Drew Gordon
Cleveland at DALLAS -3
Its still very early, but its clear the Cavaliers lack chemistry at this point in the season. Mo Williams, while talented, has been shaky at best, and with Lebron and Big Z commiting turnover after turnover, the Cavs will be hard-pressed to get it done at Dallas tonight.
You have to expect the Mavs will be highly motivated in this match up, thanks in large part to losing their home opener badly against rival Houston. They got a nice creampuff in Minnesota in their last one, and now should be primed for a nice showing back in front of their home fans.
Cleveland on the other hand, while granted facing some tough competition on the road, has seemingly regressed back to their offensive struggles, averaging 88 ppg on 45% shooting. Bringing in Mo Williams was a great idea, that will eventually reap dividends, but right now, it still appears as though the talented guard is not healthy (offseason sports hernia surgery).
As a final point, although not as critical in a long NBA season, let's not forget the Cavs won 88-81 in their last meeting in Dallas, something Nowitzki and company surely haven't forgotten. Revenge is a factor in this contest, and the Mavs are catching the Cavaliers in the midst of a mini-slump to begin the season. Look for them to take advantage of a Cavaliers team still trying to implement Williams properly, and dealing with sloppy play from two of their best players (Lebron and Ilgauskas).
Take Dallas over Cleveland in this NBA match up.
2♦ DALLAS
Yankee Capper
2 Units - Kings/76ers Over 198
2 Units - Avalanche/Blackhawks Over 5.5
Jeff Benton
Despite this large number, there’s actually value with the host Magic, who are off to a 1-2 start while the Bulls are 2-1. But after two sluggish offensive efforts against the Hawks and Grizzlies (85 and 84 points, respectively), Orlando finally filled the bucket in Saturday’s 121-103 rout of the Kings, shooting a blistering 55 percent from the field in easily covering as a 10½-point favorite.
As for the Bulls, their two wins came against the Bucks and Grizzlies – yawn! – both at home. The only quality foe Chicago has faced to this point was the Celtics, and the result was an ugly 96-80 loss – and by ugly I mean the Bulls were a woeful 29.8 percent from the field (25-for-84).
Orlando has won four straight and six of the last seven against Chicago (5-2 ATS). That includes two double-digit blowout home wins last year by scores of 115-83 and 102-88. Yes, the Bulls are better than they were last year, but I don’t think they’ve caught up to Orlando, which despite its slow start is still a Top 5 team in the Eastern Conference. The Magic are 15-7-2 ATS in their last 24 home games and 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 against Central Division foes, and they’ll get the cover here.
3♦ ORLANDO MAGIC
Jake Timlin
Great situation tonight for the 76ers as they face an awful Sacramento team who will be more then tired. You see paving the way for a Philadelphia blowout tonight will be the fact that the winless Kings will be playing their fourth road game in six days to open the season and doing so after losing their last two games by an average of 22 ppg. Meanwhile, for the 76ers they will welcome being back at home after destroying New York 116-87 three days ago. Flat out the Kings are going to have huge match up problems in Philly tonight and it will show big time as I expect for the 76ers to roll at home by at least 15 points. Take Philadelphia minus the home points.
All Philadelphia!
Craig Trapp
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Washington Redskins
Play: Under 36.5
Well I know that this year the OVER has been hot in MNF games but tonight will buck the trend. These two teams both love to run the football and will take the clock down with ball control drives. Look for this to be a field goal battle and very close game in end. Get all over this low make sure you shop around have seen it as high as 37.5
LT Profits
Chicago Bulls @ Orlando Magic Under 196
The Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls went Under in their last three meetings last season, and we look for that trend to continue tonight
The Magic struggled offensively in their first two games this season, managing just 85 and 84 points vs. the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies respectively. They then exploded for 121 points vs. the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, but keep in mind that the Kings are a terrible defensive team this year with the departure of Ron Artest.
They now face a good defensive team in the Bulls, who are allowing just 92.3 points per game in their first three contests while not yet permitting a team to reach the century mark. If they duplicate that feat here, it would be very hard for this matchup to go Over.
This is because Chicago is not exactly lighting things up offensively. Since a good performance opening night vs. a bad Milwaukee team, the Bulls have gone just 57 for 168 from the floor that last two games, and abysmal 34 percent shooting percentage!
We do not expect the Bulls to find their range on the road here, so look for a safe Under.
Pick: Bulls, Magic Under 196
Scott Rickenbach
New York Islanders vs Columbus Blue Jackets
Play OVER 5.5
Please note that my write-ups with my star rated plays are lengthier than my opinion play write-ups but that doesn’t mean that the clear, concise approach here should be taken with a grain of salt either! Let’s cash a big winner here! The key to this play on the Over is the goaltending. The Islanders are going to be without top goalie Rick DiPietro for an extended period now and Joey MacDonald has not played well in his absence. That is why the Islanders turned to Yann Danis in their most recent game but the results did not improve as he allowed four third period goals to the Canadiens in Saturday’s 5-4 loss! For the Blue Jackets, their current netminding situation is not much better. Pascal Leclaire is the number one goalie for Columbus but he is still trying to get over an ankle injury. His back-up, Fredrik Norrena has been decent but not spectacular and he’s now just 1-3-1 so far this season. Overall both Columbus and the New York Islanders have been getting involved in high scoring games lately! The Blue Jackets last three games have averaged six goals per game and the Islanders have seen 7 of their last 9 games end with at least six pucks finding the back of the net! This total is only a 5.5 so there is good value here with just need six goals for the win. With both Columbus and the New York Islanders coming off tight losses – the Blue Jackets in a shootout and the Isles blowing a three-goal lead – on Saturday, there is little doubt about the hunger they bring to Monday’s game. However, it will be the offenses that have to get the job done as both clubs continue to struggle between the pipes without their #1 goaltenders. Play OVER the total in the New York Islanders game on Monday Night!
John Ryan
Sacramento Kings at Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
Ai Simulator 3* graded play on Philadelphia 76ers ? AiS shows a 72% probability that the 76ers will win this game by 13 or more points. AiS also shows a 92% probability that the 76ers will score 99 or more points. Note that the 76ers are 23-10 ATS (+12.0 Units) when they score 99 to 104 points in a game over the last 3 seasons. Philadelphia is also in a strong series or roles. Note that they are 19-8 ATS (+10.2 Units) versus poor teams being outscored by their opponents by 3+ points/game over the last 2 seasons; 34-20 ATS (+12.0 Units) when playing their 3rd game in 4 days over the last 3 seasons. Take the 76ers.
Ben Burns
Colorado Avalanche at Chicago Blackhawks
Prediction: Chicago Blackhawks
I like the Hawks and have won with them a few times already this season. While they don't qualify as one of my premium selections tonight, they've got the schedule in their favor and are still worthy of consideration.While the Hawks had last night off, the Avs were busy losing to San Jose, one of the top teams in the league. (It should be noted that Colorado actually fared pretty well in the second of back to back games last season - this is their first time in that situation this season though.)Additionally, this is a "one-game road trip," which can sometimes be difficult for players to energized/focused for. The Avs just played two home games and head back home for two more immediately after tonight's game. Note that they're 2-3 on the road, getting outscored by an average 3.6 to 3.0 margin and outshot 28.6 to 24.4.Speaking of energized, the Hawks are playing a new-found energy since Quenneville replaced Savard as coach. They're coming off back to back wins and are 4-2 at home on the season. They've outscored opponents by an average of 3.8 to 2.3 in those games. The Hawks, who were 2-0 when hosting the Avs last season, are now 9-2 their last 11 games here.The Avs are Quenneville's old club and his new players will know that this game is extra meaningful to him. Consider Chicago
Ted Sevransky
Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Clippers
PICK: Utah Jazz -6.5
There’s money to be made betting against the heinous teams of the NBA, particularly early in the season as the betting marketplace struggles to adjust to current realities. And the current reality is that the LA Clippers rank among the worst teams in the league, a sharp decline from where they have been in recent seasons. LA’s 0-3 SU and ATS record is no accident, and things aren’t likely to get any better tonight with point guard/sparkplug Baron Davis expected to be on the bench in street clothes.
Without a healthy Davis, Mike Dunleavy has gone with a Jason Hart/Mike Taylor point guard rotation. Hart is supposedly a defensive stopper, but he certainly didn’t stop Allen Iverson down the stretch last weekend as the Nuggets rallied from an 18 point deficit to win the game. Mike Taylor is a rookie second round draft choice who has shown an ability to score, but no ability to defend or run the halfcourt offense. The Hart/Taylor combo is as weak as it gets for point guard play in the NBA, and will remain weak until Davis returns to the lineup.
The Clippers have been god-awful in the second half of every game. The Lakers outscored them 58-35 after the break. The Nuggets outscored them 76-48 after the break. And the Jazz outscored the Clips by 22 in Saturday Night’s blowout win. When opposing teams up the intensity during crunch time, the Clippers simply can’t compete. Blame poor conditioning, blame poor coaching adjustments from Dunleavy and his staff, blame anything you want to. The bottom line is that LA cannot be trusted in this price range against anybody.
When the Jazz beat the Clips by 22 on Saturday, they set a team record with only five turnovers, despite playing without the services of starting point guard Deron Williams. Utah enjoyed a 29-4 assist-to-turnover ratio in that game, while the Clips had 12 assists on their 29 made baskets while committing 18 turnovers.
While the ratio might not be quite so lopsided tonight, we can expect Jerry Sloan’s offense to run circles around the Clips atrocious D all night long once again. Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight can fill in for Williams a lot better than the Clips backup point guards can fill in for Davis. With Chris Kaman struggling and Marcus Camby a question mark to play at all, we can expect another huge night from Carlos Boozer, who positively ate the Clips interior defense for dinner: 12-18 from the field with ten boards despite not having to play most of the fourth quarter….Take Utah
Larry Ness
Chicago Bulls @ Orlando Magic
PICK: Orlando Magic -7
The Bulls won 49 games two years ago and then lost 49 games last year. Chicago shot a league-low 43.5 percent from the floor last season, just one of team's many problems. Vinny Del Negro (a first-time coach, who came out of the Phoenix front office) takes over on the bench this year and the Bulls are counting on the NBA's overall No. 1 pick (Derrick Rose of Memphis) to get the team back in the playoff 'picture.' As for the Magic, they averaged an Eastern Conference-best 104.5 PPG last season, making at least five three-pointers in every regular season game. Orlando won 52 games last year, led by a terrific frontcourt of Howard, Turkoglu and Lewis. The Magic are the clear favorites this year in a fairly weak Southeast Division but have disappointed with a 1-2 start. The Magic hardly resembled the team we saw last year, struggling offensively by scoring 85 and 84 points (shooting 36.8 percent and 42.0 percent, respectively) in losing their first two games. However, the Magic got back on track Saturday night with a 121-103 win over the Kings, making 44-of-80 shots (55.0 percent). All five starters scored in double figures (Howard had a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds for his third double-double) and even Mickael Pietrus (an excellent perimeter defender) added 20. The Bulls opened the new season by making 50.7 percent of their shots in a win over the Bucks but in a blowout loss at Boston on Friday and a 96-86 win at Memphis on Saturday, the Bulls were back to last year's bad habits, making just shot 29.8 percent of their shots at Boston and 38.1 percent against the Grizzlies. The Magic won all four meetings between the two teams last year, winning the last three by an average margin of 22.0 PPG (104-84, 115-83 and 102-88). It's a new season but not THAT much has changed. Lay the points with the Magic.
GREG SHAKER
Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins
Play: Steelers +3 -120
Note: Buy up to 3 points as I am doing and get this one early. I am going to be very brief and we have clear dynamics for this one. The Pitt QB is coming off what may be his worst game ever against a very good NY Giants squad. He threw 4 INT's and he was sacked and hurried a lot. The word Doodlysquat does come to mind here. We can look for a much better performance tonight from Big Ben as he will get much more time in the pocket. The Skins have just 10 sacks in their first 8 games and because of that, they have not defended the pass that well. They have somewhat lived "Pretty" with poor competition of late and because of that, their value has risen with Oddsmakers. They just do not deserve to be laying any points to what is going to be a very motivated Steeler team tonight in the Nation's Capital. The Redskins need rest badly with ZERO weeks off to date but they will get a week off following this contest. It would have been much better for them to get it now. They do have numerous injury factors tonight as well. However, the biggest key tonight is their running game. Portis needs a good outing in order for them to compete, and going up against what might be the best Run D in the league tonight is not what the Doctor ordered. With this fact, Pitt matching up well on offense, and Pitt coming off a poor game, this one is a No-Brainer. Just do it.