This Week's Best Spot Bet Opportunities
By Ben Burns
Covers.com
Letdown spot
The Los Angeles Clippers watched the Golden State Warriors take apart the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night and smell blood in the water with the schedule taking them to Cleveland Thursday night. After an intense overtime win at Houston Monday, the Clippers have two full days to recover and game plan for LeBron & Co.
That big matchup leaves Los Angeles open to a letdown spot the very next night. Following Thursday’s showdown with the Cavaliers, L.A. heads to the Big Apple to play the New York Knicks Friday. The Knicks also needed overtime to win Monday, edging Philadelphia and host Utah Wednesday before a day off Thursday. With L.A. coming off a huge matchup on short rest, there could be added value on the home side at MSG Friday.
Lookahead spot
The Villanova Wildcats have a Big East Saturday showdown against Providence this week, a battle between two ranked teams that will go a long way in deciding how the conference trickles down. But before the Wildcats host the Friars, they have to make the trip next door to New Jersey Wednesday.
Villanova visits Seton Hall in a possible lookahead spot for Jay Wright’s kids. The Pirates, while not ranked, are no pushovers. Seton Hall is 8-1 at home with a 5-3 ATS record in those lined games. The Pirates have had the Wildcats’ number in recent home dates with Villanova, going 4-1 ATS in their last five against their Big East rivals inside the Prudential Center.
Schedule spot
Sometimes a road trip can be a good thing, especially when it pertains to a team struggling at home. Getting out of town can take some of the pressure off the club, which is something the Minnesota Wild are hoping for with their current four-game road swing, which opened with a 3-0 shutout loss in Nashville Saturday extending their losing skid to four games.
Since then, the Wild have had some time to refocus and travel to the left side of the country for three games against West Coast teams. Minnesota picks up in Anaheim Wednesday, then faces Los Angeles Thursday, before closing this trek in San Jose Saturday. The Wild opened the season with a similar stretch, playing at Arizona, L.A. and Anaheim in a period of four days, going 1-1-1 in that span.