11-12-12

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Heat at Rockets: What bettors need to know

Miami Heat at Houston Rockets (+5, 196)

After losing their first two home games, the Houston Rockets attempt to even their record at the Toyota Center on Monday, when they host the reigning champion Miami Heat. Houston dropped home decisions to Portland and Denver before beginning its three-game homestand with a 96-82 triumph over winless Detroit on Saturday. The victory, which halted a three-game overall skid, came under assistant Kelvin Sampson as head coach Kevin McHale took a leave of absence earlier in the day to deal with a family matter.

Miami is hitting the midway point of its six-game road trip. The Heat began the trek Friday with a six-point victory in Atlanta before being trounced in Memphis on Sunday. Chris Bosh scored a team-high 22 points as Miami never led in the contest, and experienced an end to their four-game winning streak.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Miami), Comcast SportsNet (Houston)

ABOUT THE HEAT (5-2, 4-3 ATS): Miami was blitzed by Memphis from 3-point range as the Grizzlies were 14-of-24 from beyond the arc. Wayne Ellington accounted for half of Memphis' 3-pointers. "They hit a few 3s. Then Wayne got going and hit some back-burning 3s as well," said LeBron James, who scored 20 points on 10-of-19 shooting. "Then they hit a few at the end of the shot clock, too." Dwyane Wade returned from a one-game absence due to an illness and struggled, hitting only 3-of-15 shots.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (3-3, 3-3 ATS): James Harden scored a team-high 20 points and Marcus Morris was 6-of-7 for 12 points off the bench as Houston cruised to the 14-point victory Saturday. Rookies Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas made their NBA debuts, scoring five and three points, respectively. Forward Chandler Parsons has at least one 3-pointer in every game this season. The Rockets, who have lost five straight meetings with Miami, have won a franchise-record 32 straight games in which they hold their opponent under 90 points.

TRENDS:

* Over is 5-1 in the last six meetings in Houston.
* Heat are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings.
* Favorite is 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings.
* Over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

BUZZER BEATERS:

1. The clubs split the first 50 games in the all-time series, with Houston posting a 14-10 record at home.

2. Miami has been held under 95 points twice this season, losing both contests.

3. The Rockets are 3-0 against the Eastern Conference but 0-3 versus the West.

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NCAAB Game of the Day: West Virginia at Gonzaga

West Virginia at Gonzaga (Odds N/A)

Two teams that faced each other in last season’s NCAA tournament square off late Monday night when No. 22 Gonzaga hosts West Virginia in an Old Spice Classic play-in game. The Bulldogs cruised to a 77-54 victory over the Mountaineers in the Round of 64 and have more familiar faces returning than reloading West Virginia. Gonzaga opened its season Friday with a 103-65 trouncing of Southern Utah but knows the Mountaineers will provide a much truer test. “We’ll have to play very, very good,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “It will be a tough one. We are going to have to be at our toughest level.” West Virginia has made the NCAA tournament in each of Bob Huggins’ five seasons as coach.

TV: 11:59 p.m. ET, ESPN.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (2011-12: 19-14): The Mountaineers are mixing three transfers into the mix to deal with the losses of Kevin Jones (19.9 points, 10.9 rebounds) and Darryl “Truck” Bryant (16.9 points) from last year’s squad. Sophomore point guard Juwan Staten (Dayton) will run the offense and 6-foot-10, 250-pound junior center Aaric Murray (La Salle) brings good size to pair with 6-foot-9, 260-pound holdover Deniz Kilicli (10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds). The third transfer is senior swingman Matt Humphrey (Boston College). West Virginia hopes to see improvement from sophomore guard Jabarie Hinds, who averaged 7.4 points last season but shot just 41.9 percent.

ABOUT GONZAGA (1-0): The Bulldogs were hardly challenged by Southern Utah in their opener. Gonzaga forced 28 turnovers and received a big effort from 7-foot-1, 305-pound Polish import Przemek Karnowski, who scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting in his college debut. “He’s got good feet,” Few said. “He’s getting there. It’s going to be a week-by-week process.” Junior guard Guy Landry Edi scored 16 points and junior center Sam Dower added 15 as six players scored in double figures.

TRENDS:

* Bulldogs are 6-0 ATS in their last six home games.
* Under is 4-0 in Mountaineers’ last four road games.
* Under is 4-1 in Mountaineers’ last five Monday games.
* Bulldogs are 4-0 ATS in their last four non-conference games.

TIP-INS:

1. The NCAA tournament matchup marks the only previous time the two programs have met, but Huggins coached against the Zags twice when he was at Cincinnati.
2. Gonzaga has a streak of 15 consecutive 20-win seasons.
3. West Virginia is opening on the road for the first time since winning at James Madison to start the 2003-04 season.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

StatFox Super Situations - FoxSheets

NBA OKLAHOMA CITY at DETROIT

Play Against - Home teams (DETROIT) after 4 or more consecutive losses, extremely tired team - playing their 5th game in 7 days.
81-40 since 1997. ( 66.9% 37.0 units )

NBA OKLAHOMA CITY at DETROIT

Play Against - Home teams vs. the money line (DETROIT) poor foul drawing team - attempting <=24 free throws/game, pathetic team - shooting <=43% with a defense of >=46% on the season.
78-33 over the last 5 seasons. ( 70.3% 36.9 units )
2-0 this year. ( 100.0% 2.2 units )

NBA OKLAHOMA CITY at DETROIT

Play Against - Road teams vs. the 1rst half line (OKLAHOMA CITY) excellent team - shooting >=46% with a defense of <=43% on the season, hot shooting team - 3 straight games making >=47% of their shots.
76-37 since 1997. ( 67.3% 35.3 units )

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StatFox Super Situations - FoxSheets

CBB MOREHEAD ST at MARYLAND

Play Against - Home teams as a favorite or pick (MARYLAND) poor pressure defensive team from last season - forced <=14 turnovers/game, with just two starters returning from last year in the first 10 games of the season.
122-68 over the last 5 seasons. ( 64.2% 47.2 units )
7-3 this year. ( 70.0% 3.7 units )

CBB BUFFALO at FLORIDA ST.

Play On - Any team (BUFFALO) after a combined score of 125 points or less, with 2 more starters returning from last year than opponent.
516-374 over the last 5 seasons. ( 58.0% 44.9 units )
0-1 this year. ( 0.0% -1.0 units )

CBB N DAKOTA ST at INDIANA

Play Against - Road underdogs of 11 or more points vs. the first half line (N DAKOTA ST) after allowing 50 points or less against opponent after allowing 60 points or less.
41-15 since 1997. ( 73.2% 24.5 units )

[Can'tPickAWinner]

StatFox Super Situations - FoxSheets

NFL KANSAS CITY at PITTSBURGH

Play On - Road teams (KANSAS CITY) off a road loss, in weeks 10 through 13
67-31 over the last 10 seasons. ( 68.4% 32.9 units )

NFL KANSAS CITY at PITTSBURGH

Play On - Any team vs the money line (PITTSBURGH) off a road win, when playing on Monday night.
24-7 over the last 5 seasons. ( 77.4% 0.0 units )
2-1 this year. ( 66.7% 0.0 units )

NFL KANSAS CITY at PITTSBURGH

Play Against - Road teams vs. the 1rst half line (KANSAS CITY) after being beaten by the spread by more than 7 points in three consecutive games, team with a losing record in the second half of the season.
37-13 since 1997. ( 74.0% 22.7 units )

[Can'tPickAWinner]

NFL
Long Sheet

Week 10

Monday, November 12

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KANSAS CITY (1 - 7) at PITTSBURGH (5 - 3) - 11/12/2012, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
KANSAS CITY is 13-4 ATS (+8.6 Units) as an underdog of 10 or more points since 1992.
PITTSBURGH is 10-23 ATS (-15.3 Units) as a favorite of 10 or more points since 1992.

Head-to-Head Series History
KANSAS CITY is 1-0 against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 1-0 straight up against KANSAS CITY over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

[Can'tPickAWinner]

NFL

Week 10

Trend Report

Monday, November 12

8:30 PM
KANSAS CITY vs. PITTSBURGH
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Kansas City's last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
Kansas City is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games

[Can'tPickAWinner]

NFL
Short Sheet

Week 10

Monday, November 5, 2012

(TC) Kansas City at Pittsburgh, 8:40 ET ESPN
Kansas City: 9-1 ATS away off a road loss by 14+ points
Pittsburgh: 10-23 ATS as a favorite of 10+ points

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Paul Leiner

100* Chiefs/Steelers Over 40

100* Lehigh -2

50* Fordham +20.5

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Free Silver Key Pick for Monday NCAA Basketball

Iupui +19.5 over MICHIGAN (9 et)

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DAVID BANKS

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The NFL schedule makers must have expected better from the Kansas City Chiefs (1-7, 2-6 ATS) this season, as they make their second straight national TV appearance Monday vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3, 4-4 ATS) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh at 8:35 ET on ESPN. Kansas City has had extra time to prepare for this contest since a 31-13 loss to the San Diego Charger on Thursday Night Football last week, but is that enough to turn around the fortunes of a team that has incredibly yet to play with a lead eight games into the season? The Steelers meantime have now won three straight games after a nice 24-20 road win over the New York Giants last week.

The Steelers winning streak has coincided with them rediscovering their ground game, as after struggling in that area earlier in the year, Pittsburgh is averaging 155.0 rushing yards on an excellent 5.1 yards per carry in the three wins, Furthermore, it has not even mattered who the feature running back has been as the streak started with Jonathan Dwyer rushing for 122 yards and 107 yards respectively in the first two wins and then Isaac Redman rushed for 147 yards last week, all while usual starter Rashard Mendenhall continues to recover from an Achilles injury. Redman will again get the start Monday night vs. a 23rd ranked Kansas City run defense that is allowing 126.0 rushing yards per game on a high 4.6 yards per carry. The success of the running game should allow Ben Roethlisberger to continue his fine season as he ranks 5th in the NFL with a 101.1 QB Rating. Also take note that Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator this year is Todd Haley, who was unceremoniously fired as head coach of the Chiefs last season. Do you think Haley would hesitate to run up the score here?

If you are wondering how the Chiefs have one win despite never playing with a lead this year, it is because their only win came on a field goal in overtime vs. the New Orleans Saints in a game they never led until then. Just about the only thing that the Chiefs do well on either side of the ball is run the football, as they do have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Jamaal Charles, and thus rank third in the NFL in rushing offense at 150.4 yards per game. However, with absolutely no fear of the pass, defenses are simply stacking the box against the Chiefs now, and as a result they are averaging only 98.3 rushing yards and a disgraceful 282.7 total yards over the last three games. Things do not figure to improve vs. a Steelers' team that has now taken over the NFL lead in total defense at just 262.6 yards per game, and they rank seventh in rushing defense at a scant 88.6 yards. It certainly does not help matters that quarterback Matt Cassel has a dismal 31st-ranked QB Rating of 68.9, putting ahead of only Brandon Weeden and John Skelton among NFL starters.

The home teams have gone 4-0 ATS in the last four head-to-head meetings, and the Steelers are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 home games.

Pick: OVER 41

[Can'tPickAWinner]

GamingToday’s Consensus Picks November 12, 2012 6:26 AM by GT Staff

NFL Football

Pittsburgh Steelers -13

Kansas City Chiefs/Pittsburgh Steelers UNDER 41

NBA Basketball

Oklahoma City Thunder/Detroit Pistons UNDER 195½

Boston Celtics /Chicago Bulls OVER 182

Denver Nuggets -4½

Atlanta Hawks +2

Atlanta Hawks/ Portland Trailblazers UNDER 195½

NCAA Basketball

Virginia Tech -13

Iowa -22

Pittsburgh -19½

Delaware -8½

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Andy Iskoe

Monday, Nov. 12

Chiefs +12½ at Steelers (43): It’s hard to believe but the Chiefs have not had the lead at any point in any game this season but for when they led by winning in overtime in New Orleans. Their three road losses have been by 18, 28 and 18 points. KC is averaging just 11 points per game the past month. Steelers offense can be conservative. UNDER .

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Dennis Ball


Monday, Nov. 12

Chiefs +12 at Steelers: I love to bet the dogs and like to go out of my way to find reasons why. For the life of me I can’t find one in this game. The Chiefs have lost five straight and struggled to score double digits in nearly every game. STEELERS.