mTbaKer's NBA Picks- Friday

Looking like a nice card for Friday.  Here are my initial leans after going 1-2 yesterday (stupid Mavs).

Leans:

Bulls ATS only if Rose plays- MY FAVOURITE PLAY (massive revenge game, Magic are only good team to beat Bulls in Chitown and they embarrased them the Bulls remember that, at HOME THE BULLS HAVE BEATEN THE Heat (dog), Lakers (dog), Thunder, Celtics (dog), Mavs, Nuggets, Blazers, Bulls started at -1 now +1 home team generally wins when this happens for public backing a road team ex. Nuggets beat Magic, Sixers beat Bulls, Rose is a fighter and Magic will not be expecting him to be himself with ulcer, Bulls have had since Monday to prepare and rest for this game will be very focused, Kurt Thomas played great against Bucks and will do a great job on Howard with his veteran saavy, Bulls have a better record than the Magic and they are dogs?  Magic also struggling to beat good teams on the road such as Celts, Thunder, and Hornets of late)

Raptors ML (Bucks a road fav , Raps end the streak tonight before heading on the road, Bucks lost 3 in a row in Toronto)

Knicks +7 and ML (This team's confidence will be very high and they will be excited for this match, great road dog and revenge against Hawks from earlier in year)

Sixers ML (Grizzlies will be ready to go home and really disappointed after blowing match to Nets, Sixers have athelticism and guard depth to bother the Grizz who are not good on the road, Sixers wanna continue winning streak and are starting homestand strong, Mayo distraction as well)

Kings 1st Half ATS (Lakers blew out the Jazz and played great against Denver, they had 2 days off and will be content with a single-digit win against the Kings, will be lacksidasical like they were when they played the Nets two weeks ago, Kings playing good ball and will play tight, Lakers looking ahead to Celtics)

Bobcats +5 (Revenge game for loss on New Year's Eve, then Bobcats were only in 3rd game with Silas and were not used to fast-paced style to keep up with Warriors, playing great on road and will want to show they've improved, Pacers were +4 so Bobcats should be at +3.5 not +4.5, Bobcats have better D and size than GS, GS couldn't cover against the Pacers, barely covered against the Nets, shouldn't have covered against the Kings, Warriors will be doubting themselves after getting smoked in b2b home games by Hornets and Spurs West elite)

Suns +5 (Can't stand this team but they are a good play today, Celtics had a tough physical game with Blazers tonight, Pierce is banged up, Shaq is out, the Rondo and Allen played heavy minutes, Celtics are old on b2b and have Lakers next so they won't be at their best, Suns beat Celts both times last year, Suns are fast-paced team and will be determined to play well at home after losing to the Bobcats, game is nationally televised so Suns will be ready to go, game is at 10 Eastern time so Celts will be really tired after staying up late tonight)

8-pt Teaser- Thunder -2, Nuggets -2, Jazz -0.5

Ya I know this would have been a 10 unit play if Rose was 100% but you know he is a great player and having 3 days off I think if he plays he will really step it up.  The Magic think they are playing Chicago with Rose not 100%, they will probably be taken by surprise with the way he plays tonight.  Ton of trends point towards the Bulls as well and a lot of people on Covers as well as the public think it's a slam dunk win but I disagree.  I'm only playing the Bulls if Rose is in.

Ya but the line came out yesterday before the end of the Heat game so that's why it's a little high.  The Knicks are rolling and teams do well after beating the Heat.  7 is a ton of points here.

Thunder won't lose this game after a wake up call game in Minny.  OKC tends to shit on teams at home so Wizards at 18 would not be comforting.  I might take the Wizards ATS tomorrow

Even if Shaq plays I don't think he'll have much of an impact as the Suns will push the ball up the court.  Never comforting to fade the Celts but it looks like a good idea tonight.

Orangemen44 and D-Town 

 GL! bro on whatever side you ride

The Suns stock is getting pretty low right now with losing 3 in a row...Might be a good spot to back em

Quote Originally Posted by fresh4lyph:

i believe shaq is a go tonight

like the raps & sixers 

Ya I think that might be worse for the Celts with the Suns gunning it up and down the court, Raps and Sixers should get it done

Thanks buddy!  Ya I like the Suns in this spot although it's gonna be tough backing my least favourite team against my favourite team, lotta reverse movement in favour of the Suns

Just a little more info on the Magic/Bulls showdown in Chicago - here's what the Bulls have done since drafting Derrick Rose when attempting to revenge a double-digit home loss:

On December 31st, 2008, the Bulls lost at home to the Magic, 113-94.  In their next meeting on February 24th in Chicago, the Bulls won, 120-102.

On January 3rd, 2009, the Bulls lost at home to the Timberwolves, 102-92.  On January 25th, the Bulls lost in overtime in Minnesota, 109-108, covering as a 5-point underdog.

On January 10th, 2009, the Bulls lost at home in overtime to the Thunder, 109-98.  On March 18th, the Bulls won 103-96 in Oklahoma City.

On January 23rd, the Bulls lost at home to the Raptors, 114-94.  On March 29th, the Bulls lost in overtime in Toronto, 134-129, failing to cover as a 2.5-point underdog.  They blew a 4-point lead in OT that day.

On December 5th, 2009, the Bulls lost at home to the Raptors, 110-78.  On April 11th, the Bulls won 104-88 in Toronto.

On December 12th, the Bulls lost at home to the Celtics, 106-80.  On January 14th, the Bulls won 96-83 in Boston.

On January 4th, the Bulls lost at home to the Thunder, 98-85.  On January 27th, the Bulls won 96-86 in Oklahoma City.

On February 10th, the Bulls lost at home to the Magic, 107-87.  On March 11th, the Bulls lost 111-82 in Orlando.  At the time they were in the middle of a 10-game losing streak while playing without the injured Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.  Early in that game, Derrick Rose crashed into Dwight Howard and was done for the night.

That's 6-2 ATS so far in the Rose Era.  Tonight the Bulls will have a chance to avenge their only double-digit home loss of the season, and I think they will.

I have been looking forward to this match for the last week and you know MrBator I remember you posting that you would be making a huge play tonight in the United Center two weeks ago, great minds think alike good to see we are on the same page

Thanks buddy I think asking GS to cover that number will be tough