Wednesday 2/1/17 service plays chatter/comps/requests & other stuff...

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Dave Cokin

Bonus Play Wednesday

My Tuesday comp on Manhattan was a disaster. The Jaspers got annihilated in a disgracefully feeble effort at Fairfield. The fact this was a game that drew some sharp dollars only means I beat the closing line, which translated into absolutely nothing. Here’s my Wednesday Bonus Play.

519 CLIPPERS at 520 SUNS 9:05 PM

Take: SUNS +4

Once upon a time, early in the current NBA campaign, the Los Angeles Clippers looked like a true force to be reckoned with. Then came the injuries and in the process, the Clippers have seemingly been reduced to rubble. They’re clearly not very good without Chris Paul, and even worse, there have been way too many games where they’ve seemed resigned to their fate before the game even gets underway.

On paper, the Clippers should be able to handle the lowly Phoenix Suns, and that’s even without the aforementioned Paul. But if you watched even a couple minutes of the Clippers epic disaster against Golden State last time out, I don’t see how a wager on this team can be considered at this point.

The downside is Phoenix is just plain lousy and the Suns have also lost four in a row. But that’s only marginally worse than the Clippers, who’ve dropped four of their last five and have not shown much energy in most of those games.

The NBA regular season is more about effort than anything else, and I actually trust Phoenix more than the Clippers at this point. If that sounds like a dismissal of the job Doc Rivers is doing in motivating his team, so be it. It’s sure possible the Clippers will wake up and play well tonight, but I’d rather not bet on that taking place. My choice in this game will be the Suns plus the points.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Jim Feist

Jim Feist's Comp Pick, Wednesday, February 1, 2017 9:05 PM EST NBA

(519) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS VS (520) PHOENIX SUNS

Take: Over the total

Reason: Your free pick for Wednesday, February 1, 2017 comes in the NBA as the Clippers and Suns hook up in Phoenix. The shorthanded Clippers are getting killed on defense, allowing 144, 121, 105 and 123 the last four games. They end a five-game road trip here and the Over is 15-7 in the Clippers last 22 road games. They face a bad Phoenix defense, #28 in field goal shooting defense, #29 in points allowed (112 pg), on a 35-17 run over the total. They are 16-5 over the total and home and the over is 23-6 in the Suns last 29 vs. the Western Conference. And the Over is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Phoenix. Play LA Clippers/Phoenix Over the total.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Arthur Ralph Sports

Bonus Play: WED Florida St + 2 1/2

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Red Dog Sports

Leeds United vs Blackburn Rovers

Bonus Play LEEDS +135

Leeds is #4 of the 24 teams in the table. They are 16-9-3 (+12 goal difference) while Blackburn is #23 of the 24 teams and is just 6-14-7 (-12 goal difference). Nice value on the road team on Wednesday afternoon.

Leeds 2

Blackburn 1

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Matt Josephs

Seton Hall vs Xavier

Bonus Play Seton Hall

Xavier plays their first full game without Edwin Sumner as Seton Hall comes to town. Sumner was the PG which means a freshman takes over meaning the Muskies have two in the starting lineup. This is a group that will be searching for scoring without him. Trevon Bluiett and JP Macura are still leading the way but Sumner represented a nice chunk to the offense. Tyrique Jones averages just 2.9 points per game while Quentin Goodin adds 3.5. Seton Hall has four double digit scorers and is led by Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado inside and out. Their depth isn't great either, but they still have the veterans to play tough on the road. Seton Hall has lost four of their last five games as they struggled on the defensive side of the ball. Xavier though has also lost four of their last six including a home contest to Creighton. I think the road team is worth a look.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Stephen Nover

Knicks vs Nets

Bonus Play Brooklyn Nets

When you're the Brooklyn Nets, the goals are modest. Beating their cross-town rival and much more glamorous opponent, the Knicks, is a big deal for the Nets. The timing is ripe for Brooklyn to do just that. Surprised by how short this line is? Shouldn't be. New York averages 106.1 points per game. Brooklyn averages 105.8 points and is the superior free throw shooting team. The Nets play hard, get good ball movement and often are unselfish. They just don't play any defense. So the major part of this handicap is a fade on the fading Knicks. New York is at low ebb being a season-worst eight games under .500. The Knicks have key injuries - Derrick Rose is out with an ankle injury and Kristaps Porzingis is questionable after missing last night's loss to the Wizards due to a stomach virus - are racked with internal strife, including distracting daily Carmelo Anthony trade rumors that the New York tabloids play up big and the team carries a major fatigue rating. It's no wonder the Knicks went 5-12 in January. This marks the Knicks' third game in four days. They lost to Atlanta in four overtimes on Sunday and fell to Washington, 117-101, Tuesday night. The Nets are going to bring energy to this game. The Knicks need to dig deep to find any energy and necessary motivation to match Brooklyn's. The Nets' roster is unimposing. But the Knicks' roster is mediocre at best not good enough to beat any opponent without playing at least above average. Injuries have robbed Rose of his one-time stardom, but the Knicks' starting backcourt without Rose is Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee. Jennings has played 90:55 minutes the past three days, while Lee has logged 79:36 during this short time frame. They are going to have problems keeping up with the run-and-gun Nets guards. The Knicks have lost 10 of 11 times when playing without rest going 4-7 ATS. They also have failed to cover the last six times when going against a foe with a below .400 winning percentage. This has been a home series, too, with the host covering the past six times.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Scott Rickenbach

Clippers vs Suns

Rickenbach Free Pick NBA Game #519 Wednesday Los Angeles Clippers (-) @ Phoenix Suns @ 9:05 ET

The Clippers are not only off of a loss, it was their worst defeat in a very long time. Los Angeles got crushed at Golden State on Saturday by a margin of 44 points! They have had 3 days off since then and you can bet that they'll be ready to go here. Even though the Clips have a rematch with the Warriors set for LA tomorrow night, there is no way they're going to look past this game. When professionals lose a game by a 142-98 final, they respond and this is especially true when you're a team that entered that game with a 30-17 record on the season. The Clippers are use to winning and, even though Chris Paul is out, Los Angeles did recently welcome back Blake Griffin. Additionally, big man DeAndre Jordan is likely to own the paint tonight against the Suns Tyson Chandler. The Phoenix big man just got dominated by Memphis center Marc Gasol on Monday and I expect more of the same here. The Suns just are not a very good team. They are 15-33 on the season and only 8-15 at home. As you can see from those records, home court hasn't been a huge benefit for Phoenix this season and the Clippers come in with a fire burning inside them after having to wait a full three days off before having this chance to atone for Saturday's extremely ugly loss. In terms of additional support for this play, note that LA is 16-6 ATS the last 3 seasons and 49-20 ATS long-term when they are a road favorite in a range of 3.5 to 6 points. Also, this is a very small number for the Clippers to cover here so any straight-up win is likely to also be an ATS win and the Suns are only 1-7 SU this season and 13-27 SU the past three seasons combined in divisional games. The past two years in February games Phoenix has gone 4-17 and I don't expect this one to get off to a good start for them either. Lay it! Free Pick on the Los Angeles Clippers minus the short number Wednesday. Best of luck, Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Scott Spreitzer

New Mexico vs UNLV

Bonus Play New Mexico

I'm laying the points with New Mexico on Wednesday night. We have played against UNLV at home a few times this season with success. They are in a tough spot in this particular case. The Lobos will be in revenge of a horrible loss at home on January 10. New Mexico led 37-31 at the half and while looking a little sluggish, it still appeared they'd win going away over the final 20 minutes. But UNM had two long cold streaks in the second half, including scoring just 11 points over the final 10+ minutes of game time allowing the Rebels to pull off the 71-66 upset as an 11-point dog. New Mexico has won four of five since then and will have to go without Tim Williams, who is sidelined by a foot injury. I do believe that's a loss that could certainly haunt them later, but tonight, I expect Williams' absence to pull the team together against a beatable opponent. The Lobos are off a loss at Reno, a game where the Wolf Pack couldn't miss a shot. That's not likely going to be the case from a UNLV team that ranks 332nd in FG percentage and 241st from behind the arc. UNLV is nearly as bad on the defensive end, while the Lobos have made more than 47% of their FGA. UNM aims well at the FT line and that should be a plus for us, also. New Mexico has covered seven of the last 10 meetings in Las Vegas, while UNLV has covered just five of their last 21 conference games. We'll back New Mexico minus the short points, even without Tim Williams. Thanks & GL! Scott Spreitzer.