Monday Trends and Indexes 03/17

[Udog]

NBA
Power Index


Guys, since we have been posting these, they have gone 13-2 SU. With different books offering different lines, it's a little hard to say how they're doing ATS.


Monday, March 17

NBA

Orlando* 7 over Cleveland
Indiana* 7 over New York
Washington* 5.5 over Atlanta
Minnesota* 5.5 over L.A. Clippers
Charlotte .5 over Memphis*
New Orleans* 8.5 over Chicago
San Antonio* .5 over Boston
Utah* 8.5 over Toronto

[Udog]

NBA
Hot Lines


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Pick 'n' roll: Monday's best NBA bets
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Cleveland at Orlando (-7, 204)

Now that LeBron James is getting some support from his teammates, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to carry over their strong play at home to the road.

The Cavaliers hope to build off their most recent victory while trying to avoid a fourth consecutive road loss when they face the streaking Orlando Magic on Monday night.

James scored 33 points as Cleveland (38-29) held off Charlotte 98-91 on Sunday for its season-high seventh straight win at home. Though James - the NBA's scoring leader at 30.9 points per game - had another strong game, he was glad to share the spotlight.

Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 16 points and nine rebounds in his return after missing seven games with a lower back injury. Ben Wallace had 15 rebounds and also added a pair of late field goals to keep the Cavaliers ahead.

"It shows they can help this team if we put them in positions to score,'' said James, who also had 10 assists and seven rebounds.

With Ilgauskas apparently healthy, James and Cavaliers will boast a deeper lineup at Orlando (44-24), which has already clinched a playoff spot and is averaging 114.5 points during its current four-game winning streak.

The Cavaliers are fourth in the Eastern Conference and trying to nail down home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They are 5 1/2 games back of the third-place Magic, but 3 1/2 ahead of fifth-place Toronto in the conference.

Cleveland, which hasn't had a winning record away from home since 1995-96, has lost five of its last six on the road and is 16-19 overall. The Cavaliers, though, won 118-111 at Orlando on Feb. 11 in the teams' most recent meeting for their third win in five road games against the Magic.

Pick: Cavs


Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota (-6, 196)

The Los Angeles Clippers will no doubt be glad to see this road trip end.

The Clippers wrap up a frustrating five-game trip Monday when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Los Angeles (21-44) beat Miami 99-98 last Monday to get the road swing off to a good start, but lost the next three games by an average of nearly 14 points. The most recent loss, 119-109 to Washington, might have been the hardest to endure.

Los Angeles led most of the second half, but Cuttino Mobley fouled Antawn Jamison on a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Jamison hit all three shots to send the game into overtime, and the Wizards pulled away in the extra period.

"You should let the players decide it. The players should decide that one. If he makes the shot, he makes the shot," Mobley said. "Nobody touched him while he was going up. Oh well, hey, he called it, so I'll take it. I'll take it."

Clippers forward Corey Maggette scored 34 points - one off his season high - and has scored in double figures in all but one of his 56 games this season.

As if the evening wasn't frustrating enough, the Clippers continued to struggle with injuries. Los Angeles has lost an NBA-high 233 man-games to injury this season and was starting its 29th different lineup of the season.

Center Chris Kaman missed his fourth straight game with a sore back, and forward Al Thornton left in the second quarter with a left knee contusion. Coach Mike Dunleavy said Kaman could be gone for an extended period.

"Chris is going to be out a while, I think. It doesn't make sense for us to take any risks with him," Dunleavy said.

The Clippers appear to catch a break at the end of their trip - the Timberwolves (15-50) are tied with Memphis for the worst record in the Western Conference. Los Angeles, however, has won just four of its last 17 games in Minnesota, and one of the last four meetings overall.

The Timberwolves are a conference-worst 10-23 at home and 0-3 on their own court this month. However, they had won three of four overall before Saturday's 107-96 loss in Portland.

Pick: Clippers

[Udog]

NHL
Hot Lines


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Ice picks: Monday's best NHL bets
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Colorado at Minnesota (-120, 5)

The Northwest Division race would be compelling regardless of the contenders' scheduled opponents over the season's final three weeks.

It should be even better considering that they're almost exclusively facing each other.

The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild begin a frantic final push for the playoffs and division crown when they meet in St. Paul on Monday.

It's the first of three remaining meetings between the teams, who are part of a three-way tie with Calgary atop the division. Vancouver - the eighth-place team in the Western Conference - is only two points back.

Seven of Colorado's remaining nine games are against the Wild, Flames or Canucks, while seven of Minnesota's final 10 contests are against its top Northwest competition.

"As always, the next game is the biggest one for us," Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom said.

The Wild (38-26-8) pulled into a tie with Colorado with a 2-0 win over Los Angeles on Saturday, as Backstrom earned his first shutout in more than five months to help Minnesota end a five-game losing streak.

Backstrom stopped 24 shots and made Minnesota's two goals - the amount the Wild have scored in six of the past seven games - more than enough for the win.

"If we want to make the playoffs, that's the way it has to be," said Backstrom, whose last shutout was 2-0 over Edmonton on Oct. 10. "I have to be there and make the saves when the team needs that and help them so they don't have to score four or five goals every night."

Colorado was without forwards Ryan Smyth and Joe Sakic when Minnesota beat the Avs 3-2 on Jan. 24. The Avalanche will have both players in uniform Monday, as Smyth returned from a concussion in Saturday's 4-2 loss to New Jersey.

Sakic recorded his 999th assist in that game, but Colorado lost for just the second time in the last 10 games.

"It wasn't one of our better performances in the last two weeks," Sakic said. "We need to put this one behind us now. We have nine (games) left in our division, all four-point games. We have to be ready for those."

Pick: Avalanche


Phoenix at Vancouver (-150, 5)

The Phoenix Coyotes know they don't have much more room for error if they hope to reach the postseason.

The Coyotes can make up some ground in Western Conference race Monday when they visit the Vancouver Canucks.

Phoenix (36-31-5) is five points behind Vancouver (36-26-10), which is hanging onto the final playoff spot in the West. The Coyotes are trying to reach the postseason for the first time since 2002, but have dropped three of their last five.

Following the most recent loss, 5-2 to Edmonton, Phoenix held a 15-minute players-only meeting as it looked to regroup for the stretch run.

"This was the biggest game of the year for us and we got outplayed," coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We got beat to loose pucks, they had a little more discipline than we did as a team and they just played a much better hockey game. It's as simple as that."

The loss ended a five-game homestand, but the Coyotes are likely glad to be hitting the road for their next two games. Phoenix owns the league's second-worst home record but is 20-13-2 away from Jobing.com Arena.

"We've got 10 games to go and we're not out of it yet," said forward Shane Doan, who had a goal against the Oilers. "We just made it that much harder. We had to win in Vancouver anyway. I'm not saying this wasn't big because it was. But we had to win anyway."

Pick: Coyotes

[Udog]

NBA
Short Sheet


Monday, March 17th

New York at Indiana, 7:05 ET
New York: 26-17 OVER revenging a loss
Indiana: 17-26 ATS after playing a game as an underdog

Atlanta at Washington, 7:05 ET
Atlanta: 10-19 ATS as a road underdog
Washington: 8-0 ATS as a home favorite of 6.5 to 9

Cleveland at Orlando, 7:05 ET NBATV
Cleveland: 14-5 ATS in road games after a game where they failed to cover
Orlando: 10-2 OVER revenging a home loss

LA Clippers at Minnesota, 8:05 ET
LA Clippers: 22-36 ATS after a non-conference game
Minnesota: 27-13 ATS as a favorite

Charlotte at Memphis, 8:05 ET
Charlotte: 17-6 ATS in March
Memphis: 3-11 ATS after 2 or more consecutive unders

Chicago at New Orleans, 8:05 ET
Chicago: 2-6 ATS against Southwest division opponents
New Orleans: 4-1 ATS as a home underdog

Boston at San Antonio, 8:35 ET
Boston: 19-6 ATS after a blowout win by 20 points or more
San Antonio: 1-8 ATS in March games

Toronto at Utah, 9:05 ET
Toronto: 51-30 OVER revenging a same season loss
Utah: 7-0 ATS in home games after a non-conference

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

[Udog]

NHL
Short Sheet


Monday, March 17th

Colorado at Minnesota, 7:05 ET VER
Colorado: 7-1 SU revenging 2 straight losses where opponent scored 3 or more
Minnesota: 14-20 SU after playing a home game

Phoenix at Vancouver, 10:05 ET
Phoenix: 6-2 SU in road games off a home loss
Vancouver: 0-5 SU in home games revenging a loss vs opponent of 2 goals or more

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

[Dennis14072]

Thanks Guys, good luck tonight!