asawins
Pro Basketball Picks
12/12/2007
6:00:00 PM CHARLOTTE BOBCATS(-5.5)
over Los Angeles Clippers
1* (regular play) Charlotte Bobcats (-) vs Los Angeles Clippers @ 7 ET - The way we handicap, this is a perfect situation for Charlotte. The Bobcats are coming off of an ugly road loss against one of the best teams in the league. That game was on Sunday. As for the Clippers, they are coming off of an upset win at New Jersey last night. That was just the second win for the Clippers in their last ten games. Even though the Bobcats have also been struggling this one sets up very well for them. The Clippers are off of a rare win and playing in a back to back situation. The Bobcats are fired up about bouncing back from a loss and they are also well rested as they have not played since Sunday. In terms of match-ups on the floor, the Clippers are in trouble here. Already without Elton Brand, Shaun Livingston, and Sam Cassell, the Clips saw Quinton Ross take a bad fall in last night's game and he is likely to miss some time now. This further weakens the depth of the Clippers right now. One of the key players for the Clips this season has been Chris Kaman. However, the big man will be tested by Emeka Okafor tonight and that match-up favors the Bobcats. Jason Richardson has added some offensive firepower for Charlotte this season and, certainly, leading scorer Gerald Wallace is going to bounce back from a game in which he scored just three points. The Bobcats had lost seven straight before beating Cleveland on Saturday. They then played the second part of that back to back situation at Detroit on Sunday and got hammered. Coincidentally, the Clippers had also been going through a rough stretch, losing 8 of 9, before last night's win at New Jersey. Now, on the road for the second night of a back to back we see the same thing happening to the Clippers that happened to Charlotte in Detroit on Sunday! This game will turn into a blowout and the odds maker is not "off" at all when the line was set at the Bobcats -5.5 for this game. It may seem hard to lay the points with a 7-12 team but keep in mind that the Bobcats are a respectable 6-5 at home and all the edges are going their way in this one. One final motivational note: the Bobcats are 0-6 in their history against the Clippers. That will most certainly add fuel to their fire tonight. Play Charlotte minus the points as a regular selection.
Pro Hockey Picks
12/12/2007
9:00:00 PM OVER 5 GOALS(5) ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS
-vs- Vancouver Canucks
1* (regular play) OVER the total in Anaheim vs Vancouver @ 10 ET - Similar to baseball, where a total of 7 or 9 carries extra value, we love going over 5 goals in NHL games when the situation is properly set up. In MLB, a 3-3 game with a total of 7 guarantees you are getting no worse than a push as the game, of course, can't end tied. It's the same with a 4-4 MLB game and a total of 9. As for the NHL, we need just two goals from each team to guarantee that we will do no worse than a push when playing over the total of 5 on the ice! In this case, there is every reason to believe that we should see a good number of pucks finding the back of the net in Anaheim tonight. The Canucks #1 goalie, Roberto Luongo, is being bothered by a rib cage injury. We don't expect him to get the starting nod tonight and, in fact, the Canucks called up a goalie, Drew MacIntyre to help back up goalie Curtis Sanford while Luongo recovers. Sanford is a decent goalie but he is no Luongo and we expect the Ducks to put plenty of pressure on him tonight. Anaheim is playing resurgent hockey right now as the news of Scott Neidermayer's imminent retun has triggered new energy on the club. The Ducks have won three of their last four games and there has been an average of 6.5 goals scored per contest. As for the Canucks, they have earned at least a point in three of their last four games and at least five goals have been scored in three of those four games! The Canucks offense has managed just three goals combined in their last two games but that means an extra emphasis on that end of the ice for tonight's game. Vancouver already knocked off the Ducks last month in a 4-0 shutout win. That was some measure of revenge for the Canucks playoff ouster at the hands of the Ducks last season. Needless to say, the Ducks are now looking for revenge from that ugly shutout loss at Vancouver. There is a lot of intensity on both sides when these teams meet because of their past history. That could mean a chippy game with some extra penalty calls leading to power play opportunities on both sides. Note that Ducks goalie J-S Giguere has allowed 3 goals or more in 5 of his last 7 games. With his recent struggles, and the Canucks forced to use a back-up netminder, this one should easily find it's way over the total. Play OVER the total in Anaheim as a regular selection.
