Daily Sports Roundup
Saturday, January 23
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Nuggets take on the Hornets, the Thunder try to stop the Cavaliers, and the Blue Devils do battle with the Tigers.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA offers up 10 games on Saturday, including New Orleans at Denver. The Nuggets had no trouble getting past the Clippers in their last game on Thursday night, cruising to a 105-85 home victory. Carmelo Anthony led the way with 28 points for Denver in that contest, while Kenyon Martin had 13 points and 14 rebounds. The Nuggets and Hornets last met December 18, with New Orleans scoring a 98-92 victory. Chris Paul poured in 30 points for New Orleans.
Making up the rest of the NBA's schedule for Saturday: Orlando at Charlotte, Philadelphia at Indiana, Sacramento at Miami, Portland at Detroit, Chicago at Houston, Minnesota at Milwaukee, Golden State at Phoenix, New Jersey at Utah, and Oklahoma City at Cleveland. The Cavaliers beat the Lakers 93-87 at home in their last game on Thursday night, with LeBron James scoring 37 points. Cavs guard Mo Williams is out for the next four to six weeks with a sprained shoulder.
The top ranked matchup on the college basketball schedule for Saturday has No. 7 Duke at No. 17 Clemson, with the Blue Devils (15-3 SU, 11-6 ATS) looking to bounce back from an 88-74 loss at North Carolina State in their last game on Wednesday night. Kyle Singler had 22 points for Duke in that contest, while Jon Scheyer was good for 21 points. The Tigers (15-4 SU, 9-7 ATS) fell 66-64 to Georgia Tech on Tuesday, with Derrick Favors tossing in 17 points in that defeat.
Other games involving Top-10 teams on the college hardwood on Saturday: No. 6 Michigan State at Minnesota, No. 4 Villanova at St. John's, No. 3 Kansas at Iowa State, Marquette at No. 5 Syracuse, No. 1 Texas at Connecticut, Oklahoma State at No. 10 Kansas State, Arkansas at No. 2 Kentucky, No. 8 Tennessee at Georgia. As well, the day's other ranked matchup has No. 21 Ohio State on the road against No. 11 West Virginia. The Mountaineers are 14-3 SU but 6-10 ATS.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the National Hockey League has a dozen games on the schedule for Saturday, including a matinee matchup between the Senators and Bruins in Boston. Ottawa, which has won five games in a row, got past St. Louis 3-2 on Thursday night. Boston, losers of three straight games, fell 3-2 to Columbus on Thursday. The Bruins and Senators met in Boston on Monday afternoon as well, with Ottawa winning 5-2. Daniel Alfredsson had a hat trick for the Sens in the win.
Also on the ice on Saturday: Carolina at Philadelphia, Los Angeles at Detroit, the Rangers at Montreal, New Jersey at the Islanders, Toronto at Florida, Phoenix at Washington, Atlanta at Tampa Bay, Anaheim at St. Louis, Columbus at Minnesota, Buffalo at San Jose, and Chicago at Vancouver. The Blackhawks improved to 35-12-4 on the season with a 3-1 win in Calgary on Thursday night. Patrick Kane scored his 21st goal of the season in that victory for the Blackhawks.
Today's Wagering Tips
Saturday, January 23
Lines to keep an eye on
The Blackhawks opened as -110 favorites over the Canucks and now that line can be found anywhere from -115 to -125.
Jacksonville State, Appalachian State and Montana all opened as picks in their Saturday college basketball matchups, but have been bet to 1-point favorites at some shops.
Who’s hot
Chauncey Billups – Averaging 23.2 ppg since returning from injury seven games ago.
Cornell Big Red – Shooting 41.9 percent from 3-point range this season and are 9-1 SU and 5-1 ATS in their last 10 games.
BYU Cougars – Riding a 14-game win streak and are 6-3 ATS in their last 10 outings.
Denver Nuggets – Gone 6-1 straight up and 3-2-2 ATS since Billups returned to the lineup.
Who’s not
Memphis Tigers – Failed to cover the spread in nine straight games and are 3-10 ATS this season.
Sacramento Kings – Dropped six in a row while going 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10.
Denver Pioneers – Lost two straight and six of their last seven ATS.
Jarome Iginla – Scored two points (zero goals) during Flames five-game losing streak with 16 shots on goal.
Key stat
1,419 – Number of days the Memphis Tigers had gone without losing a Conference USA game. The 64-game winning streak tied the longest in NCAA history, set by the Kentucky Wildcats from 1945-50. The UTEP Miners defeated the Tigers in Memphis Wednesday, 72-67, to hand the team its first conference loss since March 2, 2006. Memphis is an 8-point favorite at home versus Houston Saturday.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Mo Williams will be absent from the Cavaliers lineup for six weeks with a separated shoulder, and now backup point guard Delonte West will be shelved for a short time after breaking a finger on his shooting hand Thursday. Third-year player out of Texas, Daniel Gibson, will assume the starting role but Mike Brown said that LeBron James and Anthony Parker will also bring the ball up at times. Gibson has only seen 53 minutes of action in January and is averaging 16.7 minutes per game this season.
Games of the Day
Texas Longhorns at Connecticut Huskies (+2, 148)
Toronto Maple Leafs at Florida Panthers (-140, 6)
Chicago Blackhawks at Vancouver Canucks (-105, 5.5)
Notable Quotable
"These Colts are a superb football team, of course, and justifiably they’re the favorite. But you know what? They’ve still got to play the game. There is no guarantee they’re going to win. The guarantee will only come when it’s over because anything can happen.”
-- Former Jets quarterback Joe Namath told the Indianapolis Star when prompted for a guarantee in the AFC Championship game.
Tips and notes
- The East-West Shrine game is the NCAA’s longest running all-star game having been played since 1925 and affords college football bettors their first taste of action since the BCS National Championship. The East-West game is set for a 3 p.m. (ET) kickoff in Orlando, Fla., where temperatures are expected to be in the 70s. The East won last season’s matchup, 24-19, but the West took the three prior affairs with all the wins coming by no less than four points. The West was installed as 4.5-point favorites for Saturday’s game with a total of 43.5.
- The BYU Cougars are the best free throw shooting team in the country, connecting on 77.3 percent of their charity stripe attempts. And with the lofty spreads oddsmakers are giving them, the Cougs have to be one of the best because meaningless free throws at the conclusion of the game are usually needed for a cover. BYU’s opponent Saturday, San Diego State, ranks 344th in the nation in free throw percentage, hitting at a 59 percent clip.
- Joe Namath wasn’t willing to give a guarantee the Jets would win on Sunday, but a lesser degree of a guarantee was extended by the team’s merchandising department. New York is offering T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and pennants on its retail website that have the words “AFC Champs” or a Super Bowl logo emblazoned on them. This could create bulletin board material for the Colts locker room.