Monday Means all Systems Go in NBA
The Utah Jazz are the hottest team in the NBA, winners of 13 of 14 (11-2-1 ATS) and last four in a row, all on the road. They return home against Atlanta who is wrapping up its four game road trip, who has the edge? For the answer to this and other NBA betting edges, read on about today's top system plays in professional hoops. Get the latest prices on all of Monday's five games on the LIVE ODDS page of Sportsbook.com.
Chicago (-3, 201) at Washington
Even with an eye on next season already, Chicago Bulls' players are focused on the present. The Bulls front office has made trades freeing cap space to go after at least one of the enticing free agents in the market place after the season, however the current collection of players have covered seven of eight and five in a row. For tonight's matchup, the total draws the most attention since road teams with a total of 200 or higher, off a home blowout win by 20 points or more, against opponent after a road game where both teams score 100 or more points, are 32-10 OVER since 1996.
Milwaukee (+1.5, 206.5) at New York
The New York Knicks have lost six straight and almost won as Tracy McGrady made his debut in the Knicks uniform, falling 121-118 to Oklahoma City Saturday night. Having lost three of four at home to Milwaukee, tonight's situation does not set up much better as teams revenging a straight up loss vs. opponent as a home favorite, off a cover where the team lost the game straight up as an underdog, are 43-70 ATS since 2004-05, including all six this year.
Indiana (+9, 208.5) at Dallas
The Dallas Mavericks have a run of the mill home record at 17-9; however they are positively disgusting or delightful, depending on what side you wager on them, with a league worst 6-20 ATS home record. Everything doesn't figure to improve immediately, since home teams playing their fifth game in a week, with a win percent of 60 to 75 percent, playing a team with a losing record, are 20-55 the last 12 years.
Atlanta (+5, 196) at Utah
Both teams are playing their third game in four days, with one obvious distinction; Atlanta has lost their last two, while Utah has won not only previous two, but four in a row. That in theory at least gives the Jazz the edge as home teams covering the spread in four or more consecutive games, in a game involving two good teams (60% to 75%), are 31-7 ATS.
Head over to Sportsbook.com for all of your NBA action.
CBB: Ranked teams to follow on Big Monday
There are only a couple weeks left in the college basketball regular season. Tonight's ESPN doubleheader features a couple of highly ranked teams as they continue to jostle for postseason positioning. After reading the info below, head over to Sportsbook.com to wager on these games or any of the other games on the Monday night betting board.
West Virginia at Connecticut 7:00E
Coaches in all sports will often talk about moving on to the next game, not dwelling too long on a win or loss. However, anyone who has ever spoken to a coach of any kind will know these fellows have long memories and think about the "what if" possibilities all the time. Coach Bob Huggins' team is only one game behind second place Villanova in the loss column starting tonight and could do 30 minutes reciting all the ways the Mountaineers (21-5, 11-14 ATS) could have avoided the two point loss to Notre Dame, the one point loss to Syracuse and the triple-overtime defeat to rival Pittsburgh, which really would have placed them in the thick of Big East race. But Huggins, like most coaches, will revert to the task at hand at Connecticut. West Virginia is 6-3 and 4-5 ATS on the road.
It still looks like an outside shot, yet Connecticut (10-14-1 ATS) has renewed hope for a NCAA berth with a key victory here. The Huskies own a recent imposing road win, over Villanova, and four more victories would take them to 20 for the season. A mini-run in the Big East tournament would then place them in an excellent position for dancing. UConn is 6-1 ATS off a SU win and guard Kemba Walker has ignited this club and former starter Alex Oriakhi has been a spark off the bench. The return of Jim Calhoun has helped also, for a Huskies team that is 13-3 at home (5-9 ATS).
Sportsbook.com opened West Virginia as three-point favorite with total of 134.5. The Mountaineers have won and covered four of previous six games, nonetheless is 3-6 ATS on the year after covering the spread and is 8-3-1 OVER away from Morgantown. Connecticut has covered the spread the last four times it has taken on clubs that win better than 60 percent of their road games and is 4-0 OVER to start a new work week.
The Huskies have been howling with a 6-2 ATS mark vs. the ‘Teers.
Oklahoma at Kansas 9:00E
Kansas (26-1, 10-13-1 ATS) is trying to sweep the Big 12 this year with its talented club and has three remaining games that will put them to the test, however that doesn't begin until Feb.27, as they figure to have little resistance against Oklahoma (13-13, 9-14 ATS). The Jayhawks may not always play their best, but master recruiter and motivator Bill Self always finds a reason for the team or individual players to test themselves to perform at a higher level. The high flying Jayhawks are 19-5 ATS when they score 81 or more points in a game over the last two years and figure to put up numbers tonight.
To say it has been an eventful campaign in Norman, is like saying the Mid-Atlantic States have seen a little snow the last few weeks. Losing streaks, selfish play, underachieving players, suspensions, you name it, coach Jeff Caple has been going up and down the emotional elevator all season. If there has been a bright spot on an otherwise dismal year, it has been the late maturation and emergence of freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin. Opposing teams have picked up on Mason-Griffin as a deadly three-point shooter and have been forced to account for him, opening up areas in the lane for the Sooners to have easier shots. Oklahoma will need him and others since they are 13-25 ATS as an underdog the last few years.
Kansas has covered the spread just once on last seven tries, though could have on at least two other occasions, opening up big leads against large numbers and coasting to victory. The Jayhawks are 22-point favorites at Sportsbook.com with a ‘total' of 147.5 and are 16-5 ATS in last 21 Monday assignments. It will be intriguing to see what kind of fight Oklahoma actually has as the basketball program, since they have mirrored their football brethren from this past season and are 15-36-3 ATS on the road.
Kansas has swept six straight over the Sooners at Allen Fieldhouse with .500 spread record and own the nation's longest home winning streak at 57 games. The UNDER is 6-2 in Lawrence for Boomer Sooner's last eight visits.