Daily Sports Roundup
Monday, November 30
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Rangers host the Penguins, the Bulls visit Milwaukee, and the Saints try to remain unbeaten when they battle the Pats.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
This week's Monday Night Football matchup has New England (7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS) at New Orleans (10-0 SU, 7-3 ATS). The Saints kept their perfect record intact last week with a 38-7 thumping of the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. Drew Brees went 19-of-29 for 187 yards passing in that contest, with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while Mike Bell rushed for 75 yards and a pair of scores. Reggie Bush (knee) is listed as QUESTIONABLE, but is expected to see action.
The Patriots won their seventh game in 10 attempts last week with a 31-14 home victory over the rival Jets. Tom Brady was good on 28 of 41 pass attempts for 310 yards for New England in that contest, with one touchdown and no interceptions. Laurence Maroney picked up 77 yards on the ground and scored twice, while Randy Moss had a TD catch. The Pats are pegged as 2-point road underdogs for Monday night's game, with the total for the matchup at 56 points.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA offers up just four games on Monday, with Philadelphia at Dallas, Memphis at Utah, Indiana at Golden State, and Chicago at Milwaukee. The Bulls (6-8 SU, 4-10 ATS) fell 105-86 in Utah in their last game on Thursday, with Luol Deng scoring a team-high 26 points and Derrick Rose adding 19 points in the loss. The Bucks (8-7 SU, 9-6 ATS) are coming off a 100-98 home loss to Orlando on Saturday night. Ersan Ilyasova had 20 points and 16 rebounds in that defeat.
As well, the top team in action in college hoops on Monday is Kentucky, which hosts N.C. Asheville. The Wildcats (6-0 SU, 2-3 ATS) beat Stanford 73-65 in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge last time out, with John Wall scoring 23 points. Other ranked teams in action on Monday include Syracuse, which plays host to Colgate, and Georgetown, which gets a visit from Mount St. Mary's. The Hoyas sit at 4-0 SU and 1-1 ATS through four games on the season.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are eight games on the NHL's slate for Monday, with Washington at Carolina, Buffalo at Toronto, Florida at Atlanta, St. Louis at Columbus, Dallas at Detroit, Colorado at Tampa Bay, Calgary at Nashville, and Pittsburgh at the Rangers. The 18-9-0 Penguins routed the 13-12-1 Rangers by a score of 8-3 when the teams met in Pittsburgh on Saturday night. Sidney Crosby had a hat trick and two assists for the Pens in that win, while Evgeni Malkin had two points. Stephen Valiquette was in goal for the Rangers, allowing eight goals on 33 shots.
Today's Helpful Tips
Monday, November 30
Over-tones
Monday Night Football is the most watched sporting event of the week and tonight’s matchup features a pair of offensive juggernauts that can score at will.
The Saints (36.9 ppg) and the Patriots (29.0 ppg) are the top two scoring offenses in the NFL. The total for the game was released at 55, the highest number so far this season, and has risen to 56.5 at most shops.
When two teams are in the MNF national spotlight, they look to light up the scoreboard. Eight of 12 primetime games in 2009 have sailed over the posted total.
New Orleans has a 4-5-1 over/under record this season while New England is 6-4. Both teams have posted at least 30 points in four of their last five games.
Walkin’ in Memphis
After “The Answer” departed Memphis, the Grizzlies have come up with a semblance of a solution. Memphis went 0-3 with Iverson in the lineup, but in 11 games since has gone 5-6 overall and 6-5 ATS.
The Grizz are in a back-to-back situation on Monday after losing 98-88 at the Clippers yesterday as 3.5-point underdogs. It will be Memphis’ fourth B2B of the season and the team is 0-3 straight up and 1-2 ATS in that scenario.
Memphis is a young team with its starting five holding 15 years of NBA experience under their belts, but will continue to grow and improve.
The Grizzlies face the Jazz, who have won nine straight in the series and gone 8-1 ATS during that span. Utah opened as 10-point favorites with a posted total of 207.5.
The Crosby Show
Penguins’ center Sidney Crosby is coming off his fifth career hat trick (including playoffs) as Pittsburgh dismantled the Rangers 8-3 on Saturday.
Sid the Kid also scored a trio of goals last month against Montreal and the Penguins are 3-1 in games following a Crosby hat trick.
Pittsburgh will look to add a win to that record on Monday night, but the team has lost eight straight at Madison Square Garden where they will meet the Rangers. During that winless stretch, Crosby totaled a single goal.
The Penguins have won five straight versus the Rangers, but all of those games were inside the cozy confines of Mellon Arena. Pitt’s last win in New York came in March of 2007.
The Pens have been very profitable recently, winning six of eight and earning 3.75 units on the moneyline during that span. Pittsburgh is tied with Washington atop the Eastern Conference standings with 36 points.
New York has dropped six of 10 outings and has averaged 2.0 gpg over its last three. Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist is expected to be back under the net after missing Saturday’s game.
Pittsburgh opened as a small favorite (-104) but bettors have driven that up to a current number of -120. The total is set at 5.5.
Notable quotable
“They’ve just been dominant in all phases of the game - returning kicks, covering kicks, offensively, turning the ball over on defense. 29 turnovers is…I don’t think most teams get 29 turnovers in practice during the year. They’re at 29 turnovers halfway through the season.”
-- New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the New Orleans Saints.