Both the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks are hoping a few days off will have them fresh and ready for this week’s challenges. They played each other Saturday night and haven’t taken the court for game action since.
Brooklyn is on the road at Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Sixers are still trying to incorporate Jimmy Butler into the mix. Guys who dominate the ball aren’t always welcome additions to a new team, no matter how talented. Philadelphia is coming off a 116-102 Monday night win over Detroit as an 11-point favorite. Butler played only 10 minutes in that game before suffering a groin injury.
The Knicks are in Cleveland to face the fresh faces of the rebuilding Cavaliers. Cleveland lost at Milwaukee on Monday night, 108-92, as 10-point underdogs. The Cavs are 3-6 ATS their last nine outings.
Both the Nets and Knicks will be off Thursday then play again Friday. Brooklyn hosts Washington, while New York visits Charlotte. Then both are off Saturday before playing Sunday. Brooklyn hosts Atlanta, New York visits Indiana. That’s three games in five days for both, but no back-to-backs.
Remember to keep an eye on that “first quarter” trend for Brooklyn that’s still in play. The Nets are 22-6 (79 percent) against the spread in “first quarter” bets through their first 28 games. See if you can spot any substitution patterns or other factors that might be influencing what has been a market-busting performance thus far.
One interesting scenario we want to alert you to in another NBA matchup: Oklahoma City visits New Orleans in the first game of an ESPN doubleheader. Both teams push tempo. New Orleans has played horrible defense this season, which is a very bad idea when pushing tempo!
Russell Westbrook and the Thunder are positioned to have a huge offensive night. OKC won an earlier meeting at home, 122-116, and Westbrook played only 25 minutes. Think about team total or OKC and Over tandem possibilities in this projected track meet.
Wednesday is a quiet night in college hoops because it’s exam week at many schools. But Columbia graces the Wednesday schedule. The Lions visit Boston College, fresh off a 74-72 upset of Iona as a two-point underdog Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. That was the second-straight cover after a 1-4-1 ATS start. Boston College is coming off a 100-95 home overtime loss to Providence as three-point favorites.
Wednesday’s prominent college TV game is LSU at Houston (ESPN2, 9 p.m.). LSU is 2-5-1 ATS its last eight games with one of the win/covers coming over Incarnate Word in a preordained victory. Versus major conference competition, LSU lost and failed to cover vs. Oklahoma State and Florida State in a Thanksgiving weekend tournament.
Houston caught betting markets napping with a hot start. The Cougars scored upsets over BYU (76-62 as a two-point road dog), Oregon (65-61 as a three-point home dog) and Oklahoma State (63-53 as a two-point road dog) on the way to a 5-2-1 ATS mark.
