VEGAS EXPERTS
San Antonio Spurs at Chicago Bulls
The Bulls become the last team to open its season on Thursday when they host the favored Spurs, who come off an impressive showing last night at home vs. New Orleans. The problem for the Spurs is that they are still an older team and for years now they have consistently struggled in the 2nd night of back to backs. Home underdogs of 3.5 to 9.5 points that won between 45% and 55% of their games last year are 28-8 ATS since 1996.
Play on: Chicago
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Phillies/Yankees UNDER 9
First off, the Yankees are an impressive 18-5 Under when playing in the 2nd game of a playoff series since 1997, with just an average of 6.7 total runs scored in these games. The Yankees are 13-5 Under in Burnett's home starts this season and his teams are 17-6 under over the last 2 seasons when he has the luxury of working on 5 or 6 days rest. Pedro has been brilliant for the Phillies, going 5-1 with an ERA of 3.14 and he has a career ERA of 3.35 against the Yankees. In fact, he is giving up less than 5.5 hits per start this season and that is significant as the Yankees are 12-1 under in home games versus starting pitchers doing so with an average of only 7.4 runs scored in these games. Take the Under.
LT Profits
Washington Capitals at Atlanta Thrashers
The Washington Capitals have now won five straight games while the Atlanta Thrashers have lost three straight, but that actually gives us some nice line value here on a Thrashers teams that gave the Caps all they can handle just last week.
Atlanta was just +111 that night, when Washington had to hold on for dear life for a 5-4 win. Now granted, the Thrashers suffered a huge blow when they lost leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk to a broken foot on Saturday night, and that will be a serious blow in the long run. However, oftentimes teams rise up in their first game without an injured star and this is a perfect opportunity for first round draft pick Evander Kane to showcase his immense talents.
Now the Capitals can obviously score on anyone, but the concern here is there defense. Washington is allowing a poor 3.20 goals per game on the road this season, so the four goals Atlanta put up on them last week was not an atypical occurrence. This makes for a tough matchup vs. a Thrashers offense that averages a whopping 4.33 goals per game at home.
We expect another close contest like last time, only this time we are looking for Atlanta to emerge victorious at a nice price.
Pick: Thrashers +150
Rocketman Sports
Detroit @ Edmonton
Play: Detroit -140
Detroit has won 6 of 8 against Edmonton the past 3 years. Red Wings are 41-15 in their last 56 after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game. Red Wings are 94-40 in their last 134 games following a win. Red Wings are 9-4 in their last 13 games as a favorite of -110 to -150. Red Wings are 215-99 in their last 314 games as a favorite. Red Wings are 80-37-5 in their last 122 Thursday games. Red Wings are 36-17 in their last 53 vs. Northwest. Red Wings are 155-74-2 in their last 231 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game. Oilers are 3-7 in their last 10 games as a home underdog. Oilers are 2-5 in their last 7 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400. Oilers are 4-10 in their last 14 games playing on 1 days rest. Oilers are 5-16 in their last 21 Thursday games. Oilers are 1-8 in their last 9 in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 situation. Oilers are 0-4 in their last 4 games following a loss of 3 or more goals. Red Wings are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings. We'll recommend a small play on Detroit tonight!