Black Magic Sports
NBA
5 Unit Black Magic Wizards/Celtics Rematch on Boston -11.5
The Celtics will come into tonight?s match-up with big revenge on their minds. Washington came back from a 5-point 4th quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 85-78 on Saturday. Now they play two days later in Boston and you have to know that the Celtics are going to want serious payback. You will see something like the 103-83 win Boston put on Washington in their last home meeting with the Wizards this season. Boston is 13-3 ATS after scoring 80 points or less over the last 3 seasons. The Celtics will go off on offense tonight with a great defensive effort to boot. Cash in with Boston as the favorite.
NCAA Basketball
4 Unit Late-Night NCAA on ESPN BEST BET on Gonzaga -13.5
Some folks would say the Zags are in for a letdown tonight. This won?t be the case considering Gonzaga will be playing in front of a Nationally televised audience on ESPN tonight at 11:00 EST. Pepperdine is just 6-11 on the season and with only 1 returning starter, they simply cannot compete with a much more experienced Zags? squad. Gonzaga is 8-1 ATS against poor defenses allowing a shooting percentage of 45% or great through 15 or more games over the last 2 seasons. Gonzaga beat Pepperdine by 17 points at home last season. Then they turned around and beat Pepperdine by 25 points on the road as just a 9-point favorite. Another 20-point win can be expected tonight. Cash in with Gonzaga as the favorite.
Bobby Bo
5* Dallas -6
3* Sixers / Spurs over 187
1* Free Play NCAAB Portland Univ -4.5
Brandon Lovell
All are 10 stars
NCAA Hoops
Pitt +2.5
Portland -4.5
NBA Hoops
Milwaukee +10
Ben Burns free play: UNDER Wizards/Celtics
Reason: These teams combined for only 163 points at Washington on Saturday. Tonight, they'll meeting in Boston where the "under" is 11-6-1 for the season. That includes a 5-1 mark when the Celtics have been favored by more than a dozen points. The "under" is also 5-0 the last five times that the Wizards traveled to Boston and 7-1 the last eight. Consider a play on the UNDER
Wayne Root
Chairman - Oklahoma
Millionaire - Pittsburgh
DOC'S
4 Unit Play. #724 Take Hawaii -6 ½ over San Jose State (11:59 pm KFVE) On paper this appears to be a pick’em game, but the Warriors have had great success against the Spartans winning ten straight games. Despite their recent struggles at home, Hawaii has already beaten San Jose State this season in California by six points and playing at the Sheriff Center will up that to double digits early Tuesday morning. Hawaii has dominated the all time series as well winning 21 of the 29 meetings and Matt Gibson will come up big again propelling the Warriors to a much needed home victory.
Strike Point Sports
2-Unit Play. #715 Take Georgetown -2.5 over Pittsburgh (7 pm)
When you add the injuries the Panthers have had with the lack of size and depth, the Hoyas will have to much in the Big Monday opener. G-town survived its game with Connecticut, however Pitt doesn't have the same aggressiveness down low, particularly in numbers to deal with Hibbert, Summers and company. Lay the small number, as it will be the Hoyas that come through on the road.
3-Unit Play. #723 Take San Jose State +7 over Hawaii (12 am)
The Warriors have been a disappointing team this season, and they aren't in a position to be laying this kind of number. Yes, the Spartans dropped a game already to Hawaii the first week of the month, however that game was an aboration where both teams combined for over 72 free throws taken. This time around I expect San Jose State to rebound and stay above .500 for the season. The Warriors are 3-9 ATS this year and are 0-4 as a favorite. The underdog is a better team, and they will come out better than their six point loss in the first outing.
Robert Ferringo
3-Unit Play. Take #715 Georgetown (-2.5) over Pittsburgh (7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 14)
We're getting the Hoyas at short odds here mainly because of how well the Panthers have done ATS recently, including a 3-0 run over the last 10 days. However, Pitt has been able to get by against Big East bottom-feeders but I don't think they will be able to best the Hoyas with their reduced roster. Sam Young has been going bonkers since Mike Cook and Levance Fields went down, but I think G-Town is savvy enough to key on him and they matchup well with the Panthers' wing players. The Hoyas slammed Pittsburgh last year in their final two meetings and the Panthers will only be suiting up 20 of the 74 points that they scored in their lone win against G-Town last season. The Hoyas are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings, 12-5-1 ATS on the road, and the visitor is 9-3 ATS in the last 12 in this series. I like Georgetown to seal it late and I expect around an 8-point victory.
Dave Cokin
Fatman Jazz
Underhat Trailblazers
3*SJ St and Celtics
Bob Balfe
Mavs -6 over Kings
Oklahoma +15.5
Gold Medal Club
10* Nets -5
CBB: 50* Kansas -15.5
BIG AL's 100% (16-0) NBA CONFERENCE GAME OF THE MONTH.
At 7:35 pm, our NBA Eastern Conference Game of the Month is on the Boston Celtics minus the points over Washington. On Saturday, the Wizards upset Boston, 85-78, as 7-point underdogs, and that was the Wizards second straight upset win after also beating Atlanta Friday night. It was also Washington's first win against a winning team since December 1st. But if one looks beneath the surface one sees that Washington won in spite of shooting 36% from the field (the Wizards' worst shooting night since November 3rd), including 2 of 18 from 3-point territory. I look for Boston to avenge Saturday's loss with a blowout in the TD Banknorth Garden tonight. For technical support, it's worth noting that .500 (or better) teams off back-to-back upset wins are an awful 0-16-1 ATS since 1997 in the regular season vs. .751 (or better) non-division foes. Take Boston in a Blowout. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. And don't miss my other big NBA Winner on this Monday
INDIAN COWBOY
San Jose State +6.5 (POD)
Winning 7 of 8 days. Winning 10 of 13 days in January and 12 of 16 days. 10-5 Last Week. 9-2 College Basketball run. Basketball records this season: Promos: Basketball 2007: 84-55 (61%) 47-26 (62%) NBA Run & NBA 2007: 59-38 (61%). Only Basketball Handicapper in America to be above 60% after a 100 plays (139 total plays). I think San Jose State wins this game outright. I am not fond of Hawaii one bit as I think they are a bit overrated and it has been showing time and time again. Keep in mind that Hawaii already beat this team on the road by 5 to 6 points and now San Jose State looks for revenge. What is the difference in this game? Well, consider that San Jose State should have never lost that game as they are a top 175 team that has defeated the following teams: this team is a road warrior so to speak as they are a top 100 team on the road - having beaten Santa Clara a top 160 team on the road, having beaten a top 160 Portland State team and recently beating Nevada at home by a bucket and Nevada is a top 100 team. Now, Hawaii is starting to turn it around a bit as they had a close game on the road against top 150 Utah State to their credit, but they followed that up with a roughly 20 point loss to Nevada at home. I think San Jose State, who has already beat 2 top 150 teams on the road and 1 top 100 team at home, along with revenge here, gets it done on the road and might not even need the points. Hawaii is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 home games.
Pepperdine +13.5
This play sounds a bit crazy and a bit silly, but many of the underdogs in college basketball I take are such the case and they pan out typically for sound victories. I have Pepperdine as a top 200 power ranking team while Gonzaga as a top 40 power ranking team. Why does this matter? My spreadsheets show a difference of roughly 9 points and that makes sense for several reasons as well. Gonzaga, is a similar ranked team to CS Northridge who I have been on at different points this season is a top 30 power ranking team and Pepperdine ended up losing by 8 points at home to them. Pepp is coming off 5 straight losses, including to a return home to face Portland in a game they should have won. Gonzaga has only played 2 road games all year and I think they go into a hostile environment here and Pepperdine will hang tough early and then likely fall apart in the late portions of the second half. I simply feel that the CS Northridge game is a good exmaple of this team's talent against better teams at home, they did beat top 150 Pacific on the road and Zaga is still relatively "green" when it comes to hitting the road this year. Pepperdine is 5-0 ATS following a straight up loss and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 ballgames as an underdog.
Pittsburgh +1.5
You have your tums? Get it ready, because you are going to need it in this very tight ballgame. However, there are several things that I do like about this ballgame. First, Pittsburgh got spanked last year on the road at Georgetown by a score of 64-42 - I remember that game, it was disgusting and ugly. Now, keep in mind the previous 2 times this game was played in Pitt - Pitt won them both. Pitt is the same team that beat Duke this year and lost by 1 point to Villanova. Georgetown is a very good ballclub, but remember the last time this team went on the road to play a top 10 power ranking team (Pitt is #10 in my power rankings) - they lost to Memphis in a game that many thought would be a little closer. GT has played some good road games, but this game is different as Pitt has plenty of revenge, Pitt is 10-0 at home and GT finally faced some tough competition in Uconn at home and won by just 3- against a top 40 team essentially - I don't think there as fortunate on the road at Pitt today. This is also a game that I think the public gets buried here as the Panthers are 6-1 ATS against teams with a winning percentage of 60% or more at home.
Yankee Capper
NBA
4 Units - Portland Trailblazers +5
3 Units - Utah Jazz -10
3 Units - LA Lakers -5 ½
2 Units - Washington Wizards +12
NHL
2 Units - Pittsburgh Penguins
2 Units - NYR/Pit Over 5 ½
NCAA Basketball
2 Units - Pittsburgh +2 ½
OCD
"1 UNIT" NBA SYSTEM TOTAL Bucks at Jazz OVER 210
Milwaukee has only 5 wins on the road so far this season, and the main reason is due to a horrible defense that is allowing opponents to average nearly 104 points per game. The Bucks made an appearance on ESPN this past Friday at the Lakers and lost a high-scoring 110-105 decision. During the weekend Milwaukee traveled to Phoenix and lost a high-flying 122-114 verdict where defense was a mere afterthought. Odds are that Utah is going to score a ton of points tonight against that rotten defense, as the Jazz are putting up 107 points per pop in front of the HOME fans this campaign. The Jazz offense has scored at least 110 points in FIVE of their most recent 6 outings, mainly because they are relatively healthy. Mehmet Okur who missed action last month, has poured in 51 POINTS and grabbed 25 combined rebounds in the past two games alone. Andrei Kirilenko also recently returned to action and is coming off a superb performance (16 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds) where he excelled across the board. Getting back to Milwaukee, top scorer Michael Redd just returned on Friday from a stint on the injured list. Even though the Bucks lose almost every time they hit the court, the big news is that have managed to COVER the spread in 5 consecutive contests, which opens the door to an outstanding SYSTEM (31-11) that in the past five years has hit at a sweet 74-PERCENT clip! This system takes ROAD teams like Milwaukee who have covered five in a row, OVER at lofty posted total of at least 200, which of course is the case this evening.
Dr. Bob
BOSTON (-11 ½) over Washington
Boston lost at Washington on Saturday night for just their 5th loss of the season. The Celtics are 4-0 ATS following their previous 4 losses, winning those games by an average margin of 25.5 points. Boston also applies to a solid 88-42-1 ATS home favorite revenge situation, but my ratings only favor the Celtics by 11 points in this game and I’m not going to give up any line value to play the Celtics. I’ll consider the Celtics an opinion at -12 or -11 ½ and I’d take Boston in a 2-Star Best Bet at -11 points or less.
PITTSBURGH (+1 ½) over Georgetown
Pitt appears to have adjusted to life without star pointguard Levance Fields, as senior backup Keith Benjamin has averaged 17 points and 4 assists in 4 games since taking his spot in the starting lineup. The oddsmakers appear to have over-adjusted for the loss of Fields and F Mike Cook (who has missed 5 games and is out for the season), as the Panthers are 3-0 ATS without those two starters, and Pittsburgh applies to a very good 55-16-2 ATS home momentum situation tonight. My ratings using all games for the season would favor Pitt by 2 ½ points, so there is still a 4 ½ point adjustment being made for Fields and Cook, which is a bit high. The only problem I see is for the Panthers is a lack of depth, as coach Dixon is playing a 7 man rotation and can’t afford for one or more of his starters to get in foul trouble. Pittsburgh doesn’t commit that many personal fouls and Georgetown doesn’t draw that many fouls, so the Panthers should be able to avoid foul trouble in this game. Coach Jamie Dixon has been able to get his team to play well against other good Big East teams, as the Panthers are 20-6 ATS under Dixon in regular season conference games as a dog or favorite of 3 points or less. I’m still a bit concerned about facing a top level team without two starters, so I’ll consider Pitt an opinion at +1 or more and I’d take Pittsburgh in a 2-Star Best Bet at +3 points or more.
Dr Bob
3 Star Selection
Oklahoma (+15½) over KANSAS
My ratings favor Kansas by 15 points, so the line is fair, and I'll take Oklahoma in a 3-Star Best Bet at +15 points or more and for 2-Stars at +14½ or +14 points.
3 Star Selection
Portland (-4) over LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
I'll take Portland in a 3-Star Best Bet at -5 points or less, for 4-Stars at -3 or less, and for 2-Stars at -5 ½ or -6 points.
Sports Investors
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