Buzz Word Sports records:
SEASON NFL: 99-72, +60.2 UNITS!!
SEASON NBA: 61-50, +17.75 UNITS!!
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: 84-72, -6.4 UNITS
SEASON MLB: 672-582, +151.85 UNITS!!
11/14 NBA:
San Antonio @ Philadelphia 7:35 PM EST
Philadelphia +1 over San Antonio (4 Units)
Philadelphia/San Antonio Over 180 (2 Units)
The San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers both look to get back on the right track after each losing last night to Eastern Conference powers New Jersey and Boston... and in this clash of playoff contenders, we like Allen Iverson and the Sixers to get back on the right track at home...
While the Sixers have not proven themselves to be a strong road team thus far this season, they have shown improvement in every home game they have played this season, increasing their scoring output gradually from 95 to 108 points in their last four games at the First Union Center, winning all four games straight up and six straight since the end of last season... the additions of Keith Van Horn and Greg Buckner in the offseason have started to pay dividends, as Philly has shown an offense that hasn't existed the past couple of seasons, dropping 101+ points on their opponents in three of their last four contests... this improved consistency should bode well against a San Antonio team the 76ers have defeated soundly the last couple of times they have traveled to the City of Brotherly love (winning the last two games by a 17 point margin each time)... in fact, Philadelphia has now gone 3-0 ATS in their last three home games against Tim Duncan and company, and have covered four of the last five games between these teams, including each of the last three games...
San Antonio hasn't started this season exceptionally strong, and we have a difficult time seeing them win on the road against Philly when their only road wins this season have come against a depleted Lakers squad (by 5) and a Memphis team (by 2) that is still winless on the season... in their other two contests, the Spurs have been downed by a Golden State team they have owned over the past several seasons, and in last night's contest against the Nets... in both contests, the Spurs faded badly down the stretch, losing by 8+ points each time... it certainly hasn't helped that San Antonio has allowed 101+ points in two of their last three road games, while scoring 93 points or less in their last four games overall... toss on the fact that the Spurs have failed to drop more than 86 points in each of their last three contests against the 76ers, and San Antonio is looking at an uphill struggle against a 76ers team with a raucous home crowd behind them...
Philadelphia is just 3-2 ATS in their last five games as a home dog, but that number is a bit misleading, as they missed covering the spread twice by 2 points and a half point... very easily, Philly could be looking at a perfect 5-0 mark as a home dog... meanwhile, the Spurs are a horrendous 2-7 ATS in their last nine games as a road favorite of 3.5 points or less... in other words, when it is perceived that San Antonio has the slight advantage, they fall flat... once again, the Spurs have been slightly favored on the road in this contest, but we have yet to see any reason to believe that the Spurs can provide enough support to Tim Duncan to win on the road against a quality team... and with both teams playing their second game in two nights, we'd much rather back the younger legs of the 76ers than take a Spurs team that is showing their age on the court...
In addition to the 76ers, we like a small play on the Over as well, for while Philly should hit triple-digits on their own, the Over is also a perfect 6-0 in the last six games these two teams have played in Philly... and that was when Philadelphia was a team focused solely on defense - with the additional weapons they have acquired in the offseason, and with the knowledge that San Antonio will be tired, we expect the guard-heavy Sixers to push the tempo, ensuring that the Over cashes as well...
FINAL PREDICTION: PHILADELPHIA 104, SAN ANTONIO 91
Orlando @ LA Clippers 10:05 PM EST
LA Clippers +1 over Orlando (4 Units)
While it seems many people are all over Orlando in this game against the Clippers, we see many reasons here to support the home team in an underdog situation... Orlando may be scoring at will as of late, scoring 100+ points in each of their last seven games, but their defense has come undone in the last several days, allowing an amazing 115 points or more in three of their last four contests, including a come-from-ahead loss against this same Clippers team... LA may still be without two main guns in Lamar Odom and Quentin Richardson, but the rest of the team (especially Corey Maggette and Eric Piatkowski) has been coming alive as of late.. and it seems that roaring back to defeat the Magic has given the Clips a much needed dose of confidence, as they came out and played their best game of the season in a 101-82 road win over the Heat in their very next game...
The Clippers have now played well enough to cover three of four games on their East Coast road trip, and should certainly enjoy returning home after a game where Elton Brand showed a return to form in dropping 27 points and 20 boards on the Heat... and with Brand back on his game, the Magic don't have anyone on the inside to match up against him and Michael Olowokandi... the end result of this should be a Magic team that is outscored and outrebounded in the middle despite any numbers that Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady are able to put up...
While the Clippers are just returning home after a long road trip, the Magic find themselves heading out to the West Coast for an extended road stay themselves... and if there is one situation in which the Magic have found themselves vulnerable over the past few seasons, it's in the first game of an extended road trip... in the first road game of any road trip (two or more consecutive road games), Orlando has gone just 6-19 ATS in the opening contest... that number gets even worse when Orlando is faced with four or more consecutive road games, as the Magic have gone just 1-11 SU and ATS in their last 12 openers... their sole win in those games was by a mere point, the number by which they are favored tonight... even more astonishing is how far the Magic have been from covering the 11 losses, as they have missed hitting the spread by an AVERAGE of 11.7 points per game...
On the road against Eastern Conference teams last year, Orlando has been downright pathetic, going just 4-11 against the spread, with the four covering efforts coming against the four worst teams in the conference (Denver, Golden State, Memphis, and Houston)... in other words, against Western Conference teams with more than 28 wins on the season, the Magic were 0 for eleven, a pretty amazing feat...
In addition to beating the Magic just last week, the Clippers have won each of their last two home games against the Magic both SU and ATS, scoring at least 100 points in each contest... meanwhile, the Clips have had the antidote for Orlando's normally exceptional offense, limiting the Magic to just 172 combined points in their last two visits to Los Angeles... with the Clips finally showing the promise that have caused many to predict a playoff berth in the tough Western Conference, we like LA to pull out the home win over a Magic team that has forgotten how to play defense...
FINAL PREDICTION: LA CLIPPERS 108, ORLANDO 98
Utah @ Washington 7:35 PM EST
Utah +4.5 over Washington (3 Units)
Utah/Washington Over 184.5 (2 Units)
no analysis.
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