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Toronto Raptors +5
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This is an early start at 1 PM EST and that should mean a little bit of trouble for the visitors. LA is traveling across the country for an early 1 PM EST start time, but according to their body clocks the game will be occurring at 10 AM. NBA players aren't used to early starts, so I think the Lakers might have a bit of trouble getting going here today.
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Toronto isn't a very good team, but the Lakers continue to be over-valued. I know they are finally healthy again, but this team just hasn't meshed real well all season so I'm not sure why they are laying so many points on the road. I've heard the talk about how their backs are against the wall, but I just don't believe they weren't trying at the beginning of the year and are going to start kicking it in gear.
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LA is 5-12 on the road this year and losing by an average of two ppg. Toronto on the other hand is 10-9 at home but winning by 3.7 ppg. The Raptors might have lost four in a row, but they have played tough in each of those games. I think they keep things close with LA here today.
Alex Smart
Minnesota Wild -143
Zach Parise and Ryan Suter off season signing make this team a Northwestern Division contender and a solid NHL top tier threat . The addition of aging stars Jaromir Jagr , Ray Whitney wont be the fix the Dallas Stars were hoping for, and that will become obvious today in Minny.
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Boston Celtics -1½
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The Boston Celtics have every reason to be motivated for a win Sunday. The are coming off back-to-back losses, including an overtime defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Friday. They have also dropped three straight in this series with Detroit, so there's no question they want revenge.
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Boston had been playing their best basketball of the season before back-to-back losses. They had won six straight while going a superb 5-1 ATS in the process. I look for them to put an end to this brief skid with an inspired effort against the lowly Pistons (14-25).
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This play falls into a system that is 110-63 (63.6%) ATS since 1996. It tells us to bet on road favorites (BOSTON) - revenging a straight up loss vs opponent as a favorite, off a home loss.
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The Celtics are 28-11 ATS in their last 39 Sunday games. Boston is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 vs. Eastern Conference foes. The Pistons are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games. Detroit is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 Sunday games. Bet the Celtics Sunday.
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Northern Iowa -10FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Northern Iowa is 7-2 this season at home where it has 5 wins by more than 10 points, and it hasn't had much trouble defending its home floor versus Drake. It has won 3 straight at home against the Bulldogs with each of these wins coming by 14 points or more. The Panthers won both of last season's meetings by at least 14 points and have won 6 of the last 7 in the series with 5 of those wins coming by more than 10 points. Drake has won 2 straight since getting blown out by 30 at Creighton, but it is 1-11 ATS in road games the last 2 seasons when checking in with 2 wins in its last 3 games. It has lost by an average of 13.4 points in this situation. The Bulldogs are 1-6 ATS in the last 7 meetings and 0-4 ATS in the last 4 meetings at Northern Iowa. Lay the points.
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Northwestern +12FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Indiana has failed to cover the spread in 4 of its last 5 games and continues to be overvalued here against Northwestern as it so often is. The Hoosiers are 3-15 ATS in the last 18 meetings and 1-8 ATS in the last 9 meetings at Northwestern. Indiana hasn't defeated Northwestern by more than 12 points since 2005. Wisconsin laid out the blue print for how to beat Indiana - slow the game down. Northwestern prefers to play a slower pace that figures to give the Hoosiers some problems. Indiana is just 4-12 ATS under coach Crean 15 or more games into the season versus slow-down teams averaging 53 or less shots/game.
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Clemson at North Carolina State
Pick: North Carolina StateFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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North Carolina State figured to be in a dead spot off the upset win against Duke. Sure enough, the Wolfpack came up short in a trip to Maryland. But they actually impressed me in the defeat. I thought the defense would suffer, but the fact is they played with plenty of focus. They simply could not get the ball to go in the basket, which is highly unusual for one of the best shooting teams in the country. Back home and now off a loss, I have to think NC State gets it back together today. Clemson is off a pair of quality wins, but those were at Littlejohn. The away from home stats for the Tigers are almost comically awful. The tough part here is that Clemson is working very hard on defense and this is a good sized number to spot against a team that has that scratch and claw mentality. But with the Tigers as inept offensively as they have been shooting threes away from their friendly confines, I'm less worried about the late back door bombs if they're behind. That's always a factor for me when considering laying a bigger number. Since it's not a major worry here, I'll go ahead with North Carolina State today.
SPORTS WAGERSFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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DETROIT +113 over BostonFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Prior to losing two straight, the Celtics had won six in a row and looked very good in doing so. An OT loss in Chicago in their last is nothing to get concerned over but it may have gone unnoticed that Avery Bradley missed that game and he's going to miss this one too. That's significant because Boston's win streak coincided with the return of Avery. With Avery in, the C's are 7-1 and without him they're 13-18. He provides energy, rebounding and he's an outstanding defender. Whether he plays or not clearly has an impact on the outcome of Boston's games.
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The Pistons went on a very nice run in late December with eight wins in 10 games but are laboring once again with three losses in four games (all at the Palace) including one to the Bobcats. However, the Pistons are the best under .500 team in the NBA with an outstanding bench and an impact rookie in Andre Drummond that deserves so much more press than he's getting. Throw in Detroit's 10th ranked rebounding and 10th best defense and you can see that what we saw in late December is what we should be seeing more of. The Piston's seem to match up well against the Celtics with two double digit wins over them this season but the market price doesn't reflect their dominance over this visitor. We'll look to take advantage of that.
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Illinois State -2½ over SOUTHERN ILLINOISFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Redbirds of Illinois State are dead last in the Missouri Valley with an 0-6 record so it may come as a bit of a surprise to see this team favored on the road against the more well-known Salukis of Southern Illinois. Truth be told, what's incredible is not that the Redbirds are favored, but that 0-6 record for a team this talented. Illinois State will not keep losing games at this pace.
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As recently as two weeks ago, the Redbirds were ranked 59th on Jay Bilas's top 68 rankings. They went into #1 Louisville on December 1 and lost by three. Against #16 Creighton they lost by seven. Illinois State's strength of schedule ranks 108 out of 347 while the Salukis SOS ranks 208 th. The Redbirds are not an 0-6 MVC club. They were supposed to be a threat to win this conference and we get an extremely beatable number here based on their misleading and puzzling conference start. All things being equal, the Redbirds ascension up the standings begins today.
SPORTS WAGERSFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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PHOENIX +110 over ChicagoFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT included. The Blackhawks' win over the Kings yesterday afternoon was not as convincing as the final score. Chicago ran into a shaky Jonathan Quick and capitalized on the few scoring chances they had. That's not to say they're imposters because offensively, this visitor is scary good. However, the Coyotes defense and goaltending as good as anyone's and this game is not going to be as easy as yesterday's.
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The Coyotes opened the season in Dallas and lost 4-3. However, Phoenix deserved a better fate, as they were the better team that carried the play from the start. The Coyotes had a strong season last year and they're going to be even stronger this time around. Led by Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Keith Yandle and the newly acquired, former Coyote Zbynek Michalek, Phoenix's defense doesn't get near the recognition they deserve because of the market they play in. Remember, this is a team that went to the conference finals last year and if guys like Lauri Korpikoski and Mikkel Boedker play to their potential, Phoenix is not going to be as offensively challenged as most think. The Coyotes are going to be a tough out again and as a dog in their own rink, they'll continue to offer up value.
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VANCOUVER -½ +111 over EdmontonFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Regulation time. So now what? About 27 minutes into his status as the new #1 goalie in Vancouver, Cory Schneider was pulled after allowing five goals and the Canucks were buried by Anaheim 7-3. Relax folks. One game does not make a season and these Canucks are not about to lie down after such a humiliating opener. As a result of that humbling performance last night, the Canucks are undervalued. How could they be a -156 favorite last night against Anaheim and just a -140 favorite over a team they've owned at this venue? Again, it's based on one game and we get to take advantage of that.
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The Oilers haven't had this much hype surrounding them coming into a a season since Wayne Gretzky was wearing his famous #99 in an Edmonton uniform. The Oilers are loaded with young talent and the optimism could be warranted. Led by Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Justin Schultz and Nail Yakupov, these kids are primed to make a run. However, it's the first game, they have a new coach and they still have an unproven defense and potentially shaky goaltending. They Oilers also have just one win in Vancouver over their past nine games here and went 1-5 overall in this series last season while being outscored 15-7 in the last four. Have things changed that much? We're not buying that just yet.
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Indiana -11FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Hooisers get after these NW Wildcats as the 1 PM TIP goes to the Tom Crean led Hooisers who will get back on track " IN A BIG WAY"!!!...... BAD SPOT FOR A N WEST WILDCATS.. Power Rated from our camp @ - 16 points ... Off a 37% shooting performance last game in a loss to the Wisky Badgers & these 15-2 and # 2 ranked Hooisers will smeel blood after that Ville loss yesterday... The #'s are spot on ...Indy scores @ 85.4 points per game plus one of the best shooting clubs @ 50.3 percent.
Jeff Scott SportsFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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3 UNIT PLAYSFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Indiana/ Northwestern Over 137: The Hoosiers scored just 59 points in the loss to Wisconsin and you can bet that they will look to get their run and gun offense going in this one. Indiana averages 85.4 ppg overall and 71.5 pg on the road. I know their average isn’t great on the road, but I do see them hitting at least 75 in this one. The Cats have played pretty good defense this year, but that has broken down some of late as they have allowed 58.2 ppg in Big 10 play thus far. Northwestern averages a modest 61.3 ppg in Big 10 play, but they also average 66.3 ppg at home overall and did put up 66 points on a good Michigan defense at home as well. The Hoosier defense has struggled of late as they have allowed 72.5 ppg in their last 2 games and should allow the Cats to get in the uppers 60’s in this one. The Over is 8-2 in Northwestern’s last 10 home games and 11-3 in the last 14 meetings. I expect the mid 140’s in this one.
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Clemson/ NC State Over 133: Clemson may have been able to slow some teams down of late, but I don't see it happening in this one. NC State is off a game at Maryland, in which just 101 points were scored, but that wont happen in their house tonight. Wolfpack home games this year have averaged 156.1 ppg, with not one of those games posting less than 143 points. In their two ACC home games 160 and 153 points were scored. They did play a similar slow down team (Georgia Tech) on this floor and 153 points were put up in that one. NC State averages 86.3 ppg n their home floor and they did put up 84 points here on a very tough Duke defense, so scoring 75+ on Clemson can be expected in this one. The Tigers are weak on offense (55.6 ppg on the road), but in a fast paced game they will get plenty of scoring chances, plus NC State does allow 68.9 ppg at home. I clearly expect this one in the 140's, because after their last game the Wolfpack will not let Clemson slow this one down in their own house.
Cajun SportsFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Thunder vs. NuggetsFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Play: UnderFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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We want to play Under on NBA home teams with a total in this price range after they sailed over the total by at least thirty-six points in their last five outings, as long as both of our teams have winning records on the season and in this case this game qualifies. The last three seasons have seen this system pile up the winners going 31-8 Under over that span including a perfect 7-0 Under this season. The average score in qualifying games has the host averaging 100.2 and the visitor averaging 97.5. Play UNDER
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PROJECTED FORECAST: 2* Oklahoma City 101 Denver Nuggets 99
Harry Bondi
DENVER (+1.5) over Oklahoma City
FREE PICKS are now 14-6 (70%) our last 20 and tonight we go after another NBA winner. This is a bad spot for the powerful Thunder, who are in the midst of a six-game road trip. They just blew out Denver earlier in the week at home and have a big game with the LA Clippers on deck. Denver, meanwhile, was playing its best basketball of the season before the setback to OKC on Wednesday, a loss that snapped a six-game winning streak. Denver followed that up with a loss to Washington on Friday night, but the team was clearly still stinging from the disappointing effort against the Thunder and looking ahead to tonight's game. The Nuggets are a solid 11-5 ATS on this floor and haven't lost three games in a row since November. Take the home dog.
SEAN MICHAELS
The total for the New England-Baltimore contest is sitting at 51 1/2 points.
Considering the outcome of the season's first go-round, the quick-strike potential of Tom Brady's offense, the improvement in Baltimore's vertical passing attack since the change in offensive coordinators, and the fact the Ravens defense has been on the field so much against Indianapolis and Denver the past two weekends, the over would be the no-brainer play.
But that would be an incorrect assumption.
The Ravens know to beat New England today they've got to be successful running the ball with Ray Rice. The longer they keep Brady off the field, the better their chances.
The Patriots, on the other hand, are well aware of Baltimore's inability to stop the run this season. They know if they run the ball successfully, as they have all season, they made Brady more dangerous and wear out the already tired Ravens defense. And with Rob Gronkowski out, they've got to diversify their attack even more.
This line was set for public consumption because Joe Q. Public is anticipating a high-scoring shootout. Instead, I think the opposite occurs with both teams struggling to get out of the 20's.
2* NEW ENGLAND-BALTIMORE OVER
CHRIS JORDAN
My free play for tonight is going to be on the Northern Iowa Panthers, who are laying 10 to Drake at McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Both teams are having so-so years, with UNI checking in at 9-9 overall and 2-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play, and Drake at 8-9 and an identical 2-4. But given I've seen the Panthers play here in Las Vegas, I know what this team is capable of.
The Panthers have played an impressive preseason schedule, and that's going to help them thrive in games like this. In the Battle of Atlantis they lost to Louisville, Stanford and Memphis. They lost at home to Iowa and in the game I saw the Runnin' Rebels took the win. And they just covered the number in a loss at Creighton.
But those were all lessons learned for the Panthers, who have won six of the last seven meetings between these two schools. And with the Bulldogs mired in a 3-7 spread slide, I think they're in big trouble tonight against a dangerous, 3-point shooting Panthers team.
1* NORTHERN IOWA
CHUCK O'BRIEN
The last time the 14th-ranked N.C. State lost a game, it was able to rebound an reel off 10 straight wins, giving the program its longest winning streak since 1988-89.
So after a disappointing 51-50 loss at Maryland on Wednesday, which followed the team's season staplemark win over then-top-ranked Duke, I suspect we're going to see North Carolina State on fire in Raleigh, North Carolina today.
That's why my freebie is on the Pack (14-3 overall, 3-1 ACC), which returns to action for the first time since that loss, hosting the Clemson Tigers (10-6, 2-2) at sold-out PNC Arena.
Under coach Mark Gottfried, his Pack is 10-5 over the last two seasons following a loss. And this is another good spot to score an easy win, as it will be looking to extend its home winning streak to 11 games.
They're not only winning at home, but dating back to last season the Pack is on a 9-1 ATS win streak in conference play, while sporting a 13-3 spread spree after covering the number.
I'm taking the home team in this Atlantic Coast Conference clash.
1* N.C. STATE