Daily Sports Roundup
Saturday, January 9
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Rockets host the Knicks, the Jets take on the Bengals, and the Cowboys look for another home victory over the Eagles.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
The NFL playoffs begin on Saturday afternoon with the Jets (9-7 SU, 9-7 ATS) at Cincinnati (10-6 SU, 7-9 ATS). New York secured their postseason berth in a 37-0 home whipping of the Bengals last week, in what was a meaningless game for Cincinnati. Mark Sanchez went 8-of-16 for 63 yards passing with no TDs for the Jets in that contest, while Thomas Jones ran for two scores. Carson Palmer threw for zero yards on 11 attempts before taking the rest of that game off. Oddsmakers have the Bengals as 2.5-point favorites, with the total at 34 points.
The second game then has Philadelphia (11-5 SU, 9-7 ATS) at Dallas (11-5 SU, 9-7 ATS) in another Week 17 rematch. The Cowboys ran roughshod over the rival Eagles in Dallas last week to secure the NFC East title, winning by a score of 24-0. Tony Romo went 24-of-34 for 311 yards passing in that win, with two TDs and one INT. Donovan McNabb went 20-of-36 for 223 yards passing, with no TDs and no INTs. The Cowboys have been set by the oddsmakers as 4-point favorites for Saturday night's contest, with the total for the matchup at 45 points.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA offers up eight games on Saturday, with Atlanta at Orlando, Memphis at Charlotte, Philadelphia at Detroit, Minnesota at Chicago, Indiana at Oklahoma City, Utah at Dallas, Denver at Sacramento, and New York at Houston. The Knicks (15-20 SU, 18-17 ATS) actually head into their Saturday matchup riding a three-game winning streak; they got past Charlotte 97-93 in their last game on Thursday night. The Rockets (20-16 SU, 20-16 ATS) have now lost three in a row, as they were beaten 118-110 in Phoenix in their last contest on Wednesday.
As well, the college basketball schedule has three ranked matchups on tap for Saturday, with No. 13 Connecticut at No. 12 Georgetown, No. 4 Purdue at No. 17 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Duke at No. 20 Georgia Tech. As well, No. 2 Texas (vs. Colorado) and No. 3 Kentucky (vs. Georgia) both put their unbeaten records on the line; the Longhorns are 14-0 SU and 8-2 ATS on the season, while the Wildcats sit at 15-0 SU and 7-6 ATS. Kentucky managed to pick up a 71-62 win over Louisville in their last contest, with DeMarcus Cousins pouring in 18 points.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are 13 games on the busy NHL slate for Saturday, with Colorado at Buffalo, Washington at Atlanta, New Jersey at Montreal, Florida at Ottawa, Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, Pittsburgh at Toronto, Anaheim at Nashville, the Islanders at Phoenix, Chicago at Minnesota, Calgary at Vancouver, St. Louis at Los Angeles, Detroit at San Jose, and a matinee matchup between the Rangers and Bruins in Boston. The 21-17-6 Rangers fell 2-1 in a shootout to Atlanta on Thursday, while the 22-14-7 Bruins were beaten 5-2 by the Hawks the same day.
Today's Wagering Tips
Saturday, January 9
Eagles soar on road
Everyone knows about the Cowboys playoff woes, having not won a game since 1996. Dallas has not been kind to backers since that win over Minnesota, going 1-5 ATS in their last six postseason appearances.
Unfortunately for Dallas and its backers, the Eagles have been playoff road warriors (for bettors) during the last decade.
Since 2000, the Eagles have gone 11-6 ATS in postseason play and 5-2 ATS in road playoff games.
Philadelphia is getting 4 points in Dallas on Saturday night with a total of 45.
Colonial suspends Commonwealth
Virginia Commonwealth’s best player was suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct by the CAA for one game after committing a flagrant foul against Drexel on Wednesday.
The Rams will be without their 6-11, 235-pound forward, Larry Sanders, for Saturday’s matchups versus Delaware.
"We have no comment about the decision made by the league regarding the supposed incident from our game at Drexel on Wednesday,” said head coach Shaka Smart. “I do want to make clear that we will not use the CAA’s decision as an excuse. Our entire team is moving full speed ahead in preparation for tomorrow’s game against Delaware.”
Sanders has started all 13 games this season and leads the team with 14.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg averages. His 3.2 blocks per game (41 total) are good for the No. 11 ranking in the country.
VCU has won nine of the last 10 games in this series, but Delaware has covered in five of the last eight. This matchup has gone over the posted total in the last three games.
Insanity in Orlando
The Magic have not looked like the defending Eastern Conference champions recently. The team had lost four straight and now faces an injury to shooting guard Vince Carter.
Carter left the game against Washington on Friday with a shoulder injury and the extent of it, as well as his return, is uncertain.
Orlando has lost four straight ATS and is laying 4.5 points to the visiting Hawks on Saturday. Both teams are coming off Friday night games. The Magic are 3-5 ATS in back-to-back situations this season while Atlanta is 6-3 ATS in the same scenario.
Jet-sitter?
The Jets would be dealt a huge blow if linebacker David Harris can’t go Saturday against the Bengals in the AFC wild card game.
He is currently listed as questionable after spraining his ankle in the first half of last week’s game versus Cincinnati. Harris totaled a team-high 127 tackles and finished third on the team with 5.5 sacks this year.
Harris practiced with the team on Thursday and said he was “kind of stiff” afterwards. Coach Rex Ryan remains optimistic that he will play.
“David wasn’t full-go by any stretch of the imagination (in practice today), but I think it’s an encouraging sign the fact that he was able to get out there and do something,” Ryan said on Thursday. “We’ll see how that goes.”
Aztecs ruined
The Aztecs pulled off a huge win on Tuesday against the nationally ranked New Mexico Lobos.
Unfortunately for San Diego State, the victory came at the cost of losing its top player – Billy White.
White leads the Aztecs with a 12.3 ppg average and 5.4 rpg, but suffered a high-ankle sprain versus New Mexico and will miss at least the next few games.
"I'm a little concerned about having enough healthy bodies without Billy," said coach Steve Fisher. "And Shelton is always a problem. He played 26 minutes the other night, but how's he going to deal with the next game?"
Tim Shelton is who Fisher is referring to and he has been limited in action since coming off a second microfracture knee surgery during the offseason. He has been hampered for SDSU, along with Tyrone Shelley, and the team will take these two and six healthy bodies to Wyoming for Saturday’s game.
Having only three subs on the bench could be detrimental for Fisher’s up-tempo offense. The 12-3 Aztecs are laying 6.5 points in Laramie with a total of 139.5
Notable Quotable
“I always get a kick out of him. He’s good for the game. He’s such a great player, yet he can mess around [and say] he’s going to punch Bart Scott in the face. He’s not going to do that. He’s a funny guy like that. He’s one of those villains. When he comes to your town, everybody hates him, but deep down, they all love him and respect him.”
-- Jets head coach Rex Ryan on how he feels about Bengals’ receiver Chad Ochocinco.