Monday 3/27/17 service plays chatter/comps/requests & other stuff...

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Jack Brayman

My free pick for Monday is on the Utah Jazz, at home against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Though Utah clinched a playoff spot last night, it cannot afford to sleep on that berth, as it is clinging to a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in the battle for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.

See, the Clippers own the tiebreaker over Utah, after winning the season series 3-1, including a 108-95 win on Saturday. The last thing the Jazz want is to give the Clippers an edge, as Los Angeles has won 18 of the last 20 meetings. And if the two meet in the postseason, the Jazz will want homecourt advantage.

The Pels were in Denver last night, and could come in a bit winded after playing in the Mile High City last night, and now having to play in high-altitude Salt Lake City.

The Jazz won both previous meetings with New Orleans this season, and will make it three in a row tonight.

5* JAZZ

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

ASA

Magic vs. Raptors
Play: Raptors -7

We like the value with the Toronto Raptors at home minus (-7) over the visiting Orlando Magic. Tipoff is 7:35PM ET. VALUE...the line opened on this game a full 2-points higher than it currently sits and should have opened higher yet in our opinion. Early in the season the Raptors were -11 at home over Orlando and most recently (Feb 3rd) they were minus -5-points at Orlando. Now they are laying just a few more points on their own court? Toronto has the 6th best home court point differential at +7.7PPG with a 24-12 SU record. The Raps are on a 5 game winning streak and are getting it done on the defensive end of the court by holding 4 of those opponents to 91 or less points. Toronto is 6-2 SU their last 8 at home with the two losses coming to Oklahoma City and Washington who are both far superior to the Magic. Orlando has been a huge disappointment this season with a 12-24 SU road record and the 3rd worst road point differential of minus -8.1PPG. Orlando has offensive and defensive efficiency ratings that rank in bottom 10 of the league when playing away from home. The Magic have won 3 of their last four games but look at who those W's came against, Phoenix, Philly and a struggling Detroit team that has just 1 win in their last seven games. The Magic are just 2-8 SU their last ten road games and one of those victories was in Phoenix recently who has cashed in this season. Five of Orlando's last 8 road losses have come by double digits.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Carmine Bianco

Predators at Islanders
Play: Over 6

This total hung around 5.5 earlier in the day and has now settled at where I believe it should be. Expecting these sides to get past this total on Monday night. Last 4 have averaged 7 GPG and tonight's shouldn't be any different. I'm leaning on a Nashville win but the Islanders won't go down without a fight tonight so it's the Total for me.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Buster Sports

Detroit Pistons at New York Knicks
Play: Detroit Pistons -2.5

The Pistons are in a dogfight for a playoff spot and tonight they get to play the slumping Knicks. Now the Pistons have been playing some terrible basketball of late but they still are only one game back of eighth-place Miami for the final playoff spot. Detroit has 9 games left and one of those are against the Heat. Tonight is time for them to get back on track as they face a New York club who has lost 8 of their last 9 games. At the time of this writing Carmelo Anthony is still questionable for the Knicks. The Pistons have beaten the Knicks two out of 3 times this year

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

OC Dooley

Wyoming -1

This is the opener of the CBI Tournament Championship series which uses a best-of-three format. One can argue tonight's game is critical for Coastal Carolina as this is their ONLY home appearance in the championship set. Despite Wyoming in true road games struggling all season (4-11 record) the OFFSHORE number (opened at most locations at a virtual pick-em) has moved in their direction which has caught my attention. While Wyoming has only 18 offensive rebounds in 3 different CBI tournament games (all at home), Coastal Carolina averages 12 offensive boards per contest so the offshore spike "against" them to me speaks volumes. It should be noted that Wyoming on the season is an outstanding 11-3 ATS on "non" conference setups like tonight