Sports Gambling Hotline
Washington at MIAMI (-5)
It's been a long road back home for the Heat, as Miami is playing their first home game of the month, as they are fresh off a 6 game road trip that saw them win their last pair of games at the Clippers, and Suns.
The general rule of thumb is to go against a home team after 3 or more on the road, but we will buck that trend tonight, as Miami doesn't have much wiggle room due to their terrible start this year.
Miami has won the last 3 series meetings, and 7 of the last 8 straight up. Against the spread (playoffs included), the Heat own a 13-5-2 spread mark the last 20 tilts.
Washington comes to South Florida having won their last pair, and 4 of 5, but they were all at home. On the road, the Wizards are just 4-6 straight up this season.
Play on the Heat!
Mike Wynn Comp
Davidson -29½ Over Citadel
Platinum Plays Comp
DAVIDSON WILDCATS - 29½ Over the Citadel Bulldogs
Razor Sharp comp
WASHINGTON/MIAMI UNDER the total of 205
Total4U comp
MISSISSIPPI STATE - 5 1/2
Big Time Sports comp
OTTAWA / PITTSBURGH OVER 6 GOALS
#1 Sports comp
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Nevada SharpShooters comp
DAVIDSON -29 OVER CITADEL
The Scout comp
Denver/Houston under 47½
Huddle Up Sports comp
Phoenix/NY Islanders under 5'
TV Hotline comp
DAVIDSON -29
Michael Cannon
40 Dime
BRONCOS
Take the Broncos for the road win over the Texans tonight.
Denver is in a better position health-wise for this game, and head coach Mike Shanahan should have all the answers against former backup quarterback and assistant coach Gary Kubiak.
Houston?s secondary has been decimated by injuries this season which should make Jay Cutler?s play-action passes more efficient.
The Texans are also hurting on the offensive line, quarterback and running back. Sage Rosenfels will get the start once again for Matt Schaub while Darius Walker will likely see the brunt of carries with Ron Dayne nursing a sore ankle.
This game has a bit more urgency for Denver, as they still have an outside shot at winning the AFC West and a wildcard berth. Houston has a chance at a wildcard, but they know that window of opportunity is rapidly closing with all their injuries.
I trust Shanahan more in this matchup than Kubiak, plus the Broncos defense has improved lately, forcing 13 turnovers in the last five games.
The Broncos are 6-1 ATS in their last seven following a straight-up win of more than 14 points and 4-1 ATS in their last five against the AFC.
Houston is in ATS slumps of 3-7 overall and 3-6 against the AFC.
Take the Broncos as they grab the road win.
5 Dime
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Lay the points with Mississippi State tonight when they host Miami.
The Hurricanes are a paper 8-0 this year. They have yet to play a quality Division-1 opponent and the line reflects that.
The Bulldogs play tough at home and I expect forward Charles Rhodes to take it to the Hurricanes bigs tonight. He can control the post when he plays with energy, as witnessed by his 47 points in the last two games.
The Hurricanes can still be undisciplined at times and if they don?t force the ball inside against the Bulldogs this game could get out of hand.
Mississippi State is a contender for the SEC Western Division title and their losses have come to ACC contender Clemson, Southern Illinois and a rock-solid Miami (OH) team.
Lay the points as Mississippi State grabs the home win and cover
Sports Rumble
San Antonio Spurs (17-4) at Los Angeles Lakers (12-8)
San Antonio has won eight of their last 10 games against the LA Lakers on the road and the road team in this series has covered the spread in seven of the last 10 meetings. The Spurs will be without Duncan tonight, but have won their last two games without him. Take the points in a close fight. Kobe and his crew will put on a show, but the Spurs will play their usual tough defense. San Antonio is 4-2 ATS in the last 6 games at the Staples Center.
San Antonio Spurs
MILE LINEBACK
Selection 1: NFL Football
4* Denver Broncos
Denver playing much better than recent W/L results. Talented QB Cutler is evolving/maturing as an NFL quarterback, and as a result, HC Shanahan is starting to open up the playbook for his franchise QB. Hence, more points are being scored and strongly believe Denver can outscore their opponent on Thursday night. The Broncos are weak against the run (Houston not much better). However, Houston are not a great running team (#24) with their top two running backs injured. Ahmad Green is on IR and Ron Dayne is battling a bum ankle. Backup QB Rosenfels is 2-0 for the Texans. However, the journeyman QB will be facing one of the best secondary’s in the league on ThNF. Denver match-up well in all passing situations and Champ Bailey is one the best shut down corners in the league and should be able to take Rosenfels’ favorite target Andre Johnson out of his game (at least slow him down significantly). Denver hold fundamental match-up advantages and are much more capable of taking Houston out of their game than vice versa. Like Shanahan in this situation (more or less, has nothing to lose), basically playing for next season, and should open up playbook for talented Cutler.
Plus Denver starting to run the ball (#6). Houston very fortunate to win last week with Tampa starting QB Garcia a last minute scratch (McCowen played like crap). In addition, Texans out-gained again but key turnover deep in Bucs territoryand kick-off return for TD propelled Houston to win. They won’t be so luckytonight on national TV. Play on DENVER
MARC LAWRENCE PLAYBOOK NEWSLETTER NFL pick
Houston Texans Over Denver Broncos By 3 Points
Denver 0-10 off SU win vs opp off DD SU dog win
HOUSTON SU winner 11-0 vs AFC WEST opp (3-0 this year)
LT's Lock Of The Day
The LOCK: The Texans +1
The STREAK: 2 losses
The RECORD: 529-427-21
Jim Rich
Texans Under (47)
Kevin O'Neil (the Max)
Under DENVER/HOUST
Winning Points
Broncos
Paul Leiner
Sport: CBB
Game: Mississippi State/Miami
Prediction: 5* Miami +6
Frank Patron Comp
Sport: NBA
Game: Washington at Miami
Prediction: Washington Wizards +5.5
Jimmy The Moose comp
Game: Ottawa Senators at Pittsburgh Penguins
Prediction: Ottawa Senators
Reason: Ottawa played and won last night, their 3rd win in a row and their slump is over. The Senators are 21-9 in their last 30 games. In their last 14 games playing with 0 days rest the Senators are 10-4. Pittsburgh just got word their starting goalie, Fleury, will be oout of action for several weeks. The Penguins are 4-11 in their last 15 games vs. Eastern Conference opponents. Pittsburgh is 6-14-1 in the last 21 meetings between the clubs. Ottawa has won 6 of their last 7 trips to Pittsburgh. Play on the Senators
Michael Cannon comp
Lay the points with the Heat tonight when they host the Wizards.
This is Miami's first game back from a grueling West Coast trip that featured six games in nine days.
The Heat have had three days to rest and prepare however, and should be able to crank it up against an injured Wizards team missing Gilbert Arenas.
Washington doesn't play good defense which should help Dwyane Wade slice through the lane for easy buckets or dunks from Shaquille O'Neal.
Lay the points with Miami as they grab the home win and cover.
Dave Cokin comp
Both teams are off good defensive efforts in wins last week. But I'll look for the Broncos and Texans to return to their normal levels of expectation defensively tonight, and in neither case is that very good. Jay Cutler has the hot hand for Denver, Andre Johnson's return to the lineup certainly has aided Houston, and I'm expecting an entertaining Thursday night game with lots of scoring. I like the Over tonight."
Drew Gordon comp
Take Miami comfortably over Washington in this NBA match up
Tony Mathews comp
Matchup: San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Selection: San Antonio/Los Angeles Over
R&R Totals comp
Montreal @ Philadelphia 7:05 PM EST
Play On: UNDER THE TOTAL
James Patrick Sports comp
Davidson
Brad Diamond Sports Comp
Play On: San Antonio
Gamblers Data comp
Washington Wizards +5.5
Tony Stoffo's
Guaranteed Plays
Matchup: Florida at St. Louis
Time: 8:35 PM EDT (Thu)
Play: St. Louis (+ML-150)
Line Source: HILTON
Posted on: December 13
NHL Game of the Month Florida at St Louis One of my top rated situational trends in the NHL goes here favoring the Blues for tonight. Play On - Home Favorites of -200 or less against the money line (St Louis) - after a close loss by 1 goal in their previous game against opponent after losing their previous game in overtime. This powerful trend as gone 39-5 over the past 5 seasons hitting at an incredible 89% Plus is a perfect 3-0 already this season. Plus add in the fact that the Panthers are 13-42 in road games during the first half of the season over the last 3 seasons makes St Louis my highly recommended play for tonight.
Jeff Benton
Thursday's NFL two-fer ...
15 Dime: TEXANS (plus the points vs. Broncos)
10 Dime: Texans-Broncos OVER the total ... NOTE: Bet the total early, as it always goes up on these singular NFL prime-time games!
Texans
I absolutely cannot comprehend the line movement in this game. Why is all the money coming in on the Broncos? Because they’re still “in the playoff hunt”? Please. Denver has no shot at the last AFC wild-card spot and would need a complete collapse by the Chargers to overtake San Diego in the AFC West. And besides, like the Broncos, the Texans are “mathematically alive” in the playoff chase, too.
So I don’t buy into the whole playoff motivation angle. Nor do I buy into the Broncos having turned the corner because they’re coming off their most dominating performance of the season, last week’s 41-7 home win over Kansas City. That’s because the Chiefs are among the fifth worst teams in the NFL right now. And prior to that win, Denver lost back-to-back road games to the Raiders (34-20) and Bears (34-37), two teams with a combined record of 9-17.
In fact, the Broncos are just 4-7 in their last 11 games, with two of the wins coming against the Chiefs and another being a home victory over the freefalling Titans. Also, if you take away a road win at Kansas City (a joke) and a last-second 15-14 win at Buffalo in Week 1 – when kicker Jason Elam sprinted onto the field and barely got the kick off before time expired – and here’s what the Broncos have done on the road: 38-20 loss at the Colts, 44-7 loss at Detroit, 37-34 loss at Chicago, 34-20 loss at the Raiders. In their six road games, the Broncos are giving up – are you ready for this? – 29.7 points per game!
So again, I ask you, why all the money on Denver? It’s not like Houston is terrible. In fact, the Texans have the same 6-7 record that the Broncos have. Also, they’re 4-2 at home following last week’s 28-14 win over playoff-bound Tampa Bay, which was 8-4 going into last week’s game. And if not for a last-second 38-36 loss to the division-rival Titans, the Texans would be riding a four-game home winning streak right now. (Besides the loss to the Titans, Houston’s only other home setback was a 30-24 defeat to the Colts!).
Also, while the Broncos are surrendering nearly 30 points per game on the road, Houston is giving up just 19 points per game at home, holding the Bucs (14) and Saints (10) to a total of 24 points in the last two home contests.
And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that this game pits former Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, now in his second year at the helm of the Texans, against former mentor Mike Shanahan. Think Kubiak isn’t aware of his former boss’s tendencies?
Bottom line: This is as big a game as the Texans have ever played, as a win here would get them to .500 this late in a season for the first time in franchise history. Trust me: They’ll be ready to play, and they’ll expose the Broncos like the fraud that they are. Play Houston.
Broncos-Texans OVER the total
I know I just sung the praises of Houston’s defense, and it has been solid for the most part at home. But the Broncos, who have averaged 31.2 points in their last five games, are going to score in this game. Thing is, they’re going to give up a ton of points, too. Denver has surrendered 34 points or more five times in the last 10 weeks, including four times in their last five road games!
Also, check out these trends: The over is 11-2 in Broncos games this year, including 6-0 in the last six. The combined point totals in those six games: 48, 54, 71, 54, 38 and 51. Meanwhle, the Texans have topped the total in consecutive games, and the over is 8-1 in Houston’s last nine December contests and 8-2-1 in its last 11 as an underdog (and I fully expect the Texans to go off as an underdog tonight).
Finally, both teams enter this contest with red-hot quarterbacks in Denver’s Jay Cutler and Houston’s Sage Rosenfels, both of whom have quarterback ratings in the 90s.
Throw in the fact that this game is being played in a climate-controlled
Matt Rivers
75,000* OUTRIGHT OR BURIAL Plus Bonus Lock
Your winners here are on:
1. 75,000* Mississippi State
2. 50,000* Broncos
1. Miami is not a bad team as evidenced by the perfect 8-0 record but they are not as talented as in years' past with Hurta and Hite and others and should not be able to go into a tough environment in Starkville and be able to compete with one of the SEC's best in the Bulldogs. Jamont Gordon is a star and the home squad is going to create some havoc this season as they brought back a ton from last season's team which did a little better than expected. Charles Rhodes is half a beast and Ben Hansbrough (Tyler's brother) and Barry Stewart are quality players as well.
Jack McClinton and Anthony King can play with anybody but this spot on the road is extremely difficult and a tough tough matchup for Miami. McClinton, by the way, has been awful scoring only 8 points in each of those last three games while shooting a terrible 9-for-29.
The home court advantage is so monstrous in the college game and this is going to be another example of how decent enough teams, like a Miami, can just fold and get pounded in a hostile environment.
2. This is far from the lock of my life as the Broncos are extremely schizo this season and the Texans are no longer a bottomfeeder of a team but in this must win situation I'll take my chances with Jay Cutler over Sage Rosenfels, even on the road. The Texans are not bad at all but are probably once again without Matt Schaub and should be starting the slow Darius Walker at running back with scares me very little.
Andre Johnson is a superstar but the Broncos have some talent of their own as Selvin Young and Brandon Marshall are becoming very solid players and in the end I see the good version of Mike Shanahan's showing up here as they pretty much have to win out to have any chance at all of making the playoffs.
Iceman
Pick on PITTSBURGH.
Although they got crushed at Philadelphia on Tuesday, the Penguins are still fairly pleased with the results of their recent road trip. Indeed, they swept Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver in Sidney Crosby's Western Canada debut. The Penguins have been hot lately and Ottawa also played last night and had to travel. Lets play the Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Smart comp
Mississippi State -5.0
The Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-3) look to close out a successful three-game home stand, against the undefeated Miami Hurricanes (8-0) Thursday evening on the MSU campus. In the first two home wins, the Bulldogs were on fire, converting on 53 % of their FGs against SLU and 52 percent in the win against Murray State, as they round into top form just in time to take on another good looking squad.. Defensively as a team, Mississippi State have also looked good , and now rank second among conference leaders in both field-goal percentage defense (.375; 20th in NCAA) and blocked shots (7.25 bpg; 7th in NCAA). Bottom line: Miami FL, has looked great so far, but im not completely sold on Frank Haiths team yet, despite of their experience, mostly because I feel they do not have a standout guard, which I think t could see them struggle at times, as this season progresses, especially in places like Starksville, where the home team has won 23 straight December home games.