NBA

HOU +6

Reading this morning how rockets were saying in the Hawks game they might have lost focus and were thinking ahead towards this game...give me a break..excuses, excuses.....but now that this game is here....no more excuses....they know that this game is important and they do not wanna go 0-4 on the season.....talk is cheap so besides that here is why we like the rockets...

1.In the 3 games this year HOU has lost by 3 , 7 and 4 pts....games are very close and always come down to the end. State rivalries always add that little extra motivation players need...big game tonight, fans, players and coaches all know it...teams get up for these ones.....so we expect close game, fouls, free throws, possessions determine this one...6 pts is just on the outside of the point difference for close games.

2. Houston got the shit scared out of them by the Hawks....they had to battle back, beat them with a stick and those pesky buggars kept coming up for more....nothing like a healthy reminder on playing 4 quarters(just over 5 if you count OT)....if the hawks can do this to them imagine what the spurs will do if they go to sleep...i see 100% effort, no sleeping here.

3.Lets get to the stats....over the last 5 HOU is averaging 100 ppg, 47% FG, 36% 3P, 79% FT and giving 90 ppg.....with the Spurs we have 91 ppg, 42% FG, 39% 3P, 65% FT and giving 88ppg. These indicate a very close game to me..again fouls, free throws at the end.

My point through all the talk is this is going to be a close game....6 pts to me is on the outside of a close game....so we have Houston losing by 3 at worst, slight chance they could win by 1 or 2 but we will take the 6 pts to be sure.

VAN/DET OVER 5 +115

If we look back to last season we have 6 previous games between these two teams, 3 games have played to 5 goals, 1 has played to 6 goals and the other 2 had 7 goals scored in the game....DET got outplayed last night in EDM and should be a little tired tonight (more open game).....VAN has been taking it up the hoop lately, been getting drilled in the local media, everything out of their mouth has been lack of scoring....so we look for goals tonight.

One way to get goals is to open up the game, when that happens we have issues back defending home base....look for a lot of 2 on 1's, 3 on 2's and when that happens with top teams in the west we usually have 7 or 8 goals being scored.

The other thing that bodes well for goals is special teams, these guys hate each other, rivalry thing, i see few more minors than normal, more powerplays. Prior to last nights game in EDM, the Redwings previous two games had them scoring 5 goals in each.....There is just too much offense on each side to take the under. We like the Over 5. (plus its a positive ML that helps in laying the wood).

TwoDogParlay

BOS +125/MON +155

Boston is still in the top part of Eastern playoff race, they lose a couple more like last night and things could turn from worse to ugly. NYI is chasing/holding a playoff spot. If we look back on NYI last 10 games we have 5 wins and the notable ones are BUF and VAN (PHO/PIT/FLA dont count much). BOS last 10 we have 6 wins PHI/TOR/BUF as notables, other 3 are also crap.....what I like here is BOS has to get back on track, they were absolutlety pissed after last nights loss....they come out of the gate tonight, its gonna be close, but when the smoke clears I could see Boston being on top.

Montreal is at home tonight, win against NYR last night (no big deal other than confidence), loss to TOR 5-4 (spotted the leafs 4 goals before mounting a comeback in the last 30 mins), also 4-1 win against CAL. Prior to this they were on a 4 game skid. They have righted the ship, got a decent game (FINALLY) from theodore in the pipes last night, this should be a close one.

Ottawa is on top for a reason, they can score, play tight checking, but one thing they have been doing lately is letting soft goals in, how the hell do you let Pittsburgh get 3 on ya?. For my American friends this is a huge rivalry in Canada, (just like sens/leafs except not as much fighting but just as intense) The sens have had montreals number this year at 3-1 for the series....so being the dog that the habs are when your looking up you are always ready to play.....i like them being at home, loud, fanatic, crazy crowd.....The Habs are a religion in Montreal and against the nation's capital team this is prob more important tonight.

These are dogs for a reason tonight but everyone roots for the underdog (sometimes)....im laying $40 on this one but $20 pays you $94.25.

Best of luck