series. They have won 14 of their last 16 home games against the Grizzlies. Long term, the Spurs have been a tremendous investment in this point-spread range, going 339-279 ATS as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points since 1996. The Spurs have won these contests by an average of 7.0 points. Also, the home team is 3-0-1 ATS in the last 4 meetings. Take the Spurs.
Patrick Webb
Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild
Play: Colorado Avalanche
Colorado is the play here. The Avs have won four straight, have the better specialty teams and should be able to create more scoring opportunities. Minnesota is reeling coming off a 6 game losing streak, have several key injuries and don't have the talent to own up to their record.
SPORTS WAGERS
NEW ORLEANS –6½ over Atlanta
The Falcons stock is high after winning four of five and seven of their past nine. A close look reveals that those seven wins have come against Jacksonville, Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, Indy, Detroit and Carolina again. Atlanta’s last three losses were against Houston, New Orleans and Green Bay (all playoff teams) with other two losses occurring on the road at Tampa and Chicago. All in all, the Falcons have a respectable 9-5 record but they really don’t have a signature win all year. After hosting Green Bay and New Orleans, this becomes Atlanta’s toughest assignment of the season and they figure to be exposed. The Saints are a legit contender. They are undefeated in this building. They are home after two away and the crowd should be frenzied. They’ve played three prime-time games this season against Indy, the Giants and Detroit and won all three by scores of 62-7, 49-24 and 31-17 respectively. The Saints opened the season at Green Bay and were five yards away from a possible upset before losing it 42-34. Atlanta coach Mike Smith will only be reminded a few thousand times this week about his numbskull call in overtime, in previous meeting, when he elected to go on 4th down at his own 29. If Atlanta couldn’t win that game in the Georgia Dome, don’t expect a different result here against the red-hot Drew Brees and Co. on a Monday night in the Superdome. This is a mismatch. Play: New Orleans –6½ (Risking 2.16 units to win 2).
Nelly
Minnesota + over Oklahoma City
Minnesota has continually been one of the worst teams in the NBA since Kevin Garnett left town but the pieces may be coming together this season to make this a more competitive squad. The Wolves have shown some promise in the preseason and for the first time in years there is some excitement with this team in Minneapolis. Ricky Rubio is the headline name addition but top pick Derrick Williams has impressed so far and has inside scoring and rebounding that few teams can match with Michael Beasley and Kevin Love joining Williams. Rick Adleman also provides this team some much needed credibility while J.J. Barea was a great addition to provide a proven performer in the backcourt. The Timberwolves will be able score this season and catching the Thunder off travel and a tough physical opening game win last night should help tremendously. Minnesota will struggle on defense but Oklahoma City is not a great defensive team either. The four key players for the Thunder all played 30 plus minutes last night and facing late night travel after a shortened preseason will make the back-to-backs even tougher early in the year. This game should be higher scoring and this looks like a steep spread for a Thunder squad that may be getting a bit too much respect early in the year and may be worth fading in many situations. Oklahoma City was a pretty average road team last season while Minnesota has been much more respectable at home in recent years.
David Banks
North Carolina / Missouri Under
The Missouri Tigers (7-5, 6-6 ATS) will look to put an end to their two-game bowl losing streak when they match up with the North Carolina Tar Heels (7-5, 6-6 ATS) in the Independence Bowl; kick-off from Independence Stadium in Shreveport, LA is set to go live on ESPN2 & ESPN3.com starting at 5:00 ET.
With all the BS that went down within the UNC program last season and leading up to the 2011-12 campaign under former head coach Butch Davis watch, just qualifying for a bowl this year speaks volumes about the gridiron talent stockpiled in Chapel Hill. UNC looked as if it was going to compete for top honors within the Coastal Division at the outset of the season after beating the likes of James Madison, Rutgers, and Virginia. Though it came up just short of beating the Yellow Jackets in Week 4, the Tar Heels still went on to take care of business against East Carolina, and Louisville the next two weeks. That's where the fun stopped however, as the Heels went on to drop four of their last six games which included sickening outright defeats to both Miami (30-24) and NC State (13-0). They did however close the year with a pair of ATS covers sticking within the number in a 24-21 defeat at Virginia Tech (+10) before covering the 13.5-point spread at home against Duke in their regular season finale.
It was an off year for the folks in Columbia who saw their squad rattle off 10 wins just a short season ago. That said, head coach Gary Pinkels squad lost tons of talent from last years squad on the defensive side of the ball and injuries plagued the roster throughout the season's entirety. So even though the offense surpassed its scoring average from year ago (#33 at 32.2 PPG), the defense gave up an average of 7.4 more points per game this season. That in and of itself is the main reason why Mizzou found itself on the short end of the scoreboard in most of their tightly contested battles. Their 38-31 outright win at Texas A&M remains the seasons lone highlight, and the Tigers showed they just didn't have what it took to hang with the big boys falling to the likes of Oklahoma, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Baylor by an average of 10.25 PPG. They'll enter this evenings spot losers in three of their L/4 against the closing pointspread.
This will be the first time these teams will have opposed one another on the college football gridiron. UNC won just one of its five games played as a visitor and posted a 2-3 mark ATS, while Mizzou went 2-4 SU & 3-3 ATS on the road. North Carolinas gone an impressive 19-9 ATS the L/28 times it was installed an underdog, but has failed to cover each of its last four games following an outright triumph; the under has cashed in five of their last six nonconference tussles. Missouri's 5-2 SU but just 2-5 ATS the last seven times it played on a neutral field, and checks in 1-4 ATS the L/5 times it was favored in a bowl game; the under is 9-3 in the Tigers L/12 non-conference battles.
Lenny Del Genio
Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves
Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder
Because the Thunder are playing in the second night of back to backs, we are getting good value tonight as they visit a Minnesota team they've beaten eight straight times. Don't see the back to back scenario affecting OKC too much as they built a comfortable lead early on Orlando last night and were able to hold on for the cover. The Thunder are 30-14 ATS on the road off an Under and finished last season on a 12-5-1 ATS run. Minnesota was dead last in the league defensively last season (107.7 PPG) and isn't likely to improve w/ Ricky Rubio running the points. The Twolves will be exciting this year, but not good. Take Oklahoma City.
Matt Fargo
Chicago Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors
Play: Golden State Warriors +6.5
The Warriors got thumped at home last night against the new and improved Clippers as they shot just 39 percent from the floor including a mere 23.8 percent from long range. Golden St. actually took a lead into the second half and were within a point with just over nine minutes left before the Clippers pulled away. It was the coaching debut for Mark Jackson and things will be a little less stressful tonight despite an even tougher opponent coming into town. While the Warriors were losing at home, the Bulls pulled off a big road win on opening day against the Lakers as Derrick Rose tossed in a floater with 4.8 second left to pull of the win. It was a big win to begin with and adding to it was the fact that Chicago had to rally from 11 points down with 3:44 remaining which sets up an even better play against spot for tonight. Chicago won but it did not look that good as it shot a mere 25 percent in the second half while putting up just a 12 spot in the third quarter. The backcourt struggled for Golden St. last night as Stephen Curry finished with only four points on 2-12 shooting while Monta Ellis put in 15 points on 6-19 shooting. The combined 19 points was 23.7 ppg fewer that what the duo averaged last season. I expect both to play better as Curry played his first game since off-season ankle surgery while Ellis was playing right after hearing the news that his grandmother passed away earlier in the day. The home team has won the last five meetings.
Bryan Power
Colorado Avalanche @ Minnesota Wild
PICK: Minnesota Wild
Once upon a time, the Wild had the best record in the league. Then, they went out and lost six straight (0-4-2) before the Holiday break. Colorado, meanwhile, was headed in the other direction, winning their last four games, all at home. Look for a reversal of fortune Monday night. The Avs have not done well on the division road this season, losing 9 of 10 games and that includes a 1-0 loss here in Minnesota last month. Colorado is a poor 9-23 revenging a loss as a road favorite and overall is just 3-10 SU L13 head to head with the Wild. Since winning their first six road games of the year, the Avs have been terrible away from home, going 0-8-1 while being outscored 41-20. Wild G Backstrom has been excellent in his career against Colorado. He's 18-4-2 w/ a 2.18 GAA. This is a good price on the home team.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit Grizzlies/Spurs Under 194
Playing the Under on all teams when the total is between 190 and 199.5 points (SAN ANTONIO) that made 6 or more 3-point shots/game last season and are matched up against a division opponent has produced a 31-7 ATS record the last 5 seasons. The average posted total for these games has been 194.2, but we have seen just 183.6 total points scored on average. We'll take the Under.
Steve Janus
Washington Wizards -4
The fact that Washington was such a bad team last year, likely has the public staying away from this game. However, I think the Wizards are going to make some serious progress in the second season of point guard John Wall. The Wizards were able to keep their core nucleus together, plus added in some quality rookies in Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton, and Shelvin Mack.
The Nets on the other hand are a complete mess. Their entire offseason was focused on trading for Dwight Howard. With no trade taking place, you have to wonder just how motivated the players are to give their maximum effort for an organization that doesn't really have a lot of faith in them. On top of that they are without starting center Brook Lopez, who is easily their best inside player. They went out and traded for Mehmet Okur, but he doesn't compare to what Lopez would give this team if he were playing.
Wall is the difference makers in this game, and the reason Washington has a chance to make a run at the playoffs this season. Look for the Wizards to come out on their home court and easily win this game by at least 7-10 points.
SPORTS WAGERS
New Jersey –110 over CAROLINA
The Devils keep lining our pockets with cash and there’s no reason to stop here. The Devils would be a legit contender this season with better goaltending but that’s something we’ll have to live with for now. What we do know is that after last season’s debacle, this year’s Devils are hungrier than ever. They’ve won seven of nine and they don’t get outplayed, even when losing. The Hurricanes are a bottom feeder and they’ll remain there until major changes occur. Carolina’s best player, Eric Staal, appears disinterested and when the captain doesn’t give 100%, it cascades down to all. Joel Skinner, the team’s leading point producer remains out. The Canes have lost 11 of their last 14 and five in a row to these Devils. Cheap price. Play: New Jersey –110 (Risking 2.2 units to win 2).
ST. LOUIS -½ -108 over Dallas
The Dallas Stars are seven games above .500 but that can be misleading. They’ve been fortunate to outscore a few teams recently but that cannot last because they don’t have the firepower to maintain such a pace. What’s more notable is the number of chances they’re allowing and the number of goals they’ve allowed. Dallas has given up 18 goals against in its past five games and three or more in four straight. That’s a big concern for Dallas backers here because the Blues rarely allow more than two a game. They Blues have the NHL’s best home record with 13 wins in 17 games. The Blue Notes just keep winning and their confidence is sky high, especially in this building. Play: St. Louis -½ -108 (Risking 2.16 units to win 2).
CHICAGO –1½ +125 over Columbus
For the first time this season we’re going to step out and lay 1½-pucks because the Jackets are a complete and utter mess. Before the break and having the least amount of wins and points in the league, the Jackets went into Nashville. The Predators took an early five-minute major and Columbus scored four times to take a 4-1 lead. But Columbus managed to lose that one in OT and skated off with their heads down and with a ho-hum attitude. They’ve allowed six goals against in two straight and six goals against in three of its last four road games. They’ve lost 44 of their past 56 games overall. They have no goaltending and what’s even more amazing is that six coaches have been fired this year and none of them are named Scott Arniel. Now they’ll skate into Chicago to play the league’s deadliest snipers. Chicago has played Columbus twice this year and won by scores of 6-3 and 5-2. That was in late October and early November when the Jackets were in a better state of mind. It's not January yet and this Columbus group has no shot of making the playoffs and no light at the end of its misery tunnel. The Blackhawks have a history of blowing this intruder out and this one could be the most decisive of all. Play: Chicago -1½ +125 (Risking 2 units).
Chuck O'Brien
For your free winner on Monday night, I want you to play the Phoenix Suns, laying points, against the visiting New Orleans Hornets, who don't have Chris Paul and don't have David West. It's a new-look Hornets team, and I believe it's going to take some time to integrate new players and a new system, given Paul's absence.
Granted, Eric Gordon, who arrived via the Paul trade to the Clippers, is a phenomenal guard who has longevity and can be a star in this league. I actually think the Hornets will be okay eventually, because of Gordon, but tonight in the season-opener against a veteran lineup that includes AARP-card holders Grant Hill and Steve Nash. No matter their age, though, Nash averaged a league-high 11.4 assists and is the team's top returning scorer at 14.7 points per game, followed by Hill at 13.2.
Look for Nash to outplay New Orleans Jarrett Jack, who gets the daunting task of taking over for Paul at the point-guard spot. Depth will also be an issue. Lay the points with the Suns tonight.
4♦ PHOENIX
Matt Rivers
Your free play for Monday night is the over in the Falcons-Saints clash in the Superdome.
I know the first meeting between the teams stayed under the total, as Atlanta and New Orleans played an overtime game that saw 49-total points in a game the linemakers priced at 50-total points, but there is just too much offense on the field tonight for me to think this game will not go over the total.
Atlanta comes in having racked up 72-points in their last pair of games - both overs, while New Orleans just scored 42-points in a win at Minnesota their last time out, and are averaging a cool 40-points per game at home this season.
Drew Brees already has 37-touchdown passes on the year, and a few more seem very likely in this one. The last three times these teams have met in the Big Easy, all three have sailed over the posted total.
Expect scoring a-plenty tonight as Matt Ryan and Drew Brees put on a show for the Monday night viewing audience!
5♦ OVER
Dom Chambers
For my free selection, let’s look at the Los Angeles Lakers to cover against the Sacramento Kings.
You rarely see the Lakers a 7-point underdog.
The Lakers are playing back-to-back and this the opener for the Kings.
The Lakers nearly beat the Bulls. It was just a lapse at the end that sealed their fate. The Lakers have dominated their series with the Kings, winning the last nine of the last 10 meetings.
Under new coach Mike Brown, the Lakers are playing more defense.
The Kings are hoping to improve, but still are a question mark. They are led by Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton and rookie sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette.
It may take a few games for them to jell.
The Lakers play enough defense to keep this game close Even if the Lakers lose, it would be difficult to think they would lose by more than 7 points.
Take the Lakes and the points.
3♦ LAKERS