Matt Rivers has a free pick Thursday is on the Orland Magic -2.5 at Portland.
The Rose Garden throughout the years has been a quality home court advantage and still is that but the Blazers are a banged up team that should not be saved by their home court tonight. Greg Oden is obviously once again done for the season, Brandon Roy is not near 100% and may come off the bench a lot more and Andre Miller and Brian Cook were just suspended for their parts in the altercation at the Clippers a few games ago. Miller should be back dishing the rock but I’ll still take my chances with Jameer Nelson in this matchup.
Dwight Howard and the Magic were just upset at home on Tuesday by the Hawks and should be a fairly angry team here going to the west coast. The road is never easy but the Magic are the superior and healthier team that will prevail in this game. Portland has snapped the six game losing skid with back-to-back wins back home but when push comes to shove I would rather back the 57 or so win Magic at close to a pick in this spot.
The Magic have now lost their last two to fall to 15-6 and have only averaged 80 points in those defeats but truly I’m just not that worried. Stan Van Gundy’s squad has risen to an elite status and become a squad that should be able to outclass an inferior opponent in a spot such as this one. These guys have come close to 60 victories in each of the past two seasons, went to an NBA finals and are already 9 game sover .500 a little over a month into the season.
This is game one of the four game west coast swing and my shekels are on the Magic being locked and loaded and ready to shake off this mini slump.
The pick: Orlando Magic at BetUs
For more information: To say that Matt Rivers misread the Missouri Tigers would certainly be accurate. They skunked me for a second time in a week last night and to make matters worse Mike Anderson’s squad won the game to rub salt in the wounds, awful, just absolutely awful. I’ll dust it off and get right back on that horse today with a 300,000* between the struggling Colts and Titans. Neither team is close to being a good football team right now. One will rebound though and find a little bit of the old magic. Who will it be? I’ll tell you! Click now to purchase Matt Rivers picks
Courtesy of OddsShark.com: Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Colts and Titans hit the gridiron in Tennessee, while the Trail Blazers play host to the Magic, and Georgetown goes up against Temple.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
This week’s Thursday Night Football matchup will showcase of couple of struggling AFC South teams, as the Titans (5-7 SU, 5-7 ATS) play host to the Colts (6-6 SU, 6-6 ATS). Tennessee fell 17-6 at home to Jacksonville last week and has now lost five games in a row. Kerry Collins completed just 14 of 32 pass attempts for 169 yards for the Titans in that defeat, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Chris Johnson was held to just 53 yards on the ground. Indianapolis is riding a three-game losing skid, falling 38-35 at home to Dallas last week as Peyton Manning threw for 365 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Oddsmakers have the Colts pegged as 3-point road favorites for this Thursday night matchup, while the OVER/UNDER for the contest is set at 46 points.
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Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
There are three games on the NBA’s schedule for Thursday, with Boston at Philadelphia, New Jersey at Dallas, and Orlando at Portland. The Magic (15-6 SU, 7-13-1 ATS) were beaten 80-74 at home by the Hawks last time out, despite Dwight Howard returning from a stomach virus to pick up 14 points and 13 rebounds. Vince Carter tossed in a team-high 18 points for Orlando in that contest. The Trail Blazers (10-11 SU, 10-9-2 ATS) are coming off a 106-99 home win over Phoenix in which Wesley Matthews led the way with 24 points. Brandon Roy had 20 points for Portland that game.
As well, there are just two games involving ranked teams on the college basketball schedule for Thursday, with IUPUI at No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 9 Georgetown at Temple. The Hoyas (8-0 SU, 5-1 ATS) rolled past Utah State 68-51 last time out to remain unbeaten on the season; Chris Wright poured in 21 points for Georgetown in that contest. The Owls (5-2 SU, 4-2 ATS) are coming off a 64-61 win at Maryland in their last game. Ramone Moore led the way on offense for Temple with 16 points in that win.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the eight-game NHL slate for Thursday has the Islanders at Boston, San Jose at Buffalo, Philadelphia at Toronto, Florida at Washington, Columbus at San Jose, Minnesota at Phoenix, Calgary at Los Angeles, and the Rangers at Ottawa. The 16-12-1 Rangers and the 12-15-2 Senators just met in New York on Sunday afternoon, with Ottawa picking up a 3-1 road victory. Chris Kelly provided all the Senators’ scoring in that contest, netting a hat trick, while Pascal Leclaire stopped 25 of 26 New York shots. Brandon Prust had the lone Rangers goal, and Henrik Lundqvist was good for 22 saves.