Date | Match Up | Rating | Score | Result | Profit | Lead Time | Analysis |
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12-06-18 | Maryland v. Purdue -6.5 | Top | 60-62 | Loss | -110 | 21 h 29 m | Show |
ASA CBB 10* PLAY ON Purdue -6.5 over Maryland, Thursday at 7:00 PM ET Purdue will be extra hungry for a win after losing 2 straight and 3 of their last 4. The Boilers 3 losses this year have come against top tier opponents all ranked in the top 17 according to Ken Pom. They lost by 6 to Va Tech (ranked 10) on a neutral court, lost by 1 @ Florida State (ranked 17), and were just beaten bad @ Michigan (ranked 5). Now back home after getting walloped by the Wolverines we expect an all out effort from the Boilers. They are 3-0 at home this year and Purdue has won 26 of their last 27 games at Mackey Arena. Not only do the Boilers win at home, most of the time they win handily with 17 of their last 26 home wins coming by double digits. Tonight they take on a very young Maryland team that ranks 350th in experience out of 351 teams. Of the Terps top 9 players in terms of minutes played, 5 are freshmen. They have played just one road game the entire season and that was way back on November 9th. Not only that, their opponent in that game was Navy so the game was @ Navy which is just 30 miles away from the Maryland campus. The young Terps won that game but let’s keep in mind Navy is currently ranked 321st (out of 351) and has just two wins this year vs Coppin State & Bryant. We think this Maryland team has some promise this year, however this is a terrible spot for a team that has played 6 straight home games. Most of their key contributors have never experience a venue like Mackey Arena and the Boilers are backed into a corner. Purdue was favored by 14 here last year in this match up and now they are laying half that number vs a Maryland team that overturned much of their roster. Lay it with Purdue. |
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12-05-18 | Clippers v. Grizzlies -120 | Top | 86-96 | Win | 100 | 4 h 22 m | Show |
#518 10* PLAY ON: Memphis Grizzlies ML bet over LA Clippers, 8PM ET - Plenty of reasons to back the Grizzlies here at home with quick revenge (lost to Clips Nov 23rd by 5 in OT) and coming off a loss. Since their loss to the Clippers the Grizzlies have gone on a 1-4 run after a 12-5 start to the season. Expect them to get back on track tonight. Memphis is 7-3 SU at home this year with an average margin of victory of +5.2PPG and that schedule includes 5 playoff teams from a year ago. The LA Clippers have won 5 of their last six games and coming off a very satisfying upset in New Orleans on Monday night. The Clippers are 7-6 SU on the road this season but only 3 of those seven wins came against playoff teams from a season ago. L.A. has shot exceptionally well their last five games at 49% but expect that to change versus a Memphis D that allows opponents to hit just 45% of their attempts, 11th best in the league. The Grizzlies also have the 5th best defensive efficiency rating in the league which is much better than the Clippers 16th ranked DEFF. Grizzlies rested and looking to improve their 6-0 spread run when playing with two or more days off. Great spot to back Memphis!
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12-05-18 | VCU v. Texas UNDER 137 | Top | 54-53 | Win | 100 | 5 h 34 m | Show |
ASA CBB 10* PLAY ON Under 137 Points - VCU @ Texas, Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET VCU likes to pressure full court but they are not an overly fast paced team as most tend to think. They rank 143rd nationally in adjusted tempo and Texas ranks 152nd in the same category. So both are near the middle of the pack in college basketball when it comes to tempo. Where both are near the best in college basketball is on the defensive end of the court. The Horns rank 12th nationally in defensive efficiency and VCU ranks 19th. The Rams also rank 3rd nationally in eFG% defense and also 3rd nationally at defending the 3-point line. We expect both teams to struggle from deep in this one as neither shoots the 3 well (30% for Texas & 29% for VCU). Not only do these teams struggle to score from deep, neither are very good shooting teams in general with both sitting at 47% for their eFG% which ranks them around 250th nationally. Both have problems at the FT line as well with each hitting only 65% of their freebies. Only one team this season has topped 61 points vs VCU in regulation and that was St Johns who’s one of the fastest paced teams in the nation and 26th nationally in offensive efficiency. Only two teams have topped 70 points this year on Texas and those were Michigan State & North Carolina who are ranked 4th & 6th nationally in offensive efficiency which is far superior offensively to VCU (ranked 239th in offensive efficiency). Both defense are far ahead of the offenses in this one and while this total opened 133, it has jumped to 137 which gives us some value on the UNDER. |
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12-04-18 | Notre Dame v. Oklahoma -3 | Top | 80-85 | Win | 100 | 20 h 10 m | Show |
ASA CBB 10* PLAY ON Oklahoma -3 over Notre Dame, Tuesday at 7:00 PM ET The Irish come into this game with a 6-1 record but they have played one of the easiest schedules in the nation thus far. Their strength of schedule ranks 320th nationally and they have yet to leave their home arena. The Sooners, on the other hand, will be more than ready for this setting as they have already played 2 true road games AND 3 neutral site games this season. They have also played the MUCH tougher schedule ranking 36th in SOS. Okie is 6-1 as well, but they have already played 4 top 100 teams and their lone loss was to #13 Wisconsin on a neutral site. The Sooners have been very good defensively ranking 28th nationally in defensive efficiency and 26th in eFG% defense. They are fantastic defending inside the arc allowing opponents to shoot just 37.7% (3rd nationally) and they do not send teams to the line as just 20% of their opponents points have come from the charity stripe (3rd best in the nation). That’s going to be a huge problem for a Notre Dame team that has relied heavily on getting to the line with 24% of their points coming from the stripe (39th nationally). No home cooking here for the Irish along with a team that doesn’t foul and defends outstanding inside the arc means they’ll have to hit their 3’s to have a shot. The problem is, they are making just 31% of their shots from beyond the arc this year (238th nationally) and those shaky numbers have all come at home. Now they must try and find the range in a tough shooting venue, Madison Square Garden. Oklahoma is a veteran team with 4 upperclassmen in the starting lineup and they are well prepared for this spot. We think the Irish, with 3 new starters, will take some time to gel this year and we don’t expect that to happen in their first game away from home this season. Lay the small number with Oklahoma. |
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12-03-18 | Rutgers +13 v. Wisconsin | Top | 64-69 | Win | 100 | 23 h 7 m | Show |
ASA CBB 10* PLAY ON Rutgers +13 over Wisconsin, Monday at 8:00 PM ET This is a tough spot for Wisconsin. They are coming off a huge road win on Friday night @ Iowa and we have a feeling it will be tough for them to play at a peak level physically and emotionally in this game. Rutgers is off a home loss to Michigan State on Friday night (we were on MSU) but we have to say we’ve been impressed with the Scarlet Knights early in the season. That was a rough spot for them as they had just beaten a solid Miami FL on the road a few days earlier and were catching the Spartans off a tight loss @ Louisville. We thought MSU would respond well and they did but Rutgers hung in until the end losing by 11 as an 8-point dog. These are two very slow paced teams and the total is set in the 125 range so a low scoring game is expected. With a lower number of possessions, that will make it very tough for Wisconsin to win this one going away. On top of that, Rutgers plays outstanding defense so nothing will be easy here for the Badgers. The Knights are allowing just 59 PPG on only 38% shooting by their opponents. They rank 19th nationally in defensive efficiency. This team is also very solid on the boards and were outrebounded for the first time this year on Friday night vs Michigan State (only by 5). Third year head coach Steve Pikiell has this team headed in the right direction. They’ve played Wisconsin very tough the last few years winning at home by 4 last year and losing in OT here at the Kohl Center 2 seasons ago. The Badgers have a huge game on deck with state rival Marquette so this is a true sandwich type game for Wisconsin. UW is very solid this year and they’ll win this game, we just don’t see them pulling way for a decisive victory. Rutgers plus the points here. |
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12-03-18 | Cavs v. Nets OVER 210.5 | Top | 99-97 | Loss | -105 | 3 h 45 m | Show |
ASA play OVER 210.5 Cavaliers @ Nets, 7:35PM ET - Our math model projects 216 total points and we couldn’t agree more. Let’s not forget what the rule changes have done to the NBA right now as scoring is up dramatically at 221PPG. Last year on this date the average total points scored in the league was 211. Granted these are two of the worst teams in the league but they are also two of the worst defensively. The Cavs are dead last in points allowed per 100 possessions at 1.148 while the Nets are 23rd allowing 1.116PPP. Cleveland is coming off three very low scoring games against OKC, Boston and Toronto but those are three of the best defensive teams in the league. With PG George Hill back in the lineup expect the Cavs scoring numbers to go up. Brooklyn’s home games have averaged nearly 230 total points per contest and we expect both teams to score here. Bet OVER! |
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11-30-18 | Michigan State -8 v. Rutgers | Top | 78-67 | Win | 100 | 24 h 54 m | Show |
ASA 10* CBB PLAY ON Michigan State -8 over Rutgers, Friday at 6:00 PM ET After back to back impressive wins over UCLA by 20 and Texas by 10, the Spartans were upended in OT on Tuesday night @ Louisville. MSU (-4.5) led with under 2:00 minutes remaining in the game but blew it and lost in OT. Sparty dominated most of the key stats hitting 47% of their shots to just 39% for Louisville along with destroying the Cards on the boards 45 to 28. So how did they lose? The officials had a big say in that as they sent Louisville to the charity stripe 40 times and they outscored MSU by 16 points at the line. Expect the Spartans to bounce back and play very well here after that loss. They catch Rutgers coming off an upset road win @ Miami 57-54 on Wednesday. That means the Scarlet Knights only have 48 hours before they tip off in this one while MSU has a full extra day. It was a big win for the Knights but overall their schedule has been ultra light facing just 2 teams ranked inside the top 160 this year. One was a win over Miami, the other a 20 point home loss to St Johns. MSU, on the other hand, has already faced the likes of Kansas, UCLA, Louisville, and Texas this season. Rutgers offense is stagnant at best ranking 270th in offensive efficiency and they’ve been held to 65 points or less in 4 straight games. Facing an MSU defense that allows 37% from the field and ranks 18th in defensive efficiency we expect another poor performance from Rutgers offensively. Sparty, on the other hand, has scored at least 78 points in every game this season. Rutgers is going to have a tough time keeping up in this game. The Spartans are 6-0 in this series with 5 of those 6 wins coming by double digits. MSU off a loss is a solid play here. |
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11-29-18 | Warriors +9 v. Raptors | Top | 128-131 | Win | 100 | 4 h 2 m | Show |
ASA 10* play on: #501 Golden State +9 over Toronto Raptors, 8PM ET - Yeah, anytime you get the World Champs plus points it’s worth an immediate look. Granted, the Warriors are without Steph Curry and Draymond Green but they still have a cast of players that make them one of the best in the league. The Warriors are one of just nine teams in the NBA with a positive road differential at +1.9PPG. Sure, they have lost 5 road contests this season but those L’s came against the Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Clippers and Denver. Toronto is good. Very good and they have a home point differential of +9.5PPG which is 4th best in the NBA BUT that has come against a schedule that is 84-106 SU overall. When the Warriors were at full strength last year in the Finals they were favored in Cleveland and now they are catching nearly double-digits in Toronto. These two teams are nearly identical in offensive efficiency but the Raptors do hold an advantage when it comes to DEFF but Golden State has played the tougher schedule. Don’t be fooled by the Raptors last three home wins which came against 7-13 Miami, 8-13 Washington and 7-16 Knicks. This is a whole different level of team in Golden State who can easily win this outright. Our last point is this, the Raptors were favored by 12 and 10 points against the Heat and Wizards and they are laying a similar number here? This will be close! |
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11-28-18 | Wizards v. Pelicans -6 | Top | 104-125 | Win | 100 | 2 h 19 m | Show |
ASA 10* play on: #716 New Orleans Pelicans -6 over Washington Wizards, 8PM ET - Several factors favor the Pelicans here including revenge as these same two teams squared off in Washington on Saturday with the Wiz winning by 10. A big key to that win though was the absence of Anthony Davis for the Pelicans. It’s extremely hard to replace his 27PPG and 12.8RPG as he’s clearly one of the elite players in the entire NBA. Davis and the Pels have lost 4 straight games, 3 on the road and most recently at home to the Celtics, so expect a concentrated effort by the Pelicans at home tonight. New Orleans is 8-2 SU at home this season with an average point differential of +4.9PPG while 4 of their last five home wins have been decided by double-digits. Washington has been horrendous on the road this year with a 2-7 SU record and an average differential of minus -12.1PPG which is 3rd worst in the NBA. What makes matters worse for the Wizards is that only three of those 9 road games were at playoff teams from a year ago. In their road games against comparable opponents the Wiz have been blown out this season and with their chemistry at an all time low, we don’t expect a great effort here. |
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11-27-18 | NC State v. Wisconsin -8 | Top | 75-79 | Loss | -110 | 26 h 28 m | Show |
ASA CBB 10* PLAY ON Wisconsin -8 over NC State, Tuesday at 9:00 PM ET on ESPN2 NC State comes into Madison with a perfect 6-0 record, however to say they have taken it easy in their early season schedule would be putting gin mildly. This team has played the EASIEST schedule in Division 1 college basketball thus far (SOS ranked 353rd). They have played all 6 games at home and their opponents have been Mount St Mary’s, Maryland Eastern Shore, UNC Ashville, Maine, St Peter’s, and Mercer. Four of those six opponents are ranked below 300 and the best team they’ve played, Mercer, is ranked 175th. That game was on Saturday and went to the wire with NC State holding on for a 78-74 win. Wisconsin will be much more prepared for this caliber of opponent. They have already beaten Xavier (on the road), Oklahoma (neutral site), Stanford (neutral site) with their lone loss coming by 7 points at the hands of #3 Virginia on a neutral court. Despite their tough schedule the Badger’s wins have all been fairly convincing with their closest coming by 9 points @ Xavier. They topped Oklahoma by 20 & Stanford by 16. Wisconsin’s defense has been outstanding ranking 7th in nationally in adjusted efficiency. They have allowed less than 60 points in 4 of their 6 games. They’ll make it very tough on an NC State offense that has put up lots of points (90 PPG) but hasn’t played a defense ranked inside the top 171 in efficiency. Offensively the Badgers have shot the ball very well from deep (42% from beyond the arc) and with the top post presence in the country inside in Ethan Happ, they are tough to defend. They rank 19th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. NC State has not faced an offense ranked higher than 180 and 4 of the 6 offenses they’ve faced are ranked 336th or lower which means the bottom 17 in all of college basketball. UW has been home from their Bahamas tourney since Friday night so they’ve had plenty of time to rest and get ready for this one. As we mentioned the Wolfpack are playing their first road game of the season and they are a putrid 7-20 ATS their last 27 away from home. The trend continues on Tuesday and the Badgers roll up a double digit win at home. |
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11-25-18 | Memphis v. College of Charleston UNDER 138.5 | Top | 75-78 | Loss | -110 | 6 h 13 m | Show |
ASA 10* CBB PLAY ON - Under 138.5 Points - Memphis vs College of Charleston, Sunday at 6:30 PM ET Two bad shooting teams lead to an UNDER play in this game. Memphis ranks 275th nationally in eFG% (46.6%) while Charleston ranks 221st (49%). Worse yet, these are two of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the nation which will make it very tough to get to this total. The Tigers make just 26% of their 3’s (332nd nationally) and C of C makes only 24% (339th nationally). Memphis likes to play fast if they can however the Cougars are one of the slowest paced teams in the nation and when that is the case the slow team usually gets the tempo they want. Since their first two games vs inferior opponents, Charleston has cashed 4 straight UNDERS and they have not topped 128 points in any of those games. Memphis has had a few higher scoring games this year, however those we versus teams that shoot the ball very well (LSU & Oklahoma State) and like to play fast as well. The Tigers most recent game on Friday against Canisius was 71-63 and we look for similar result here. This game is on a neutral site in Orlando and each team will be playing their 3rd game in 4 days here which won’t help their shooting woes. Take the UNDER here. |
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11-24-18 | Colorado -4.5 v. Air Force | Top | 93-56 | Win | 100 | 4 h 25 m | Show |
ASA 10* CBB PLAY ON Colorado -4.5 over Air Force, Saturday at 6:00 PM ET The Buffs are coming off a 70-64 road loss @ San Diego on Tuesday (we were on San Diego -4) and have had a few days to recoup for this trip. It’s definitely not a tough travel spot for CU as Air Force is just 97 miles away. In their loss @ USD on Tuesday, the Buffs played fairly well against an experienced team that had 20 wins a year ago. CU led by 1 late in the game but were unable to hold on. Turnovers and rebounding were a problem in that game as we thought they might be. However, today they play an Air Force team that was just 12-19 last year and has started this season 2-3. The Falcons are not a great rebounding team (245th nationally in offensive rebounding) and they do not create turnovers (17% forced TO rate which is 252nd nationally) so those aspects shouldn’t be a problem today for Colorado. AF has not played a team ranked in the top 150 yet this season and even so they have 3 losses (vs High Points, UMBC, and Texas State). Despite their easy schedule to date, they’ve turned the ball over at an alarming rate (26.5% which is 347th nationally) and they are not an efficient offense (272nd nationally). Despite their loss @ San Diego, Colorado coach Tad Boyle was very pleased with his team’s defense as they allowed the Toreros to make just 37% of their shots. They should be able to shut down this struggling AF offense who is averaging just 63 PPG vs teams not named Johnson & Wales (yes they played that team and that is one of AF’s win). Colorado won this meeting by 12 last and has won 8 straight in this series (all but 1 by at least 7 points). Colorado gets the cover on the road here. |
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11-23-18 | Northern Iowa v. Old Dominion -6.5 | Top | 65-72 | Win | 100 | 22 h 52 m | Show |
ASA 10* CBB PLAY ON Old Dominion -6.5 over Northern Iowa, Friday at 7:00 PM ET These two just played on Monday so we get a quick revenge spot for ODU. They faced off in St Thomas Virgin Islands just 5 days ago and UNI pulled off the 54-53 win as a 2.5 point underdog. The Monarchs had a nightmare offensive performance in that game making only 32% of their shots including 7 of 24 from beyond the arc. ODU controlled the boards with 13 offensive rebounds (just 2 for UNI) and because that they attempted 61 shots to just 49 for the Panthers. Because they shot so poorly it didn’t matter. However, now they are at home for the first time since November 6th and we expect a much better offensive game from the Monarchs. They should control the boards again and this team those extra opportunities will turn into points. We also don’t expect Northern Iowa to make 11 of their 25 shots from beyond the arc (44%) as they did in that first game. All of that and UNI still only won by a single point. ODU has struggled shooting but they’ve been on the road for all but one game. Their defense has been a constant allowing only one of their five opponents to top 56 points. This team returns 4 of their top 7 players from a team that was 25-7 a year ago. They’ve won 15 of their last 17 home games and will be extra motivated here in this quick revenge spot. Northern Iowa played in the Virgin Islands on Friday, Saturday, and Monday just as ODU did, however they are back on the road again in a tough scheduling spot. They have also won just ONCE in their last 13 true road games. Lay it as Old Dominion rolls. |
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11-20-18 | Colorado v. San Diego -4 | Top | 64-70 | Win | 100 | 6 h 25 m | Show |
ASA CBB 10* PLAY ON San Diego -4 over Colorado, Tuesday at 10:00 PM ET on ESPNU This is a huge prime time game for USD on a stage they normally don’t get. This is a home game vs a Pac 12 team and the game is on ESPNU. Those factors alone should bring a top notch effort and performance from the Toreros. That is obviously not the only reason we like San Diego here. First of all they are a very experienced team with 3 seniors and 1 junior in the starting lineup. All 4 were key performers on last year’s 20 win team. The Toreros are the 6th most experienced team in the nation so not only the starters but all rotation players as well have been together for a number of years. They come into this game with a 3-1 record and their only loss coming by just 3 points @ Washington, who was picked by some to win the Pac 12 this year and no worse than 3rd in that league by most experts. It was a game that San Diego led by 9 in the second half when leading scorer Isaiah Pineiro (20 PPG) got into foul trouble and had to sit out 10+ minutes giving the Huskies an opportunity to make a run. While USD is playing their 5th game of the season, Colorado has only played twice this year vs weak competition. Their most recent game they were favored by 17 vs Nebraska Omaha at home and struggled to win by just 4 points. The Buffs are on the road for the first time this year and they have not been a money maker away from home going just 18-40-1 ATS their last 59 road games. They were just 1-10 SU in true road games last season. The Buffs also must replace 3 of their top 6 scorers from a year ago. San Diego beat Colorado on the road last year 69-59 and basically bring back the same team so we expect a similar outcome tonight. |
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11-20-18 | Blazers v. Knicks UNDER 220.5 | Top | 118-114 | Loss | -105 | 5 h 39 m | Show |
ASA 10* play on: UNDER 220.5 Portland Trailblazers @ NY Knicks, 7:30PM ET - Some solid indicators here with the money and tickets chasing the Over, yet the line dipped 2 full points from the opener. Based on the pace of play, offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency numbers this game should result in 215 total points. Portland is average in pace of play or 15th in the NBA at 100.4 possessions per game. New York is slower yet at 100 possessions per game which will continue to trend lower with Coach Fizdale running the show. Portland is one of the best DEFF teams in the league while the Knicks are one of the worst. The same can be said about the OEFF numbers as Portland is top 10 in the league, Knicks bottom 10. New York shoots under 43% at home this year and averages 106PPG. Portland has a much bigger game tomorrow night against the Bucks and won’t be interested in playing an up-and-down game tonight and look to rest starters as much as possible. Last year when these two teams met they combined for 198 and 194 total points. The bet here is UNDER! |
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11-19-18 | Thunder -2.5 v. Kings | Top | 113-117 | Loss | -101 | 6 h 58 m | Show |
ASA play on: #517 Oklahoma City Thunder -2.5 @ Sacramento Kings, 10:00 PM ET - We like the situation, the number and everything else that goes into for a play on the Thunder tonight. The Sacramento Kings are one of the four to five worst teams in the NBA and not much better than Phoenix. The reason we bring that up is the fact that the Thunder just played in Phoenix and were favored by -5 points. The Kings also recently faced Minnesota at home and were a +2-point underdog and the Thunder are better than the dysfunctional T’Wolves. The big advantage the Thunder have here is defensively. OKC is the 3rd most efficient defense in the NBA while the Kings are 21st worst. The Thunder also hold an advantage when it come to offensive efficiency. After losing four straight games to start the season, the Thunder have quietly won 10 of their last eleven games. They also have the 6th best margin of victory in the NBA at plus +5.4PPG. Conversely, the Kings are 8-8 SU on the season with a negative differential of minus -2.6PPG. Yes, the Thunder have the Warriors on deck but they won’t look past a Kings team that embarrassed them earlier this season 131-120. With or without Westbrook we take the road team here by double-digits. |
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11-08-18 | Bucks v. Warriors -5.5 | Top | 134-111 | Loss | -108 | 6 h 17 m | Show |
Play on: #708 Golden State Warriors -5.5 over Milwaukee Bucks, 10:30PM ET – Yes, we love and respect what the Bucks have done this year and feel they are a legitimate contender in the East BUT only Boston (because of their depth) has the slightest chance to beat Golden State this year in the Finals. Milwaukee has gotten off to a great start but recently have lost their last two road games at Boston and at Portland. They had played a pretty soft schedule prior to that with road wins over Charlotte and Minnesota. Golden State is well, Golden State and this is a statement game for them at home against the upstart Bucks and Giannis. The Warriors are incredibly deep and won’t miss a beat without Draymond Green tonight. GST has the 2nd best home differential in the NBA this year at +15.5PPG which is slightly higher than their last four year average of +13.4PPG. Let’s consider these numbers. The Warriors were favored by -11.5 and -12.5 in two home games of the Finals last year against the Cavs. Last regular season they were favored by -4 points against this same Bucks team and were resting Curry and Thompson! In regular season games last season against the three other best teams in the East the Warriors were 11-point chalks against Boston, -12.5 versus Toronto and -13.5 against Philly. The value on this is just too good to pass up. Play the Warriors who are 11-4 ATS at home when favored by 6 or less points since 2014. |
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06-08-18 | Warriors -4 v. Cavs | Top | 108-85 | Win | 100 | 4 h 1 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Golden State Warriors -4 over Cleveland Cavaliers, 9PM ET – We’ve talked about this a million times already but the Cavaliers defense is really, really bad and LeBron is a huge part of that equation. If you want to get the GOAT you MUST play both end of the court. Too many times in Game 3 did the Warriors run a ball screen action and LBJ would simply switch off Durant WAY too easily. The callous nature of Cleveland’s defense stems from the best player and it’s easily the reason why they don’t stand a chance in this series. Our thought process here is simple. Golden State and the Splash Brothers (Klay and Steph) got wide open looks in Game 3 (7 of 27) and didn’t make them. It wasn’t a product of the Cavs defense but more of those two just having an off night. The law of averages tells us they’ll shoot much better here. Golden State didn’t even play well as a team in G3 and they still won by 7-points. The off season has already begun for the Cavs and the LeBron sweepstakes will start as soon as this game ends. Cleveland is just 17-33-1 ATS at home this season and granted the vast majority of those were as favorites but it’s become evident this is not a championship caliber roster and the Warriors are just that much better. *I would wait to bet this game until closer to game time as I would expect more money to come in on Cleveland*. BET GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS |
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06-06-18 | Warriors v. Cavs +4 | Top | 110-102 | Loss | -103 | 5 h 9 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Cleveland Cavaliers (+4) over Golden State Warriors, 9PM ET - This is a tough call but the statistician in me says you have to bet the Cavs in this one even though they didn't pass the eye test in the last game. The extra rest, being down 0-2 and having heard how this series is going to be a sweep should have the Cavs focused and playing at their highest level tonight. Cleveland has ripped off 8 straight at home in the playoffs after losing Game 1 against the Pacers in their opening round series. The Cavs have lost three straight games just three times this season and are 15-5 SU at home this season after a loss in their previous game. The Cavs home/road dichotomies are significant and let's not discount their 37-13 SU record at home this season. Even though they had a horrible spread record at home this year that was largely as a favorite as they have been a home dog just 4 times (2-2 ATS). Golden State has not been as good on the road in the playoffs with a 4-4 SU record and a total point differential of just +3PPG in those eight games. If there is a game the Cavs are going to win it's this one. Bet Cleveland plus the points. |
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06-03-18 | Cavs v. Warriors UNDER 215 | Top | 103-122 | Loss | -108 | 7 h 26 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 215, Cleveland @ Golden State, Sunday at 8 PM ET We cashed with the OVER in game 1 of this series but it took overtime to get there. After watching game 1, tonight we’re siding with the UNDER. The two teams combined to shoot a very solid 47% in game 1 yet the game had to go to OT to cash the OVER. LeBron is playing exceptionally well but can we expect him to get to 50+ again and miss only 13 of 32 shots again tonight? The odds on that happening are not very good. Even with his fantastic effort and 51 points, again, if it doesn’t go to OT it stays UNDER. As good as Golden State can be offensively, it’s actually been their defense that has carried them in these playoffs. They held Houston, one of the top scoring offenses in the NBA, to 92, 94, 86, and 92 points the final four games of the Western Conference Finals. In their 18 playoff games, the Warriors have allowed more than 106 points just 3 times (in regulation). 11 of those 18 have gone UNDER the total. Steve Kerr was not happy with the way this team played defense in game 1 and you can bet that was stressed heading into this match up. Expect GS to play very well on the defensive end tonight. Cleveland’s defense was poor during the regular season but they’ve actually played quite well on that end of the court in the post season. Their final 3 games vs Boston heading into the NBA Finals they limited the Celtics to 96, 99, and 79 points. They’ve limited their opponents to 110 points or fewer in 18 of their 19 playoff games (in regulation). We look for Cleveland to try and slow this pace tonight which gives them the best chance of pulling off the upset. Both defenses will play better tonight and we like the UNDER in this game. |
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05-31-18 | Cavs v. Warriors OVER 214 | Top | 114-124 | Win | 100 | 5 h 21 m | Show |
We will play on 10-Star OVER 215 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Golden State Warriors Game 1 Thursday, May 31st – Cleveland looked better defensively in the Eastern Conference Playoffs but the fact of the matter is they played two average offenses in the Pacers and Celtics. Now they face one of the best offensive units in the NBA which averaged 1.137 point per possession in the regular season, 3rd best in the NBA. The Warriors have averaged 109PPG in the post season and that came against three top 14 defensive efficiency units, two of which, Houston and San Antonio, were top 6. Now Golden State goes up against a Cavs D that was 29th in defensive efficiency this season allowing 1.120PPP. Cleveland had some lower scoring games against the Pacers and Celtics but those are two of the 8 slowest paced teams in the NBA. Against a similar team to the Warriors, Toronto, the Cavs allowed 112, 110, 103 and 93 points with three of the four games ending with 221 or more total points. After a couple low scoring grinders against the Rockets we expect the Warriors offense to explode tonight in Game 1. Golden State home games averaged 217 total points this season while Cleveland road contests averaged 216PPG. Based on league averages, pace of play, eFG percentages, etc…etc…this game should end with 220 or more points. The Warriors have scored 116 or more points against the Cavs in 6 of the last eight meetings. The bet here is OVER the total. |
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05-28-18 | Warriors v. Rockets +6.5 | Top | 101-92 | Loss | -105 | 10 h 2 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Houston Rockets +6 over Golden State Warriors, 9PM ET - We will stick with our pre-playoff prediction that Houston is going to win the 2018 Finals and clearly they must win this game to get there. The value on Houston at home is obvious here as they started the series as a 2-point favorite and are now a 6-point dog. The Rockets have been home dogs just two times this entire season. Houston had the 2nd best home point differential in the NBA at +9.4PPG during the regular season. Golden State had the 3rd best road differential at +4.4PPG which is clearly not enough to get this spread win. Against the top 8 teams in the West the Warriors were 24-17 SU with an average differential of +3.6PPG. In that same situation, versus West top 8 teams, the Rockets were 32-10 SU with a +6PPG differential. Of course the big storyline here is the injury to Chris Paul but the reality is that James Harden is still the type of player that can carry this team offensively by himself. The biggest negative for the Rockets is the loss of Paul on the defensive end of the floor but the Rockets will shoot much better at home in the second half than they did in Game 6 at Golden State. Houston is 6-2 SU at home off a loss and even if they don’t win this game outright they’ll still get the cover. Grab the points. |
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05-27-18 | Cavs v. Celtics -125 | Top | 87-79 | Loss | -125 | 10 h 28 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Boston Celtics (ML) over Cleveland Cavaliers, 8:30PM ET - The home team has clearly had the big advantage in this series and have been the better team in every game. Boston has NOT lost at home in the Playoffs and are 36-14 SU at home on the season with an average point differential of +5.9PPG. The Cavaliers are average on the road this year with a 24-25 SU record and a negative differential of -.4PPG. Digging deeper we find the Cavs are a horrendous 9-19 SU on the road against other Playoff teams this season. Boston's 10-0 SU home record is impressive and it includes three wins over this same Cavs team by 25, 13 and 13 points respectively. As far as home teams in elimination games in the NBA, going back to 2005, the home team has won over 70% of the time. The Cavs were one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA all season long, ranking 29th in DEFF and also second to last in opponents field goal percentage defense allowing 47.3%. Cleveland has shot under 42% in two of the three games in Boston which is understandable considering the Celtics had the 2nd best shooting percentage D in the NBA this season. Boston was also one of the best in the league when it came to defensive efficiency ratings. The public is all over LeBron and the Cavs which makes sense but the money is all over Boston. Even though LBJ will get every call to man in this game we like the resolve of the young Celtics and expect a win by the home team. |
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05-26-18 | Rockets v. Warriors OVER 212 | Top | 86-115 | Loss | -110 | 30 h 17 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 212.5 Houston Rockets @ Golden State Warriors, Game 6, 9PM ET - With the number creeping this low here we have to step in with a VALUE Over bet on Game 6. The first two games of this series finished with 225 and 232 total points. Then in Game 3 the Warriors exploded for 126 themselves but the Rockets managed just 85. In Game 3 the Rockets shot just 39.5% overall from the field and 32.4% from beyond the arc. In Games 4 & 5 these two teams shot horribly and the games ended with just 187 and 192 Total points. The big difference for this game could be injuries as the Warriors could get Andre Iguodala back for this game and the plus/minus differential with him on the floor for GST is drastic. Houston will more than likely be without Chris Paul for this game which isn’t as big a deal offensively but is defensively. Paul has been outstanding defensively in this series. The Warriors had the 3rd best offensive efficiency numbers in the NBA this season at 1.137 points per possession. Houston had the #1 ranked OEFF at 1.147PPP. Golden State was the 5th fastest paced team in league this season and the Rockets were 13th which means both prefer to play fast. These two teams have scored 224 or more points in 5 of the eight meetings this season. The value on this number is too good to ignore. In Game 4 at home these two teams had a total of 224. The Warriors have had 14 home games this season where Vegas posted a Total of 215 or lower on them and in nine of those the Warriors had a key player out. Don’t forget the average total points scored in an NBA game this year was 212PPG and this game features the two best offenses in the league. BET OVER! |
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05-24-18 | Warriors -1 v. Rockets | Top | 94-98 | Loss | -105 | 28 h 11 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Golden State Warriors (-1) over Houston Rockets, 9PM ET - The Warriors blew Game 4 and lost on Tuesday which ended their 16 straight home playoff winning streak. Golden State has been the best team in the NBA when coming off a loss since 2013 with a 88-26 SU record. This season the Warriors were 22-5 SU off a beat, including 11-1 on the road. Golden State shot under 40% in Game 4 which was clearly uncharacteristic as they are the best shooting team in the league at nearly 50%. The Warriors have played three playoff games in which they shot under 40% in the previous game and they've won all three by an average of 18PPG. Houston rallied in the fourth quarter to win Game 4 after being down 10 points and evened the series at two wins apiece. Yes, the Rockets have been a great home team all season long but the play here is on the World Champs off a loss. GST on a 10-4 ATS streak when playing in Houston. |
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05-23-18 | Cavs v. Celtics +1 | Top | 83-96 | Win | 100 | 27 h 10 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Boston Celtics (+1) over Cleveland Cavaliers, 8:30PM ET - The Cavs were one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA all season long, ranking 29th in DEFF and also second to last in opponents field goal percentage defense allowing 47.3%. In Games 3 & 4 (on the road) the C's shot a horrendous 39.2% and 41.2% which had more to do with the setting than the actual Cavs defense. Cleveland shot the ball extremely well at 48.7% in G3 and 50.6% in G4 from the field and 50% (25 of 47) from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers jumped out to an early lead in Game 4 and the Celtics never recovered. Let's not overreact to the last game or forget how the Celtics dominated the Cavs in the first two games of this series. Boston has NOT lost at home in the Playoffs and are 36-14 SU at home on the season with an average point differential of +5.9PPG. The Cavaliers are average on the road this year with a 24-24 SU record and a negative differential of -.4PPG. Digging deeper we find the Cavs are a horrendous 9-18 SU on the road against other Playoff teams this season. Boston's 9-0 SU home record is impressive and it includes two wins over this same Cavs team by 25 and 13 points respectively. The young Cavaliers bounce back here. |
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05-22-18 | Rockets v. Warriors OVER 223.5 | Top | 95-92 | Loss | -110 | 7 h 12 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 224 Houston Rockets @ Golden State Warriors, 9PM ET - With the number creeping a little lower here we'll step in with an Over bet on Game 4. The first two games of this series finished with 225 and 232 total points. Then in Game 3 the Warriors exploded for 126 themselves but the Rockets managed just 85. In Game 3 the Rockets shot just 39.5% overall from the field and 32.4% from beyond the arc. Expect the Rockets to get back to somewhere in the 46% or 51% they shot in the first two games of the series which is much closer to their season average of 46%. The Rockets attempted nearly 42 three's per game in the regular season and will get their attempts up here in this do-or-die situation. The Warriors had the 3rd best offensive efficiency numbers in the NBA this season at 1.137 points per possession. Houston had the #1 ranked OEFF at 1.147PPP. Golden State was the 5th fastest paced team in league this season and the Rockets were 13th which means both prefer to play fast. These two teams have scored 224 or more points in 5 of the six meetings this season. Expect more of the same tonight. BET OVER! |
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05-21-18 | Celtics +7 v. Cavs | Top | 102-111 | Loss | -105 | 6 h 2 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Boston Celtics (+7) over Cleveland Cavaliers, 8:30PM ET - We hit with the Cavs in Game 3 as they were backed into a corner and had to win to stay alive in this series. Yes, we obviously expected the Cavs to win that game but didn't expect a 30-point blowout. The young Celtics faced that adversity and will bounce back here. The Cavs were one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA all season long, ranking 29th in DEFF and also second to last in opponents field goal percentage defense allowing 47.3%. In Game 3 the C's shot a horrendous 39.2% which had more to do with the setting than the actual Cavs defense. Cleveland shot the ball extremely well at 48.7% from the field and 50% (17 of 34) from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers jumped out to an early lead in Game 3 and the Celtics never recovered. Let's not overreact to the last game or forget how the Celtics dominated the Cavs in the first two games of this series. Boston is 10-5 SU this season when playing on the road off a loss and have been fantastic as a dog this season. The Celtics are 20-9 ATS when getting 7.5 or more points this season while the Cavaliers are just 18-32 ATS as a favorite in that same price range. Expect a game down to the wire in Game 4 on Monday. |
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05-20-18 | Rockets +8 v. Warriors | Top | 85-126 | Loss | -108 | 8 h 16 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Houston Rockets +8 over Golden State Warriors, 8PM ET – We are not falling into the zig-zag theory here and taking the Warriors off their loss. The facts are the Rockets were the best team in the NBA the entire season and are not just going away in this series. Houston had the best road point differential in the NBA this season at +7.5PPG and were 34-11 SU away from home this season which is as good as the Warriors 35-12 SU record at home. The Rockets were 30-8 SU against the other top 8 teams in the West this season with a positive differential of +8.3PPG. Golden State was very good against the top 8 teams in the West with a 22-15 SU record but clearly not as good as Houston. The points are just to attractive here with one of the two best teams in the NBA. Houston has been an underdog of more than +4.5 points just once this entire season. Yes, Golden State may win this game but It’s going to be close. |
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05-19-18 | Celtics v. Cavs -6 | Top | 86-116 | Win | 100 | 28 h 52 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: @Cleveland Cavaliers -6 over Boston Celtics, Sat 8:30PM ET - The Cavs were 13-5 Su at home off a loss this year and will bounce back in this game. They've heard how bad they are for the past few days and will make a statement in this game. Cleveland has won four straight home playoff games with the most recent being a 35-point blowout. The Cavs struggled with their shooting in the first two games which will change at home where they were the 4th best shooting team in the NBA at 48.2%. Boston has struggled on the road in the playoffs with three losses by 11 or more points, another L by 2 points and a win in OT. The Celtics were the 21st worst shooting team in the NBA this season when playing on the road at just 44%. Yes, the Cav had a horrible spread record at home this season but given the circumstance we will play on them here. Lay the points. |
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05-16-18 | Warriors v. Rockets +1 | Top | 105-127 | Win | 100 | 4 h 13 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Houston Rockets (+1) over Golden State Warriors, 9PM ET - It's clearly tough going against the Warriors, but the situation warrants a play on the Rockets in this game. Houston was 14-6 SU on the season when coming off a straight up loss which included a 5-2 mark at home in that situation. Golden State shot it really well in the opener as they hit over 52% from the field and nearly 40% from beyond the arc. Both of those percentages were better than Houston's 46% and 35%. The Warriors enjoyed a +7 differential from the free throw line and had 7 less turnovers than Houston. We are betting a return to the 'norm' tonight as the Rockets had the 2nd best home point differential at home this year of +9.4PPG, they were 1st in home offensive efficiency and 8th best in defensive efficiency numbers. Houston is 25-3 SU their last 28 at home while Golden State is just 11-11 SU their last 22 on the road, 3-2 SU in the playoffs. Over the course of the entire season the Rockets have the overall better efficiency numbers and have been the better overall team. So why not take them in Game 2, desperate at home off a loss. |
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05-15-18 | Cavs v. Celtics OVER 203.5 | Top | 94-107 | Loss | -109 | 6 h 36 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 203.5 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics, Tuesday 8:30PM ET Game 2 - First off I want to start by saying this: I am not, nor ever been a conspiracy theory guy when it comes to NBA games, but tonight I'm fairly certain LeBron is going to get a ton of calls in his favor. I expect James to make a concentrated effort to get to the hole in Game 2 and he'll be rewarded with calls that he didn't get in Game 1. In the opener the Cavs defense was exactly what we expected it to be but we didn't see their offense struggling to top 20 points in three of the four quarters. The Cavs shot just 36% as a team and were just 4 of 26 from beyond the arc (15.4%). That's significantly lower than their season averages of 36.8% overall on 32 attempts per game which are both top 8 in the NBA. Cleveland put up just 83 points in the opener but had they shot their season averages they would have scored 24 more points from beyond the 3-point line alone. That's enough points to push this game Over the total. When the Cavs played on the road this year those games averaged 219PPG. When Boston was at home those contests averaged 205PPG. We see Boston putting up great offensive numbers again tonight as the Cavs defense (29th in DEFF) hasn't changed. Don't forget the average field goal attempts per game in the NBA this season was 172 and the average points scored was just under 213PPG. In Game 1 these two teams combined for 170 FG attempts so the pace of play was there, but the Cavs just couldn't make shots. That changes tonight and while I won't bet a bad line tonight and trust Cleveland, I will invest in the OVER. |
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05-14-18 | Warriors v. Rockets -110 | Top | 119-106 | Loss | -110 | 6 h 37 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Houston Rockets (Moneyline bet) -110 over Golden State Warriors, 9PM ET - Tough to go against the Champs in any setting, especially considering they are not underdogs very often, but we'll make an exception tonight in Game 1. We've made a prediction at the start of the Playoffs that Houston would win it all this year and for them to do that they must win Game 1 at home. The Rockets had the 2nd best home point differential at home this year of +9.4PPG, 1st in home offensive efficiency and 8th best home defensive efficiency numbers. The addition of Chris Paul gives them a another super-star caliber player that can take over a game if James Harden struggles as he did a year ago in big playoff moments. Capela has been a defensive force in the playoffs and Eric Gordon scored 20PPG during the regular season versus the Warriors. Yes, the Warriors are loaded and have incredible road numbers and the Hamptons 5 lineup but this is the one spot to fade them. Houston is 25-2 SU their last 27 at home while Golden State is just 10-11 SU their last 21 on the road, 2-2 SU in the playoffs. Over the course of the entire season the Rockets have the overall better efficiency numbers and have been the better overall team. So why not take them in Game 1 at home! |
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05-13-18 | Cavs v. Celtics +2 | Top | 83-108 | Win | 100 | 4 h 17 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Boston Celtics +2 over Cleveland Cavaliers, 3:30PM ET – The Celtics have one big advantage in this game and that’s in the coaching box with Brad Stevens over Ty Lue for the Cavs. I guarantee Stevens has something special here which he hasn’t shown during the regular season and he’ll find an advantage to exploit against Cleveland. The LeBron craze right now has the oddsmakers over-adjusting this number and the value clearly lies with Boston. Let’s consider these numbers. Philly the #3 seed was a -4.5 point favorite here in Boston in Game 1 of that series and the C’s won by 16. So Vegas is saying the Cavs are worse than Philly but still that much better than Boston that they should be favored here? Doesn’t add up. In the regular season meeting the Celtics were -4.5 points at home over Cleveland which is where this line should be. Boston was 34-14 SU at home this season with one of the better home point differentials in the league at +5.4PPG. The average point differential has grown to +9.1PPG in the post season. As for the Cavs they were just an average team on the road this entire season with a point differential of +.4PPG and a current record of 24-22 SU. We like that Boston can rotate multiple defenders at LeBron with Morris and Smart and if you can slow him down you win. Boston is 12-1 ATS their last 13 home games and 11-1 SU their last 12 in the Garden. Take Boston in Game G1. |
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05-09-18 | 76ers v. Celtics +1 | Top | 112-114 | Win | 101 | 3 h 2 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Boston Celtics (+1) over Philadelphia 76ers, 8PM ET. Contrary to what you might think about Philly climbing back into this series, it’s not going to happen. Again, we’ve beat this horse to death, but Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is just better than anyone else. Stevens will adjust Philly’s move with T.J. McConnell who scored 19 in Game 4 and nullify the Sixers advantage there. If you are a ‘value’ bettor, then you’re doubting this wager as the C’s were +4.5 points at home in Game 1 but the reality is the line tonight STILL isn’t where it should be as the Celtics should be a 4-point chalk. Boston has not lost at home in the post season and are on a current 11-1 ATS streak at home. On the year the C’s are 33-14 SU at home with an average point differential of +5.4PPG. Boston has won 5 straight games at home when coming off a loss in their previous game. Boston is the better team with the better coach and playing at home. Just win! |
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05-08-18 | Jazz v. Rockets OVER 207.5 | Top | 102-112 | Win | 100 | 3 h 4 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 207.5 Game 5 Utah Jazz @ Houston Rockets Tuesday, 8PM ET - Game 1 of this series finished with 206 total points as the Rockets won 110-96. Game 2 saw these two teams combined for 224 (nice over win for us). Games 3 & 4 finished with 205 and 187 total points. After a very low scoring Game 4, with poor shooting by both teams expect a return to the normal tonight. In the eight meetings this season between these two teams, the Rockets have scored 137, 112, 120, 96, 110, 108, 113 and 100 points. In Game 4 the Rockets shot just 42% overall and 26% from beyond the arc. Those numbers are drastically lower than their season averages of 45.8% and 36.2%. The Jazz shot even worse in G4 as they hit just 38.6% from the field and 24% from the 3-point line. Three of the four games in this series have stayed Under the Total but they've been near the league average for pace of play which should equate to 213 Total points. The Jazz road games has averaged 207 total per game in the regular season while the Rockets home games have averaged 218 Total points. The Over has now cashed in 5 of the last six meetings on this court. Bet OVER! |
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05-05-18 | Raptors v. Cavs OVER 216 | Top | 103-105 | Loss | -104 | 27 h 56 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 216 Toronto Raptors @ Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday, 8:35PM ET - Neither team shot especially well in Game 1 yet they still managed 210 total points in regulation. At the half of that game they had 117 which put them on pace for 234 total points. They were still scoring in the 3rd when they combined for 52 points. In the fourth though Toronto missed 11 straight field goals to end the game. In Game 2 LeBron went off in the 3rd quarter which propelled the Cavs to a 128-110 win. Both teams shot ridiculously well at 60% for Cleveland and 54% for Toronto and there are indicators that success could continue here. The Over has now cashed in 4 of the last five meetings (232, 261, 218, 225, 238) and the only game that stayed Under, ended with 218 total points (Total was 223). The Raptors are completely mind-(fill in blank) by the Cavs and have no answer for LeBron. James will continue to bully the Raptors and it will only get worse in Cleveland before it gets any better. Expect a high scoring game here. Toronto's offense was 2nd in terms of offensive efficiency this season during the regular season and face a Cavs defense that was 29th in defensive efficiency. |
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05-04-18 | Rockets v. Jazz OVER 208.5 | Top | 113-92 | Loss | -110 | 8 h 22 m | Show |
PLAY ON: OVER 208.5 Game 3 Houston Rockets @ Utah Jazz , Fri, 10:30PM ET - Game 1 of this series finished with 206 total points as the Rockets won 110-96. Game 2 saw these two teams combined for 224 (nice over win for us). In the six meetings this season between these two teams, the Rockets have scored 137, 112, 120, 96, 110 and 108. After a horrible shooting performance in Game 2 you can bet the Rockets find a rhythm here. Houston shot just 40% overall and a pitiful 27% from beyond the arc in the last game. Those numbers are drastically lower than their season averages of 45.8% and 36.2%. Granted the Jazz shot better than their season averages but it's safe to say we could see a similar performance back at home in Game 3. In the playoffs the Jazz and their opponents have scored more than tonight's total in 6 of eight games. Utah had the best overall defensive efficiency rating in the NBA during the regular season at 1.039 points per possession. In the playoffs they are giving up 1.050PPP. Houston was the #1 offensive efficiency offense in the NBA this season at 1.147PPP and they're even better yet in the post-season at 1.158PPP. In the series against OKC the Jazz totaled 217 and 209 total points in the first two home games of that series. Houston went to Minnesota and they combined for 226 and 219 total points. In this situation the bet here is OVER! |
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05-04-18 | Warriors v. Pelicans +5 | Top | 100-119 | Win | 100 | 7 h 13 m | Show |
PLAY ON: Game 3 @New Orleans Pelicans +4.5 over Golden State Warriors, Friday 8PM ET - Yes, Steph Curry is back for the Warriors and clearly adds another dimension for the Golden State but we really like the Pelicans body of work down the stretch of the regular season and the first round of these playoffs. Let's not forget the Pelicans roasted a solid Blazers team in four games and had won five straight to end the regular season, all by double digits. New Orleans is 8-2 SU their last 10 games with an average differential of +7.1PPG. Anthony Davis is GREAT and is arguably the best player in the NBA right now to build a franchise around. The Pelicans have also gotten fantastic play out of Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo and even Nikola Mirotic. Holiday is averaging nearly 10 more points per game in the playoffs compared to the regular season (28PPG vs 19PPG) and shooting nearly 57%. Rondo has been equally as good averaging over 13 assists per game in the post season compared to 8 during the regular season and he's scoring more too. In Game 2 the Pels lost by just 5-points and they only attempted 9 free throws compared to Golden State going 22 of 27. Don't get us wrong, Golden State is still Golden State even with Steph Curry (who is not 100%) but they haven't been as good all season long as they were last season. GST has a road point differential of +4.4PPG this year (not enough to cover here) which is down from +7.49PPG last season. That's a full season of stats that just don't lie. Against other Western Conference playoff teams this season the Warriors had a winning record of 18-13 SU but the differential was just +1.6PPG. The Pelicans were 14-18 SU against the top 8 teams in the West but the point differential was just -1.9PPG. New Orleans at home this season had a positive home differential of +1.4PPG. What we're saying here is grab the points! |
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05-03-18 | 76ers v. Celtics OVER 206 | Top | 103-108 | Win | 100 | 27 h 40 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 205 Game 2 - Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics, 8:35PM ET - We like the value with an OVER wager on Game 2. Philly was 4th during the regular season in pace of play at 99.8 possessions per game and have played faster yet in the post-season at 100.5 possessions per game. Philadelphia averaged 110PPG in the reg ssn and are at 114PPG in the PO's. The 76ers offensive efficiency numbers are better in the post season at 1.136 points per possession than they were in the regular season. Boston has seen a drop in their defensive efficiency numbers in the playoffs as they went from allowing 1.039 points per possession (reg ssn) to 1.086PPP in the playoffs. In Game 1 the 76ers went just 5 of 26 (19%) from beyond the arc which is clearly an aberration. On the year the 76ers averaged 30 3-point attempts per game and made 37% of them. Twelve of the Sixers deep attempts were what we would consider 'wide open' too and they missed all of them. Yes, part of the equation is that Boston's defense was great, but the law of averages even out here which means more points for Philly. The 76ers underperformed its expected field-goal percentage based on shot location and defender proximity by a huge margin so look for better results here from them. Boston shot extremely well from beyond the arc but they were also the second best 3-point shooting team in the regular season behind only Golden State. The Over has now cashed in 70% or 7 of the last ten clashes in Boston. BET OVER! |
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05-02-18 | Jazz v. Rockets OVER 205 | Top | 116-108 | Win | 100 | 7 h 26 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 205 Utah Jazz @ Houston Rockets, Weds, 8PM ET - Game 1 of this series finished with 206 total points as the Rockets won 110-96. In the three meetings this season between these two teams on this court, the Rockets have scored 110, 120 and 137 points. In the playoffs the Jazz and their opponents have scored more than tonight's total in 5 of seven games. Utah had the best overall defensive efficiency rating in the NBA during the regular season at 1.039 points per possession. In the playoffs they are giving up 1.050PPP. Houston was the #1 offensive efficiency offense in the NBA this season at 1.147PPP and they're even better yet in the post-season at 1.158PPP. In home games this season the Rockets have scored 204 or more points in 35 of 45 games. The Rockets and their opponents averaged 218.2PPG this season at home. Utah and their foes averaged 206.9PPG this season when on the road. Utah will play better than they did in the opener and Houston is going to get to 114+. The bet here is OVER! |
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05-01-18 | Cavs v. Raptors -6.5 | Top | 113-112 | Loss | -107 | 10 h 59 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: TORONTO RAPTORS (-6.5) over Cleveland Cavaliers, 8PM ET - We were a perfect 3-0 with our Side wagers on the Cavs/Pacers series and are extremely dialed in on the Cavs right now and just how good they are. The answer is, they're certainly not the best team in the East and will have a very tough time advancing past this round. LeBron James has carried this team and logged a ton of minutes in the round one series against the Pacers. The Cavs got some very favorable calls in Game 7 against the Pacers and won't get those same calls in Game 1 of round 2. Statistically, the Raptors were the second best overall team in the NBA over the course of the regular season. They were 2nd in offensive efficiency and 5th in defensive efficiency, Houston was the only team better. Let's look inside the numbers for this game. The Cavaliers are 24-24 SU this season against all the other playoff teams in the NBA this season with a negative point differential of -3.1PPG. Cleveland was 7-16 SU on the road against other playoff teams and those 16 losses came by an average of 12PPG. Toronto on the other hand was 27-20 SU against other playoff teams this season with a positive differential of +4.2PPG. The Raptors were 18-6 SU at home versus other playoff teams this season and the wins came by an average of 13PPG. The biggest difference between these two teams is defensively as the Raptors were 5th in DEFF this season while the Cavs were 29th. Those numbers support the glaring difference between these two teams currently. Even though the Cavs have owned the Raptors with an 8-2 SU record the last ten meetings, the situation clearly warrants a bet on Toronto. The Raptors were 37-7 SU at home this season with a +10.4 point differential. Lay the points in Game 1. |
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04-30-18 | 76ers v. Celtics OVER 205 | Top | 101-117 | Win | 100 | 5 h 30 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 205 Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics, 8PM ET - This Total number has dropped as many as 5-points as some Books from the opening line and we like the value with an OVER wager here. When these two teams faced off last in Beantown the oddsmakers posted a Total of 203 on that game which is slightly lower than tonight's number. We know what the young 76ers will want to do here and that's push the ball in transition, force the Celtics to play fast and wear out their starters. Philly was 4th during the regulars season in pace of play at 99.8 possessions per game and have played faster yet in the post-season at 100.5 possessions per game. Philadelphia averaged 110PPG in the reg ssn and are at 114PPG in the PO's. The 76ers offensive efficiency numbers are better in the post season at 1.136 points per possession than they were in the regular season. The Bucks had great success shooting the ball against Boston in the opening series which is alarming for Celtics supporters. Milwaukee shot 50% as a team against the C's defense that held opponents to just 44% during the regular season. That ties into Boston's drop in defensive efficiency numbers as they went from allowing 1.039 points per possession (reg ssn) to 1.086PPP in the playoffs. Season averages and statistics support a game in the 218 range here. BET OVER! |
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04-28-18 | Pelicans +9 v. Warriors | Top | 101-123 | Loss | -101 | 10 h 33 m | Show |
PLAY ON: New Orleans Pelicans +9 over Golden State Warriors, 10:35PM ET - We are not sold on the Warriors yet after their first round series win over the short-handed, older Spurs. Golden State limped into the post season and didn't really play 'that well' against the Spurs. Conversely, the Pelicans totally dismantled the Blazers in a 4-game sweep and have now won 9 straight games, including wins over playoff teams like San Antonio and Golden State. Yes, everyone knows how great Anthony Davis is but the big difference for the Pelicans has been the play of Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo and even Nikola Mirotic. Holiday is averaging nearly 10 more points per game in the playoffs compared to the regular season (28PPG vs 19PPG) and shooting nearly 57%. He's also been fantastic defensively and could be used in a matchup with Klay Thompson. Rondo has been equally as good averaging over 13 assists per game in the post season compared to 8 during the regular season and he's scoring more too. Don't get us wrong, Golden State is still Golden State even without Steph Curry (who MAY play tonight) but they haven't been as good all season long as they were last season. GST has a home point differential of +7.6PPG this year (not enough to cover here) which is down from 15.9PPG last season. That's a full season of stats that just don't lie. Against other Western Conference playoff teams this season the Warriors had a winning record of 17-13 SU but the differential was just +1.6PPG. The Pelicans were 14-17 SU against the top 8 teams in the West but the point differential was just -1.9PPG. What we're saying here is grab the points |
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04-27-18 | Raptors v. Wizards -110 | Top | 102-92 | Loss | -110 | 4 h 45 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Washington Wizards (ML) over Toronto Raptors, 7PM ET - The situation dictates a play on the Wizard here as they return home off a loss and face elimination. With John Wall on the court the Wizards have been fantastic at home in the post season with a 10-1 SU run, 8-3 ATS. On the season the Wiz are 5-1 SU and ATS at home when coming off a double digit loss. Let's remind you this isn't a typical #1 vs #8 seed matchup in the first round as Washington was a much higher seed late in the season. The home team has now cashed in on 7 of the last eight meetings between these two teams. As we've stated in the past, the Raptors are a team built for winning in the regular season and have historically failed to live up to expectations in the playoffs. In the two previous games of this series the Wizard shot 55% and 46% overall from the field, 44% and 41% from 3. In Game #5 the Wiz shot a horrendous 41% overall and just 19% from beyond the arc. Things return to normal tonight in Washington and this series extends to a seventh game. |
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04-25-18 | Pacers +6 v. Cavs | Top | 95-98 | Win | 100 | 2 h 19 m | Show |
PLAY ON: Indiana Pacers +6 over Cleveland Cavaliers, 7Pm ET - Except for a blowout win in Game #1 by the Pacers this has been a tightly contested series that has gone down to the wire in three straight games. Has the Cavs defense been great in the post season or has Indiana's offense been bad? The Pacers are getting uncontested shots in this series, but just not making them. Indiana is 13th out of 16 playoff teams in effective field goal percentage shooting, and if those numbers trend back to normal, the Cavs are in big trouble. It's well documented Cleveland's defense was one of the worst during the regular season so it's not like they've fixed that end of the court in the playoffs. Cleveland had an average point differential at home of just +1.1PPG during the regular season which ranked 18th in the entire league. The only other playoff team that had a worst home differential was Milwaukee. Indiana had the 11th best road differential of -.2PPG and are clearly confident they can win on this court after their blowout win in Game 1. If Victor Oladipo can find his shooting touch in these last few games the Pacers win this series. Take the points. |
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04-24-18 | Heat v. 76ers OVER 215 | Top | 91-104 | Loss | -105 | 4 h 25 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 215 Miami Heat @ Philadelphia 76ers, 8PM ET - The 76ers offense was ridiculously good down the stretch of the regular season and has been even better in the Playoffs. Philly has scored 100+ points in 20 straight games and averaged 116PPG over that stretch. The Sixers have scored 121+ in 4 of their last six games. We expected Miami's defense to be much better in this series, but they've allowed Philly to average 1.157 points per possession which is better than their season average, and the best number in the playoffs. Both of these teams rank in the top 12 in 3-point field goal attempts per game and top 14 in 3-pt makes. Miami has increased their pace of play numbers in their last ten games compared to the regular season too which has driven up their scoring average. In the playoffs the 76ers are the fastest paced team at 100.9 possessions per game, which is faster than their season average of 99.8. The 76ers have forced the Heat to play at their tempo as Miami is tied with Philly in playoff pace of play at 100.9 possessions per game. That's drastically higher than their season average of 95.5. Both teams shot poorly in the previous game but with 2 days rest they'll find their range tonight. Philadelphia forces the tempo and it turns into a very high scoring affair. |
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04-24-18 | Bucks v. Celtics -2.5 | Top | 87-92 | Win | 100 | 25 h 30 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Boston Celtics -2.5 over Milwaukee Bucks, 7PM ET – We used the Celtics in Game 1 of this series and laid 4-points so why wouldn't we lay a smaller number here. Don't write the Celtics off just because they lost two games in Milwaukee. The Bucks shot extremely well at home which was surprising considering they were up against the number two ranked defensive field goal percentage unit. In Game 3 of this series the Bucks shot over 52% from the field and barely held on to beat Boston by 2. The Bucks defense was horrendous down the stretch of regular this season and hasn't been much better in this series. Milwaukee was 19th on the year in defensive efficiency ratings allowing 1.101 points per possession and in the post season they rank 11th, out of 16, in that same statistical category. The Celtics have the best DEFF in the NBA and own a huge edge on that end of the court. Milwaukee was 19-22 SU away from home with a negative differential of -1.9PPG. The Bucks are just 19-27 SU against current playoff teams with a lost margin of -3.5PPG. Boston has an average winning margin at home this season of +4 and are 19-9 ATS this season when coming off a SU loss. Milwaukee won't continue to shoot as well as they have in the previous two games and the C's get a big home win here. |
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04-23-18 | Rockets -6 v. Wolves | Top | 119-100 | Win | 100 | 6 h 49 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Houston Rockets -6 @ Minnesota Timberwolves, 8:00PM ET – Houston has been the best team in the NBA the entire season and we like them off a loss (12-6 SU) here. The one glaring stat we see from Game 3 is how well the Wolves shot the 3-ball. Minny was 15 of 27 from beyond the arc which was VERY uncharacteristic as they are a 35.9% (19th) shooting team on the season. In Games #1 and #1 they hit just 27.8% and 34.8%. Not to mention the Rockets were the 6th best team in the NBA this season at defending the 3 (allowed just 35.2%). It's highly unlikely they shoot it as well in this game as they did in Game 3. The Rockers were favored in Minny this year by 7-points and -3.5-points in the two regular season meetings here so don’t be intimidated by the spread. Houston won those two regular season clashes by 18 and 9 points. The Rockets had the best point differential in the NBA on the season at +8.4PPG overall and on the road at +7.5PPG. What’s most amazing about this team is there 34-10 SU record against other playoff teams with a differential of +7.3PPG. The Wolves average home differential of +5.7PPG on the season (8th best in NBA) is decent, but those numbers are inflated against the bad teams. When it comes to playing other playoff teams the Wolves are just 20-25 SU overall with a negative differential of -2.1PPG. The Wolves allow foes to hit over 47% of their field goal attempts on their home court which is the 3rd worst number in the NBA and bad news facing the Rockets. |
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04-20-18 | Raptors v. Wizards OVER 218 | Top | 103-122 | Win | 100 | 4 h 2 m | Show |
PLAY ON: OVER 218 Toronto Raptors @ Washington Wizards, 8PM ET - The oddsmakers have clearly adjusted this number up compared to Games 1 & 2 but we still don't feel it's enough. In the opener of this series these two combined for 220 total points on 163 field goal attempts. In Game 2 they totaled 249 points on 173 FGA's. Both teams have shot exceptionally well in the first two games (48% or better) and there is no reason to expect a change. These two teams have combined for 51 plus points in 7 of the eight quarters played in the post season. Toronto averages 212PPG on the road this year while allowing 106PPG. The Wizards averaged 109PPG at home while allowing 105PPG. The Raptors were 3rd overall in defensive efficiency ratings at home this season but slipped to 12th on the road. Washington has now gone Over the Total in 9 of their last thirteen games when coming off a loss so clearly the offense steps up. These two teams average in pace of play, yet this total is set just 6-points higher than the league average scored per game this season, and yet they are 3rd and 14th in offensive efficiency rankings. In the two regular season meetings on this court these two combined for 241 and 197 total points which means 3 of the last four meetings have ended with 220+ points. Easy call OVER! |
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04-19-18 | Blazers v. Pelicans OVER 214.5 | Top | 102-119 | Win | 100 | 5 h 20 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 214.5 Portland Trailblazers @ New Orleans Pelicans, 8PM ET - Portland had an off shooting nights in Game 1 by hitting just 38% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc, which are both significantly lower than their season averages of 45% and 37% comparatively. In Game 2 the Blazers shot better at 45.1% overall and 37.5% from distance. They put up 102 points and only attempted 10 free throws. New Orleans is an 'average' defensive team in terms of defensive efficiency, ranking 14th out of 30 teams in the league. The Pelicans have had their way with the Blazers defense scoring 50, then 44 points in the paint in the two games. A large part of that is attributed to Jrue Holiday of the Pels, who seems to get by defenders at will. The best indicators here for a higher scoring game is the number of field goal attempts by both teams. In Game #1 these two teams attempted 184 field goal attempts then 174 in Game 2. Both those numbers are higher than the league average of 172 FGA per game. Portland plays faster on the road than at home and have a worse defensive efficiency ratings. New Orleans is the fastest paced team in the NBA overall and are faster yet at home, with a better offensive efficiency rating. The crowd will be crazy tonight in New Orleans and the Pelicans will feed off of it, while the Blazers will be forced to play faster than normal. The bet here is OVER! |
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04-18-18 | Jazz +5 v. Thunder | Top | 102-95 | Win | 100 | 4 h 34 m | Show |
PLAY ON: Utah Jazz (+5) over Oklahoma City Thunder, 8PM ET – Casual bettors are backing OKC after their Game 1 win but let’s not ignore the whole body of work leading up to this playoff series. Since the All-Star break there haven’t been many teams better in the NBA than Utah. They’ve gone 18-7 since the break, allowing just 96PPG while scoring 106PPG. The Jazz have the best defensive efficiency rating in the NBA and the 7th in FG percentage defense (45%) but they allowed OKC to shoot over 48% in Game 1. Utah also had the best fast break D in the league this year by allowing just 9.7PPG in transition. OKC more than doubled that number with 22 points on the break. The Thunder played very well in the opener and still only won by 8-points in Game 1. Let’s not forget the Jazz ended the regular season on a 15-2 SU run their last 17 road games. Utah was the 6th slowest paced team in the NBA this season so look for them to slow the tempo to a crawl which will make the points a premium. The bet here is UTAH AND THE POINTS! |
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04-17-18 | Pelicans v. Blazers -6 | Top | 111-102 | Loss | -105 | 6 h 29 m | Show |
PLAY ON: Portland Trailblazers (-6) over New Orleans Pelicans, 10:35PM ET - This clearly is a do-or-die situation for the Blazers at home down 0-1 in the series. Lose this game and you've wasted 82-regular season games. On the other hand, New Orleans is a little 'fat' off that upset win in Game 1. Portland had an off shooting night in G1 by hitting just 38% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc, which are both significantly lower than their season averages of 45% and 37% comparatively. The Blazers had less turnovers and more rebounds but just didn't make shots. These same two teams met in New Orleans in late March with the Blazers winning by 4-points as a 2-point road favorite. Prior to this home loss, the Blazers had gone 12-2 SU at home their last 14 and 7 of those wins came against other playoff teams. New Orleans has been a very good road team this year with some positive differentials but this just isn't a good situation for them. The Pelicans closed out the regular season with 5 straight wins that look good on paper (won at GST, LAC and beat the Spurs) but given the circumstances it's not as impressive as it looks. The Warriors had nothing to play for, the Clippers were eliminated and San Antonio was resting. Prior to that stretch the Pelicans were just 3-5 SU their last eight away from home against playoff teams. There is only one way to bet this game and it's on Portland. |
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04-16-18 | Heat v. 76ers OVER 215.5 | Top | 113-103 | Win | 100 | 4 h 3 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON OVER 215.5 Miami Heat @ Philadelphia 76ers, 8PM ET - The oddsmakers have adjusted this number up, but we don't feel it's high enough, and will still bet OVER. The 76ers offense has been ridiculously good down the stretch of the regular season and was light's out in the opener. Philly has scored 100+ points in 17 straight games and averaged 119PPG over that stretch. The Sixers have scored 130+ in 3 of their last five games. We expected Miami's defense to be much better in Game 1 than it was and after the way Philly dismantled them we don't expect to see a drastic change in Game 2. The Heat allowed 103.3PPG on the season but in their last ten games that number has risen to 105.4PPG. Their defensive efficiency ratings has gotten worse too. Both of these teams rank in the top 12 in 3-point field goal attempts per game and top 14 in 3-pt makes. Miami has increased their pace of play numbers in their last ten games compared to the regular season too which has driven up their scoring average. We don't feel the 76ers are going to score 130 again tonight, but if they get to a more realistic number of 115 this game goes OVER the total. Over now 6-2 last eight meetings here between these two. |
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04-15-18 | Pacers v. Cavs OVER 212.5 | Top | 98-80 | Loss | -101 | 4 h 2 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 213 Indiana Pacers @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 3:30PM ET – There is tremendous value on this number as the last three Totals set on this series had numbers of 220 or more and the first meeting of the season (November) had a O/U of 217. Much has been made of the Cavs lack of defense and the fact they rank 29th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, only ahead of Phoenix. They’ve said they are going to ‘flip the switch’ in the post season but it doesn’t work that way. Without a rim protector the Cavs were 21st in the NBA in points allowed in the paint while the Pacers were 14th offensively in scoring in the lane. The Cavs win games by outscoring their opponents, so we know exactly what they’ll try to do today. The Cavaliers averaged nearly 111PPG on the season and 1.129 points per possession. Indiana is a little slower and scores a little less and their defensive efficiency rankings is 13th, slightly better than league average. When these two teams met on this court two times this year they combined for 231 and 223 total points. We feel Cleveland sets the tempo here and forces the Pacers to play their style of basketball. That will lead to a high scoring game here. BET OVER! |
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04-14-18 | Heat +6.5 v. 76ers | Top | 103-130 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 8 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON Miami Heat +6.5 over Philadelphia 76ers, 8M ET - We like the veteran Heat and the points over the upstart Sixers in this matchup. Yes, we know Philly closed the season on a red hot run but the playoffs are a whole different beast. This series was 2-2 during the regular season with the 76ers winning at home by just 2 and 6 points respectively. The Sixers were 52-30 SU this season but only 20-23 SU against other playoff teams with a point differential of just .2PPG. That's hardly a big enough margin to get a cover in this game. Miami was 17-23 SU this year against other playoff teams, but 14-10 against the top 8 teams from the East. The Heat had a positive differential of +1.7PPG against the rest of the contenders from the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia closed the regular season on a 16 game winning streak which has forced this line to be inflated higher than it should be. Especially considering 13 of those sixteen wins came against non-playoff teams. Philly was just 11-10 ATS when laying more than 7-points this season and are now in the unfamiliar role as a large home chalk in a rare playoff appearance. Miami has a few key edges on the floor in the opener with center Whiteside in the middle and no Joel Embiid on the floor for Philly. Whiteside averaged 19PPG in his three meetings with the 76ers this season and D-Wade dialed back the clock in one of the meetings with 27. We like the veteran leadership the Heat have here and won't be surprised if they start this series up 1-0. |
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04-11-18 | Spurs +4.5 v. Pelicans | Top | 98-122 | Loss | -110 | 4 h 36 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: San Antonio Spurs (+4.5) over New Orleans Pelicans, 8PM ET - With so much on the line for playoff seeding we like the veteran Spurs to get a much needed win here. The Pelicans have made a late season run to qualify for the post season but let's take a closer look. New Orleans beat the Clippers after they were eliminated, a Warriors team that quit playing, Phoenix and Memphis. Prior to that they had lost four straight games against playoff teams (Thunder, Cavs, Blazers and Rockets). The Spurs have done a balancing act between rest and competing down the stretch which has produced a 4-2 SU record their last six. Three of those four wins came against Portland, Houston and OKC. New Orleans has a 23-17 SU record at home this year but their average point differential is under 1PPG. San Antonio has a losing road record this season at 14-26 SU but their average loss margin is just -1.1PPG which would clearly get us a cover here. The Pelicans have a 9-17 SU record this year against the top 8 teams in the West with a negative efficiency differential. The Spurs have the 2nd best defensive efficiency rating in the NBA when they play on the road and we love defensive underdogs. San Antonio would slip to the 8th seed with a loss and despite what Pop and the players say they would love to avoid the Warriors and Rockets in the first round. |
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04-10-18 | Warriors v. Jazz -7.5 | Top | 79-119 | Win | 100 | 5 h 2 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON Utah Jazz -7.5 over Golden State Warriors, 9M ET - This is an interesting game that has seeding implications in the West. The Jazz can keep their hopes alive for the #3 seed in the West with a win tonight. Utah trails the Blazers by a game for that coveted spot and they meet tomorrow night in the season finale, but they must win tonight. Golden State has other motivations for tonight and that might be to NOT win this game. If the Warriors were to win this game they could end up bumping the Jazz down a few spots in the standing to the 7th seed . Then they'd have to face this DANGEROUS Utah team in the first round and nobody in the West wants this Jazz team right now with how they are playing. The Warriors have had numerous injuries and added rest heading into the post season is a priority. The Jazz are 29-5 SU their last 34 games and have done it with a defensive efficiency rating that is best in the NBA since the All-Star break. It's not like Utah will be intimidated here as they've beaten the Warriors in the last two meetings by 30 and 19 points respectively. The number set by Vegas is clearly higher than it should be as they try to entice Warrior backers. We won't fall for it. Lay the points! |
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04-09-18 | Thunder -3.5 v. Heat | Top | 115-93 | Win | 100 | 3 h 60 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Oklahoma City Thunder (-4) over Miami Heat, 7:35PM ET - At first look the 'value' in the number here seems very attractive with the home underdog but late in the season 'value' becomes less important in particular situations. This is one of those rare cases you can't be tempted by the home underdog given the circumstances. A desperate Thunder takes on a Heat team that has struggled to a 14-15 record since Feb. 1, playing below-.500 basketball for two-plus months. Miami's recent stretch has seen them go 3-2 SU but their three wins came against lottery bound Chicago and Atlanta twice. Oklahoma City is 14-9 SU their last 23 games and it's come against a brutal schedule. All 9 of the Thunder's losses have come against playoff teams. OKC has the 6th best road point differential in the NBA at +1PPG and are coming off a confidence building win over Houston. The Thunder need to win to get in and can still grab home court in the first round of the playoffs. Granted Miami is a playoff team but they really don't have anything to play for. In fact, the Heat might be better off with a loss here as it would move them to the 7th seed in the East which would mean a first round matchup with the injury depleted Celtics. In their most recent game the Heat gave extended minutes to everyone and seem more intent on staying healthy than winning right now. With Memphis on deck they'll get their morale-boosting win in their next game. Miami home differential of +2.5PPG is barely above league average. The Thunder have beaten the Heat four straight times all by 6 or more points. Take the team with incentive here! |
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04-07-18 | Pelicans v. Warriors -6 | Top | 126-120 | Loss | -107 | 6 h 45 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Golden State Warriors -6 over New Orleans Pelicans, 8:35PM ET - Let's start with the fact that the Warriors don't really have a lot to play for other than finishing higher than the Raptors in the East if Toronto would make the Finals. In reality I doubt the Warriors are thinking that but they will be focused here after a horrible showing in Indiana in their last game. Coach Kerr blasted them after the game so we should get great effort here. Golden State is 17-4 SU off a loss this season, 8-3 at home. New Orleans is in a tough scheduling spot as they are playing their 2nd night of a back to back and their 3rd game in four days. The Pelicans have struggled against good competition with a 18-23 SU record and negative efficiency differential. Golden State on the other hand is 25-14 SU against other playoff teams with a huge efficiency differential. Even with a 'down' season by the Warriors recent standards, they have a plus +8-point home differential that is 3rd best in the NBA. Golden State has beaten this team by 8, 15 and 10 points in the three meetings this season. GST has covered 4 of the last five in the series on this court. We will lay the points with the Warriors here. |
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04-06-18 | Wolves v. Lakers UNDER 221 | Top | 113-96 | Win | 100 | 9 h 33 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: UNDER 221 Minnesota Timberwolves @ LA Lakers, 10:35PM ET - Let's start with the fact that the Lakers are without three starters and three primary offensive weapons in Thomas, Ball and Ingram. That's a combined average of 41 points per game that is not on the court for LA. The Lakers have played much slower of late which certainly influences our wager on tonight's contest. For the season the Lakers are the 2nd fasted paced team in the NBA at 100.3 possessions per game. In their last five games they are averaging 95.1 possessions per game which is the 4th slowest. And their last five games average is even skewed higher than it should be as two of the five games were OT. Minnesota has recently played much better defense of late as their defensive efficiency numbers in their last five games is 8 spots better than it is for the season. The Wolves are fighting for their playoff lives and will focus on the defensive end of the floor tonight against the depleted Lakers. Against sub .500 teams this season the Wolves have allowed 105.2PPG which is significantly less than the 109.7 they give up to current playoff teams. With public money flowing in on the Over and the number being driven up we like the added value with UNDER! |
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04-05-18 | Clippers v. Jazz OVER 211 | Top | 95-117 | Win | 100 | 4 h 45 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 211 LA Clippers @ Utah Jazz, 9PM ET - This game has HUGE playoff implications as the Clippers need to keep winning to get in while Utah is not locked in yet and fighting for positioning. Utah is 20-22 SU against other playoff teams this season with a negative efficiency differential but those games have averaged 206 total points per game. That number is 5-points higher than their overall numbers against Lottery teams which is important here. On the season the Jazz are average or 15th in offensive efficiency ratings at 1.082 points per possession. In their last five games they have the best OEFF in the NBA at 1.153PPP. That's a great recipe tonight against a Clippers team that is 7th overall in OEFF and pace of play on the season. The LA Clippers and non-playoff opponents have averaged 213PPG on the year. Against current playoff bound teams the Clippers and foes averaged 220PPG. In the two most recent meetings between these two teams they combined for 238 and 233 total points. The Over has cashed 4 of the last five meetings in Utah. The bet here is OVER! |
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04-04-18 | 76ers v. Pistons +3 | Top | 115-108 | Loss | -105 | 3 h 54 m | Show |
ASA 10* PLAY ON: Detroit Pistons +3 over Philadelphia 76ers, 7PM ET - The Detroit Pistons have zero wiggle-room right now as a loss eliminates them from the playoffs but they've vowed to make Milwaukee earn it. Detroit has played some of their best basketball down the stretch by winning 5 straight and 7 of their last eight (8-0 ATS). The Pistons are 6-1 SU since point guard Reggie Jackson (right ankle sprain) returned from injury and their record is 25-15 SU with him in the lineup. On the year the Pistons have a plus +3.7 point home differential and are 8-6 SU at home against Eastern Conference Playoff teams this season. Philadelphia is on a red hot 11 game winning streak but only two of those wins were against +.500 teams and both were at home with Joel Embiid in the lineup. The Sixers are just 9-16 SU against the top 8 teams in the East and 2-11 SU away in that situation. Philly is playing their 3rd game in four nights and the second of a back-to-back while the Pistons have been off since Sunday. The 76ers are just 5-7 SU, 4-8 ATS when playing without rest and they have a much bigger game on deck Friday against the Cavs who are ahead of them in the standings. Take Detroit! |
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04-03-18 | Warriors v. Thunder UNDER 221.5 | Top | 111-107 | Win | 100 | 5 h 48 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: UNDER 221.5 Golden State Warriors @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 8PM ET – The contrarian play here is Under as public money is on the Over but we like the value and statistics that support Under. This is the 4th and final meeting of the season between these two rivals with the first three meetings all staying Under the number. In the lone clash in OKC these two teams combined for just 199 Total points. In two of the three meeting they also stayed below their average field goal attempts per game and below the league average. Much is made of these two teams offense, but their defenses are what make them what they are. OKC are 10th in defensive efficiency ratings while Golden State is 11th. Both basically allow 1.070 points per possession. The Warriors are coming off two higher scoring games, but they came against the Kings and Suns who are two of the worst defenses in the NBA. Prior to that they had scored 107 or less in five straight games. In the Thunder’s last six games they have played five that were low scoring by their standards with the highest point total being 213. Both teams have favored the Under when playing with 1 day rest with OKC averaging 210PPG in those games and GST averaging 216PPG. The Under has cashed in 8 of the last nine meetings. It’s and UNDER tonight! |
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04-02-18 | Michigan v. Villanova UNDER 145 | Top | 62-79 | Win | 100 | 8 h 7 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 145 Points - Michigan vs Villanova, Monday at 9:20 PM ET We’re going contrarian here and taking the UNDER in this game. More than 70% of the bets in this game have come in on the over and that’s understandable after everyone watched Villanova shoot the lights out on Saturday in route to putting up 95 points on Kansas. The last thing bettors see usually sticks with them and that affects what they play moving forward. Thus, why many (and most) will see this as a high scoring game. The Cats made 55% of their shots in that game a made a record breaking 18 three pointers vs a KU defense that was pretty average for most of the season. That game played out perfectly for the over with Nova getting out to a hot start which pushed them to a double digit lead. Kansas likes to play fast anyway and when down by 10+, they did just that which played into Villanova’s hands as well. Each team attempted 62+ shots and 61 combined 3 point attempts! We don’t see any way Nova comes close to shooting like that tonight vs a Michigan defense that now ranks 3rd nationally in defensive efficiency. After a rough first half on Saturday, the Wolverine defense contested 24 of Loyola’s 27 shots in the 2nd half limiting the Ramblers to just 28 points. IN their previous game, Michigan’s defense contested 90% of FSU’s shots for the game. Their defense has now limited 12 of their last 13 opponents to less than 1.00 point per possession. Now we realize that will be tough to do vs this Villanova offense, however the point is the Wildcats will have a MUCH tougher time scoring in this game. On top of that, Michigan knows their best shot in this game is to play very slow (as they normally do – 324th nationally in tempo) and shorten this game. Unless they get way behind early, we believe that’s just what Michigan will do. A slow game with fewer possessions than normal. Neither team gets to the line very often and neither teams fouls very often so we don’t expect much from the FT line unless there is some “scrambling” late in the game with fouls. Offensively Michigan hasn’t played very well in this tourney believe it or not. It’s been their defense that has gotten them to this point. With the exception of their game vs Texas A&M, the Wolverines have shot 31% or less from 3 point land in their other 4 NCAA tourney games. They have scored 58, 61, 64, and 69 points in those other four games. Nova’s defense ranks 14th nationally in defensive efficiency so don’t look for Michigan to “get well” offensively here. The one team Villanova played in this tourney that is somewhat similar to Michigan (great defense, slow pace) is Texas Tech. In that game the Cats won 70-58 so the two combined for only 128 points. While we expect a few more points scored tonight, we think this one stays somewhere in the 130’s and we’ll take the UNDER. |
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04-01-18 | Bucks v. Nuggets -4 | Top | 125-128 | Loss | -108 | 10 h 12 m | Show |
ASA’s PLAY ON: Denver Nuggets -4 over Milwaukee Bucks, 8PM ET – These two teams are both playing for the post season but have various levels of urgency. The Bucks are in already and could move up to 7th or even 6th with some help from Miami and Washington. Denver though is fighting for their playoff lives as they are 2 games out of the post season which makes this game dramatically more important for them. The Nuggets have been fantastic at home this year with a 27-10 SU record and a point differential of +6.2PPG which is 8th best in the NBA. The Bucks on the other hand are 18-20 SU away from home with a negative point differential of -1.1PPG. Denver’s last three home wins have all come by 7 or more points and in this do-or-die situation we expect a win by that margin or more. The Bucks are coming off a pair of road wins and playing their 4th straight away from home in a 6-day span. The Nuggets have owned the Bucks here covering 14 of the last eight meetings in Denver. We also like the value here considering the Nuggets were recently favored by -8.5 points against the Pistons. Take the Nuggets and lay the points. |
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03-31-18 | Loyola-Chicago v. Michigan -5 | Top | 57-69 | Win | 100 | 27 h 28 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Michigan -5 over Loyola Chicago, Saturday at 6:05 PM ET We are very confident that this is where Loyola’s Cinderella run comes to an end. They have been very solid, but also very fortunate to get to this spot. The Ramblers first 3 wins in the tourney came by a combined 4 points with 2 wins coming at the buzzer. They have shot ridiculously well to get to this point making 52.5% of their shots in the tourney. Even with that, 3 of their games came down to the final possession. Even in their most recent win over KSU, they shot 57% overall and 50% from three while the Wildcats couldn’t hit the broadside making only 34% of their shots and 24% from deep. KSU also was forced to play without their leading scorer and rebounder Dean Wade who played some in their previous game but was unable to go vs Loyola. With that 16-point win, the Ramblers still have just a +20 point differential in this tourney (Michigan is +46). Now they face a Michigan defense that has been absolutely fantastic. The Wolverines rank 4th nationally in defensive efficiency and they’ve held 11 of their last 12 opponents to less than 1.00 point per possession which is ridiculously good. By comparison, Loyola’s defense is also solid but they’ve allowed 3 of their 4 opponents in the NCAA tourney alone to reach at least 1.00 point per possession. If Loyola can’t make a high percentage of their shots as they’ve done the entire tourney, they are in trouble here. That’s because they simply don’t take many shots. They’ve attempted just 198 shots this tourney (only 49.5 shots per game) and they’ve attempted 30 fewer shots than their opponents. Thus you better shoot awfully well or get to the line A LOT to make up for that deficiency. We don’t see them doing either here as the Wolverines also foul as little as any team in the tourney. On the other end of the court, Michigan can shoot the ball every bit as well as Loyola. They have scorers and shooters at every position as well as many that come off the bench. The Wolverines don’t turn the ball over (4th nationally in lowest turnover percentage) while Loyola has coughed it up 15 & 16 times their last 2 games and ranks 218th nationally in that category. Michigan should also have the rebounding edge in this game. Those two factors, along with a few things we discussed earlier in this analysis, should keep Loyola at a hefty deficit in shots attempted. The Wolverines have now won 13 straight games all vs solid to top notch competition (NCAA tourney & Big Ten) and only 2 of those 13 have come by less than 6 points (current line here is -5 or -5.5). Those were games vs Houston and FSU – and the Wolverines led by 10 late in the FSU game when the Noles hit a couple of crazy 3’s to make it closer than it should have been (58-54 final). Only three 11-seeds have made the Final Four and all of them have seen their seasons come to an end at that point. LSU lost by 11 in 1986, George Mason lost by 15 in 2006, and VCU was upended by 8 in 2011. Loyola has had a great run but we see a similar fate here. Take MICHIGAN to win this by double digits. |
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03-30-18 | Pelicans +4 v. Cavs | Top | 102-107 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 28 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: New Orleans Pelicans (+4) @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 8PM ET - We won't hesitate to take the points and the Pelicans here as the Cavs continue to have the worst spread record in the NBA. On the season the Cavs are just 27-47-1 ATS, 10-25-1 ATS at home. I literally laugh out loud when I hear the talking heads proclaim the Cavs are playing great right and poised to make a run in the Playoffs. It couldn't be further from the truth and it Cleveland ends up with a first round series with Washington they not make it out of the opening series. The Cavs have won 7 of their last ten games but only 2 of those wins came against Playoff bound teams and both were at home. On the season the Cavs are just 17-20 SU versus current playoff teams, 4-11 SU against the top 8 teams from the West. The Cavaliers efficiency differentials in those 15 games is horrendous. Cleveland's defense is the problem as they rank 29th in the NBA in defensive efficiency ratings, only the Suns are worse. The Pelicans are in desperation mode here as they only lead the 9th place Clippers by 2 games in the Western Conf playoff race. New Orleans is 23-14 ATS on the road this season and have been rock solid against the best teams in the East with a 10-5 SU record versus the top 8 teams. The Pelicans road point differential at plus .4PPG is nearly as good as Cleveland's home differential of +.8. Easy call here to take NO plus the points. |
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03-30-18 | San Francisco v. North Texas OVER 140 | Top | 77-88 | Win | 100 | 26 h 2 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Over 140 Points - San Francisco @ North Texas, Friday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPNU We like the value with the OVER here as this total has dropped 6 full points from their opening match up on Monday. That total was set at 146, Wednesday’s total was 143, and now we’re getting this number in the 140 range. Obviously the oddsmakers are adjusting downward as each of the first 2 games have gone under the number. North Texas has shot poorly in both games not reaching 40% in either. They’ve been getting plenty of shots off with 68 attempts in each game. If UNT can shoot better here, which we think they will as they’ve shot 47% at home this year, they will put plenty of points on the board. Let’s not forget this team 90 points or more in each of their first 3 games in this CBI tournament so they are absolutely capable. The Mean Green have scored at least 69 points in 7 of their last home games and they reached 69 on Wednesday despite shooting under 40% and making only 2 of their 18 three point attempts. They have made just 6 of their 39 three point attempts (15%) and they are a much better shooting team that those numbers would indicate (35.2% from 3 this year). We expect them to hit the mid to upper 70’s here. San Fran relies heavily on the 3 point shot and when they are on they can put points on the board. They made 14 three pointers in their opener vs UNT but made only 9 of 30 from deep on Wednesday. The Dons also hit a huge drought on Wednesday going a full 9 minutes without a FG spanning late 1st half into the 2nd half. Now that they’ve played a game here and they are used to the venue, we’d expect them to play much better offensively on Friday. They have scored 72 or more in 3 of their 5 CBI games and we’d expect the Dons to get to at least 70 here. We also look for more points from the charity stripe as the first two games have totaled only 10 and 17 points from the line, despite the fact both teams are prone to fouling (232nd and 285th in FTA/FGA per game defense). Shot attempts haven’t been a problem in this series as they’ve attempted 255 which is an average of 63 per team per game which is quite high. Look for the poor shooting percentages to improve here as each has underperformed by quite a bit thus far. If the game is close late as we anticipate it will be, fouling leading to extra points from the FT line is a strong possibility as well. Remember this is the Championship game of the CBI and there is no tomorrow for these teams. Take the OVER on Friday night. |
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03-28-18 | San Francisco v. North Texas -3 | Top | 55-69 | Win | 100 | 29 h 56 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* North Texas -3 over San Francisco, Wednesday at 8:30 PM ET on ESPNU We were on UNT on Monday night as they came into that game @ USF playing their best basketball of the season. They lost that game by 10 and now it’s do or die time for the Mean Green. They now get to play host to USF and a loss would end their season. A North Texas win would send this to a deciding game 3 on Friday night. UNT had cruised through this tourney leading up to Monday night’s game destroying 3 straight opponents (South Dakota, Mercer, and Jacksonville State) scoring 90 or more points in each game. What was even more impressive is that they were underdogs in 2 of the games and favored by just 1 point in the other one. On Monday night they simply shot very poorly (39%) and made only 4 three pointers the entire game. San Francisco took a whopping 33 three point attempts on Monday and made 14 of them. That was the difference in the game. The Dons have relied heavily on the 3 pointer all season long with 37% of their points coming from beyond the arc (53rd most nationally). That makes it tough here in an arena they’ve never played in and facing a UNT defense that ranks 15th nationally at defending the arc allowing just 31.7% shooting. SF was able to capitalize on their outside shooting at home but we feel that will be their demise here vs a fired up Green defense. The Dons are not a great 3 point shooting team to begin with and on the road they are poor from deep hitting only 32% of their shots from behind the line. Speaking of road games, USF has yet to play away from home in this tourney so they’ve had a definite advantage. This will actually be their first true road game in over a month! San Fran finished just 4-7 in true road games this season and all of their road wins came against teams that were at least 4 games below .500 or worse. In fact, their 4 road wins came against teams that ended the season with a combined 41-86 record. We expect UNT to play very well at home in this must win spot and take care of business vs San Francisco. |
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03-28-18 | Cavs v. Hornets OVER 225 | Top | 118-105 | Loss | -107 | 5 h 40 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 225 Cleveland Cavaliers @ Charlotte Hornets, 7PM ET – Look for the Cavaliers to turn the thorough bread horses loose tonight after a ‘grinder’ last night in Miami. That made sense considering the Heat are the 4th slowest paced team in the NBA and 8th best in defensive efficiency ratings. Now the Cavs face a Charlotte team that is average in terms of DEFF and 8th in pace of play. The Hornets have nothing to play for which translates to very little defense and uptempo offense. Offensively the Bugs have put up 111, 140, 102 and 137 points in their last four games. Cleveland is one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA, wait, let me rephrase that. The Cavs are second to last in defensive efficiency ratings, only Phoenix is worse! Cleveland makes up for it though with an offense that is 5th in the NBA in offensive efficiency ratings. After scoring 120+ in four straight games the Cavs managed just 79 last night in Miami. The Cavs have gone OVER the total in 5 of their last six when coming off a loss and this series has played OVER in 4 straight in Charlotte. The number is higher than normal for a reason. BET OVER! |
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03-27-18 | Nuggets v. Raptors -8.5 | Top | 110-114 | Loss | -105 | 5 h 46 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Toronto -8.5 over Denver, Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET The situation clearly favors Toronto here as: 1) They catch the Nuggets off a game last night and are rested themselves. 2) Denver's leading scorer Gary Harris is out. 3) Toronto is coming off a RARE home loss to the Clippers in their previous game. If we look inside the numbers we find that Denver is just 4-9 SU, 6-7 ATS when playing the second night of a back-to-back, which gets magnified without their best player. Toronto off a loss have been fantastic with a 15-4 SU overall record, 8-0 SU at home. When the Raptors are playing at home off a home loss they are 4-0 and those four wins came by an average of 20PPG. Toronto has the best home court point differential in the NBA at +10.3PPG with a 30-7 SU record. Denver has not been a great road team all season long with a 13-24 SU road record and a minus point differential of -3.7PPG. The Raptors are still playing for something as they want the second best overall record in the NBA in case they would meet Golden State in the Finals they would have home court advantage. This one won't be close, lay the points! |
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03-26-18 | North Texas +5 v. San Francisco | Top | 62-72 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 22 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* North Texas +5 over San Francisco, Monday at 10 PM ET on ESPNU UNT is being undervalued in this one. If you look strictly at the records, SF looks like they should be a decent favorite in this game as they are. UNT is 18-17 on the year while San Francisco comes in with a 21-15 mark. The Mean Green are much better than their record in our mind. They played in a tough Conference USA that included MTSU, Marshall, and Western Kentucky who all fared well in their post-season tourneys. Marshall won a game in the NCAA tourney beating Wichita as a double digit underdog and Western Kentucky is set to play in the NIT Final 4. They struggled a bit early in the season with a few key injuries and they were adjusting to a brand new system under new head coach Grant McCasland. They are clicking on all cylinders right now having scored at least 90 points in each of their 3 CBI games with wins coming by margins of 90-77 @ South Dakota, 96-67 vs Mercer, and 90-68 vs Jacksonville State. And the Mean Green were UNDERDOGS in the first two games listed above and favored by just 1 vs Jacksonville State. Even with that they continue to get little to no respect here. While UNT has been breezing through their games including a road win @ a very solid South Dakota team who is power ranked 70 spots higher than San Francisco, the Dons have been squeaking by at home. The Dons have played all 3 games in the CBI at home winning by margins of 4, 5, and 3 points (vs Colgate, Utah Valley, and Campbell). San Fran finished the year with 6 losses at home and in the WCC they were 9-9 but struggled against the upper half of the league. There were 4 teams besides USF that had a winning record overall this season. Those teams were San Diego, BYU, St Mary’s, and Gonzaga and the Dons had a 1-8 record vs those teams this year. Interestingly enough, one of those teams, San Diego, played host to UNT back in mid-December and the Mean Green won by 3. That was at a point in the season when North Texas wasn’t playing particularly well. On the other hand, USF lost both meetings with San Diego this year. North Texas is extremely confident coming into this one and we feel they have a great shot to win this game. Take the points. |
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03-25-18 | Knicks v. Wizards OVER 217 | Top | 101-97 | Loss | -102 | 6 h 35 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: OVER 217 NY Knicks @ Washington Wizards, 6PM ET – This number is set a little higher than league average, but we expect them to score plenty of points to push this OVER the Total. These two teams met a little over a month ago and combined to score 231 total points. In January they totaled 224 so you can see for yourself the reoccurring trend going on. In the Knicks last nine road contests they’ve allowed 111 or more points seven times and those games have given up an average of 118PPG. New York allows foes to hit 48% of their field goal attempts when away from home which plays right into the Wizards hands as they shoot over 48% at home. Washington averages 108PPG at home on the year and will be anxious to score here against this Knicks defense that is one of the 10 worst in defensive efficiency ratings. The Wizards average 1.099 points per possession on offense which is 9th best in the NBA. New York will score here too as they’ve topped 110+ points in 3 of their last five games. The OVER is now 5-1 the last six meetings between these two Eastern Conference rivals. BET OVER! |
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03-25-18 | Duke -3 v. Kansas | Top | 81-85 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 12 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Duke -3 over Kansas, 6PM ET – We know its dangerous to lay points in the Elite 8 but it’s warranted here. Granted, the Blue Devils are off a close win against Syracuse but that was a game played in the 60’s by both teams with limited possessions. That made it much more difficult for the favorite to cover the spread. That shouldn’t be the case today as both Duke and Kansas prefer to play fast, ranking in the top 76 in terms of average possession length. Kansas is coming off a win over Clemson by 4-points, the same Tiger team Duke beat by 8 earlier this season. The Blue Devils key advantage in this match up is on the boards where they rank #1 in the nation in offensive rebounding and they’ll be going up against a Jayhawk D that is 295th in rebounding. The Dukies also have a slight advantage defensively with a top 10 defensive efficiency rating allowing just .939 points per possession. Going back to the regular season, in Duke’s last 8 wins, 7 have come by double digits. On the season the Blue Devils have an average point differential of +15PPG, Kansas is +10PPG. Duke has covered 9 of their last twelve and we like that trend to continue here. Lay it! |
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03-24-18 | Florida State v. Michigan UNDER 143.5 | Top | 54-58 | Win | 100 | 29 h 21 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 143.5 Points - FSU vs Michigan, Saturday at 8:45 PM ET We used Michigan Under the Total on Thursday night vs A&M and obviously we were bitten by some ridiculous shooting from the Wolverines. They hit 61% of their shots including 14 of 24 (58%) from deep. It was simply one of those games for the Michigan offense where everything and everyone was clicking at the same time. Many will look at this number and immediately jump on the OVER after watching the Wolverines put up nearly 100 points by themselves on Thursday. We see it as a chance to catch some value with the UNDER in this one. This total is set higher than it should be because of that recent result. We see no way Michigan comes close to duplicating that shooting performance here vs the long athletic defenders from FSU. Let’s not forget that was the same Michigan team on Thursday night that made just 39% of their shots in their first 2 NCAA tourney games combined. The Seminole defense has been up and down this year, but they are absolutely locked in right now. They have allowed just 37% shooting in their 3 tourney games combined and that includes two games vs Gonzaga & Xavier who rank in the top 15 nationally in offensive efficiency. The Noles rotate 10 players on a regular basis and all are long and athletic and those fresh defenders will make it much tougher for the Wolverines this go around. FSU is a decent, not great, shooting team but they will struggle here vs a Michigan team that ranks 3rd nationally in defensive efficiency. Michigan rarely fouls so FSU won’t be going to the line often. The Wolverines don’t run an offense conducive to getting to the line so they won’t get many freebies either. And when either team does go to the FT line, they are poor (66% & 65%). Michigan is one of the slowest paced teams in the nation but they did attempt to run on Thursday as head coach Beilein obviously saw they could take advantage of a big A&M team that wasn’t good at getting back on defense. Our guess is he won’t want to do that here as FSU is deep and prefers to run. Thus we expect a slow paced game in this one. Again while many will like the Over based on recent results, we think there is a lot that points to this one staying UNDER the total. |
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03-23-18 | Texas Tech +2 v. Purdue | Top | 78-65 | Win | 100 | 33 h 17 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Texas Tech +2 over Purdue, Friday at 9:55 PM ET Wrong team favored here in our opinion. Our ratings had Purdue as a slight 1 to 2 point favorite in this match up and that was with giant Isaac Haas in the line up. Haas is now out with a broken elbow which greatly affects the Boilers on both ends of the court. It makes Purdue, an already heavily reliant 3 point team, even more so. With Haas out, the Boilers have almost no inside threat. Haarms is OK but he’s a freshman and very inconsistent and has only attempted 5 shots in the entire tourney so we can’t expect much from him. The problem then for Purdue is that Tech is a fantastic defensive team (4th in the nation in defensive efficiency) and they also defend the arc very well. In their 2nd round game vs a good shooting Florida team who also relies on the 3 point shot, the Red Raiders held the Gators to 6 of 22 from deep and they pressured UF on 20 of those 22 three point attempts. That means only 2 open threes in the game for Florida. The Boilers are already a shaky rebounding team and with Haas out of the line up that will be magnified. Thus we have Tech with advantages defensively and on the boards. On top of that, the Raiders (17th nationally in defensive turnover percentage) create far more turnovers than Purdue so another key advantage. Tech struggled toward the end of the regular season however much of that was due to their top player, Keenan Evans, being injured. He only missed one of those late losses but was hampered with his injury and limited in minutes in two others. He’s back full strength now and they’ve won 4 of 5 with their only loss coming in the Big 12 tourney by 3 vs a red hot West Virginia team. The return of Zach Smith for the Red Raiders is also key. The 6’8 senior was considered TT’s 2nd best player coming into the season but missed 14 games from January 9th thru February 26th. He’s now been back for 5 straight games, he’s healthy, and his minutes and productivity has been getting better each game. That makes this team much better than they even were during their Big 12 regular season run where they finished tied for 2nd behind Kansas in what many consider the best league in the land. We watch the Big 10 very closely and we saw Purdue start a declined in early February. They went just 3-3 in their final 6 regular season games two of their three wins were tight vs PSU and Illinois. They didn’t look great in the Big 10 tourney struggling to get by Rutgers in round one and getting ousted by Michigan in the semi finals. Last week they shot lights out vs Butler (54% overall and 45% from 3) and still went to the wire in a 3 point win. No way they shoot like that against this defense ranks 14th nationally in eFG% defense. Tech’s athletic perimeter defenders will give Purdue all kinds of problems here. On offense, Tech can score from both levels and with Haas out, that takes away Purdue’s rim protector so the Raiders will have success inside. We think Tech is the better team right now while Purdue is a bit over valued. Take the points here. |
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03-23-18 | Syracuse v. Duke UNDER 133.5 | Top | 65-69 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 7 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 133.5 Points - Syracuse vs Duke, Friday at 9:35 PM ET Syracuse knows the only chance they have in this game is to limit possessions by slowing the game to a crawl. That’s what they do anyway (345th in tempo) so we expect nothing different here. Duke is the much more talented offensive team, however with the Syracuse zone and their length (tallest team in the nation) they will give the Devils problems here just as they did in their lone meeting this season. That game ended with Duke winning 60-44 and that was with the two teams scoring a whopping 40 points over the final 10 minutes. The Syracuse defense did a great job keep the pace slow and limiting Duke’s easy looks as the Devils scored only 0.89 points per possession in that game. The Orange, who are a bad shooting team to begin with (325th in eFG%) were absolutely terrible against the Duke zone. Because of Duke’s length inside, the Orange were forced to try and shoot over the zone and that is not their forte. They are one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the country and made only 6 of 24 from deep that day. Nothing will change here. Syracuse has won 3 games in the NCAA and they have yet to top 60 points! Two of those games vs Arizona State and TCU were against teams who rank outside the top 100 in defensive efficiency. The Syracuse offense will struggle big time here vs a Duke defense that is very good (9th nationally in defensive efficiency). On the other end of the court, the Orange defense is superb (5th nationally in defensive efficiency). In the tourney they have held their 3 opponents to just 56, 52, and 53 points. That’s impressive enough, however factor in the point that all 3 offenses (ASU, Michigan St, and TCU) are top 20 in the country in offensive efficiency and it becomes even more impressive. Duke obviously has a very good offense, however vs slow paced / very good defensive teams in the ACC (Syracuse, Clemson, and Virginia) the Devils and their opponents totaled 104, 123, and 128 points. We see this one with a bit more scoring than their first meeting which hit 104 but not nearly enough to get into the 130’s. UNDER here. |
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03-23-18 | Clippers v. Pacers -3 | Top | 104-109 | Win | 100 | 10 h 53 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Indiana Pacers (-3) over LA Clippers, 7PM ET - We like the home team Pacers here and don't expect this game to be close. Indiana is coming off a really poor shooting night on the road Wednesday in New Orleans, but look for that to change on their home court where they shoot 48% on the year. The Pacers have a +3.2 point differential at home on the year and have covered 5 straight home games as a favorite. Also, the Pacers have cashed in 10 of their last fourteen as a small favorite of less than -3.5 points. The LA Clippers are in a tough stretch here with just 1 win in their last five games which came in their most recent game in Milwaukee on Wednesday. Prior to that the Clippers had lost three straight road contests. Both teams have plenty to play for here as Indiana is fighting for home court in the first round of the playoffs, while the Clippers are fighting just to get in. But in the end, Indiana is 24-13 SU at home and has several matchup advantages over the Clippers that should lead to a double digit win here. |
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03-22-18 | Kansas State v. Kentucky UNDER 138.5 | Top | 61-58 | Win | 100 | 31 h 31 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 138.5 Points - Kansas State vs Kentucky, Thursday at 9:30 PM ET KSU is a slow paced team ranking 303rd nationally in adjusted tempo. Kentucky is middle of the pack tempo wise but they’ve shown they will play fast or slow depending on the game. In their 3 games vs SEC teams that are similar in pace to KSU (Vandy, Georgia, and Mizzou) Kentucky and those opponents averaged 133 points. KSU will absolutely try and play this game as slow as possible to limit possessions which gives them a better chance to win this game. KSU’s defense has been among the best in the nation for the entire year. The currently rank 20th nationally in defensive efficiency and they allowed only 102 points in their first two tourney games. That was impressive as they held a very good shooting Creighton team (10th nationally in eFG%) to a season low 59 points on just 34% shooting. The Cats then shut down a UMBC team to only 43 points on 29% shooting. That’s the same UMBC team that torched Virginia, the best defense in the country, for 74 points a few nights earlier. Offensively KSU has scored only 69 & 50 points and that was against two defense ranked outside the top 100 in efficiency. Even with Wade back in the line up (he expected to play here) we don’t see the KSU offense going off on a Kentucky defense that is much better than the two teams they just saw. Kentucky has had two higher scoring games vs Davidson (151 total points scored) and Buffalo (170 total points scored) however that wasn’t unexpected. Davidson is a great shooting team (11th nationally in eFG%) and Buffalo loves to play fast. Both defenses were also ranked outside the top 100 in efficiency. Thus both teams have yet to see a defense in the tourney ranked inside the top 100 until here and now they each get to face a top 20 type defense. Neither team shoots the 3 particularly well and neither shoots a ton of 3’s. Kentucky made a grand total of 7 three pointers in their first two games while KSU made just 10 in their games. Both defenses are very good at stopping their opponents from deep thus the vast majority of points will come from inside the arc keeping this a lower scoring game. We like the UNDER in this one. |
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03-22-18 | Texas A&M v. Michigan UNDER 136.5 | Top | 72-99 | Loss | -105 | 28 h 20 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 136.5 Points - Texas A&M vs Michigan, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET With two top 10 defenses facing off here we have to side with the UNDER. The Wolverines are ranked 3rd nationally in defensive efficiency while A&M comes in at 10th in that category. Michigan is also a very slow paced team (329th in tempo) and we expect this game to be played in the half court with lots of clock eaten on most possessions. A&M will play either way and when they faced similar tempo teams in the SEC (Vandy, Georgia, and Mizzou) they combined to score 109, 120, 121, and 170 points. Their lone outlier was vs Vandy where they combined to score 170 but remember the Commodores defense ranks outside the top 200 in efficiency and the two teams combined to shoot 56% in that game. The Wolverines have allowed just 110 points in their 2 NCAA tourney games while A&M held both of their opponents under 70 points, including a potent UNC offense. The Aggies are an average shooting team that is not very good from beyond the arc (263rd nationally). They caught fire in their first two games hitting over 50% of their shots in each. Now facing a lock down Michigan defense that hasn’t allowed a team to get to 70 points in regulation since February 11th, we expect the A&M offense to look more like the average shooters they actually are. The Aggies get the majority of their points inside the arc and they do not get to the line very much. When they do they only shoot 66% on their freebies. Michigan is the opposite as they rely heavily on the 3 point shot. The problem is A&M defends the arc very well (20th nationally) and Michigan struggled from deep in their first two games hitting just 13 of their 46 attempts. The Wolverines also get to the line very little and when they do they are worse than A&M making only 65% of their FT’s. We look for this to be a half court grinder staying UNDER the total. |
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03-22-18 | 76ers -8 v. Magic | Top | 118-98 | Win | 100 | 3 h 46 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Philadelphia 76ers -8 over Orlando Magic, 7PM ET - Obviously we are laying a premium price here but it's still the only way to bet this game. Orlando is fighting for the #1 pick in the draft while the Sixers are fighting for the 4th spot in the East which would mean home court in the first round of the playoffs. The Magic are 21-50 and just two games "behind" Memphis and Phoenix for the worst overall record in the NBA. Orlando has lost 7 of their last eight games, including two straight at home by 9 to the short-handed Celtics, and by 7 to the Raptors. Philly has won 4 straight games with three of the four coming by 8 or more points. Orlando has the 8th worst overall point differential in the NBA at minus -4.7PPG. Conversely, the 76ers have the 9th best overall point differential in the NBA at plus +2.6PPG. In the two meetings earlier this season the 76ers won by 11 and 19. Effort will be the difference in this game and it will lead to a double digit win by the visitor. Take Philadelphia! |
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03-21-18 | Western Kentucky v. Oklahoma State -5.5 | Top | 92-84 | Loss | -107 | 8 h 60 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Oklahoma State -5.5 over Western Kentucky, Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET This is an extremely tough spot for the Hilltoppers. They just pulled off an upset @ USC on Monday night coming from 6 down late to pick up the 79-75 win. It was a physically and emotionally taxing game that saw 13 lead changes. Western shot very well making 54% of their shots and 16 of 17 FT’s in the game. We don’t see that happening Wednesday as fatigue will definitely be a factor. Four of the five WKY starters played 32+ minutes in the upset. That game didn’t start until 11:30 PM ET on Monday night and didn’t end until 1:30 AM. The Hilltoppers had to travel from California to Oklahoma and must play just 43 hours after the conclusion of their win @ USC. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, has played both of their NIT games at home and played much earlier on Monday Night. They didn’t play very well on Monday vs Stanford shooting just 35% from the field and making only 12 of their 23 FT attempts (they average 76% from the line as a team this year) and still won by 6 over a solid Stanford team. The Cowboys have 3 seniors on the starting line up who felt they were playing their final home game. That’s because if USC would have beaten WKY, the Cowboys would be traveling to California for this game. Now they get an extra boost emotionally with another home game they were not expecting. They should have a big home court advantage as well in this game. Normally the NIT draws smaller crowds but the OSU fans came out in droves on Monday with 10,000 in the seats which was the largest home crowd of the season for the Cowboys. Another large gathering is expected on Wednesday. OSU has 15 home wins on the season including topping NCAA tourney teams Kansas, Texas Tech, Texas, and Oklahoma here at Gallagher Iba Arena. We really like this Western Kentucky team, however this is a very bad situation for them playing the talented OSU team. Lay the small number. |
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03-20-18 | Thunder v. Celtics UNDER 209 | Top | 99-100 | Win | 100 | 4 h 4 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: UNDER 209 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Boston Celtics, 8PM ET - Our Math Model predicts 206 Total points on this game which is not drastically lower than tonight's line but it's a start in the right direction. Let's first address that the Thunder are off a game against the Raptors on Sunday in which they totaled 257 points. OKC scored 132 but when you look closer you see anomalies, not normality. The Thunder shot 56% as a team overall and nearly 48% from beyond the arc (10 of 21). Both of those numbers are drastically higher than their season average of 45% overall FG percentage and 35% from 3. Expect a return to normal tonight against the league's most efficient defense of the Celtics that allows just 1.037 points per possession. Boston gives up just 100.4PPG at home on the year. OKC is also a top 10 defensive efficiency team (9th) allowing just 1.07PPP. The Celtics are also missing their leading scorer and playmaker in Kyrie Irving and second leading scorer Jaylen Brown (14.1PPG). In their last four games, excluding OT, the Celtics have averaged just 96PPG offensively. With playoff implications for both teams on the line this shapes up to be a defensive struggle. BET UNDER! |
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03-20-18 | Penn State +2.5 v. Marquette | Top | 85-80 | Win | 101 | 6 h 40 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Penn State +2.5 over Marquette, Tuesday at 7:00 PM ET PSU has huge advantages defensively and on the boards which are two keys we always emphasize when handicapping basketball. We’re not talking about a subtle difference. PSU ranks 15th nationally in defensive efficiency. They just held a potent Notre Dame offense to just 63 points on 38% shooting in a 10 points win in South Bend. The Irish, who rely heavily on the 3 just as Marquette does, was held to only 4 three point makes in the game. After the game, Irish head coach Mike Brey mentioned that PSU’s length and athleticism at guard gave his shooters major problems. That will be the same situation here. The Golden Eagles rely as heavily on the 3 point shot as almost any team in the nation. Their guards are small with Rowsey and Howard both standing under 6’0. The Nittany Lions 3 guard line up features Tony Carr who is 6’5, Josh Reaves who is 6’4, and Shep Garner who is 6’2. All 3 are very good defenders and will give the Marquette guards fits in this game. If the Eagles can’t score from deep they are in big trouble and they have very little inside game (332nd nationally in percentage of points inside the arc). Rebounding will also be a key as we mentioned and PSU should dominate there. They are very good on both the offensive and defensive boards and Marquette is weak rebounding team. That should give the Nits plenty of extra opportunities and they should thrive inside vs a Marquette defense that ranks 301st nationally and defending the 2 point shot. The Eagles rank just 176th nationally in defensive efficiency and they’ve held only 8 opponents to under 1.00 point per possession this season. Both teams have won 2 games to get here but PSU’s route has been much tougher beating Temple and home then winning at Notre Dame (the last team left out of the Big Dance) by 10. Marquette has had 2 home games vs Harvard and Oregon (Pac 10 was obviously very weak this year). One of the Eagles key scorers, Sam Hauser, injured his hip in their win over Harvard and was questionable vs Oregon. While he did play, he was just 1 of 6 from the field and had only 5 points. If he struggles with the injury again here, Marquette is in trouble. PSU was the highest rated team in the Ken Pom ratings not to make the NCAA tourney (27th when the brackets were released). We agree this team is very solid. They also get an extra day having beat Notre Dame on Saturday while Marquette played on Sunday. PSU is the much more complete team and we anticipate they’ll pick up a road win here. |
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03-19-18 | Hornets v. 76ers -8.5 | Top | 94-108 | Win | 100 | 4 h 21 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON: Philadelphia 76ers -8.5 over Charlotte Hornets, 7PM ET - Several teams can't afford to relax these days and one of them is the 76ers. Philadelphia is in a tightly contested five-way battle for the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, where just 3 1/2 games separate the current third-place Cleveland Cavaliers from the eighth-place Miami Heat. Of course the big reward is home court advantage if they can finish 4th or higher. This is clearly a bad match-up for the Hornets as they've lost to the Sixers twice this season by double-digits in both games. Charlotte is clearly a team that has cashed it in this season evidenced by their box scores where they are giving extended minutes to bench players. The Hornets have just two wins in their last nine games (3 covers) and those came against the Hawks and Suns who are two of the worst teams in the NBA. Philly is coming off a close win over Brooklyn which serve as a wake-up call for tonight. The 76ers have an average home point differential of +6.3PPG this season. Charlotte allows teams to hit 48% of their field goal attempts on the road this year while Philly shoots 47% at home. Philadelphia is 8-1 ATS their last nine at home versus teams with losing records and while we know we are laying a premium number here, we still feel it won't matter. Take the 76ers! |
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03-18-18 | Marshall v. West Virginia -12.5 | Top | 71-94 | Win | 100 | 12 h 30 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* West Virginia -12.5 over Marshall, Sunday at 9:40 PM ET We used Marshall +12 over Wichita on Friday and picked up an easy win with the Herd winning outright. We felt that the Herd would be able to score vs a Wichita defense that was subpar. We also felt the Shockers were over rated all season long and took advantage of that. This is a totally different scenario. Marshall used a ton of energy in that game just 48 hours ago and played their starters massive minutes. Leading scorer Elmore played the full 40 minutes and 3 other starters played 35+ minutes. They were completely gassed at the end of that game. Now they must play a physical, pressing WVU defense on short rest. A defense that is impossible to prepare for in a short amount of time. We expect Marshall’s “shooting legs” to struggle here having to face constant pressure the entire game with almost no bench to rely on. The Herd are a weak rebounding team (worst in the Dance) and we felt they’d struggle vs Wichita in that aspect and they did. The Shockers were +14 on the boards and pulled down a whopping 41% of their misses. That didn’t hurt Marshall as much as it could have because they were able to hit 47% of their shots. Now with tired legs, as we mentioned, they face a WVU team that is a great rebounding team (4th nationally in offensive rebounding) and the huge rebounding edge will be magnified in this one. We also look for Marshall’s turnover numbers to be high here as they wear down in the 2nd half in this one. The Mountaineers won big over Murray State in their opener and were able to spread out their minutes because of that with only 1 starter logging 30 or more minutes. This line is high but not out of whack as WVU is better than Wichita and laying pretty much the same number. These long time in-state rivals renew their match up which stopped after the 2016 season and WVU logs an easy win here. |
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03-18-18 | Maryland-Baltimore County v. Kansas State -10 | Top | 43-50 | Loss | -113 | 9 h 23 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Kansas State -10 over UMBC, Sunday at 7:45 PM ET The dream ends for UMBC here. This team played WAY above their heads the other night in a win over Virginia. The Retrievers weren’t even the best team in their conference and in fact they were rated the 3rd best team in America East this year. They came from 9 behind late in the America East championship game to beat Vermont at the buzzer. That was a Vermont team that beat UMBC by 15 & 18 points during the regular season. This team caught lightning in a bottle yesterday hitting a ridiculous 54% of their shots vs UVA. The crazy part is, UMBC isn’t even a good shooting team. They rank barely in the top 200 in offensive efficiency and finished 5th in America East in FG%. They very rarely get to the FT line and have all kinds of trouble scoring inside. This team is now in situation they are obviously not used to. They weren’t even expected to be here and now the Retrievers have been thrust into the limelight for the last 48 hours. KSU is another one of those tough teams we really like. The Cats will dominate this team inside and on the glass. They are a very good defensive team that held one of the better offenses in the nation (Creighton) to just 59 points on 34% shooting on Friday in a 10 point win. We have no doubt that UMBC comes back to earth offensively and struggles to score. On the flip side we look for KSU to play very well offensively vs a UMBC defense that ranks 227th in eFG% defense. Let’s not overreact to one game where a team that simply isn’t very good played the absolute best they could possibly play on both ends of the court. They played a grand total of ONE tourney team this year (before UVA) and lost by 25 vs Arizona. KSU dominates this game and moves on to the Sweet 16. |
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03-18-18 | Clemson +1.5 v. Auburn | Top | 84-53 | Win | 100 | 9 h 49 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Clemson +1.5 over Auburn, Sunday at 7:10 PM ET Clemson was impressive yesterday handling a very good NM State team from start to finish and led by 18 at one point in the 2nd half. Many felt the Aggies had a great shot at the upset as the line dropped all the way to Clemson -3.5. This is a veteran team with all upperclassmen in the starting line up. They are tough minded and great defensively (9th nationally in defensive efficiency). We trust them to play well here. Not so much with Auburn. They are a young team that relies very heavily on the 3 point shot. They score very little inside the arc (341st nationally in percentage of points from 2 point range) and won’t here as Clemson is bigger and stronger inside. On Friday vs College of Charleston, the Tigers created 21 turnovers AND took 18 more FT attempts yet still trailed with under 3:00 minutes to go! They won by 4 (we were on C of C) but were not impressive. They played a very weak non-conference slate and while they began the SEC in red hot manner, the Tigers were just 4-5 down the stretch. We expect Clemson to dominate on the interior and slow this game down which is not what Auburn wants. We like the tougher team as a dog here. Take Clemson. |
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03-17-18 | Loyola-Chicago v. Tennessee -5.5 | Top | 63-62 | Loss | -105 | 8 h 41 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Tennessee -5.5 over Loyola Chicago, Saturday at 6:10 PM ET Kudos to Loyola for their win in the opening round over Miami but it wasn't as big an upset as casual fans might think considering the Canes were favored by just 2 points. But now the Ramblers face a Tennessee team that is deep, talented, well coached and could make a run at the Final Four. The SEC is certainly proving a point in the Tourney thus far with a perfect 5-0 record as of this writing. The Vols have played the 6th toughest schedule in the nation and their 8 losses have all come against teams in the Big Dance. Despite playing that brutal schedule the Volunteers still rank 38th in offensive efficiency ratings and 5th in defensive efficiency. In the recent SEC tourney the Vols were favored by 3-points over Arkansas and 2-points over Kentucky so you can see for yourself the value in this line today. Loyola has put together a great season but the Missouri Valley isn't the SEC and they've faced the 132nd schedule. Other than Miami, the Ramblers haven't beaten a team ranked higher than 120th since early December. Tennessee has a huge advantage when it comes to offensive rebounding ranking 37th while Loyola ranks 331st. The efficiency differentials clearly favor the better team from the better conference. Lay the points with Tennessee. |
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03-17-18 | Buffalo v. Kentucky -5.5 | Top | 75-95 | Win | 100 | 7 h 42 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Kentucky -5.5 over Buffalo, Saturday at 5:15 PM ET Buffalo shot lights out Thursday (56% overall & 50% from deep) vs an average Arizona defense. The Bulls made a whopping 15 three pointers vs an Arizona defense that is just 221st nationally at defending the arc. That worked in Buffalo’s favor on Thursday as they rely heavily on the 3 point shot. Now they face a Kentucky defense that allows opponent so shoot only 30% from deep which is 4th best nationally. On Thursday the Cats held Davidson (12th best 3-point shooting team) to just 33% from beyond the arc. If Buffalo can’t score from deep they are in trouble as less than 50% of their points come from inside the arc and they don’t go to the FT line very often. They’ll have trouble getting good looks period in this game as Kentucky is very long at all positions and come in with the 22nd most efficient defense overall. The Cats beat Davidson by 5 yesterday despite not making a 3 point shot the entire game. They were outscored 33-0 from beyond the arc and STILL won by 5. That tells you how much UK really dominated inside outrebounding Davidson 58 to 31! While they won’t have that type of dominance on the boards here, they should still control the glass, especially offensively where they rebound a whopping 35% of their misses (9th nationally). The Cats are a decent 3 point shooting team (35%) so Thursday was a bit of an aberration and we’d expect them to be more diverse here and score both inside and out. UK also gets to the line A LOT (6th best FGA/FTA ratio in the country) and the Bulls will help them with that as they foul quite a bit (296th in defensive FGA/FTA ratio). Buffalo will be a trendy underdog here as people watched them whip an over rated Arizona team, but let’s not forget how well this Kentucky team is playing. They rolled through the SEC tourney and have won 8 of their last 9 games with all but one of those wins coming by double digits. That was in the SEC Championship where the beat a very good Tennessee team by 5, but the Cats had a 17 point lead in that game so it could have been worse. Lay it here with Kentucky. |
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03-16-18 | Providence v. Texas A&M -2 | Top | 69-73 | Win | 100 | 21 h 17 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Texas A&M -2 over Providence, Friday at 12:15 PM ET Providence is a popular underdog here getting nearly 70% of the bets in this game. That’s normally not a good thing. People like to bet favorites and when a dog is getting a high percentage of bets, the numbers don’t speak well for that team. In fact, since 2005, underdogs on the first weekend of the NCAA tourney receiving more than 50% of the bets have cashed in only 40% of the time. The Friars are one of the highest bet dogs on Friday but we like the other side. A&M has better numbers throughout the season and we don’t think it’s a great match up for Providence. Both have played a very tough schedule to the numbers are accurate. Neither team is overly efficient offensively with A&M holding a slight edge. Defensively, the Aggies are far superior ranking 12th nationally in both defensive efficiency and eFG% defense. They are the much better rebounding team as well. The Friars defend the 3 well but are not very good at defending close to the basket. That plays right into A&M’s game as they don’t shoot a ton of 3’s but they are big inside and like to score in the paint. Providence scores at a high rate from the FT line, however A&M doesn’t foul much. The Aggies also defense both levels (inside and outside the arc) very well and they defend the rim with a high number of blocked shots. The lone downside here is Texas A&M is not a great FT shooting team but we don’t expect that to hurt them here as we don’t look for either team to shoot a ton of FT’s in this game. The Friars made a physical and emotional run to the Big East Finals playing 3 OT games in their tourney. A&M has been off since last Thursday after losing by 1 point at the buzzer to Bama. We like the Aggies at this low number. |
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03-15-18 | St Bonaventure v. Florida UNDER 143 | Top | 62-77 | Win | 100 | 32 h 10 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Under 143 Points - St Bonnies @ Florida, Thursday at 9:55 PM ET The Bonnies pulled the minor upset in the play in game and in doing so held the UCLA Bruins to just 58 points, 23 points below their season average. St Bonaventure employed a 1-3-1 zone against the Bruins which limited them to just 50 field goal attempts. We look for them to use the same tactics against the Gators as they simply do not match up with Florida. The Gators were 2nd in the SEC (4th toughest conference) in defensive efficiency ratings and are 27th overall in the nation allowing just .975 points per possession. The SEC is the 22nd slowest conference in the country (out of 32) while the A-10 is the 24th slowest. Florida was the 13th slowest team in the SEC, while the Bonnies were 5th in the Atlantic 10. St Bonaventure was 75th in the nation in defensive efficiency ratings at 1.001 points per possession allowed and that was against a top 100 schedule. Only 7 teams (Cincy, Duke, Syracuse, Kentucky, NC Greensboro, Providence and Auburn) that play a significant amount of zone defense rank higher than the Bonnies in defensive efficiency ratings. Florida played Cincy, Auburn and Kentucky twice and averaged 69.5PPG, 6.5 points less than their season average (also played Duke but the Blue Devils were not playing zone defense at the time). The pace of play and efficiency numbers tell us to bet UNDER here. |
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03-15-18 | Oklahoma +2 v. Rhode Island | Top | 78-83 | Loss | -104 | 44 h 20 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Oklahoma +2 over Rhode Island, Thursday at 12:15 PM ET Many of the national pundits are up in arms about Oklahoma making the tourney as they struggled down the stretch in what turned out to be the toughest conference in America this year, the Big 12. However, what about Rhode Island coming in as a 7 seed? This is a team that struggled down the stretch, played in a much weaker conference, AND was rated 49th nationally by Ken Pom (which is 12 seed range) which is lower than Oklahoma yet they received an at large and a 7 seed? And now the Rams are favored? You can bet with all of the talk about why they should not have received a bid, the Sooners will be very motivated to prove people wrong here. Let’s not forget this team was a top 5 team earlier in the season and beat the likes of Kansas, Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas State, Baylor, and Wichita State this season. Should they have been rated as a top 5 team? Obviously not but they aren’t as bad as the pundits are making them out to be. Yes they struggled on the road in Big 12 play but who wouldn’t vs that schedule? Big 12 home teams were 62-30 on the year and only ONE team in the conference was .500 or above away from home in league play (Kansas). Let’s also not forget this OU team was favored @ Kansas State, @ Oklahoma State, @ Alabama and small road dogs @ WVU, @ TCU, @ Texas, and @ Baylor. And now they are a dog on a neutral court to Rhode Island? The Rams aren’t playing well right now. They lost 3 of their last 5 regular season games, struggled to get by VCU and St Joes in the A10 tourney before getting bounced by Davidson. This is a tough scheduling spot as well for URI playing on Sunday and now an early start on Thursday. We agree that OU looked a bit tired late in the season but they now have had more than a full week off to re-energize. They also have the best player on the court in Trae Young which is always a bonus, especially as an underdog. The Sooners will be motivated, have played the much tougher schedule, and are in a better situational spot. Take the points with Oklahoma here. |
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03-13-18 | Boston College +5 v. Western Kentucky | Top | 62-79 | Loss | -105 | 26 h 21 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Boston College +5 over Western Kentucky, Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET We think this is a very tough spot for Western Kentucky. They were seconds away from the NCAA tournament just 72 hours ago in Texas and now they have to refocus and play a game that they may not be all the excited to be in. Their CUSA Championship game Saturday night was a big disappointment as they were favored by -5.5 vs Marshall but lost by 1 point. WKY trailed by 12 with 3:30 remaining and rallied late and had a chance to win. It was a Marshall team they had beaten twice during the regular season so you know the Hilltopper players were confident they were going to the Big Dance. BC, on the other hand, will be excited to be here. They haven’t been in any post-season tourney since 2011 and after finishing 7-11 in the ACC they knew they weren’t going dancing unless they won the ACC tournament which was not realistic. The Eagles played very well in the ACC tourney beating Georgia Tech by 10, then topping NCAA bound NC State before losing on Thursday to Clemson by 8. BC has now had 5 full days off to rest and get ready for this one which gives them the advantage. Not to mention, they have the best player on the floor in Jerome Robinson (ACC first team) and possibly the 2nd best player on the floor in point guard Ky Bowman. The Eagles have obviously played the much tougher schedule and they have beaten the likes of Duke, NC State, Florida State, Syracuse, and Miami FL. Meanwhile WKY played only 4 teams all season long that made it into the tourney and lost both games to Middle Tennessee State, the only team in CUSA that could come close to making a case for an at large bid. Too many points here as BC should have a great shot to win this game outright. |
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03-11-18 | Texas-Arlington +2 v. Georgia State | Top | 61-74 | Loss | -105 | 3 h 48 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* UT Arlington +2 over Georgia State, Sunday at 2:00 PM ET As most of you know we’ve followed this UTA team very close all year and been very successful on or against them, including our College Game of the Year winner just a few weeks ago against this very Georgia State team. The Mavs are the most veteran team in the Sun Belt and one of the most veteran teams in the entire nation with 5 seniors in the starting line up. After winning the league last year with a 14-4 record but losing in the conference tourney, they had one goal coming into this season. Make it to the Big Dance. They didn’t win the regular season title and seemed disinterested at times despite their talent. That’s not the case now as they are on the door step to attaining their one goal this year and have been playing very well. Yesterday they beat UL Lafayette who won the Sun Belt by a full 4 games with a 16-2 record. UTA lost both regular season meetings to ULL by double digits and then beat them yesterday which tells you how good this team can be when focused. They split their two meetings this year with Georgia State winning by 8 at home and losing by 6 on the road. A few quick take aways from those two meetings. Ga State relies heavily on the 3 and took 60 attempts from beyond the arc in the two meetings. That doesn’t bode well today as UTA defends the 3 pretty well (109th nationally) and with this being their 3rd game in 3 days, Georgia State’s “shooting legs” may not be up to par. Also the Panthers are one of the thinnest teams in the nation ranking 342nd in bench minutes so 3 games in 3 days will be more taxing on this team than many others. Another key takeaway was that UTA absolutely dominated the boards at +26 in their two meetings. That won’t change here. The Mavs also get to the FT line more often on the season and they were +12 in FT attempts vs Ga State. If those 3 things hold true again today, which we believe they will, we have no doubt Arlington will win this game and move on to the Big Dance. |
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03-10-18 | Toledo v. Buffalo -6.5 | Top | 66-76 | Win | 100 | 5 h 27 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Buffalo -6.5 over Toledo, Saturday at 7:00 PM ET Buffalo has been the best team in the MAC from beginning to end this season and we expect them to roll to an easy win and head to the Big Dance. Both are playing their 3rd game in 3 days, however Buffalo has been able to spread their minutes out with two easy wins. On the flip side, Toledo comes into this one having won by 2 on Thursday and by 1 yesterday and their starters logged big minutes in both. Speaking of starters, Toledo’s top player, Treshaun Fletcher (18 PPG), injured his knee 20 seconds into last night’s game and was unable to return. He also tweaked that same knee the night before vs Miami OH so it’s an obvious problem. He’s listed as questionable today and if he doesn’t play the Rockets are in huge trouble. Even if he does play there’s no way he can be 100% if he couldn’t even come back in a do or die tight game last night. Both of these offenses are very good ranking 1 and 2 in the MAC in offensive efficiency. However, the Bulls have a big edge on defense ranking 2nd in the MAC in defensive efficiency to 8th for Toledo. Buffalo is also better on the board and they turn the ball over less. These two met once this year and Toledo shot 54% overall and 50% from 3 point range and STILL lost by 10. Toledo’s Fletcher scored 27 points in that game and was 10 of 14 from the field and they still lost by 10. If he can’t go today it’s over. Even if he can, we still like Buffalo to win this one easily. |
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03-09-18 | Oregon v. USC -2.5 | Top | 54-74 | Win | 100 | 7 h 34 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* USC -2.5 over Oregon, Friday at 11:30 PM ET USC is playing very well as of late and they are in the much better spot here. The Trojans handled Oregon State relatively easily yesterday (13 point win) and were able to get their bearings in their first game in a new venue (T Mobile Arena in Vegas). They come into this game having won 5 of their last 6 with their only loss coming to arch rival UCLA. They have also proven they can get it done away from home going 10-6 this year in road/neutral site games (12-4 ATS in those games). They have beaten the Ducks twice already this year and they catch Oregon in a terrible situation. The Ducks will be playing their 3rd game in 3 nights and they weren’t able to “relax” in either of their first two games as they come from 11 down in the 2nd half to beat Washington State in OT on Wednesday and then again came from 11 down in the 2nd half to nip Utah 68-66 last night. Their top 4 players have played 76, 75, 68, and 69 minutes in those two games Those were two physically and emotionally taxing games in which Oregon was playing from behind for the vast majority of each. That could leave very little in the tank for the Ducks tonight. USC has the better offense (3rd most efficient in Pac 12 to Oregon’s 4th), the much better defense (2nd most efficient to 9th for Oregon), the outrebounded the Ducks in their two meetings (+8), and had fewer turnovers. Those advantages will only be magnified tonight by Oregon’s tired legs so we’ll lay this small number. |
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03-09-18 | Appalachian State v. Texas-Arlington -5.5 | Top | 68-84 | Win | 100 | 17 h 45 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* UT Arlington -5.5 over Appalachian State, Friday at 3:00 PM ET We’ve used UTA a number of times this year with very solid success. They are a very talented team, possibly the most talented in the Sun Belt, that simply underachieved during the regular season. They won the Sun Belt title last year going 14-4 in league play and returned nearly all of the key contributors. They were the favorites to win the conference again this year yet disappointed with a 10-8 record. When motivated this team can be very good and they will be just that here. With 5 senior starters they are set to make a run toward the NCAA tourney after falling short of their goal last year losing to Texas State in the semifinals. The Mavs have hit their stride winning 6 of their last 8 games including a 12 point win over this App State team on February 1st. That was a game in which UTA lost one of their best players (Kaelon Wilson) to injury just 4 minutes into the game. He has since come back and played very well leading the Mavericks to 3 straight wins to close out the season. App State was 9-9 in Sun Belt play but did their damage against the bottom half of the league. Against the top 5 teams in the league (ULL, Georgia State, UTA, Georgia Southern, and Troy) the Mountaineers were just 2-5 with both wins coming at home. UTA, on the other hand, has beaten every team in the conference not name ULL at least once. We’re getting line value here with the underrated Mavs as they were favored by 10 at home vs App State and favored by 4.5 on the road. Arlington takes care of business here and gets the easy win. |
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03-08-18 | Akron v. Eastern Michigan -6 | Top | 58-67 | Win | 100 | 4 h 58 m | Show |
ASA PLAY ON 10* Eastern Michigan -6 over Akron, Thursday at 9 PM ET This is a great spot to play on EMU and fade the Zips of Akron. Eastern is rested, playing well while Akron is off a rare road upset win. The Zips have one really good player in Daniel Utomi who's averaging 16.8 points per game. Utomi poured in 26 points in their opening round upset win over WMU but will have a much tougher time here against an outstanding EMU defense. EMU has way more depth with three players scoring in double figures led by 3rd team All-MAC Elijah Minnie at 16.8 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting from the floor. 1st team All-MAC selection James Thompson IV follows with 15.3 points per game. Paul Jackson rounds out the double-digit scoring, averaging 14.9. In other words, Eastern can get it done from several different guys while Akron relies on one. The Eagles are 5th in the MAC in offensive efficiency ratings while Akron is 10th. On the defensive end of the floor the Eagles have a MASSIVE advantage over the Zips with the #1 ranked DEFF unit in the MAC allowing just .994 points per possession. On the flip side, Akron is 2nd to last in the MAC allowing 1.115PPP. Defensively, EMU limits opponents to 67.2 points a night on 40.7 percent shooting from the field and 35.1 percent from downtown. Akron is the 277th ranked total D in the nation, 301st in EFG% D allowing 54.2%. Eastern comes into this game having won 6 straight games and 9 of eleven. In their last five games the Eagles have some impressive numbers including: +10PPG scoring differential, shooting nearly 52% and allowing just 41.5%. Akron has just 2 road wins all season long with a negative scoring differential of -10.5PPG while shooting under 44% as a team and allowing nearly 50%. Akron knocked off EMU last year in the tourney so expect payback here. Eagles by 10+. |