Daily Sports Roundup
Monday, November 23
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Trail Blazers play host to the Bulls, the Avs get a visit from the Flyers, and the Titans and Texans battle on the gridiron.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
It's Tennessee (3-6 SU, 4-5 ATS) vs. Houston (5-4 SU, 5-3-1 ATS) in this week's Monday Night Football matchup, with the Titans gunning for their fourth consecutive victory. Tennessee trounced the Bills 41-17 at home last week, with Vince Young going 17-of-25 for 210 yards passing with one TD and one INT. Chris Johnson rushed for 132 yards and a pair of scores for the Titans in the win.
The Texans are coming off a 20-17 loss to the Colts two weeks ago, as Matt Schaub went 32-of-43 for 311 yards passing with one TD strike and a pair of interceptions. Steve Slaton ran for just 17 yards on six carries in that contest, but he did manage to score a touchdown. Oddsmakers have the Texans set as 4-point home favorites for Monday night, with the total for the contest at 48 points.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
There are just four games around the NBA on Monday night, with Sacramento at Memphis, Milwaukee at San Antonio, Minnesota at the Clippers, and Chicago at Portland. The 6-6 Bulls fell back to the .500 mark with a 112-93 loss in Denver on Saturday night. Derrick Rose had a team-high 28 points for Chicago in that contest. The Trail Blazers are now 10-5 on the season after getting past Minnesota 106-78 on Saturday. Martell Webster scored 21 points in that matchup.
As well, college hoops' Maui Invitational gets underway on Monday, with Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt, Maryland vs. Chaminade, Arizona vs. Wisconsin, and Colorado vs. Gonzaga. There are also two games on tap in the CBE Classic at Kansas City's Sprint Center, with Wichita State vs. Pittsburgh and Iowa vs. Texas. The 2-0 Longhorns had no trouble getting past Western Carolina in their last contest, as Damion Jones tossed in 18 points in the team's easy 73-41 win.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the NHL has a slate of 10 games for Monday night, including Philadelphia at Colorado. The 12-7-1 Flyers were beaten 3-1 in Phoenix in their last game on Saturday night, with Scott Hartnell providing the team's lone goal. Ray Emery made 18 saves in that contest. The 13-7-3 Avalanche fell 5-2 in Vancouver on Friday night, despite being staked to a 2-0 lead by David Jones and Matt Duchene. Craig Anderson allowed all five Vancouver goals on 27 shots that day.
Also on the ice on Monday: Columbus at the Rangers, the Islanders at Toronto, Pittsburgh at Florida, Washington at Ottawa, Boston at St. Louis, Carolina at Dallas, Phoenix at Edmonton, Calgary at Anaheim, and Detroit at Nashville. The Red Wings moved to 11-6-4 on the season with a 3-2 shootout win over the Canadiens on Saturday, but they lost defenseman Niklas Kronwall for at least four weeks with a knee injury. The 12-8-1 Preds have won five contests in a row.
Today's Helpful Tips
Monday, November 23
Forever Young
Vince Young has made a difference in the win column for both the Tennessee Titans and their backers. The Titans were 1-5 against the spread with five straight losses with Kerry Collins at quarterback. With Young calling the signals, they are 3-0 straight up and ATS, averaging 35 points per game. Young is 4-0 SU and ATS in his career vs. Houston. The Titans are getting four points from the host Texans with a total of 48.5
Total recall
Ball State and Western Michigan have played to the over in four of their last five meetings, with at least one team scoring at least 41 points in all but one of those games. No total has yet been posted for Tuesday's nationally televised game, but the number has averaged 55.8 in the last five matchups.
It's not Miller time
The Portland Trail Blazers were 7-2 straight up and 6-3 against the spread with Andre Miller in the starting lineup. They are 3-3 SU and ATS with Martell Webster as a starter, including Saturday's 106-78 home romp over Minnesota. Webster will start when Portland hosts Chicago, giving 8.5 points with a total of 180.
Nothing special
The New York Rangers have lost four of their last five games, primarily due to poor special teams play. In that stretch, the Rangers have just 10 goals and are 2-of-16 on the power play. They have allowed 16 goals, including five when down a man. New York is hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are 7-of-20 on the power play in their last five games. The Rangers are -135 with a total of 5.5.
King and his court?
There is no line on the Sacramento-Memphis game because of the questionable status of Kings rookie guard Tyreke Evans, who is averaging 18.2 points and 4.8 assists, has a finger inury that forced him to miss Saturday's loss to Houston. Evans scored just three points in the teams' first meeting Nov. 2, when Kevin Martin - also out with an injury - scored 48.
Staying close to home
When UCLA hosts Pepperdine, it may be without forward Nikola Dragovic, who is questionable due to a suspension for his arrest on felony assault. The team's lone returning starter, Dragovic averaged 9.4 points last season. The Bruins are favored by 14.5 points.
Running out of running backs
If you liked Rock Cartwright's performance in Washington's cover at Dallas on Sunday, you probably will see it again. After the 7-6 loss, coach Jim Zorn said Clinton Portis (concussion) has been ruled out for next week vs. Philadelphia and backup Ladell Betts suffered a torn MCL. No line has been established; the Redskins are 4-6 against the over.
Notable quotable
"If our whole focus is not on trying to win and turn this thing around, then it's not right and it's not something we want to do, and it's just one incident and we'll go on."
-- New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, talking about guard Nate Robinson shooting at the wrong basket a split second after the first-quarter buzzer in Saturday's win at New Jersey. D'Antoni yelled at Robinson when he came to the bench.