Handicapper Profile

#684 Wisconsin Badgers -5 (4:00 est) CBS

 

Give me the Badgers here since they are playing very well in conference play and they are very strong on the defensive side of the court.  Ohio State is only 5-4 SU in Big 10 play and they are smarting from a last second loss to Purdue in their last game.  Wisconsin is at home they are playing better and they are motivated by the national TV cameras.  Have to love the Badgers here.   

#532 Indiana Pacers -4 (7:05 est)

 

Give me the Pacers here since they are going to be much better than their last game since that game was their first home game off of a long road trip.  They will be more settled here and super motivated to make up for that bad home loss.  Orlando squeaked out a win on Wednesday to end their losing streak so no sense of urgency for the Magic here as the continue on a long road trip.  Take the Pacers here as the play of the day.

#525 New York Knicks (10:00 est)

 

Love the Knicks here since all the talking heads just keep dumping on the Knicks but they are playing reasonably good basketball right now sitting at 7-8 SU on the season and 4-4 SU on the road.  Golden State is 7-6 SU on the season so not significantly better than the Knicks and the New Yorkers are giving up a full 13 fewer points per game than the Warriors.  Take the Knicks and the points here as the play of the day from Jeffrey.

#512 Toronto Raptors (7:35 est)

 

Have to love the Raptors here since they are on a nice roll right now winning 3 straight games all at "home" which for them is Florida this season.  They will be fired up for a win against the Heat since Miami was the Eastern team in the Finals last season.  The Heat are really struggling this season - especially on the road with only 1 SU win away from Miami.  Their defense has been super awful lately and they are not going to be able to fix that problem quickly.  Take the Raptors here. 

#640 Pittsburgh Panthers +2 (9:00 est) ESPN

 

Love the Panthers here as a home underdog since this is not a vintage Duke team and everyone knows it.  All their opponents will be super fired up for their shot to stick it to a Duke team that usually beats them all day long.  Look for Pitt to bring a full effort here and they are playing very well lately winning 4 of their last 5 SU and they only have 1 SU loss in conference play.  These teams are pretty equal on offense but on defense the Panthers are giving up 6 points fewer per game than Duke.  Play Pitt here as the play of the day. 

#561 Dallas Mavericks (7:30 est)

 

Love the Mavs here since they are much better defensively giving up a full 7 points per game less than the Raptors.  Dallas is going to be in a bad mood after getting beat by 16 points on Sunday by the Bulls - look for a much more focused effort from them here.  The Raptors are 4-8 SU on the season with their wins for the most part coming against weak competition.  Look for Dallas to get this cover here as the play of the day. 

#306 Kansas City Chiefs -10 (3:05 est) CBS

 

Only one way to look here since the Chiefs have a ton of advantages here.  Kansas City has the benefit of a week off, they got to watch the games last week and could start prepping while Cleveland was busy celebrating their first playoff win in a very long time.  KC QB Mahommes knows how to win big playoff games, no way Cleveland QB knows how to do that since he has not yet done it outside of last week.  No way Cleveland is going to get a TD on the first play this week and no way they are going to have a 28 point lead.  Have to go against the team that just did something they haven't done for quite a long time and with the team with Super Bowl winning experience and a week off.   

#301 - #302 Los Angeles Rams - Green Bay Packers UNDER 45.5 (4:35 est) FOX

 

Love the under here since the Rams are a double punch of under.  They are in a series problem at the QB position with Goff's injured thumb and their backups health in question as well.  On the other side of the ball the Rams defense is the best in the league and they can actually get some pressure on Rodgers.  Green Bay has a good offense but they could be tempered by the January Green Bay weather and if the Packers have the lead in the 2nd half they will be more interest in running clock than in scoring more points.  Go under this total to win with Jeffrey's play of the day.  

#503 - #504 New York Knicks - Cleveland Cavaliers UNDER 196.5 (7:30 est)

 

Love the low side of the total here since neither of these teams can score all that much - especially in today's NBA.  The Knicks are barely scoring 100 points per game and the Cavs are scoring fewer than 100 points per game.  Their defenses have both been pretty serviceable as well.  Now throw in the injuries that both teams have an a ton of bench players will see significant minutes.  Lots of reasons to love the low side of this total here. 

#574 Denver Nuggets -5 (10:00 est) TNT

 

Jump on the Nuggets here since they will be extra focused on getting a win at home due to their rough start so far on their home court.  The Nuggets have been playing very well lately and they have the better stats than the Warriors as far as points per game scored and given up.  Golden State is playing well right now but they are living off of home cooking and now they have to hit the road in what has typically been a tough road venue for teams.  Take the Nuggets here as the play of the day.