Cnotes 2020-2021 nba trends, news, best bets and opinions thru the playoffs !

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

IND at CLE 07:00 PM
IND -6.5..........114 - 111
U 218.5...............LOSER

UTA at PHI 07:00 PM
PHI +3.5..........123 - 131.....WINNER
O 228.0..................WINNER

DET at TOR 07:00 PM
TOR -6.5...........129 - 105
O 212.5...................WINNER

BK at HOU 07:30 PM
BK -9.5............132 - 114.....WINNER
O 228.5....................WINNER

CHA at MIN 08:00 PM
CHA -1.0
U 232.5

CHI at NO 08:00 PM
NO -5.5..............128 - 124....LOSER
O 237.0...................WINNER

ATL at ORL 08:00 PM
ORL +3.5.........115 - 112.......WINNER
O 219.0...............WINNER

OKC at DAL 08:30 PM
OKC +5.0.............78 - 87
O 223.0.................LOSER

GS at POR 10:00 PM
POR +2.0........106 - 108...WINNER
U 234.5............WINNER

LAL at SAC 10:00 PM
SAC -4.0........120 - 123.....LOSER
O 225.5



NBA DAILY RECORD BEST BETS:

Mar. 03............10 - 4...........71.42%............+28.00
Mar. 02.............4 - 6............40.00%............-.13.00
Mar. 01.............5 - 4............55 .55%...........+ 3.00

Totals..............19 - 14...........57.57%%........+12.00


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Feb. Best Bets Totals:..........144 Wins..........141 Loses.......50.52%........-57.50

Jan. Best Bets Totals:............64 Wins..........65 Loses.........49.61%........- 41.00

Dec. Best Bet Totals:.............4..Wins.......... 6,Loses.........40%.............- 13.00

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

Odds for this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational:
17-2— Rory McIlroy
12-1— Viktor Hovland
13-1— Bryson DeChambeau
17-1— Tyrrell Hatton
21-1— Patrick Reed, Sungjae Im
23-1— Matthew Fitzpatrick

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 518,900
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.


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Armadillo: Thursday's Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..

13) If the month of March goes anything like the Horizon League tournament, this could quite an interesting month. Here’s a summation of Tuesday’s quarterfinals:

— Milwaukee 94, Wright State 92, OT— #1-seed Raiders led by 24 with 6:26 left, but lost.
— Cleveland State 108, Fort Wayne 104, 3OT— Vikings were down 5 in second OT.
— Northern Kentucky 70, Detroit 69— Norse scored last six points of the game.
— Oakland 89, Youngstown State 83, OT— Four Oakland starters played 40:00+.

Three overtime games; the fourth game ended 70-69.

12) Villanova 72, Creighton 60— Villanova star Collin Gillespie suffered “a serious knee injury” and is likely out for the season. Huge blow for a team whose bench plays minutes #329. Not a lot of depth there.

As for Creighton, coach Greg McDermott urged his players to “stay on the plantation” in a postgame locker room talk after a 77-69 loss at Xavier Saturday. People in the Creighton program were offended by the word “plantation”

Deeply offended.

11) Oregon State 75, Utah 70— For the first time in 18 years, Beavers have won three consecutive Pac-12 road games. Picked for last in preseason polls, Oregon State is in 6th place.

10) Oregon 82, UCLA 74— Things I learned from listening to Bill Walton:
— The city of Eugene, OR was founded by a guy named Eugene Skinner
— Mr Skinner was born in Essex, NY, a long way from Oregon.
— His brother was assistant postmaster under President Andrew Johnson.

9) St John’s 81, Providence 67:
— Friars led by 11 at the half, but scored only 26 points in 2nd half.
— St John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000; they’ve only made the tournament four times since then. They probably won’t make it this year, either.

8) Northwestern 60, Maryland 55— This is NOT the way to impress the Selection Committee. Terps have a win over Illinois, one over Wisconsin and not much else. They’re 4-10 in games against teams ranked in the top 50.

7) Mississippi State 63, Texas A&M 57— Aggies didn’t play a game in February; they ended their 32-day pause here and shot 4-25 on the arc.

6) Spring training means preparing for fantasy baseball; got queasy last night when I read that over the last two years, Giancarlo Stanton has played in 41 of his team’s 226 games. Not good.

Then I remember that Stanton knocked in 13 runs in seven playoff games last year, and I feel a little better. My team needs Stanton to be healthy; can only imagine what the people who pay his $30M+ salary are thinking.

5) Astros’ starting P Framber Valdez broke the ring finger on his pitching hand when fielding a comebacker Tuesday. Valdez was 5-3, 3.57 in 10 starts LY, striking out 76 and walking 16 in a team-high 70.2 IP.

4) 76ers 131, Jazz 123, OT: Quote of the Day, part 2, from Utah star Donovan Mitchell:

“Now, I’m never ever one to blame a ref, to blame an official — I can say I could have done more — but this is getting out of hand. There have been games like this that we’ve won; there have been games like this that we’ve lost. But this whole refereeing stuff. … We’re nice, we don’t complain, like, we don’t get frustrated, we fight through things, and the fact that we continually get … screwed, in a way, by this. You know?”

3) There is going to be a lot of cost-cutting in the NFL the next few weeks, as teams try to stay below a salary cap that may be going down some this season. New Jersey Giants cut WR Golden Tate

2) Was eerie seeing Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego getting dismantled last week; lot of history in that stadium- Super Bowls, the Holy Roller play, lot of Padres/Aztecs games. Dan Fouts became famous in that stadium, and now it doesn’t exist.

1) Get well soon to Aaron Boone, who took a medical leave of absence after having surgery Wednesday to get a pacemaker. The 47-year-old Boone had open-heart surgery in 2009; he is expected to be back with the team in a few days.

In his absence, Carlos Mendoza is the interim manager.

[StarDust Bum]

551DENVER -552 INDIANA
INDIANA is 0-7 ATS (-7.7 Units) in home games versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing <=14 turnovers/game in the current season.

553MILWAUKEE -554 MEMPHIS
MEMPHIS are 21-5 ATS (15.5 Units) in home games off an upset win of 10 points or more as a road underdog since 1996.

555OKLAHOMA CITY -556 SAN ANTONIO
SAN ANTONIO is 45-16 ATS (27.4 Units) revenging a road loss vs opponent in the last 3 seasons.

557MIAMI -558 NEW ORLEANS
MIAMI is 56-37 ATS (15.3 Units) versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing <=14 turnovers/game in the last 3 seasons.

559SACRAMENTO -560 PORTLAND
PORTLAND is 13-5 ATS (7.5 Units) when the total >=230 in the current season.

563DETROIT -564 NEW YORK
NEW YORK is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) after 2+ road games in the current season.

565GOLDEN STATE -566 PHOENIX
GOLDEN STATE is 37-53 ATS (-21.3 Units) versus good shooting teams - making >=46% of their shots in the last 3 seasons.


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NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, March 4

Toronto @ Boston
Raptors (17-18)
— Toronto lost three of its last its four games.
— Raptors are 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games.
— Last three Toronto games went over the total.
— Toronto was missing five guys for last night’s game.

Celtics (18-17)
— Boston won its last three games SU.
— Celtics are 11-5 ATS at home this season.
— Over is 6-2 in last eight Boston games.

— Celtics won four of last five series games.
— Raptors are 2-2 ATS in last four visits to Boston.
— Three of last four series games went over.

LA Clippers @ Washington
Clippers (24-13)
— Clippers lost five of their last eight games overall.
— Clippers are 2-4 ATS in last six road games.
— Under is 4-2 in their last six games.

Wizards (13-20)
— Wizards won seven of their last ten games (8-2 ATS)
— Washington is 4-1 ATS in its last five home games.
— Over is 6-3 in their last nine home games.

— Clippers won four of last five series games.
— LA is 2-2 ATS in last four visits to Washington.
— Over is 9-1 in last ten series games.

Denver @ Indiana
Nuggets (20-15)
— Denver is 8-4 in its last 12 games overall.
— Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in last five road games.
— Over is 4-2 in Denver’s last six road games.

Pacers (16-18)
— Indiana lost nine of its last 13 games.
— Pacers are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 home games.
— Over is 6-1-1 in Indiana’s last eight games.

— Denver won five of last eight series games.
— Nuggets are 3-2 ATS in last five visits to Indiana.
— Over is 8-2 in last ten series games.

Milwaukee @ Memphis
Bucks (21-14)
— Milwaukee won five of its last six games (4-2 ATS).
— Bucks are 3-5 ATS in last eight road games.
— Over is 5-3 in Milwaukee’s last eight road games

Grizzlies (16-15)
— Memphis won three of its last four games.
— Grizzlies are 7-9-1 ATS at home this season.
— Under is 7-0 in their last seven games.

— Milwaukee won six of last nine series games.
— Bucks covered three of last four visits to Memphis.
— Over is 5-2 in last seven series games.

Oklahoma City @ San Antonio
Thunder (14-21)
— Thunder lost six of its last nine games.
— OKC is 7-3 ATS in their last ten road games.
— Under is 8-3 in their last 11 games.

Spurs (18-13)
— San Antonio won seven of last ten games overall.
— Spurs are 3-5 ATS in their last eight home games.
— Under is 6-3-1 in Spurs’ last ten games.

— Spurs won seven of last ten series games.
— Thunder is 1-4 ATS in last five trips to San Antonio.
— Under is 3-1-1 in last five series games.

Miami @ New Orleans
Heat (17-18)
— Miami won six of seven, 10 of its last 14 games overall.
— Heat is 5-3 ATS in last eight road games.
— Under is 4-2 in their last six games.

Pelicans (15-20)
— New Orleans is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games overall.
— Pelicans are 5-4 ATS in their last nine home games.
— Over is 19-3-2 in their last 24 games.

— Miami won four of last five series games.
— Heat covered four of last five visits to Bourbon Street.
— Under is 7-2 in last nine series games.

Sacramento @ Portland
Kings (14-21)
— Sacramento is 2-10 SU/1-11 ATS in last 12 games overall.
— Kings are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games.
— Over is 10-1 in Sacramento’s last 11 games.

Trailblazers (20-14)
— Portland won ten of its last fifteen games SU.
— Blazers are 7-9 ATS at home this season.
— Over is 6-3 in Portland’s last nine home games.

— Blazers won five of last seven series games.
— Kings are 1-3 ATS in last four visits to Portland.
— Over is 5-2 in last seven series games.

Detroit @ New York
Pistons (10-25)
— Detroit lost six of its last eight games (3-4-1 ATS last eight)
— Pistons are 5-3 ATS in last eight road games.
— Under is 6-2 in Detroit’s last eight games.

Knicks (18-18)
— New York won seven of last ten games (10-4 ATS last 14).
— Knicks are 5-1 ATS in their last six home games.
— Under is 4-1-2 in New York’s last seven games.

— Knicks won/covered last three series games.
— Detroit covered three of last four visits to Manhattan.
— Four of last five series games stayed under the total.

Golden State @ Phoenix
Warriors (19-17)
— Golden State split its last 10 games overall.
— Warriors are 3-5 ATS in their last eight road games.
— Under is 7-1 in their last eight road games.

Suns (23-11)
— Phoenix won/covered 15 of its last 18 games.
— Suns are 8-2 ATS in their last ten home games.
— Over is 8-4 in their last 12 games.

— Suns won four of last six series games.
— Golden State is 4-2 ATS in last six visits to Phoenix.
— Nine of last ten series games stayed under the total.


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NBA

Thursday, March 4

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Trend Report
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Detroit @ Carolina
Detroit
Detroit is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing on the road against Carolina
Detroit is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Carolina
Carolina is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Detroit
Carolina is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Detroit

Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
Philadelphia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing Philadelphia

Winnipeg @ Montreal
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Winnipeg is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Montreal's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Montreal's last 11 games

NY Rangers @ New Jersey
NY Rangers
The total has gone OVER in 6 of NY Rangers's last 7 games when playing New Jersey
NY Rangers is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
New Jersey
The total has gone OVER in 6 of New Jersey's last 7 games when playing NY Rangers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Jersey's last 6 games when playing at home against NY Rangers

Buffalo @ NY Islanders
Buffalo
Buffalo is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Buffalo's last 5 games on the road
NY Islanders
NY Islanders is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo
NY Islanders is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Buffalo

Tampa Bay @ Chicago
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Chicago's last 12 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay

Florida @ Nashville
Florida
Florida is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Florida is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Nashville
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Nashville's last 5 games when playing Florida
Nashville is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games

Columbus @ Dallas
Columbus
Columbus is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games when playing Dallas
Columbus is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Dallas's last 9 games when playing Columbus

Ottawa @ Calgary
Ottawa
Ottawa is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games
Ottawa is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Ottawa
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 6 games when playing at home against Ottawa

Toronto @ Vancouver
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Vancouver's last 10 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Vancouver's last 7 games when playing at home against Toronto


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NBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, March 4

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TORONTO (17 - 18) at BOSTON (18 - 17) - 3/4/2021, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 67-53 ATS (+8.7 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 12-5 against the spread versus TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 11-6 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
9 of 17 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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LA CLIPPERS (24 - 13) at WASHINGTON (13 - 20) - 3/4/2021, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LA CLIPPERS are 83-60 ATS (+17.0 Units) as a favorite over the last 3 seasons.
LA CLIPPERS are 18-6 ATS (+11.4 Units) against Southeast division opponents over the last 3 seasons.
LA CLIPPERS are 20-9 ATS (+10.1 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
LA CLIPPERS are 53-36 ATS (+13.4 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LA CLIPPERS is 4-1 against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
LA CLIPPERS is 4-1 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
5 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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DENVER (20 - 15) at INDIANA (16 - 18) - 3/4/2021, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DENVER is 9-25 ATS (-18.5 Units) in road games after a win by 10 points or more over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 3-1 against the spread versus DENVER over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA is 2-2 straight up against DENVER over the last 3 seasons
3 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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MILWAUKEE (21 - 14) at MEMPHIS (16 - 15) - 3/4/2021, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MILWAUKEE is 5-18 ATS (-14.8 Units) in road games after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
MILWAUKEE is 302-363 ATS (-97.3 Units) in non-conference games since 1996.
MILWAUKEE is 7-18 ATS (-12.8 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
MEMPHIS is 186-143 ATS (+28.7 Units) after a win by 10 points or more since 1996.
MILWAUKEE is 33-17 ATS (+14.3 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MEMPHIS is 2-2 against the spread versus MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
MEMPHIS is 2-2 straight up against MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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OKLAHOMA CITY (14 - 21) at SAN ANTONIO (18 - 13) - 3/4/2021, 9:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SAN ANTONIO is 1141-1012 ATS (+27.8 Units) in all games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 582-492 ATS (+40.8 Units) in home games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 101-69 ATS (+25.1 Units) in home games against Northwest division opponents since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 385-305 ATS (+49.5 Units) after a non-conference game since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 32-20 ATS (+10.0 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent over the last 2 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 226-175 ATS (+33.5 Units) in home games after a win by 10 points or more since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 459-384 ATS (+36.6 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 65-46 ATS (+14.4 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 46-29 ATS (+14.1 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 35-13 ATS (+20.7 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 34-22 ATS (+9.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 33-18 ATS (+13.2 Units) in road games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 33-19 ATS (+12.1 Units) in road games versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 14-29 ATS (-17.9 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN ANTONIO is 5-4 against the spread versus OKLAHOMA CITY over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO is 5-4 straight up against OKLAHOMA CITY over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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MIAMI (17 - 18) at NEW ORLEANS (15 - 20) - 3/4/2021, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MIAMI is 17-5 ATS (+11.5 Units) against Southwest division opponents over the last 3 seasons.
NEW ORLEANS is 5-13 ATS (-9.3 Units) as a favorite this season.
NEW ORLEANS is 4-13 ATS (-10.3 Units) after scoring 115 points or more this season.
NEW ORLEANS is 27-42 ATS (-19.2 Units) in home games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MIAMI is 4-1 against the spread versus NEW ORLEANS over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI is 4-1 straight up against NEW ORLEANS over the last 3 seasons
5 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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SACRAMENTO (14 - 21) at PORTLAND (20 - 14) - 3/4/2021, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SACRAMENTO is 2-10 ATS (-9.0 Units) when the total is greater than or equal to 230 this season.
SACRAMENTO is 7-17 ATS (-11.7 Units) after allowing 115 points or more this season.
PORTLAND is 14-5 ATS (+8.5 Units) when the total is greater than or equal to 230 this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
PORTLAND is 6-3 against the spread versus SACRAMENTO over the last 3 seasons
PORTLAND is 6-3 straight up against SACRAMENTO over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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DETROIT (10 - 25) at NEW YORK (18 - 18) - 3/4/2021, 7:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 7-17 ATS (-11.7 Units) after scoring 115 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
NEW YORK is 18-9 ATS (+8.1 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
NEW YORK is 4-4 against the spread versus DETROIT over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 5-3 straight up against NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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GOLDEN STATE (19 - 17) at PHOENIX (23 - 11) - 3/4/2021, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PHOENIX is 23-11 ATS (+10.9 Units) in all games this season.
PHOENIX is 13-5 ATS (+7.5 Units) when the total is greater than or equal to 220 this season.
PHOENIX is 31-19 ATS (+10.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 19-10 ATS (+8.0 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 29-15 ATS (+12.5 Units) in road games revenging a loss vs opponent over the last 3 seasons.
PHOENIX is 29-45 ATS (-20.5 Units) in home games versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 5-4 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
GOLDEN STATE is 5-4 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
8 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

---------------------------------------------


NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, March 4





----------------------------------


Hoop Trends for Thursday March 4
Vince Akins

ATS Play ON Trend of the Day
Matchup: Denver at Indiana (8:05 p.m. ET)

-- The Pacers are 10-0 ATS (11.90 ppg) at home with no rest after playing as a road favorite.

ATS Play AGAINST Trend of the Day
Matchup: Denver at Indiana (8:05 p.m. ET)

-- The Nuggets are 0-11-1 ATS (-8.88 ppg) on the road with rest when they shot better than 50 percent from the field in each of their last two games.

OU Play OVER Trend of the Day
Golden State at Phoenix (10:05 p.m. ET)

-- The Suns are 11-0 OU (13.36 ppg) as a favorite off a win in which they scored fewer than 10 fast break points.

OU Play UNDER Trend of the Day
Matchup: Sacramento at Portland (10:05 p.m. ET)

-- The Kings are 0-12 OU (-12.08 ppg) off a win as a favorite in which Buddy Hield was their high scorer.

Trends are verified using Sports Data Query Language (SDQL)

[StarDust Bum]

THURSDAY, MARCH 4
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LAC at WAS 07:00 PM
WAS +5.5
O 236.0

TOR at BOS 07:00 PM
TOR +8.0
O 220.5

DET at NY 07:30 PM
DET +7.0
O 207.5

DEN at IND 08:00 PM
IND +4.0
O 227.0

MIL at MEM 08:00 PM
MEM +6.0
U 234.0

MIA at NO 08:30 PM
NO -2.5
U 227.0

OKC at SA 09:00 PM
SA -6.5
O 219.5

SAC at POR 10:00 PM
SAC +4.0
O 236.5

GS at PHO 10:00 PM
PHO -6.5
O 226.5



NBA DAILY RECORD BEST BETS:

Mar. 03............10 - 4...........71.42%............+28.00
Mar. 02.............4 - 6............40.00%............-.13.00
Mar. 01.............5 - 4............55 .55%...........+ 3.00

Totals..............19 - 14...........57.57%%........+12.00


****************************************

Feb. Best Bets Totals:..........144 Wins..........141 Loses.......50.52%........-57.50

Jan. Best Bets Totals:............64 Wins..........65 Loses.........49.61%........- 41.00

Dec. Best Bet Totals:.............4..Wins.......... 6,Loses.........40%.............- 13.00

[StarDust Bum]

THURSDAY, MARCH 4
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LAC at WAS 07:00 PM
WAS +5.5................117 - 119.........WINNER
O 236.0...........................WINNER

TOR at BOS 07:00 PM
TOR +8.0............125 - 132
O 220.5.....................WINNER

DET at NY 07:30 PM
DET +7.0.............104 - 114.....LOSER
O 207.5....................WINNER

DEN at IND 08:00 PM
IND +4.0.............113 - 103
O 227.0...................LOSER

MIL at MEM 08:00 PM
MEM +6.0............112 - 111
U 234.0.....................WINNER

MIA at NO 08:30 PM
NO -2.5............103 - 93.....LOSER
U 227.0.........................WINNER

OKC at SA 09:00 PM
SA -6.5.............107 - 102.....LOSER
O 219.5.............LOSER

SAC at POR 10:00 PM
SAC +4.0............119 - 123
O 236.5.................WINNER

GS at PHO 10:00 PM
PHO -6.5.............98 - 120...WINNER
O 226.5..............LOSER



NBA DAILY RECORD BEST BETS:

Mar. 04.............8 - 6...........57.14%.............+7.00
Mar. 03............10 - 4...........71.42%............+28.00
Mar. 02.............4 - 6............40.00%............-.13.00
Mar. 01.............5 - 4............55 .55%...........+ 3.00

Totals.............27 - 20...........67.50%............+19.00


****************************************

Feb. Best Bets Totals:..........144 Wins..........141 Loses.......50.52%........-57.50

Jan. Best Bets Totals:............64 Wins..........65 Loses.........49.61%........- 41.00

Dec. Best Bet Totals:.............4..Wins.......... 6,Loses.........40%.............- 13.00

[StarDust Bum]

Friday’s 6-pack
Six most experienced college basketball teams (W-L record)
6) UMBC (14-5)
5) Texas Southern (12-8)
4) Georgia Tech (14-8)
3) North Carolina Central (5-8)
2) Nicholls State (17-6)
1) Cal-Bakersfield (15-10)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 519,867
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“He’s like Luka Doncic, but a center. He passes like a point guard, can shoot off the leg like Dirk [Nowitzki]. He’s a point guard.”
Western Conference assistant coach, talking about Nikola Jokic

Friday’s quiz
Terry Francona has managed three major league teams; the Indians, Red Sox and who else?

Thursday’s quiz
In the history of the Oakland A’s, Mark McGwire has hit the most home runs (363)

Wednesday’s quiz
Paul Westhead was coach of the Lakers when they won the NBA title in 1980, Magic Johnson’s rookie year.

************************

Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….

13) Creighton suspended basketball coach Greg McDermott for Sunday’s regular season finale, after he used racially insensitive language in a postgame talk at Xavier last weekend.

According to a story on the Interweb, McDermott said this: ”Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation.” Ummmm……not an outstanding choice of words.

When a head coach gets suspended for Senior Day, it is conceivable that McDermott won’t be back in Omaha next season. Imagine him recruiting on the heels of this?

12) Multimedia sports brand Overtime will be starting a professional basketball league that will offer high school basketball players an alternative to college in preparation for the NBA.

Overtime Elite will begin in September 2021 and will feature 30 of the nation’s top prospects from ages 16-18. The athletes will be given a guaranteed minimum salary of $100,000, in addition to bonuses and equity in the league.

Players will also have access to healthcare and disability benefits. If an Overtime Elite athlete chooses not to pursue an NBA career, the league will pay them up to $100,000 to go towards college tuition, that’s assuming they graduated high school.

Carmelo Anthony is on Overtime Elite’s board of directors.

11) 39-year old Ben Roethlisberger will be the Steelers’ QB again next fall, after agreeing to a deal with the team— it is assumed he took a large pay cut to remain a Steeler.

10) Baylor 81, Oklahoma State 70— Bears held OSU star Cade Cunningham to four points in first half, then survived Cunningham’s 20-point explosion in the second half. Cowboys lost despite shooting 63.6% inside the arc.

Baylor is 20-1 after beating West Virginia/Oklahoma State within 48 hours, which kind of sounds like an NCAA Tournament weekend.

9) Kansas 67, Texas-El Paso 62:
— This was supposed to be a glorified workout for the Jayhawks, but they trailed 34-20 at the half, 48-33 with 13:46 left to play.
— UTEP is 12-11, 8-8 in Conference USA; they’re ranked #135.

8) Texas 69, Oklahoma 65— Sooners were on an 8-1 roll in this strangest of seasons, then they lost their last four games, likely putting them in a play-in game at the Big X tourney next week.

7) Vanderbilt 78, Cincinnati 64— This score doesn’t bode well for the AAC; Cincy had won six of its last eight games, then gets whacked at home by an SEC doormat. Memphis/SMU are near or on the NCAA bubble; they had to cringe when they saw this score.

6) Stetson 73, Bellarmine 70— Upset in the A-Sun: Bellarmine went 10-3 in the Atlantic Sun this year, their first season in Division I, but they got upset here by the gritty Hatters, who had lost to Bellarmine twice during the season.

5) New Orleans Saints cut Thomas Morstead, their punter for the last 12 years.

4) OF Jackie Bradley Jr signed a 2-year, $24M contract with Milwaukee.

3) Arizona OF Kole Calhoun hurt his knee, is out for six weeks.

2) Since 2015, Astros’ C Martin Maldonado has thrown out 37.7% of runners trying to steal a base, the best %age of any catcher with 200+ attempts against him in that timespan.

1) Wizards 119, Clippers 117— Good coaching job by Scott Brooks; Wizards are 8-3 in their last 11 games, after starting the season 6-17. They’re within two games of the #8-seed in the East.

[StarDust Bum]

Saturday’s 6-pack
Six least experienced college basketball teams (W-L record)
342) Kennesaw State (5-19)
343) Presbyterian (7-15)
344) Duke (11-10)
345) Stetson (11-14)
346) Auburn (12-14)
347) Alabama A&M (6-8)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 520,518
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“It’s about the money. And when they say it’s not about the money, then it is definitely about the money.”
Former Giants’ GM George Young

Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Little Big League, which Hall of Fame outfielder makes a game-saving catch to end the Minnesota Twins’ season?

Friday’s quiz
Terry Francona has managed three major league teams; the Indians, Red Sox and the Phillies.

Thursday’s quiz
In the history of the Oakland A’s, Mark McGwire has hit the most home runs (363)

*********************

Saturday’s Den: NBA trends at the halfway point…….

Atlanta:
— Won both their games since changing coaches.
— 1-4-1 ATS in last six road games.
— 3-5 ATS in last eight home games.
— Over is 6-3 in their last nine road games.

Boston:
— Won their last four games (2-2 ATS), all at home.
— 0-6 SU/ATS in last six road games.
— 3-4 ATS if they played the night before.
— Five of last six home games went over.

Brooklyn:
— Won/covered 10 of last 11 games.
— Won/covered last seven home games.
— 5-8 ATS as a home favorite.
— Over is 13-3 in their last sixteen road games.

Charlotte:
— 7-5 SU in their last dozen games.
— 9-5 ATS in their last 14 road games.
— 5-3 ATS if they played the night before.
— Over is 12-1 in their last 13 road games.

Chicago:
— Won six of their last nine games.
— 10-2 ATS as a road underdog.
— 5-2 ATS if they played the night before.
— Over is 8-4 in their last dozen road games.

Cleveland:
— Won four of their last five games (5-0 ATS)
— 4-11 ATS as a road underdog.
— 8-6 ATS in their last 14 home games.
— Over is 5-2 in their last seven road games.

Dallas:
— Won nine of their last 11 games.
— 4-10 ATS as a home favorite.
— 2-4 ATS if they played the night before.
— Under is 5-1 in their last six games.

Denver:
— Won/covered their last four games.
— 4-8 ATS as a home favorite.
— 9-6 ATS in their last fifteen road games.
— Under is 3-1 in their last four home games.

Detroit:
— Lost seven of their last nine games.
— 9-5 ATS as a home underdog.
— 5-2 ATS if they played the night before.
— Last three road games went over the total.

Golden State:
— Lost last three games, by 26-2-22 points.
— 7-3 ATS as a home favorite.
— 4-8 ATS as a road underdog.
— Last six road games stayed under the total.

Houston:
— Lost their last thirteen games (1-12 ATS)
— 1-7 ATS as a home underdog.
— 1-6 ATS in their last seven road games.
— Under is 11-2-1 in their home games.

Indiana:
— Lost five of last six games (0-6 ATS)
— 6-12 ATS at home.
— 4-2-1 ATS if they played night before.
— Over is 5-0-1 in their last six road games.

LA Clippers:
— Lost four of last five games, all on the road.
— 7-5 ATS in last dozen home games.
— 6-0 ATS if they played the night before.
— Under is 5-2 in their last seven games.

LA Lakers:
— Lost six of their last eight games.
— 3-7 ATS in last ten home games.
— 1-3 ATS if they played the night before.
— Under is 6-3 in their last nine games.

Memphis:
— 8-5 SU in their last thirteen games.
— 5-3 ATS in their last eight home games.
— 7-4 ATS as a road underdog.
— Last eight games stayed under the total.

[StarDust Bum]

Sunday’s 6-pack
Six best college basketball teams, at 2-point FG% (W-L record)

41.2%— Saint Peter’s (13-10)
41.7%— Michigan (19-2)
42.1%— USC (21-6)
42.4%— Jackson State (11-5)
42.6%— Houston (20-3)
42.9%— Cal-Irvine (16-8)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 520,518
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“There are no ongoing discussions. The (NBA’s) logo is iconic. … It doesn’t feel to me that this is the appropriate moment (to change it).”
NBA commish Adam Silver

Sunday’s quiz
What actor who was a star in Animal House also played the Vice President in the old TV series, The West Wing?

Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Little Big League, Ken Griffey Jr makes a game-saving catch to end the Minnesota Twins’ season.

Friday’s quiz
Terry Francona has managed three major league teams; the Indians, Red Sox and the Phillies.

************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) OVC tournament: Morehead State 86, Belmont 71
This game started at 8:00pm ET; these players had their COVID tests at 8:30 or 9:30am, 11 or so hours before the game, then had shootarounds, then went back to their hotels for the rest of the day. Not the ideal way to prepare for the biggest game of the year.

Last six years, Belmont is 91-15 regular season OVC games; they’ve only won the OVC tourney once in those six seasons, going 6-5 in OVC tournament games.

Morehead State is in the NCAA’s for the first time in ten years.

12) Tough day for #1-seeds in low/mid major tournaments: Texas State, Wagner, Navy, UMBC all got beat Saturday. Play-in games in Dayton in 10 days are going to have some odd teams playing. NCAA Tournament is more fun when higher seeds win the smaller leagues.

11) Oklahoma State 85, West Virginia 80:
— Cowboys won even though their star player (Cunningham) didn’t play (ankle).
— Oklahoma State won six of its last seven games.
— ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla may be campaigning to be the agent for OSU coach Mike Boynton; the last couple times he worked Cowboy games, he made Boynton sound like a combination of Dean Smith/John Wooden.
— Seeing how Boynton hired Cunningham’s brother as an assistant coach, paying him a reported $200,000/year, comparing him to Larry Brown would be more accurate.
— 30+ years ago, Kansas hired Danny Manning’s dad as an assistant coach; couple years later, Brown’s Jayhawks won the national title, led by Danny Manning. It is legal, and it happens a decent amount, but it doesn’t make you Dean Smith.

10) St John’s 81, Seton Hall 71:
— Pirates led this game, 18-0. Eighteen to nothing.
— Seton Hall lost its last four games (hello NIT??)
— St John’s won nine of its last 12 games.

9) Purdue 67, Indiana 58— Boilermakers have beaten Indiana nine times in a row; Archie Miller’s seat keeps getting hotter.

People on social media scoffed at me (imagine that???) for suggesting that Steve Alford would be a good coach for Indiana. He obviously played there; he’s been a good coach at five other D-I schools. He’d energize the fanbase, then all he’d have to do is win. A lot.

8) Notre Dame 83, Florida State 73— This score clinches the ACC regular season title for Virginia. Couple weeks ago, I was prepared to declare the Seminoles as my dark horse choice to win the national title, now I’m queasy. Florida State doesn’t have a star, that one guy who is a 100% cinch to get a basket/free throws, anytime they need one.

7) Upsets of the Day:
— Morehead State (+7) 86, Belmont 71
— Oklahoma State (+7) 85, West Virginia 80
— Appalachian State (+5) 76, Texas State 73, OT
— UAB (+4.5) 65, North Texas 61
— Providence (+4) 54, Villanova 52

6) MVC tournament:
— Loyola 65, Indiana State 49— Ramblers won 16 of their last 17 games.
— Drake 71, Missouri State 69— Drake is down two starters to injury; they split a pair of games with Loyola three weeks ago. Bulldogs didn’t have to play Friday because Northern Iowa had COVID issues, and that helped them in this difficult game against Missouri State.

5) Southern Conference tournament:
— #2/#3-seeds both got upset Saturday, leaving NC-Greensboro a clear path to their 2nd NCAA bid over the last 20 years.
— Either VMI/Mercer is going to be in the SoCon final; neither finished over .500 in conference games during the regular season.

4) Summit League tournament:
— South Dakota State 84, Omaha 71—
— South Dakota 86, Western Illinois 69— Finally, a league where the better teams win.

3) Sun Belt tournament:
— Appalachian State 76, Texas State 73 OT— Last September, Texas State fired Danny Kaspar, because of he was accused of using racially insensitive language toward his players. Kaspar had been at Texas State for seven years, going 45-22 the last two years.

This season, assistant Terrence Johnson led the Bobcats to an 18-7 record, 12-3 and top seed in the Sun Belt, but they stumbled in this game and now appear headed to the NIT.

2) WCC tournament:
— Saint Mary’s 52, LMU 47— James Naismith was turning over in his grave during this game; not a very good exhibition of offense.
— Pepperdine 78, Santa Clara 70— Waves play BYU Monday night; WCC smartly takes Sunday off, but mostly it is because BYU isn’t allowed to play games on Sundays.

1) America East tournament:
— UMBC/Vermont tied for the regular season title; they both lost Saturday, leaving Hartford and Mass-Lowell to play for the conference title next Saturday. Hartford is ranked #199, Lowell #217; winner will obviously go to Dayton for a play-in game. This is only second time in last six years the regular season champ didn’t win the conference tournament.

[StarDust Bum]

Monday’s 6-pack
Six best college basketball teams, at 2-point FG% offense (W-L record)

64.4%— Gonzaga (24-0)
60.8%—Furman (16-9)
59.4%—Belmont (26-4)
58.0%— Loyola, Chi (24-4)
57.6%— Weber State (17-5)
57.4%— Colorado State (17-5)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 523,430
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Fact of the Day
This is the first time since 1996 where no ACC team is ranked in the nation’s top 10, heading into the ACC tournament. Only 5th time it has ever happened.

Monday’s quiz
What was the name of the domed stadium where the Mariners/Seahawks used to play?

Sunday’s quiz
Tim Matheson was a star in Animal House and also played Vice President Hoynes in the old TV series, The West Wing.

Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Little Big League, Ken Griffey Jr makes a game-saving catch to end the Minnesota Twins’ season.

*****************************

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend……

13) An underrated aspect of this college basketball season is that EVERY SENIOR in the country can come back and play in college again next season. The better seniors will take their talents and try to make money playing pro ball, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Will be curious to see what I think will be a huge amount of player movement this spring/summer.

12) Liberty 79, North Alabama 75— Liberty won the Atlantic Sun title here; they had already clinched the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, because North Alabama just moved to D-I and isn’t eligible yet to play in March Madness.

Liberty has been in the A-Sun three years; they’ve won the league title all three years.

11) Michigan State 70, Michigan 64— This win makes the next week a little easier for fans, players and coaches in East Lansing. Would appear that this win gets the Spartans into the field of 68, but the more they do this coming week the better- playing Maryland Thursday afternoon in the Big 14 tournament is next on Michigan State’s calendar.

10) NCAA Tournament, like everything else, will be different this year; the second weekend of the tournament, usually Thursday-Sunday, will now be Saturday-Tuesday, with the regional finals being played Monday/Tuesday night, March 29-30.

9) USC 64, UCLA 63— Trojans swept their crosstown rivals this year; they’ll be the #2-seed in the Pac-12 tournament. UCLA lost its last three games and is 5-6 in its last 11 games, after a 12-2 start.

8) From 2006-08, under coach Ben Howland, UCLA made the Final Four three years in a row, going 97-17 those three years, but five years later, Howland got fired after a 25-10 season, saying his style of play wasn’t exciting enough. When a team wins seven national titles in a row, like UCLA did under John Wooden, the fanbase has unrealistic expectations.

In those three Final Four years, UCLA ranked #298-251-209 in tempo, but they went 97-17, so no one said anything. Howland’s last year, the 25-10 season, they were #35 in tempo, but they lost in the first round of the NCAA’s, and a change was made. They played faster, like people wanted, but they didn’t make the Final Four.. Some people are never happy.

7) My point is this: Mick Cronin is now UCLA’s coach; he is 36-20 at UCLA, 25-12 in Pac-12 games, solid numbers. But this is a fanbase who didn’t like Ben Howland’s style; here are the tempos that Mick Cronin’s teams have played the last eight years:

2021: #333 17-8 record (13-6 Pac-12)
2020: #325 19-12, 12-6 (no NCAAs)
2019: #338 28-7, 14-4 AAC (0-1 NCAA)
2018: $330 31-5, 16-2 (1-1)
2017: #330 30-6, 16-2 (1-1)
2016: #333 22-11, 12-6 (0-1)
2015: #339 23-11, 13-5 (1-1)
2014: #328 27-7, 15-3 (1-1)

Cronin went 6-9 in NCAA tourney games at Cincinnati, made one Sweet 16. At this time next year, the UCLA fanbase is going to start mumbling, if they aren’t already. Cronin wins a lot, his teams defend well, but fact of the matter is, he is no Ben Howland.

6) St Bonaventure-VCU are going to play in the A-14 championship game, but that game isn’t until Sunday in Dayton. Both teams are expected to make the NCAA Tournament, which will be held entirely in Indiana, and Dayton is close to Indiana, so the teams can get on a bus and go right from Dayton to their hotel where they’ll hunker down for the NCAA Tournament.

5) Florida basketball coach Mike White played college basketball at Ole Miss, where his roommate was teammate Keith Carter, who is now the athletic director at Ole Miss. Athletic director is a nice way of saying “lead fundraiser”; Carter raised a record $45.6M in cash contributions for the Rebels, in 2015-16.

Couple of very successful friends there; you wonder how many college roommates are both making six-figure salaries these days (White makes seven figures).

4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Foxboro next season, which obviously is Tom Brady going back home to face his former employers. Would love to see the backroom negotiating with the TV networks who want to televise that game; it won’t be in Week 1- the Super Bowl champ opens the next season at home. But you know NBC/ESPN/FOX all want that game.

3) Speaking of which, apparently the NFL schedule will be released in May this year, a little later than usual. Schedule usually comes out before the draft, but with the COVID situation still developing, it makes sense to release the schedule a little later.

2) 31-year old Blake Griffin signed on with the Brooklyn Nets, after accepting a buyout from Detroit; Griffin has already earned $255M in his playing career and is due another $29.5M next year, so he is joining Brooklyn for the rest of this year, to try and win a championship.

1) Astros have injury issues in their pitching rotation; they signed Jake Odorizzi this weekend to a 2-year deal. Odorizzi has a 62-56 career record, was 15-7 for Minnesota in 2019- he started only four games LY, because of bruised ribs and a blister.

[StarDust Bum]

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Pac-12 tournament this week:
+150- USC
+200- Colorado
+350- Oregon
+400- UCLA
+2000- Stanford
+2500- Arizona State
+3300- Utah
+8000- Washington State
+10000- Oregon State
+20000- California, Washington

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 523,430
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“I might have to get into that space … it’s very humbling. I mean, it’s a great honor to have one of my cards sell for that much.”
Lakers star Anthony Davis, after his rookie card sold for $1.045M last month

Tuesday’s quiz
Where did Dak Prescott play his college football?

Monday’s quiz
Mariners/Seahawks used to play home games in the Kingdome.

Sunday’s quiz
Tim Matheson was a star in Animal House and also played Vice President Hoynes in the old TV series, The West Wing.

*******************

Tuesday’s Den: NBA trends at the halfway mark…….

Miami
— Won seven of last eight games SU.
— 5-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 6-3 ATS in last nine road games.
— Last three games stayed under the total.

Milwaukee:
— Won six of last seven games SU.
— 10-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 6-10 ATS as a road favorite.
— Under is 6-4 in their last ten games.

Minnesota:
— 0-5 SU/ATS since they changed coaches.
— Lost 13 of last 14 games SU, are 0-9 ATS in last nine.
— 6-9 ATS as a home underdog.
— Four of their last five games went over.

New Orleans:
— Lost three of their last four games SU.
— 2-8 ATS as a home favorite.
— 3-7 ATS in last ten road games.
— 12 of their last 14 games went over.

New York
— Won eight of last ten games SU.
— 6-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 7-5 ATS in last dozen road games.
— Under is 7-0-1 in their last eight road games.

Oklahoma City
— 4-6 SU in their last ten games.
— 5-10 ATS as a home underdog.
— 8-3 ATS in last eleven road games.
— Under is 6-2 in their last eight games.

Orlando
— Lost their last five games SU.
— 5-7-1 ATS as a home underdog.
— 2-6 ATS in last eight road games.
— Last four road games stayed under total.

Philadelphia
— Won six of their last eight games SU.
— 13-6 ATS at home.
— 0-3-1 ATS as a road underdog.
— Over is 7-3 in their last ten road games.

Phoenix
— Won/covered 16 oof their last 19 games.
— 11-4 ATS as a home favorite.
— Covered eight of last nine road games.
— Over is 6-2 in their last eight home games.

Portland
— Won their last four games.
— 6-2 ATS in last eight home games.
— 12-6 ATS on the road this season.
— Over is 5-2 in their last seven home games.

Sacramento
— Lost 11 of their last 13 games SU/ATS.
— 2-6 ATS as a home favorite.
— 9-7 ATS on the road this season.
— 11 of their last 12 games went over.

San Antonio
— Spurs split their last eight games SU.
— They’re 3-6 ATS in last nine home games.
— Covered nine of their 13 road games.
— Under is 6-1-1 in their last eight home games.

Toronto
— Raptors lost four of their last five games.
— 6-10 ATS in Tampa, their temporary home.
— 8-3 ATS in their last 11 road games.
— Last four Toronto games went over.

Utah
— Jazz finished with a 1-3 road trip, after a 21-2 run.
— Utah is 13-0-1 ATS in its last 14 home games.
— Covered only one of last five road tilts.
— Over is 9-3 in their last twelve games.

Washington
— Won eight of their last eleven games SU.
— Covered five of last six home games.
— Covered five of last six road games.
— Four of last five series games stayed under.

[StarDust Bum]

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Big 14 tournament this week:
+150- Michigan
+350- Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State
+1000- Purdue
+1500- Wisconsin
+2500- Rutgers
+3500- Michigan State
+5000- Maryland, Minnesota
+6600- Indiana
+20000- Northwestern
+30000- Nebraska

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 525,117
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“I don’t really like stats. Exit velocity. I’m more of, exit hits……I dropped out as a sophomore, Look where I am now. I’m OK.”
Bryce Harper

Wednesday’s quiz
Before becoming head coach at Duke, where was Mike Krzyzewski the head coach?

Tuesday’s quiz
Dak Prescott played his college football at Mississippi State

Monday’s quiz
Mariners/Seahawks used to play home games in the Kingdome.

********************

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

13) Gonzaga 88, BYU 78:
— BYU led this game 53-41 at halftime.
— Gonzaga outscored BYU 18-5 on foul line.
— Gonzaga made 12-26 on arc, BYU 11-28.

One of the first questions I’ll be asking myself Sunday night, after the NCAA brackets come out, is whether Gonzaga has been tested enough this season. They haven’t won a game by single digits since December 2 vs West Virginia. The WCC isn’t as good as it usually is, and the Zags have breezed thru this season, while other leagues are way more competitive.

Baylor-Michigan-Illinois have had lot of tough games; it has to make you a better team.

12) Dallas Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott signed a 4-year, $160M deal, $123M guaranteed. By way of comparison, and without any editorial comment, here are some facts:

Prescott: 42-27 regular season record, 1-2 in playoffs
Jared Goff: 42-27 regular season record, 2-3 in playoffs, which doesn’t include his win in relief at Seattle in this year’s playoffs.

11) Interesting discussion on Mets’ TV the other day about whether a team can improve a lot on defense, without changing the players who are in the field.

Was reminiscent of Troy Aikman saying on NFL broadcasts how quarterbacks cannot learn to become more accurate passers. Aikman believes that once you get to the NFL level, you are what you are, though Buffalo Bill fans would bring up Josh Allen and dispute that.

Bottom line is, Keith Hernandez/Ron Darling didn’t paint an optimistic picture of the Mets’ defense for this season.

10) Last Friday, Troy State upset Texas-Arlington 91-86 in the Sun Belt tournament, which on the surface is no big deal, but there is an interesting back story.

From 2007-18, Scott Cross was Tex-Arlington’s coach; the last three years he was there, UTA went 72-33 overall, 37-15 in Sun Belt games. Damn good record, but they fired Cross because he didn’t win make the NCAA tournament— he made it once, in 2008, Cross’ second year there.

Since they told Cross to take a hike, Tex-Arlington is 44-47 overall, 31-26 in Sun Belt games. Not exactly an upgrade.

I’m guessing when Troy State beat UTA last week, their coach took special satisfaction in the win, seeing how that coach was Scott Cross.

9) I watched Hoosiers for the 50th or so time the other day; watching the credits at the end, they thanked the governor of Indiana, who at the time was a guy named Robert Orr.

Bobby Orr was the governor of Indiana? I thought he was a Canadian!!! (Its a joke)

8) Miami Marlins used 61 players in 60 games last year, 37 of them pitchers; their spring training must be a mess this year, trying to whittle down those 61 guys down to a roster of 26 players. Don Mattingly did a great job in a weird season last year; choosing the right guys for a 162-game season is a much different dilemma.

7) Angels’ broadcaster Jose Mota played one of the Detroit Tigers in the 1999 baseball movie, For Love of the Game, with Kevin Costner. Mota’s character makes a great play to preserve Billy Chapel’s perfect game; he and Mark Gubicza were talking about it on the Angels’ broadcast the other night. Mota said it was an easier play to make, since he read the script and knew where the ball was going to be hit.

Looking at the Angels’ website, they haven’t filled Victor Rojas’ play-by-play slot yet; they should choose Mota. He and Gubicza have a good chemistry.

6) Last season, 12 major league umpires opted out of working, because of COVID; at least three of them are back this year. The Athletic did an interesting article, talking to Phil Cuzzi, Gerry Davis and Brian Gorman about coming back to work and sitting out last year.

Davis has umpired 4.957 major league games; only three umps have gotten to 5,000 games, so that’ll be a big deal when Davis gets to 5,000.

Umpire Brian Gorman’s late wife was a Los Angeles Times staff photographer and picture editor who was a two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize.

5) Today is Wednesday of Championship Week, and there are already 300+ names in the college basketball transfer portal. People who sell game programs are going to clean up next year. Guys who write Blue Ribbon Yearbook are going to get headaches. Lot of kids jumping from team-to-team.

4) Colorado Rockies’ 1B CJ Cron is playing for his fifth time in the last five years; he started his career playing four years for the Angels, then went to Tampa Bay in 2018, Minnesota the next year, Detroit last year, and now Colorado.

He hit 55 homers in 2018-19; curious to see how many at-bats he gets this season.

3) NHL will be back on ESPN starting next season; curious to see if the league gets its own daily half-hour show, like the NBA has now. ESPN had forgotten about hockey since they last showed games in 2004. Good news for Steve Levy and Berry Melrose.

2) Turned on the TV when I woke up the other day, and all they’re talking about it is the royal family in England. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the royal family. Seriously, don’t want to hear one word about them, and I was an avid fan of Suits on USA Network, so I’m familiar with Meghan Markle’s work. She married a prince, good for her. Don’t want to hear about it.

Only Royals I care about are Whit Merrifield and Carlos Santana, Kansas City Royals.

1) I was fiddling around on the Interweb at 4am the other night when it dawned on me that in most years, this is my favorite two weeks of the whole year, conference tournaments this week, the NCAA’s next week. Watching basketball and eating pizza, good times.

The last year has seemed 10 years long; things are slowly getting better— several of my friends have gotten their vaccines and that’s a good thing. Watching basketball all week will also be a good thing— we didn’t get to do that last year. Getting back to normal will be the best thing.

[StarDust Bum]

501WASHINGTON -502 MEMPHIS
WASHINGTON is 27-48 ATS (-25.8 Units) in road games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game in the last 3 seasons.

503SAN ANTONIO -504 DALLAS
DALLAS are 214-151 ATS (47.9 Units) after scoring 90 points or less since 1996.




NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday, March 10

Washington @ Memphis
Wizards (14-20)
— Wizards won eight of their last 11 games (9-2 ATS)
— Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last six road games.
— Under is 4-1 in their last five games.

Grizzlies (16-16)
— Memphis won three of its last five games.
— Grizzlies are 6-3 ATS in last nine games overall.
— Under is 8-0 in their last eight games.

— Memphis won four of last five series games.
— Wizards are 0-4 ATS in last four visits to Tennessee.
— Under is 6-2 in last eight series games.

San Antonio @ Dallas
Spurs (18-14)
— San Antonio won seven of last 11 games overall.
— Spurs are 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games.
— Under is 7-3-1 in Spurs’ last 11 games.

Mavericks (18-16)
— Mavericks won nine of their last 11 games.
— Mavericks are 4-1 ATS in last five home games.
— Under is 5-1 in last six Dallas games.

— Mavericks won four of last five series games.
— Spurs covered three of last four visits to Dallas.
— Under is 6-2 in last eight series games.




NBA

Wednesday, March 10

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Trend Report
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Washington @ Memphis
Washington
Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Washington is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games
Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Memphis's last 5 games
Memphis is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Washington

San Antonio @ Dallas
San Antonio
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Antonio's last 6 games when playing on the road against Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Antonio's last 8 games when playing Dallas
Dallas
Dallas is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games


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NBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, March 10




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Eastern Conference 1st Half Records, Trends




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Western Conference 1st Half Records, Trends




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Hoop Trends for Wednesday March 10
Vince Akins

ATS Play ON Trend of the Day
Matchup: Washington at Memphis (8:05 p.m. ET)

-- The Wizards are 10-0 ATS (9.75 ppg) after Russell Westbrook had at least 10 assists last game.

ATS Play AGAINST Trend of the Day
Matchup: San Antonio at Dallas (8:35 p.m. ET)

-- The Spurs are 0-13-1 ATS (-10.11 ppg) as a road dog after their turnovers increased by at least 10 from the game prior.

OU Play OVER Trend of the Day
Matchup: San Antonio at Dallas (8:35 p.m. ET)

-- The Spurs are 13-0 OU (12.58 ppg) as a dog off a loss in which they had at least 5 turnovers more than their season-to-date average.

OU Play UNDER Trend of the Day
Matchup: Washington at Memphis (8:05 p.m. ET)

-- The Grizzlies are 0-12 OU (-17.12 ppg) as a favorite with rest after they scored more than 50 points in the paint last game.

Trends are verified using Sports Data Query Language (SDQL)


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NBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, March 10

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WASHINGTON (14 - 20) at MEMPHIS (16 - 16) - 3/10/2021, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WASHINGTON is 149-191 ATS (-61.1 Units) off an upset win as an underdog since 1996.
WASHINGTON is 23-39 ATS (-19.9 Units) in road games after allowing 115 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 60-86 ATS (-34.6 Units) in road games after scoring 115 points or more since 1996.
WASHINGTON is 27-48 ATS (-25.8 Units) in road games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 28-47 ATS (-23.7 Units) in road games versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MEMPHIS is 4-1 against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
MEMPHIS is 4-1 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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SAN ANTONIO (18 - 14) at DALLAS (18 - 16) - 3/10/2021, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 273-218 ATS (+33.2 Units) vs. division opponents since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 1141-1013 ATS (+26.7 Units) in all games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 61-30 ATS (+28.0 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent over the last 3 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 233-167 ATS (+49.3 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite since 1996.
DALLAS is 5-15 ATS (-11.5 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 5-4 against the spread versus SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO is 5-4 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

WAS at MEM 08:00 PM
WAS +3.5
O 237.0

SA at DAL 08:30 PM
DAL -4.0
U 224.0

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

WAS at MEM 08:00 PM
WAS +3.5...........112 - 127.....LOSER
O 237.0.......................WINNER

SA at DAL 08:30 PM
DAL -4.0................104 - 115....WINNER
U 224.0...........................WINNER


NBA DAILY RECORD BEST BETS:

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/10/2021 3-1-0 75.00% +950 Detail
03/04/2021 9-7-2 55.56% +650 Detail
03/03/2021 12-8-0 60.00% +1600 Detail
03/02/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -1850 Detail

TOTALS............28-23-2.......54.90%.....+13.50


Totals.............27 - 20...........67.50%............+19.00


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Feb. Best Bets Totals:..........144 Wins..........141 Loses.......50.52%........-57.50

Jan. Best Bets Totals:............64 Wins..........65 Loses.........49.61%........- 41.00

Dec. Best Bet Totals:.............4..Wins.......... 6,Loses.........40%.............- 13.00

[StarDust Bum]

Thursday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the PLAYERS Championship this week:
12-1— Dustin Johnson
13-1— Bryson Dechambeau, Rory McIlroy
15-1— Jon Rahm
16-1— Justin Thomas
20-1— Morikawa, Schauffele, Simpson
24-1— Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 527,950
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“……..fear and desperation are running neck and neck as the prevailing sentiment within the Bears’ front office right now, as its criminal mismanagement of the quarterback position has come to a crest with few easy ways out.”
Jason LaCanfora, CBS Sports

Thursday’s quiz
Who was manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won their only World Series title?

Wednesday’s quiz
Before becoming head coach at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski was the head coach at West Point.

Tuesday’s quiz
Dak Prescott played his college football at Mississippi State

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Thursday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….

13) Butler-Xavier, tied 59-all with 0:24 left at the Big East tournament. FS1 shows how Xavier is on the NCAA bubble and needs to win this game.

FS1 announcer: “This would be a bad loss for Xavier. Not to speak disparagingly of Butler, but this would be a bad loss.”

Hahaha. Can’t have it both ways, chief. If you say losing to Team A is a bad loss, then you’re speaking disparangly of Team A. No way around it.

Butler 70, Xavier 69 OT— Bad loss for Xavier, which lost six of its last eight games.

12) ACC tournament:
— Syracuse 89, NC State 68— Syracuse was 3-0 against the Wolfpack this season.
— Miami 67, Clemson 64— Hurricanes played seven guys yesterday. Seven.
— North Carolina 101, Notre Dame 59— UNC-Virginia Tech is a good game today.

11) Big X tournament:
— Kansas State 71, TCU 50— Wildcats won four of last five games, after an 0-13 skid.
— Oklahoma 79, Iowa State 73— Cyclones didn’t win a conference game this year.

10) Big 14 tournament:
— Minnesota 51, Northwestern 46— Gophers snap a 7-game skid here; they say Richard Pitino’s job is in jeopardy, and San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher would be their target to take Pitino’s place. Dutcher’s dad coached Minnesota in the early 80’s.

Here’s my proposal, and I’ve said this before: Louisville has an assistant coach named Luke Murray, who is Bill Murray’s son. If you’ve ever seen the movie Caddyshack, you remember the tense relationship Bill Murray’s character had with gophers on the golf course.

Having Bill Murray’s son being head coach of the Minnesota Gophers would open up a huge pool of possibilities for great TV commercials. Just an idea.

9) MAAC tournament:
— Iona 55, Siena 52— Rick Pitino gets his Gaels into the MAAC semi-finals, upsetting the top-seeded Saints.
— Fairfield 79, Monmouth 60— Pretty big upset, but Stags have won four of last five games.

8) Mountain West tournament had some sanity; all three favorites won Wednesday and two of them covered the spread. 2-seed Utah State gets to play UNLV on the Rebels’ home court Thursday.

7) Upsets of the Day:
— Rice (+9.5) 72, Marshall 68
— California (+8) 76, Stanford 58
— Miami (+8) 67, Clemson 64
— Fairfield (+8) 79, Monmouth 60
— Butler (+6) 70, Xavier 69 OT
— Northern Arizona (+6) 77, Portland State 66

6) Pac-12 tournament:
— Utah 98, Washington 95— Utes led by 19 with 5:08 left, hung on for dear life. Utah made 14-26 on the arc, shot 66.7% inside arc and only won by 3 points. Yikes.
— Cal 76, Stanford 58— Wheels fell off down the stretch for Stanford; they lost their last five games, finishing 14-13 after an 8-3 start.

5) LaMarcus Aldridge will be leaving the San Antonio Spurs; Gregg Popovich had nice things to say about Aldridge the person, but the team had been faring better when Aldridge was off the floor, so they’re going to trade him, and he’ll be away from the team until that happens.

Aldridge is a free agent this summer; he is averaging only 13.7 ppg, the fewest he’s scored since his rookie season, and only 4.5 rebounds/game, a career-low.

4) NFL salary cap is going down 8% next season, first time in a decade the cap hasn’t gone up.

Free agency starts March 17; NFL will be fighting for headlines with the NCAA Tournament.

3) Kansas Jayhawks fired their football coach the other day; they fired their athletic director yesterday. When you hire a new coach and the team goes 3-18 over two years, the wealthy boosters get queasy about coughing up more money. Rich people aren’t patient.

2) Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw will be using a new baseball glove this season for the first time since 2009. Dodgers won the World Series, Kershaw retired his glove. Guess that means he isn’t superstitious.

1) To me, today (Thursday) is the best college basketball day of the year; 15 hours full of games from all over the country. A good to day to relax, eat pizza and watch a lot of ball. Enjoy.