Daily Sports Roundup
Saturday, January 16
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Cardinals battle the Saints, the Ravens look for a victory against Indianapolis, and unbeaten Texas takes on Texas A&M.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
The first two divisional matchups on the NFL's weekend slate take place on Saturday, with the Cardinals and Saints kicking things off at 4:30pm ET in New Orleans. The Cards topped Green Bay 51-45 at home in a high-scoring Wild Card weekend matchup, as Kurt Warner went 29-of-33 for 379 yards passing with five touchdown strikes. Oddsmakers, though, have New Orleans pegged as the 7-point home favorite for Saturday, with the total for the contest at 57 points.
It's then Baltimore at Indianapolis at 8:15pm ET, with the Ravens looking to build on their 33-14 win in their playoff opener in New England last weekend. Baltimore QB Joe Flacco completed 4-of-10 pass attempts for just 34 yards through the air in that matchup, but Ray Rice rushed for 159 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns. The Ravens are pegged as the 6.5-point road underdogs for their game in Indy, with the total for the contest listed at 44 points.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has eight games on tap for Saturday, with New Orleans at Indiana, Sacramento at Washington, Phoenix at Charlotte, Miami at Oklahoma City, San Antonio at Memphis, Milwaukee at Utah, Cleveland at the Clippers, and New York at Detroit. The Pistons will be looking to get some revenge for the 104-87 win the Knicks picked up in Detroit back on December 29. David Lee had 30 points and 12 boards for New York in that victory. Ben Gordon had 17 for Detroit.
As well, there are three ranked matchups on the college basketball schedule for Saturday, with No. 5 Syracuse at No. 10 West Virginia, No. 21 Mississippi at No. 9 Tennessee, and No. 20 Georgia Tech at No. 12 North Carolina. As well, other Top-10 action features Illinois at No. 7 Michigan State, No. 6 Purdue at Northwestern, Texas Tech at No. 3 Kansas, No. 2 Kentucky at Auburn, and Texas A&M at No. 1 Texas. The top-ranked Longhorns (16-0 SU, 8-4 ATS) got past Iowa State 90-83 last time out, getting 24 points from Avery Bradley in the win. The Aggies (12-4 SU, 7-5 ATS) fell 88-65 to Kansas State in their last game.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The National Hockey League offers up a busy slate of 12 games on Saturday, including a matinee matchup between the Red Wings and Stars in Dallas. Those two teams last met back on December 19 in Dallas, with the Stars pulling out a 4-3 victory. James Neal and Karlis Skrastins had two goals apiece for Dallas in that contest, while Marty Turco stopped 30 of 33 shots. Tomas Holmstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Todd Bertuzzi had the goals for the Red Wings in that losing cause.
Making up the rest of the NHL's schedule for Saturday: Chicago at Columbus, New Jersey at Colorado, Edmonton at San Jose, Boston at Los Angeles, Buffalo at the Islanders, Ottawa at Montreal, Tampa Bay at Florida, the Rangers at St. Louis, Minnesota at Phoenix, Atlanta at Carolina, and Pittsburgh at Vancouver. The Canucks enter that last matchup riding a three-game losing streak; Vancouver fell 5-2 to the Wild in Minnesota in their last game Wednesday night.
Today's Wagering Tips
Saturday, January 16
Lines off the board
New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons – Ben Gordon (groin) and Tayshaun Prince (knee) have missed multiple games and are questionable.
San Antonio Spurs at Memphis Grizzlies – Tim Duncan did not play (coach’s decision) Wednesday and the Spurs are in a back-to-back situation where coach Greg Popovich sometimes rests his star players.
Milwaukee Bucks at Utah Jazz – Deron Williams (wrist) and Andrei Kirilenko (knee) both left Thursday’s game and are questionable.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Los Angeles Clippers – Chris Kaman (back) has not played in the last three games and is doubtful.
Santa Clara at Loyola Marymount – Lions forward Drew Viney (shin) missed the team’s last game and is questionable.
Lines to keep an eye on
Edmonton Oilers at San Jose Sharks – Home team opened as hefty -305 favorites but that number has escalated to as high as -320 at some shops. The Sharks are 14-4-1-5 at home this season.
Who’s hot
Buffalo Sabres – Won seven of last eight and are +5.56 units during that span.
Northern Iowa Panthers – Won 14 straight and are 10-3 ATS in that stretch.
Los Angeles Clippers – Taken five of their last eight and are 7-1 ATS in those games.
Who’s not
Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks – Dropped four straight and are 1-11 ATS this season.
Oklahoma City Thunder – Are 2-5 ATS in their last seven.
Henrik Zetterberg – One goal, zero assists and 15 shots on goal in last seven games.
Key stat
Big 12 basketball is 124-4 straight up at home this season and 39-19-2 ATS.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Jazz point guard Deron Williams re-sprained his right wrist and left in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game. Williams is Utah’s floor general and distributes nearly 10 assists per game to the team’s myriad offensive weapons. The Jazz are 2-2 straight up but 4-0 ATS without Williams in the lineup this season.
Games of the Day
Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints (-7, 57)
Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts (-6, 44)
Notable Quotable
"Adam i am racing Chris Johnson, the loser is giving there pro bowl check over to those in need in Haiti.”
-- Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco wrote on his Twitter account, addressing ESPN’s NFL analyst Adam Schefter.
Tips and notes
- The Indianapolis Colts are 0-3 in the playoffs since 1999 following a first round bye. In all three games the Colts were favored by six or more points.
- Baltimore went 1-4 straight up and 1-2-1 ATS in the regular season against quarterbacks that won a Super Bowl. The Ravens defense has given up 12.0 ppg over their last five while notching 13 sacks and 11 interceptions.
- The Cardinals boasted the sixth-best sack unit in the NFL this season, dropping the opposing quarterback 43 times. Drew Brees threw 514 passes in 2010 and was sacked the fourth-fewest (20) times among starting quarterbacks.