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**Udog** · 01-04-2018, 08:38 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

— Tulsa 90, UConn 88 2OT— Huskies are 7-7; natives must be restless.

— Drake 87, Illinois State 62— Experienced Bulldogs are 3-0 in the Valley.

— Kentucky 74, LSU 71— Wildcats won first two SEC games by total of 8 points.

— Georgia Tech 64, Miami 54— Hurricanes’ travel schedule caught up wth them.

— South Dakota State 87, North Dakota State 80— Solid road win for the Jackrabbits.

— Three of seven games in the Atlantic 14 last night went to overtime.

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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud…..

13) Marquette 95, Providence 90 OT— People are going nuts about Oklahoma freshman Trae Young- he is really, really good, but Marquette sophomore Markus Howard is really good too, and he’s six months younger than Young, having given up his senior year of high school to enroll in college a year early.

Howard scored 52 points for Marquette last nite in this win at Providence; he was 11-19 on the arc, and is 45-45 on the foul line this season.

12) ESPN apparently wants to hire Alex Rodriguez for Sunday Night Baseball, but A-Rod wants to dictate who the play-by-play guy will be, which is holding up his signing with ESPN.

11) 37 of the top country’s 50 TV broadcasts in 2017 (74%) were NFL games, so maybe ratings for NFL games have gone down, but they’ve gone down less than everything else on TV.

10) Quote of the Day, Part 2:

“I’m tired of being quiet. I’m sick of watching people bash my child but if he suited up tomorrow he’d be the next coming of Jesus Christ to you guys. Enough is enough. Be a fan, be supportive, be empathetic or just be quiet until the NCAA does what they have to do.”

Nicole Player, whose son is Billy Preston, a Kansas recruit who is ineligible for now because of questions about a car he was driving when he got into an accident

9) Green Bay Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy will be squarely on hot seat next year, seeing as the team has gotten ridden of lot of other people since their season ended Sunday.

Packers “re-assigned” (fired) their GM, fired both coordinators and their QB coach. When Aaron Rodgers gets hurt, people get fired.

8) Nick Saban is 11-0 when coaching against a former assistant, with all the wins by 14+ points; Monday night is his first game against former assistant, Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

Of the other 13 teams in the SEC, five are coached by former Saban assistants.

7) The 12 NHL regular season games with the all-time best TV ratings were all outdoor games.

6) In the CFL, Hamilton Tiger-Cats traded QB Zach Collaros to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, which clears the way for the Ti-Cats to sign Johnny Manziel, which should be interesting.

5) April 17 will be the 50th anniversary of the A’s first game in Oakland; they’re giving away all 50,000 seats that night, for the A’s-White Sox game.

4) QB’s Sam Darnold/Josh Rosen both declared for the NFL Draft Wednesday; if the Raiders hire Jon Gruden, ESPN needs to find another QB guru to “interview” these QB prospects before the draft, the way Gruden did the last few years— it was his best TV work.

3) Florida State 81, North Carolina 80— Seminoles snapped a 7-game skid against UNC; they were up 11 at the half, hung on for the win.

2) Oklahoma 109, Oklahoma State 89— Sooners made 15-27 on the arc; Lon Kruger coached in the NBA and he has an NBA-level talent in freshman guard Young.

1) LSU’s defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is staying in Baton Rouge; he’ll be making $2.5M a year for the next four years. Thats $2.5M a year for an assistant football coach. Wow.

**Udog** · 01-04-2018, 08:50 AM

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, January 4

Warriors won seven of last ten games with Houston; they covered last three visits here. Under is 6-2 in last eight series games. Golden State won 15 of its last 17 games; they’re 8-10 vs spread on road. Three of their last four games went over total. Warriors are 3-3-1 vs spread if they played night before. Houston won its last two games after a 5-game skid; they’re 8-11 vs spread at home. Under is 3-1-1 in their last five games. Rockets are 1-4 vs spread if they played night before.

Thunder won five of last seven games with the Clippers; they’re 1-3 vs spread in last four series games played here. Over is 5-2 in last seven series games. Oklahoma City won seven of its last nine games; they’re 3-11 as road favorites. Three of their last four games went over. Thunder is 3-3 vs spread if they played night before. Clippers won six of their last seven games- they’re 11-7 vs spread in Staples. Five of their last six games went over total.

NBA

Thursday, January 4

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Trend Report
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GOLDEN STATE @ HOUSTON
Golden State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Golden State is 15-2 SU in its last 17 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games when playing at home against Golden State

OKLAHOMA CITY @ LA CLIPPERS
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Oklahoma City's last 7 games when playing on the road against LA Clippers
Oklahoma City is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
LA Clippers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games at home
LA Clippers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

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**Udog** · 01-04-2018, 09:50 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, January 4

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GOLDEN STATE (30 - 8) at HOUSTON (27 - 9) - 1/4/2018, 8:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 8-4 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
GOLDEN STATE is 10-3 straight up against HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
8 of 13 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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OKLAHOMA CITY (21 - 17) at LA CLIPPERS (17 - 19) - 1/4/2018, 10:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 14-23 ATS (-11.3 Units) in all games this season.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 11-23 ATS (-14.3 Units) as a favorite this season.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 29-49 ATS (-24.9 Units) in road games after scoring 115 points or more since 1996.
LA CLIPPERS are 94-63 ATS (+24.7 Units) in home games in January games since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
OKLAHOMA CITY is 5-4 against the spread versus LA CLIPPERS over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA CITY is 6-3 straight up against LA CLIPPERS over the last 3 seasons
4 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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**Udog** · 01-04-2018, 01:07 PM

NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, January 4

Golden State @ Houston

Game 501-502
January 4, 2018 @ 8:05 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Golden State
131.737
Houston
122.612
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Golden State
by 9
225
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Golden State
by 3 1/2
230
Dunkel Pick:
Golden State
(-3 1/2); Under

Oklahoma City @ LA Clippers

Game 503-504
January 4, 2018 @ 10:36 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Oklahoma City
123.773
LA Clippers
119.402
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Oklahoma City
by 4 1/2
219
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Oklahoma City
by 1
213
Dunkel Pick:
Oklahoma City
(-1); Over

**Udog** · 01-04-2018, 01:32 PM

NBA

Thursday, January 4

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NBA Game of the Day: Warriors at Rockets betting preview and odds
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Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets (+4.5, 229.5)

The two best teams in the Western Conference share the floor Thursday but one of the game's top talents won't be in uniform. The Golden State Warriors aim to win their ninth consecutive road game when they visit Houston, but Rockets star guard James Harden will miss his second straight game because of a hamstring injury.

Harden could end up missing the rest of the month and the absence of the NBA's leading scorer at 32.3 points per game certainly removes a little luster from the contest. Houston has owned the best record in the NBA for a good chunk of the season but a recent five-game slide allowed the Warriors to overtake leadership. The Rockets cruised to a 116-98 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday without Harden, while Golden State needed a 3-pointer with three seconds left from point guard Stephen Curry to record a 125-122 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Curry is averaging 35 points on 24-of-36 shooting -- including 16-of-26 from 3-point range -- in the past two games after missing the previous 11 contests because of an ankle injury.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, TNT

LINE HISTORY: The Warriors opened as 4-point road favorites but that number has been bet up slightly to 4.5. The total hit betting boards at 228 and has been bet up to a massive 229.5.

INJURY REPORT:

Warriors - SG A. Iguodala (Questionable, Back), SF O. Casspi (Questionable, Back).

Rockets - C O. Nene (Questionable, Knee), C C. Onuaku (Out Indefinitely, Nose), PF L. Mbah a Moute (Mid Jan, Shoulder), SG J. Harden (Mid Jan, Hamstring), SF T. Williams (Out Indefinitely, Knee).

POWER RANKINGS: Warriors (-14.2) - Rockets (-11.3) + home court (-3) = Rockets -0.1

MATCHUP CHART:

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (30-8 SU, 17-21 ATS, 19-19 O/U): Golden State has allowed its two highest point totals of the season in the past two games and coach Steve Kerr was displeased with his team's lack of discipline against Dallas. "It was like grade-school the last few minutes, it really was," Kerr told reporters afterward. "But Steph made the huge shot, Draymond set the great screen and we were able to come away with it but some of the lack of focus was astounding." Curry scored 32 points, while forward Kevin Durant and shooting guard Klay Thompson each scored 25 points against the Mavericks.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (27-9 SU, 17-18-1 ATS, 18-17-1 O/U): Journeyman Gerald Green received 28 minutes of playing time in his fourth game with the squad and went 7-of-10 from 3-point range and scored 27 points against Orlando. "Chris (Paul) did a great job of getting me going early," Green told reporters while referring to the team's point guard. "My rhythm felt really good and I was able to knock down shots. Everybody knows we can score, but people underestimate that when we do lock down (on defense), we lock down." Green's offense was needed on a night in which Paul (eight points on 3-of-13 shooting) and Eric Gordon (17 on 5-of-16 shooting) shot a combined 27.6 percent from the field.

TRENDS:

* Warriors are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. NBA Southwest.
* Rockets are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
* Under is 5-1 in Warriors' last 6 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Over is 8-1 in Rockets' last 9 vs. Western Conference.
* Warriors are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Houston.

CONSENSUS: 72 percent of the spread wagers are on the road favorite Warriors while 61 percent of the totals selections are on the Over.

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Thursday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 1/4

Thursday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 1/4

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