Daily Sports Roundup
Wednesday, December 2
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Panthers host the Avalanche, the Mavericks meet the Nets, and the Blue Devils look for a road victory in Wisconsin.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has a dozen games on its schedule for Wednesday, including Dallas at New Jersey. The Mavs (13-5 SU, 11-7 ATS) are coming off a 104-102 win over Philadelphia on Monday, with Dirk Nowitzki scoring 28 points. The Nets (0-17 SU, 5-11-1 ATS) will have interim coach Tom Barrise in charge on Wednesday; newly-hired Kiki Vandeweghe will take over the team for Friday night's game. The Nets can set a record for consecutive season-opening losses on Wednesday.
Also on the NBA schedule for Wednesday: Toronto at Atlanta, New York at Orlando, Milwaukee at Washington, Memphis at Minnesota, Detroit at Chicago, Philadelphia at Oklahoma City, Indiana at Sacramento, Houston at the Clippers, and Phoenix at Cleveland. The Cavaliers (12-5 SU, 8-9 ATS) knocked off Dallas 111-95 at home on Saturday night, with LeBron James and Mo Williams each picking up 25 points in the victory. Anderson Varejao had 15 points in the contest.
As well, there's a battle of ranked teams on the college hoops schedule for Wednesday, with No. 21 Florida State (6-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) at No. 15 Ohio State (5-1 SU, 4-2 ATS). No. 1 Kansas is also in action, as they host Alcorn State, while No. 3 Villanova gets a visit from Drexel, and No. 6 Duke visits Wisconsin. The Blue Devils (6-0 SU, 4-1 ATS) are coming off a 68-59 win over Connecticut in the title game of the Preseason NIT, with Jon Scheyer tossing in 19 points that game.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are four games on the NHL schedule for Wednesday, with Tampa Bay at Boston, Vancouver at New Jersey, Nashville at Minnesota, and Colorado at Florida. The 15-8-5 Avalanche are coming off a 3-0 win in Tampa Bay on Monday night, with Craig Anderson making 33 saves for the shutout. Anderson's former team, the 10-12-4 Panthers, lost 4-3 in Atlanta on Monday night, with starting netminder Tomas Vokoun leaving the game with ear lacerations caused by teammate Keith Ballard's stick. Stephen Weiss had two points in that defeat.
Today's Helpful Tips
Wednesday, December 2
Malfunctioning Pistons
Detroit could be without guard Ben Gordon and forward Charlie Villanueva when they face the Bulls in Chicago.
Gordon has missed the Pistons last two games with a sprained left ankle. Villanueva had surgery on Monday to repair a broken nose that he suffered in the win over Atlanta last week. He is being fitted for a mask to protect his face and will be evaluated after Wednesday morning’s shootaround.
Guard Richard Hamilton and forward Tayshaun Prince will both miss the game against the Bulls.
Chicago has gone 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games against Detroit dating back to the 2007 season.
Smashville
The Nashville Predators are tearing through competition recently. In the team’s last 10 games, the Preds have compiled an 8-2 record and been very profitable for their backers, earning 6.31 units on the moneyline.
Minnesota has won three of its last four outings and taken three of the last four games in this series. Marek Zidlicky returned to practice on Tuesday after missing one game with a lower body injury while Kim Johnson and Antti Miettinen are still questionable with the flu.
The Wild are favored at -125 with the total set at 5.
Beehive State showdown missing bees
It may not be a marquee matchup, but for the state of Utah it’s an enormous rivalry game.
The Utah State Aggies will try to hold off the undefeated BYU Cougars in Logan possibly without the services of their third-leading scorer Nate Bendall. Bendall is suffering from an unknown heart condition and is questionable for the game. The forward is averaging 10.6 ppg and 7.4 rpg.
BYU may also be without one of its top scorers on Wednesday. Jackson Emery sustained a foot injury during practice and is questionable for the game. Emery is the Cougs second-leading scorer with a 13.2 ppg average.
Utah State is 5-1 ATS in its last six meetings against BYU.
The Aggies opened as a 1-point favorite over the Cougars.
Big Bucks
Brandon Jennings and the Bucks have recently cooled off after a hot start. Milwaukee is still floating above the .500 water level (9-7), but has dropped four of its last five games and gone 1-4 ATS during that stretch.
Milwaukee has played to the over in nine of its last 10 games and seven straight. The over has also cashed in four of the last six meetings between the Bucks and Wizards.
Michael Redd has missed Milwaukee’s last two games and is out indefinitely with a sore left knee. Guard Luke Ridnour left Monday’s game with a hamstring injury and is listed as questionable for Wednesday.
The Wizards opened as 3-point favorites with a total of 195.5.
Notable quotable
“I’ve taken a thousand tests and passed them all with flying colors. It’s part of the nature of the beast of playing this game. You guys don’t talk about the bruises we have all over our body. If I showed you a bruise on my shoulder and a bruise on my shin, it wouldn’t get talked about as much. It’s a violent sport we play.”
-- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on his concussion.