darrell,

0-1 last night and 10-4 (71%) over last week. Three picks tonight.

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Good luck , darrell!

Game: Indiana at New York (8:05 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 stars on OVER 196.5

This line caught my eye immediately. Normally, lines at New York are around the low 200's yet, this line is at 196.5 - why? Well, the Pacers are in town and the theory is that they play more defense and score a bit less on the offensive end. Yet, against Toronto in their last game - a game the raptors played without Bosh as they will the rest of the sesaon, the total was 214. Furthermore, in the 2 times these 2 teams have met, the total has been 199 and 198 with the higher total being in New York and and the Knicks having won on the road most recently. Furthermore, the Knicks over is 7-0 when the come off a ATS win, which is indicative of this team picking up a bit of confidence in themselves to put up more points after a spread win. Couple that with being 4-1 on the over when scoring a 100 or more in the previous game and the over being 3-0 in the last 3 meeings and the over being 7-2 in Madison Square Garden of late, let's follow the trends and situation and take the over.

The Timberwolves have been a big dissappointment this year. Yet, wagering is about situations and at this stage against the Jazz, they need to be given a look. After all, the Twolves are 23-14 at home - and given that they have just 31 wins this year, this is important of note. Furthermore, the twolves are a different team at home as they have won their last 7/8 and beaten teams such as Miami, Sacremento, New Jersey, Memphis and a rising Orlando team that came off the heels off defeating a Bulls team. Given this, they play a Utah team whom they have lost to twice this year and hope to get avoided being swept at home. Furthermore, the Twolves come off a buzzer beating Josh Childress layup to the Hawks in a collapse on defense. Thus, given the Twolves home court advantage, that they are a better team on home court and have beaten some elites as they are 7 of their last 8 there, to avoid being swept, and coming off a loss - let's take the Wolves here to give us a cover.

Rashard Lewis will be out this game for the Sonics. When he is out, the Sonics struggle to put up points, as evident when they were blown out by 25+ against Houston on the road. Furthermore, this team recently beat Portland by 30+ at home and given that Portland will want revenge, they will step it up on defense. Imagine this, the last total in Portland was just about 150. Given that Portland's offense has been suspect all year, as this team's starters average 42ppg - yes, 42ppg and given that Seattle will be handicapped today as well - and on top of that the double revenge factor for the Blazers to play D, I beleive this game might go into the 180's and not anywhere near the range of 200. Compound that with the under beint 6-1 when the Sonics are favored in their last 7 and the under is 7-2 when the Blazers are dogged by 0-5 points at home, the under seems to be a strong play here and we'll anchor that as our 3rd leg of our premium picks today.