Nelly
Milwaukee - over Washington
Coach Skiles had to be fuming after Saturday's loss to Minnesota, a game which the Bucks appeared to have in control late in the game. Washington returned to its struggles following a small stretch of decent play on the last road trip as the Wizards have now dropped six of the last seven games. Washington is 7-12 ATS at home this season while Milwaukee has been one of the top ATS teams in the league, going 24-13-2 overall and 13-7-2 in road games. Over the last eight games the Wizards have reached 90 points just once and Milwaukee has now topped 100 in six of the last eight games so the Bucks have been the more productive offensive threat. Earlier this season Milwaukee knocked off the Wizards in OT at home but the Bucks have begun to play much better ball since then, while the Wizards have won a grand total of seven games all season long. Washington is just 5-14 S/U at home all season and just 5-8 ATS as home underdogs. The Bucks are the better team and have played well following bad losses.
Scott Rickenbach
Chicago Bulls (+) vs Portland
The key here with the opinion plays is to be clear and concise and hopefully provide with you useful information as well as a play that leads to a big winning ticket for you! Here we take a look at a home dog that's in a good spot for an upset win. The Bulls are coming off of an overtime loss at home against Oklahoma City on Saturday. That alone insures that Chicago will be in the right frame of mind for tonight's game and that frame of mind spells HUNGER for the home team in this one. After losing to the Thunder on Saturday it will be a special focus and intensity that the Bulls bring to the floor tonight. Another key that they bring to the floor is Drew Gooden. Yes, he had already come back but with each game back his performance will improve and, when both he and Luol Deng were out, the Bulls frontcourt was really hurting.
The situation is much different now and the Bulls will take advantage of a Portland team that is not known for traveling overly well. Last season, even though the Trail Blazers ended up being a .500 team, it had nothing to do with their ability to travel. Portland was a subpar 13-28 on the road last season. This season, the Blazers are improved on the road but they still sit at just 8-10 away from home so far. They're facing a Bulls team, that despite injury issues, a rookie point guard, a rookie head coach, and the list goes on is still a solid 12-6 at home! Keep in mind that this is AFTER Saturday's surprising home loss. Look for a special effort from the Bulls here and they were starting to turn things around (a 5-3 December run and consecutive wins last week) before the Thunder derailed them. Look for the Bulls to get back on track here and consider a small play on Chicago plus the points on Monday night.
King Creole
Texas Longhorns @ Oklahoma Sooners
Play: TEXAS LONGHORNS
One would think that a team playing with TRIPLE-Revenge from the previous year would be plenty of motivation to play ON a team. That's the case for the host Sooners tonight, who lost to Texas THREE times last season (64-54... 62-45... and 77-49). According to the Playbook database, these teams playing with the ULTIMATE in Revenge motivation have not panned out very well so far in the 2008/09 season.
4-11 ATS so far this season for ALL Conference teams playing with TRIPLE Revenge ('LSR3") from last season. HOME teams in this situation are 2-6 ATS.... and home FAVORITES (Oklahoma) are a PERFECT 0-4 ATS.
Ben Burns
New York Knicks at New Orleans Hornets
Prediction: New Orleans Hornets
At first glance, this number may seem on the high side. However, I believe its actually very reasonable, particularly when considering that the Hornets were favored by 16 the last time that they were a host in this series. The Hornets are among the best teams in the West and they're off a 27-point victory last time out. The Knicks are off three straight losses and they're off a 20-point setback last time out. The Hornets are now 25-9 ATS in January the past few seasons. They're also an excellent 9-2 SU/ATS the last 11 times that they were favored at home in the -9.5 to -12 range. I believe that they've got an excellent shot at improving on those numbers with another win and cover this evening. Consider laying the points.