Portland Trail Blazers -5.0
Wed Jan 2 ‘08 8:05p
The Portland Trailblazers enter into this contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves having won 13 of their L/14 games SU, with the only loss coming last time out to a tough Utah squad on the road by a score of 111-101. With that said I expect the Blazers behind one of the top young duo of players in the league (LaMarcus Aldridge & Brandon Roy) to be primed to get back in the win column, as they take advantage of a down trodden Minnesota team , that has lost 26 of their 30 games this season, and 5 in a row. Bottom line: These squads are performing at the opposite end of the proverbial performance spectrum, making Portland a good bet in this spot. Final notes & Key Trends: Wolves HC Randy Wittman has failed to guide his team to a cover as a home underdog in 18 of his L/21 opportunities. Play on Portland

St. Louis Blues (-185)
Wed Jan 2 ‘08 8:35p
This play is the result of a successful computer model that has allowed Bob Akmens Sports to finish in first-place in 148 different categories of documented monitored handicapping contests since 1978. Bob Akmens Sports has finished #1 in back-to-back-to-back-to-back NHL contests: ’06-07 both regular & playoffs at The Sports Monitor & ’05-’06 the same at The Sports Eye. This model looks at the most-predictive variables that go into the winning and losing of games. Several interesting factors in today’s play are as follows: Edmonton has only won 2 of their last 13 decisions at St Louis. As a matter of fact, given that they won their last game there, it’s unlikely they’d win 2 in a row. Why? Because you have to go back to the mid-90s – almost a 30-game stretch – to find back-to-back Oiler wins at the Blues. So you wondered why the Blues were favored by -185? Now you know. GO WITH ST LOUIS TO BEAT EDMONTON.

Houston Rockets +11.0 (-110)
Wed Jan 2 ‘08 7:35p
The Celtics opened as 11-point home favorites with the ‘Total’ set at 181. The Rockets own a mediocre 8-10 SU and ATS mark on the road this season, while the Celtics have been downright lethal in the “Garden” losing just one of their 15 games SU and padding their backers wallets in the process going an impressive 11-4 ATS (73%). Against sub .500 Western Conference opponents at home, the Celtics are a combined 19-7 ATS (73%)…FANTASTIC!!! They’ve covered 7 of their L/10 in this venue, and had to overcome an average of 11 PPG to make their backers happy over that stretch. However, they’re coming off a very successful Western Conference swing that certainly had this veteran group living it up over the holiday break.

Houston hasn’t been the greatest option on the road this year, only 8-10 SU & ATS, but this club plays solid defense and will no doubt be up for this task after losing to Golden State on their home floor on New Year’s Eve. They own a winning mark ATS on the road vs. +.500 opponents covering 4 of 7, and competed well at Detroit on December 23rd when they lost both Yao and T-Mac in the second half. McGrady will be a no go tonight, which will force the Rockets “D” to turn it up a couple of notches in order to potentially spring the outright upset.

It’s almost become routine to lay the points with the Celtics at home this year simply due to their outstanding mark to date. That being said, we’re now entering the dog days of the NBA regular season. That, combined with a holiday layoff leads me to believe the Celtics won’t be their sharpest, and that will allow a limited Rockets club to hang within this number and possibly pull off a shocker. Grab the points in what should be a hotly contested lower scoring game….

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