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Thursday 11-7-19 Free Plays / Trends / Betting Info / Etc
For Thursday’s freebie, we’ll head to the pro hardwood and lay the wood with the Celtics in Charlotte.
Addition by subtraction. We see it all the time in sports, most recently in the nation’s capital, where the Washington Nationals—after YEARS of underperforming in October with Bryce Harper—won the whole enchilada in their very first season without their “superstar” outfielder. Well, we’re seeing the same thing happen in Boston, where the Celtics in the offseason rid themselves of talented but petulant point guard Kyrie Irving and yet are off to a 5-1 start.
In fact, since getting blown out in Philly in their season opener, the C’s have ripped off five straight wins (3-1-1 ATS) while averaging 113.8 points per contest. Now they arrive in Charlotte for the middle game of a three-game road trip, and awaiting them is a Hornets team that plays absolutely zero defense. Here’s the proof to support that claim: Not counting Saturday’s 93-87 win at Golden State against a Warriors team missing Durant, Curry and Thompson, Charlotte has surrendered the following point totals this season: 125, 121, 120, 111, 111 and 120.
Somehow, the Hornets managed to win three of those six contests, but those opponents (Chicago, Sacramento and Indiana) aren’t in Boston’s league. And even still, two of those wins were by a total of three points. When forced to step up in class (like they are tonight), the Hornets have gotten blasted by the TWolves, Lakers and Clippers, losing by respective margins of 22, 19 and 15 points. Chalk up another blowout loss to a superior team tonight, as the Celtics roll by double digits.
The Chargers have pulled to within one game of the .500 mark as they won for the second time in a row over a NFC North opponent when they dominated play in a 26-11 home win over the Green Bay Packers. That win came on the heels of a 17-16 upset win at Chicago when the Bears missed the potential game winning field goal from 41 yards as time was winding down.
Perhaps Anthony Lynn's move to let offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt go was a wise on, as the Chargers under new coordinator Shan Steichen rolled up over 400 yards of total offense in the win. The defense held the Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense to under 200 yards of total offense, and for my money if you can stop the great A-Rod dead in his tracks, you should be able to follow suit against turnover-prone Derek Carr tonight.
The Bolts are getting healthy bodies back, and I like them as the small road favorite tonight against a Raiders team that held off the Detroit Lions last week in their first home game Since all the way back on September 15th! Oakland is now 4-4 for the year, but their defense is still a big question mark to me, as they have allowed 24 points or more in each of their last 3 games and in 6 of their last 7 games overall.
The Chargers have held the upperhand in this division rivalry, as they come into this game off of back-to-back season series sweeps both straight up and against the spread the past 2 years. The Lightning Bolts have also been able to cover their last 4 trips to the Coliseum and are on a current run of 14-5-2 against the spread on the road since the 2017 season.
This game has definite playoff implications for the end of the season, and my feeling is the Chargers are just a little better than the Raiders in pretty much every area, so no issue tonight laying a point or two with the Thursday night road team tonight.
This UL Lafayette team can run the football - 3rd in the nation with right at 288 yards per game averaged.
This Coastal Carolina team has a hard time stopping the run - 80th in the land in rushing defense.
My guess is the Ragin Cajuns are going to try and run the pigskin up and down, left and right, over and under. You name the direction, Lafayette is going to try their hand at dominating this game via their powerful ground attack that is anchored by Elijah Mitchell and his over 700 yards rushing.
This also happens to be a revenge game for the first place team in the Sun Belt West Division, as the Cajuns were on the short side of a 30-28 setback last season at home as the -3 point home favorites.
That revenge angle could well work, as UL Lafayette is the better team on the field tonight, but don't sleep on these Chanticleers who just won a rousing home game over the Troy Trojans last weekend when they capped a 71 yard scoring drive with a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with just 30 seconds remaining to defeat Troy by a 36-35 score to even their mark at 4-4 and get second year coach Jamey Chadwell's team dreaming of the holiday bowl season.
It sure is hard to argue the success Billy Napier has had in his 2 seasons at the helm for UL Lafayette, as they are 7-1 against the spread this season, with the lone non-cover coming against then undefeated Appalachian State, but this seems like an awful big amount of points to be asking the Cajuns to cover under the Thursday night lights away from friendly Lafayette.
Prior to their comeback win over Troy last week, the Chants did play 3 overtimes before bowing by a field goal to the same Georgia Southern team that just handed Appalachian State their first loss of the season. Coastal has the look of a very live dog to me tonight at Brooks Stadium.
Take, take, take the points with the home dog on Thursday.
1. NSA(The Legend) NBA – Celtics -7.5
2. Gameday Network CBB – Troy +7
3. VegasSI.com NBA – Suns -1
4. Vegas Line Crushers CBB – Idaho St over 131
5. Sports Action 365 NBA – Trailblazers +5.5
6. Point Spread Report NBA – Suns under 218
7. Lou Panelli CBB – Troy over 139.5
8. Gerry “Big Cat” Andino CBB – Washington St -2.5
9. VegasSI.com Platinum Info Club NBA – Celtics over 216.5
10. William E. Stockton CBB – Washington St under 141
11. Vincent Pioli NBA – Thunder over 212
12. Steve “Scoop” Kendall NBA – Suns -1
13. SCORE CBB – Idaho St over 131
14. East Coast Line Movers NBA – Thunder +4.5
15. Tony Campone CBB – Troy +7
16. Chicago Sports Group NBA – Celtics over 216.5
17. Hollywood Sportsline CBB – Idaho St +14.5
18. VIP Action NBA – Suns under 218
19. South Beach Sports NBA – Trailblazers +5.5
20. Las Vegas Sports Commission CBB – Washington St -2.5
21. NY Players Club NBA – Suns -1
22. Fred Callahan CBB – Troy over 139.5
23. Las Vegas Private CEO Club CBB – Idaho St over 131
24. Michigan Sports NBA – Celtics -7.5
25. National Consensus Report NBA – Thunder over 212
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