Winning Points 12/1
Winning Points
NBA
Tuesday, December 1
*Toronto over Washington by 7
Finally healthy, the Wizards are poised to make a move. They’ve been a fade on the road, though, going 8-22-2 ATS in their last 32 away matchups through Thanksgiving. TORONTO 115-108.
Boston over *Charlotte by 5
Charlotte may only score 75 points against the Celtics’ No. 1 ranked scoring defense, but Boston entered the fourth week of November mired in a 1-7 ATS slump. BOSTON 82-77.
Phoenix over *New York by 6
The Knicks further eroded their fan base deciding Allen Iverson is not the answer. Their short guards make New York especially vulnerable to Phoenix’s top-ranked offense. The Suns have to concentrate with a Wednesday look-ahead road matchup versus Cleveland on tap. PHOENIX 121-115.
**PREFERRED
*Denver over Golden State by 18
The short-handed Warriors are playing for the third time in four nights and this one is in high altitude. Carmelo Anthony, Nene and Chauncey Billups should coast against the Warriors, who ranked last in scoring defense and second-from-the-bottom in defensive field goal percentage. DENVER 126-108.
*Portland over Miami by 7
This begins a four-game West Coast trip for Miami. The Heat is trying to get healthy with Quentin Richardson (check status) and Udonis Haslem (check status) missing time entering Thanksgiving week. PORTLAND 99-92.
*Los Angeles Lakers over New Orleans by 13
Unless Chris Paul is in action, the Lakers can name their score. The Lakers rolled past the Hornets, 104-88, at home on Nov. 8 as a 6 _-point favorite and that’s when the Hornets had Paul. The Hornets were 6-13 ATS in their last 19 games through Nov. 21. LA LAKERS 102-89.
Wednesday, December 2
*Orlando over New York by 14
It could be worse for the Knicks – they could be the Nets. Orlando had won 16 of its last 19 home games through Nov. 24. ORLANDO 108-94.
**PREFERRED
Milwaukee over *Washington over by 5
The Wizards were 2-9 ATS on the second of back-to-back games through Nov. 27. Rookie or not, Brandon Jennings was playing as well as any guard during the three weeks of the season. He could be even better when sharpshooter Michael Redd returns to the lineup. MILWAUKEE 107-102.
*Atlanta over Toronto by 6
The Raptors were 7-1 ATS in their last eight Eastern Conference games entering the fourth week of this month. ATLANTA 112-106.
**PREFERRED
*Cleveland over Phoenix by 15
Idle since Saturday, the Cavs draw Phoenix playing its third road game in four days. LeBron James could score 60 against such a weak defense. CLEVELAND 120-105.
Dallas over *New Jersey by 7
If the Nets haven’t won a game on their West Coast trip a loss here would set a record most defeats to open a season. DALLAS 96-89.
*Chicago over Detroit by 6
The Pistons were 5-11 ATS as a road ‘dog through Nov. 21. CHICAGO 99-93.
*Minnesota over Memphis by 5
It’s Memphis’ fifth road game in eight days. MINNESOTA 96-91.
*Oklahoma City over Philadelphia by 5
This marks the 76ers’ fifth road trip in their last six games. The 76ers began this span putting up less than 88 points per game during their past five contests. OKLAHOMA CITY 93-88.
Indiana over *Sacramento by 2
The Kings have started to fall back to Earth, while the Pacers were on a 6-1 road covering run through the third week of this month. INDIANA 108-106.
Houston over *Los Angeles Clippers by 6
Chris Kaman has been very solid for the Clippers so far, but Los Angeles misses Eric Gordon (check status). The Rockets had covered nine of their first 14 games. HOUSTON 105-99.
College Basketball
Tuesday, December 1
Temple over Western Michigan* by 2
The rims will get a workout. WMU needs to make it physical and get Lavoy Allen outta there for Temple. TEMPLE, 56-54.
Northeastern* over Providence by 8
The home team’s half-court grind is the last thing that this particular Providence team wants to see. Watching Providence try to score in the half-court figures to be an agonizing task for everyone except Northeastern backers. NORTHEASTERN, 71-63.
Wake Forest over Purdue* by 5
Purdue wasn’t going to miss point guard Lewis Jackson against anyone on their schedule until this particular points. WAKE FOREST, 84-79.
North Carolina State* over Northwestern by 16
If Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe finds a way to keep it close vs. an already injured Northwestern team, they might want to find a loophole in that contract. NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 65-49.
Maryland* over Indiana by 2
Maryland will find a way to be pushed around and stay close to an inferior team on the road. MARYLAND, 66-64.
LSU* over UL-Lafayette by 19
Colorado* over San Francisco by 14
UTEP over New Mexico State* by 5
Michigan State over North Carolina by 10
Paybacks can go down very hard. Double-paybacks go down harder. MICHIGAN STATE, 79-69.
Iowa* over Virginia Tech by 2
Fresno State* over Pacific by 9
Cal-Santa Barbara* over Santa Clara by 14
Wednesday, December 2
Dayton over Miami-OH* by 1
Miami will have hot and cold shooting nights. The cold ones figure to come against decent defensive foes. Like Dayton. DAYTON, 64-63.
Pittsburgh over Duquesne* by 6
Duquesne’s Damian Saunders was the nation’s leading rebounder early on, but you get a lot of second chances when your team plays at a quick pace and misses lots of shots and plays poor-shooting opponents. PITTSBURGH, 75-69.
Villanova* over Drexel by 16
Confident shooters on ‘Nova vs. bricklayers on Drexel. VILLANOVA, 71-55.
George Washington* over George Mason by 5
Richmond* over Old Dominion by 5
Saint Louis over Georgia* by 1
Butler over Ball State* by 11
South Carolina* over Western Kentucky by 10
Clemson* over Illinois by 2
Miami-FL* over Minnesota by 8
VCU* over Rhode Island by 4
Michigan* over Boston College by 8
Tulsa* over Oklahoma State by 1
Be wary of Tulsa going up in class and expected to win. They don’t have the firepower to stay in it if Oklahoma State is hot from outside. TULSA, 76-75.
Charlotte* over East Carolina by 6
UAB* over Middle Tennessee by 7
Tulane* over New Orleans by 7
Oklahoma* over Arkansas by 9
Louisiana Tech over UL-Monroe* by 2
Rice over Harvard* by 1
Iowa State* over Northern Iowa by 8
Northern Iowa shot 6-of-32 from 3-point range in last season’s overtime loss. Their 7-footer Egsleder can’t play a full game against Iowa State’s big man Brackins. IOWA STATE, 79-71.
Mississippi over Arkansas State* by 2
ASU will try to make a grind out of it and win with defense and rebounding, but coach Brady left the SEC as Ol’ Miss’ Andy Kennedy was getting there and doesn’t know as much as he thinks he might know about the Rebs. MISSISSIPPI, 68-66.
Bradley over Northern Illinois* by 8
Arkansas-LR* over Missouri State by 2
SMU* over TCU by 1
Utah State* over BYU by 4
Arizona* over UNLV by 5
Gonzaga* over Washington State by 6
New Mexico* over California by 1
Wisconsin* over Duke by 7
Badgers say, ‘Yes, you’re new motion offense looks nice against teams that don’t play defense, but we’ve been running that stuff for a while and defending it in practice so screw you, Dukies. WISCONSIN, 68-61.
Vanderbilt* over Missouri by 11
On the road, Missouri’s chances against a well-balanced team that takes care of the ball decrease substantially. VANDERBILT, 82-71.
Florida State* over Ohio State by 11
That close game by the Buckeyes against North Carolina isn’t looking so good right now. FLORIDA STATE, 80-69.
San Diego* over San Diego State by 4
Cal-Irvine* over Hawaii by 4
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