Friday's Trends and Indexes - 2/22 (NBA, NCAAB, NHL, Misc.)

[Udog]

NBA
Short Sheet

Friday, February 22

Denver at Washington, 7:05 ET
Denver: 30-15 ATS when playing 6 or less games in 14 days
Washington: 42-67 ATS as a home underdog of 3 points or less

Detroit at Indiana, 7:05 ET
Detroit: 17-8 ATS after one or more consecutive overs
Indiana: 16-29 ATS after playing 2 consecutive home games

New York at Toronto, 7:05 ET
New York: 46-29 UNDER as a favorite
Toronto: 25-14 ATS after playing a game as an underdog

Chicago at Charlotte, 7:05 ET
Chicago: 9-0 ATS on Friday nights
Charlotte: 8-18 ATS after having lost 6 or 7 of their last 8

Houston at Brooklyn, 7:35 ET
Houston: 14-3 ATS after covering 4 of their last 5 against the spread
Brooklyn: 0-7 ATS in home games revenging a loss vs opponent

Sacramento at Atlanta, 7:35 ET
Sacramento: 3-11 ATS revenging a loss where opponent scored 110 or more points
Atlanta: 88-61 ATS in home games after 2 or more consecutive unders

Dallas at New Orleans, 8:05 ET
Dallas: 17-7 ATS after covering 6 or 7 of their last 8 against the spread
New Orleans: 3-11 ATS in home games after playing a road game

Minnesota at Oklahoma City, 8:05 ET ESPN
Minnesota: 26-42 ATS after a non-conference game
Oklahoma City: 14-5 ATS after scoring 110 points or more

Orlando at Memphis, 8:05 ET
Orlando: 1-9 ATS after failing to cover 6 or 7 of their last 8 against the spread
Memphis: 9-1 ATS in home games on Friday nights

Boston at Phoenix, 9:05 ET
Boston: 1-12 ATS in road games after a loss by 10 points or more
Phoenix: 7-0 UNDER in home games after having lost 4 of their last 5

San Antonio at Golden State, 10:35 ET ESPN
San Antonio: 9-0 ATS off a road blowout win by 20 points or more
Golden State: 14-6 OVER after playing a game as favorite

Portland at LA Lakers, 10:35 ET
Portland: 19-8 OVER revenging a loss vs opponent of 10 points or more
LA Lakers: 6-15 ATS after a non-conference game

[Udog]

NHL
Short Sheet

Friday, February 22

Florida at Pittsburgh, 7:05 ET
Florida: 54-46 ATS in road games after failing to cover 6 or 7 of their last 8
Pittsburgh: 5-12 ATS off a home loss

Vancouver at Nashville, 8:05 ET
Vancouver: 14-5 ATS in road games when playing on back-to-back days
Nashville: 20-8 UNDER after 2 or more consecutive overs

San Jose at Chicago, 8:35 ET NHL
San Jose: 1-7 ATS in February
Chicago: 10-2 ATS after a game where they covered the spread

[Kaptain]

as always....thanks U Dog

[Udog]

Daytona 500 action report: Books rooting against Patrick

Danica Patrick will start the 55th Daytona 500 in the pole position but sportsbooks are hoping she’ll finish anywhere but first Sunday.

Patrick has been the popular play at most sportsbooks, both online and Las Vegas, and could hand books a big loss if she wins NASCAR’s season opener. She was as high as 150-1 at some markets before running the fastest qualifying time and earning the pole last weekend.

“To put it simply, if the winner doesn’t have a meat and two veg in his pants, our motorsports traders will be looking for a new job come Monday morning,” jokes Russ Candler of UWin.com.

Patrick jumped to around 60-1 odds after qualifying and has been bet down as low as 28-1, continuing to take action as NASCAR betting heads into the weekend. She was able to run a safe and crash-free Budweiser Duel race, protecting her main car from damage.

Other drivers drawing notable action to win the Daytona 500 are Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, who each won their respective Duel race Thursday. Busch opened at 10-1 while Harvick opened at 11-1. Both are currently 9-1 favorites at Bet365.com.

In Las Vegas, Tony Stewart has been one of the more popular plays. The owner/driver is one of the best at Daytona International Speedway, owning an average finish of 19.2. However, Stewart has never won the Daytona 500. He opened at 15-1 at the LVH Superbook in Las Vegas in December and is currently 12-1 heading into the weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., renowned for restrictor-plate racing, is also among the more popular plays. At the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas, Earnhardt is the most-bet driver among the field and is down to 8-1. The 2004 Daytona 500 winner owns the second-best average finish at DIS at 18.7.

Last year’s winner, Matt Kenseth, is currently priced at 10-1. He could become only the fourth driver to win consecutive titles at Daytona and the first since Sterling Marlin in 1994-95. Kenseth, who also won in 2009, would become just the fifth driver with three or Daytona 500 wins if he is victorious Sunday.

[Udog]

NASCAR betting: Daytona 500 preview and odds

The lineup has been set and the green flag is ready to fall on the 55th running of the Daytona 500, the Great American Race and the start of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season.

The end to Speedweeks is the most anticipated race of the season and winning carries more significance than anywhere else.

After last Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited and Thursday’s Duel qualifying races, choosing favorites is a bit easier. But the Daytona 500 is also one of the longest and more grueling races in motorsports, so anything can and usually will happen.

The top driver so far this week has been Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing team. Harvick won last Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited and repeated the performance Thursday during the first Duel.

Overall, Harvick has 23 starts at Daytona International Speedway, including 11 in the Daytona 500. In that time, he’s scored two wins - the 2007 Daytona 500 and the 2010 Coke Zero 400. He also has five Top 5s and 10 Top-10 finishes. He has completed 94 percent of the laps run in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition at Daytona since July 2001 (3,768 of 4,025).

“Speedweeks is always a little bit different from any other race because the week kind of evolves from start to finish,” Harvick told reporters. “I’ve been through weeks where you wreck everything in sight and I’ve been through weeks where you’ve won races and been successful. You just have to stay calm and not get too high on the highs or too low on the lows, and be ready for Sunday.”

Matt Kenseth is with a new team this season. He rolls into Daytona however as the defending champion having won the rain delayed event last year. He may be with a new team and now driving a Toyota, but so far this week he’s shown a great deal of speed. The Daytona victory last season was Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 win, his first coming in 2009. He also has six top five and 13 top 10 finishes. With his new team, Kenseth seems on a mission and could become the first back to back winner of the Daytona 500 since 1994-95.

“Last year, everything not only went our way, but we just had really dominant cars and were able to keep them in the front all the time and fortunately be able to stay out of the trouble,” Kenseth said. “That's easier said than done sometimes. I think you try to get a car that's fast, which you don't always have very much control over. Then just try to get something that's comfortable in the draft and just hopefully get with some cars that your car works well with and hopefully, make the right moves and be in position at the end to at least have a chance."

Tony Stewart has won just about everything he’s raced at Daytona, with one exception; he has yet to win a Daytona 500. Overall he has four wins, eight top fives, 13 top 10s and one pole. His entire three car stable has shown speed this week and Stewart could be poised to add a Daytona 500 win to his resume. Like the other drivers in the field in addition to the usual obstacles faced this week is the introduction of the new car. So far this week the Gen 6 machine has changed the racing from the recent past. Stewart has raced in all forms of motorsports and is a pro at adapting to new cars. According to him, he’s found that the racing with the new cars has indeed changed.

“We’re still drafting, just not lining up pushing each other,” Stewart said.”I never liked the pushing deal anyway. There’s no other form of racing where you do that, so I don’t know why it’s been so embraced here, because to me it’s not really racing. It’s having two cars line up and one guy pushes the other guy. I don’t know where that really fits into auto racing. I don’t think it’s a bad thing if the bumpers don’t line up. I never was a fan of cars pushing each other in the first place, and if they don’t, if we can’t do it at Daytona, it’s not going to hurt my feelings.”

Don’t count out: Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers here with six wins at Daytona. If he and his Hendrick Motorsports team can overcome the gremlins that seem to follow them everywhere, he could be a show stealer Sunday.

Bottom Line: Twenty-seven of the 54 Daytona 500 races have been won from a top-five starting position. Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 from the 39th starting position in 2009 - the deepest a race winner has started. Nine have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Dale Jarrett in 2000. Sixteen Daytona 500 races have been won from the front row.

Odds to win Daytona 500 (Courtesy of JustBet):

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8-1
Kyle Busch 10-1
Jimmie Johnson 10-1
Matt Kenseth 10-1
Denny Hamlin 12-1
Kevin Harvick 12-1
Jeff Gordon 12-1
Brad Keselowski 12-1
Tony Stewart 12-1
Carl Edwards 15-1
Kasey Kahne 15-1
Clint Bowyer 18-1
Greg Biffle 18-1
Martin Truex Jr. 20-1
Joey Lagano 25-1
Kurt Busch 25-1
Jamie McMurray 25-1
Jeff Burton 30-1
Mark Martin 30-1
Ryan Newman 30-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 30-1
Marcos Ambrose 50-1
Paul Menard 50-1
Juan Montoya 50-1
Aric Almirola 60-1
Danica Patrick 75-1
Casey Mears 75-1
Trevor Bayne 75-1
Austin Dillon 75-1
Dave Blaney 100-1
David Gilliland 100-1
Travis Kvapil 100-1
Bobby Labonte 100-1
Field (Any Other Driver) 20-1