Tony Karpinski
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Play: Los Angeles Clippers -8½
Your Monday free play is on the LA Clippers to get the cash as they are starting to gel as they've won 4 in row and really playing well together as a team. Now they are playing at home with playoff revenge and I like them over the Griz by 10-15 points here late Monday night.
Steve Janus
Nuggets/Thunder Over 210
These two teams have been scoring at will over the last couple weeks and I expect a very high-scoring game tonight. Both of these two teams rank in the Top 10 in pace and Top 15 in offensive efficiency, which shouldn't come as a huge surprise with Russell Westbrook and Ty Lawson running the show for each of these two teams. With the energy to JaVale McGee, Denver has been forced to play small and that has exposed them inside. The Nuggets have allowed 56 and 62 points in the paint in their last two games vs Minnesota and Houston. Not having anyone to protect them rim against Westbrook and Kevin Durant is going to make life easy on the Thunder offensively. It's also going to allow a lot of easy points inside for Serge Ibaka. While Oklahoma City allowed just 79 points to the Bucks in their last game, I don't think defense will be their top priority with a huge rematch against the Clippers on deck Thursday. Denver certainly won't be playing with a ton of energy defensively in their third game in four days.
Tony Bucca
Portland Trailblazers vs. Brooklyn Nets
Play: Portland Trailblazers +3
Normally I wouldn't give out a road team on 0 days rest after winning in OT the night before. But Portland has been on a row winning like 6 in a row and the Nets are almost all questionable and most likely not playing as they are day to day. Plus, Portland is 2-0 on 0 days rest.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
New England +3 over CAROLINA: Ok Panther fans, your team is good, but I don't feel they are all the way there just yet. Carolina is 6-3 on the year, but just 1-2 vs teams with a current winning record. Now they get to face a winning team that is ready to fully bust out, is coming off a bye week and is getting very healthy. The Patriot offense has weathered all their offensive injuries and they have Amendola and Gronk back, plus Shane Vereen is listed as probable for this one. This is the healthiest that this Brady lead offenses has been all year and Brady had the whole off week to get these guys back in the flow. Over on defense the Pats have been very good this year, allowing just 19.4 ppg and tonight they get back their best defender in Aqib Talib. The Panthers are hot and have won 5 in a row, but 4 of those wins are vs teams with a current combined record of 10-30 on the year. The Panther defense is tops in the league in both total defense and scoring defense, but they have yet to face a top 10 offense this year, as far as ypg are concerned. They have faced one top 5 scoring offense this year and that was in game 1 vs Seattle.The Pats offense is 11th overall and 7th in scoring and, while that may not seem great, let's remember that they have been without many key players on offense for much of the year. Now they are healthy and that makes this by far the best offense that Carolina has faced all year. On Offense, Carolina has been good of late, but still they have averaged just 7.7 ppg in their 3 games vs teams with a current winning record. Overall Carolina is just 19th in total offense and 26th in passing offense, while ranking right in the middle of the league in scoring at 23.8 ppg. I do not see the Panthers stacking up in this one, as the Pats will give the Panthers their 3rd loss of the year vs a winning team.
Wunderdog
Arkansas-little Rock at Middle Tenn State
Pick: Arkansas-little Rock +13
Middle Tennessee State has had a couple of strong seasons, and are off to a 3-0 start, so it looks like another big season could be in front of them. They followed stellar 27-7 season with an even better one last year, finishing at 28-6. The problem is they lost three of the top five scorers from that team, and they beat Southern University and North Florida at home by a combined 10 points, so this team does not look like the teams they have put on the floor the previous two years despite the 3-0 start. Arkansas Little Rock is 0-2, but they lost to ranked Florida and by just two points to Northern Florida, a team that MTSU struggled with. This one is closer than it looks, play on Arkansas-Little Rock.
Harry Bondi
New England / Carolina Over 40.5
There is a developing trend of non-conference games going over in the NFL this season that we simply won't step in front of here tonight. Following two more overs yesterday (Detroit v. Pittsburgh and Arizona v. Jacksonville), non-conference match-ups have gone over 37 out of 48 games (77%) this season. The Patriots have also gone over in 20 of their last 29 road games and we expect their no-huddle offense to cause problems for the Panthers tonight. Carolina, meanwhile, has exactly the kind of offense to take advantage of a banged-up New England stop unit. Go over.
Sam Martin
Portland Trail Blazers at Brooklyn Nets
Prediction: Portland Trail Blazers
Linesmakers have yet to catch up to Portland, as they have reeled off six wins in a row and covered the spread in five of those games. Despite that hot streak they are listed as the underdog tonight against a beat up Brooklyn squad that is coming home off a West Coast trip.
Nets averaging 9 points less per game offensively than the Trailblazers while Portland gives up fewer points per game defensively. Being away from home hasn't hurt Portland on this trip beating Boston and Toronto by comfortable margins. Nets overrated at this point of the season and we'll jump on the line value backing the road dog to win outright.
Jack Jones
Bobcats/Bulls Under 180.5
I fully expect a defensive battle between the Charlotte Bobcats and Chicago Bulls tonight. That has been nothing new in this series as the Bobcats and Bulls have gone UNDER the total in each of their last five meetings.
In fact, all five meetings have seen 180 or fewer combined points. That's important when you consider tonight's posted total of 180.5. They have combined to average 171.4 points in their last five meetings, which is roughly 9 points lest than tonight's total.
Both teams play at extremely slow paces. Charlotte ranks 28th in pace at 94.4 possessions per game, while Chicago ranks 21st at 96.4 possessions per contest. Neither team has been very efficient offensively, either. The Bulls rank 20th in offensive efficiency at 98.9 points per 100 possessions, while the Bobcats rank 28th at 93.7 points per 100 possessions.
Chicago and Charlotte have been two of the better teams in the league defensively this season. Chicago ranks 3rd in defensive efficiency, allowing a mere 92.9 points per 100 possessions. Charlotte is a surprising 11th in defensive efficiency, yielding 100.0 points per 100 possessions.
Charlotte is 29-13 to the UNDER when playing against a team with a winning record over the last two seasons. The UNDER is 60-26-2 in Bobcats last 88 road games vs. a team with a winning home record. The UNDER is 4-1 in Bulls last five games overall. The UNDER is 4-1 in Bulls last five home games. Bet the UNDER in this game Monday.
Doug Upstone
Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Play: Anaheim Ducks +140
Two very good teams in minor slumps meet up in Pittsburgh tonight. The Penguins are not playing well right now, dropping 4 or their last 5 and scoring only one goal per game in each of those losses. Some value on Anaheim tonight as Pittsburgh just isn't in their groove just yet. Play the Ducks.
Dave Price
LA Clippers -8.5
This is a difficult spot for Memphis, which will be playing its second road game in as many days and its third in four days. To make matters worse, it is matched up against a L.A. squad that is rested and hungry. You might recall that Memphis knocked the Clippers out of the playoffs last season. L.A. took a 2-0 series lead but lost the next four. You better believe seeing this Memphis team brings back bad memories. The Clippers will be out to send a message to the Grizzlies of what will happen if they were to meet again in the playoffs. The Clippers are 5-0 at home where they are winning by 9.4 points on average. They are also 8-2 ATS in their last 10 home games versus a team with a losing road record. The Grizzlies are 2-9-1 ATS in their last 12 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games versus a team with a winning percentage above .600. Lay the points.
Bruce Marshall
Flames at Jets
Pick: Over
Solid goaltending is a must in the NHL, but it’s also one reason that Calgary is continuing to flounder. Conceding 3.7-0 goals per game, second worst to only Edmonton, the Flames have thus been a good “over” candidate this season, going that way in 9 of their last 12 games. Winnipeg has not been trending “over” as consistently but is scoring bunches of goals lately, averaging 4.25 goals their past four at MTS Centre, with Dustin Byfuglien scoring all four of his goals on the season over the last four games, including three in the past two.
Larry Ness
Miami Florida at Coll Of Charleston
Pick: Coll Of Charleston
Miami (Fla) rebounded from an opening loss to win two straight and hits the road for the first time against College of Charleston on Monday. The Hurricanes shot the ball better in their 84-69 victory over Texas Southern on Thursday and had at least five players score in double figures for the second game in a row. Jim Larranaga will be tested this season, as Miami lost its top-six scorers form last year’s team, one which won both the regular and postseason championships of the ACC. Rion Brown (6.4 PPG) is the only returning player to start a game last season and the only returning player who averaged more than two points.
The College of Charleston moves up to the CAA this season (longtime member of the Southern Conference) and head coach Doug Wojcik (a guard who played with David Robinson at Navy) knows matching last year’s 24-11 record is likely unrealistic (team was picked third in the preseason Colonial Athletic Association poll). The Cougars have opened 1-2 but have the talent to get the best of rebuilding Miami in this one, as the ‘Canes play on the road for the first time this season.
Rick Barry’s youngest son, Canyon (great name), redshirted last year and has come out strong as a freshman, leading the team at 18.0 PPG. He’s a 6-6 shooting guard and is paired with freshman PG Chealey (12.0 PPG). The 6-6 Hall is a fifth-year senior (10.3-8.0) and is joined up front by the 6-9 Baru (9.0-9.0) and the 6-7 Thomas (6.7-4.0). Miami has been greatly helped by 6-9 DePaul transfer Kirk (16.3-7.7) and a 6-7 JC transfer, Kelly (9.0-4.3). Brown (13.0-8.3) and Adams (12.0-4.0) are 6-6 guards, joined by freshman Lecomte (11.0) and Reed (7.0). Miami will get better as the year progresses (all Larranaga teams do) but in its first road game, gets tripped up. Take Charleston.
Joe Gavazzi
New England Patriots +3
Last Sunday, the Carolina defense erased the final question marks from the minds of their doubters. The Panthers entered the game at San Francisco on a 4-0 ATS run. Their opponents, however, had all been losing teams. The questions lingered: were the Panthers fat after stuffing themselves on cupcakes? They were playing on the strong home field of a 49ers team who was coming off their bye week and was on a 5-0 ATS run. But as the game wore on, it was clear the Panthers could go toe to toe with the powerful 49ers. The end result was a 10-9 Carolina victory in which they held San Fran to just 151 yards. Now, the Panthers enter on a 5-0 SU ATS run in which they have covered by 72 points, with a +8 net TO margin in those games. The surprising defense has led the way. For the season, they are allowing just 13 PPG and 283 YPG. They are controlling the point of attack, outrushing opponents by an average of 127-82. On this field, Carolina has been even more dominant allowing 4 opponents the total of only 37 points. Now, they are faced with a major challenge against the New England Patriots. When we last left New England, WRs Amendola and Gronkowski were returning to full health. QB Brady was leading an offense that put up 55 points and over 600 yards against the once vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, the Brady/Belichick combo has had 2 weeks to prepare for a 2 week primetime gauntlet which finds the 49ers facing Carolina tonight and hosting the Broncos on SNF next week. Be sure the Panthers have caught the attention of New England and the appropriate game plan is in place. We never stand in the way of New England in this role, and neither should you. In the L10Y, New England is 18-4-2 ATS (8-1 ATS L4Y) as road dog
Portland Trail Blazers +3
The Nets are a hurting bunch of aging veterans. Kirilenko, Garnett, Pierce and Brook Lopez are struggling with nagging injuries which may keep them out of the lineup or with limited playing time. Tonight, they must play their first game in the ET zone, following a West Coast swing that ended late Sunday night. Far prefer our meal ticket, the Portland Trailblazers whose now healthy lineup includes Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge and Lopez. They have covered 7 straight games and won 6 consecutive games. In that winning streak, the Blazers have knocked down 46% of their triples. Ride the winning hot hand.
Chris Jordan
On a 7-2-1 run with complimentary releases after a 2-0 Sweep on Sunday, giving you the Over in the Jets/Bills game and the Lakers in blowout fashion over the Pistons last night. Tonight I like Eastern Michigan over Cleveland State.
Now if you remember, one of my college basketball winners last week was on Cleveland State, as I delivered the Vikings on the road as a 300♦ winner. Tonight I am going against them, as they're still on the road, and will face a very tough Eagles team.
And while the Vikings have been doing their share of traveling, the Eagles continue their home slate that has opened their 2013-14 campaign. The Eagles are on a 3-0 run to start the season, including last Thursday's win over Robert Morris, 69-64.
Displaing resilience, the Eagles overcame an 11-point, first-half deficit thanks to the play of Ray Lee and Karrington Ward, who helped their team take back control of the game by halftime, and lead a second-half charge. Lee scored a career-best 21 points, while Ward notched the first double-double of the season for EMU, and the first of his career.
And what I like most about this team is how the offense has clicked on all cylinders since Game 1. The Eagles have drained 15 three-pointers over their first three games, as they're shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.
I like the make-up of Cleveland State's roster, but I don't think it can hang in this one tonight.
3♦ EASTERN MICHIGAN
Jeff Benton
Monday's freebie is the Thunder to blow out the Nuggets.
OKC is "only" 6-3 this season, but they are back at home after a 92-79 win and cover in Milwaukee, and they happen to be 3-0 straight up on their home hardwood early this season.
Denver has had their struggles away from home early this season, going just 1-3 straight up, while dropping 2 of their last 3 on the road against the spread.
Russell Westbrook has been shaky off the rust from his knee injury, and he will remind his teammates that they have dropped the last 3 series meetings against the Nuggets both straight up and against the spread.
Look for some revenge tonight, as the Thunder get up for the big double-digit home win and cover.
3♦ OKLAHOMA CITY