Cashing In

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

A's (over 8 1/2) at Chicago.

Not a crazy bad beat at all but still the worst of the day from what I can tell. The Cubs led 6-1 in the fifth inning which obviously equals 7. Just two more runs in the next four innings and this thing would be an over.

Oakland scratched across a run in the seventh to get within 6-2 and now just one more run was needed.

It never came!

6-2 final and a winner for the under players.



Your winners for Thursday are on:

4* Braves (minus 125) vs. Tampa Bay.

2* Celtics (plus 7) at Los Angeles.

A small losing 1-1 Wednesday as the 3* on the underdog Brewers failed unlike the 2* Mets who won going away.



Over the past month or so Bobby Cox' Braves have been one of, if not thee, best teams in the game. Atlanta has quite possibly the deepest pitching rotation and the hitters have heated up after the horrific first month. Heyward is a budding superstar, McCann is great even if the numbers aren't yet, Glaus has been great, Prado is a phenomenal hitter that seemingly gets two hits every game and others like Escobar and Chipper are still somewhat dangerous.

I definitely do really like the first place Rays who are an elite club as well with Pena, Longoria and Crawford and to get plus money with their ace in James Shields is certainly not a terrible deal for Tampa backers. But Tim Hudson has been one thing this year, great! All Huddy does is hurl quality start after quality start and herre at Turner Field should just repeat that as I don't see any reason at all why he won't.

Hudson has come back from the major reconstructive surgery and pretty much has defied the odds. It normally takes at least a year or two to be able to look like the old pitcher but not this guy. He has not missed a beat and may even be better.

Tampa is extremely formidable in this spot but I'm still all about the home Bravos as they will take care of business.



Los Angeles is great and can blowout anybody at Staples. But I'm still going to take my chances in this monster of all monster games on a great team with a ton of potential plus the seven or so. It's just too many points to get with the upside of Rondo, Garnett, Allen and Pierce. Yes missing Kendrick Perkins will be big defensively in the middle but it's not a game breaker and the end all, it's just not.

Kobe scares the bejesus out of me and the size advantage now in the middle is huge for Phil Jackson's squad. We definitely do have negatives going in, I'm not trying to say otherwise. But Big Baby will come with energy and emotion and the way the C's have manned up in big spots on the road this season, ie Cleveland, Orlando and LA makes me believe they will stay competitive throughout in a game that is the biggest there could ever be.

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Red Sox (plus 170) at New York.

The Yankees did jump out to the 5-0 lead in the first inning so Boston backers can't truly be 100% peeved but the way this thing shook out does make it bad.

The Sox fought back valiantly to take a 9-7 lead but did leave runners on the corners in the 8th against the struggling Javier Vazquez. Terry Francona's squad still owned a two run lead into the bottom of the 9th and should have flat out won the game at this point.

Papelbon allowed a Brett Gardner double to lead off the frame and then had the speedster at third with one down for Arod. Rodriguez then tied up the game with a long ball to left center and all of a sudden this thing was 9 all. Then with two out former Tiger Marcus Thames copied Arod and belted a two run jack for the walk-off victory.

Any Boston backer on the moneyline and on the run-line woke up with a headache today for sure.



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

4* Canadiens (plus 135) at Philadelphia.

2* Celtics (plus 7 1/2) at Orlando.

A pair of Monday plays and a rarity that I will say a pair of Monday losers. Neither the Astros nor Suns did what was expected and the night was lost. I should have listened to Numnutz 74, well done sir! Still well ahead of the game and ready to roll here.



Yup, that's right my big play today comes on the ice, as in the NHL! You won't see this every day but I am all about the boys from Montreal here in the City of brotherly Love. All Les Habs have done this postseason is respond again and again and again. Why should anything change today?

Chris Pronger and the Flyers have caught fire and are playing great. The insane comeback in the series and the game seven against Boston was one in a million and the game one victory against the Canadians was very very easy. But Montreal has been great themselves as they disposed of a pair of superstars and their teams in Ovechkin and the Caps along with Crosby and the Pens. One may be a fluke but two is more of a trend and a confident and hot team that has no fear.

Montreal still has a hot goaltender in Halak and one bad game will not change that. Mike Cammalleri and the Habs are going to lay it all on the line here to try and avoid the 0-2 hole and until they fail in a spot such as this plus this price is a total no-brainer and a steal.

The Flyers have picked things up but they are still not a great team and I think will lose this game. I would like Montreal if this game was a pick and I like it even more seeing this takeback.



The Celtics do seem a little too easy today and when that scenario comes about in the NBA one needs to step back and realize that more than not it is going to wind up being the wrong side. Therefore I have to temper myself a bit here with Boston. I am still backing Doc's squad because they are too good right now to be getting around a touchdown but I am going to respect the oddsmakers some and just keep this thing small.

Orlando is awesome and winning 14 straight proves that. I do think though Stan Van Gundy's team was just smacked back down a few levels after that beatdown in game one. The confidence may be waning today and the way the Celtics have been throughout the postseason I just cannot pass up this juicy number. These guys dismantled D Wade and Miami and just outclassed Lebron and his Cavs before handling the Magic with relative ease in game one.

Rajon Rondo has become a God and we all know about KG, Pierce and Allen. Boston is loaded with talent and experience and I don't see them crapping on themselves today so I'll take my chances getting about 7 1/2 or so.

Nelson, Howard, Carter and Lewis should be motivated and do enough to get the victory but I just don't see it being lopsided enough for the cover.

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Braves (total of 8 1/2) at Milwaukee.

A weak weak day with pretty much no major bad beats but if there's something that I have proven, it's that there's always something.

The Braves and Brewers starters in Derek Lowe and Yovanni Gallardo had things cooking early on. It was only 1-0 Bravos into the sixth inning, so clearly this thing was on an under pace.

But Bobby Cox' squad starting bashing the ball around and scored a lucky seven runs in the final three frames and wound up winning the game 9-2 and cashing in for the over players.



Your winner for Thursday is on:

5* Celtics (minus 1) vs. Cleveland.

One play on Wednesday and it was a 3* winner on the Nationals plus about 155 or so at Citi Field!



Turn off the lights and end the series because that is exactly what is going to happen in TD Garden tonight. Rajon Rondo and the Celtics are about to end King James misery just like Dwight Howard and the Magic did a season ago.

Mike Brown's team is turning into a great regular-season team and a choker in the playoffs. The King is banged up with that elbow, and this Cavs team is just not playing the high level of ball that we saw in the regular season. Even in the first round Cleveland was pushed a bit by the 8th-seeded Bulls, and here in this round Boston has been the clear cut better team in four of the five games.

The Celtics are just flat out rolling right now. Rondo is a superstar and don't discount KG, Allen and Pierce as all three are still dangerous and deadly at times.

It would take some balls for the Cavs to pull out this game in Beantown and force a seventh game and I just do not believe they have that makeup in them right now.

It's over baby!

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Rays (under 8 1/2) at Anaheim

This is really good!

Joel Pineiro was great and Matt Garza settled down and ate a lot of innings. The Angels led 4-1 into the top of the 9th inning as the over players were in horrific shape and pretty much had no hope.

Until...

Willy Aybar homered in the final inning with one out to get within two runs at 4-2. Then with two outs and a man on first the visitors from Tampa were down to their final out. Brian Fuentes was struggling a little and walked Ben Zobrist allowing Evan Longoria's double to tie up the game just like that.

With the game tied at 4 and a 5th run going to happen all of a sudden this thing reversed course and became an over!

If you care, the Angels won the game 5-4 in 11.



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

3* Celtics (plus 7 1/2) at Cleveland.

2* Angels (plus 105) vs. Tampa Bay.

One play on Monday a small 2* easy winner on the Magic!



The Cavaliers were awesome in game three but that has been it so far. Cleveland has struggled and LeBron's elbow is still not 100%. The King at times has looked really good but at other times has looked bothered and disinterested.

Meanwhile Rajon Rondo is becoming a superstar and a guy that can dominate this series. Neither Garnett, Allen or Pierce are what they used to be but there is still a lot of experience and potential with any of those guys and certainly capable of competing.

The Cavs at home are dominant and if they are feeling good and come to play they can beat anybody going away. But we haven't seen that team for the bulk of this series and therefore I'll take my chances with the dog and the points.



Scott Kazmir has not been very good this season but going up against his old team that traded him away could be the antitdote to change things around.

We saw John Lackey shove it up his former team's butts last week as Lackey dominated the Angels and now it's Mike Scioscia's turn to have a player look great against former players.

Kazmir was on his way to stardom with Tampa and then had a rough stretch and was disposed of like a piece of meat. Now it's the lefty's turn to get some revenge here in the Big A against a suddenly semi struggling Tampa team.

Joe Maddon's squad had been great through the first month but the last week has not been as great including that perfect game against them by Dallas Braden.

Tampa may be the better team and Jeff Niemann is a quality young arm but some plus money at home with Kazmir in this spot is worth a play.

Your "Bad Beat" for Thursday is on:

Brewers (plus 1 1/2 runs minus $2 AND under 9) at Los Angeles.

A solid overall day for Bad Beats but the best one of all came when most of us were asleep as both the run-line and the total were effected in a major way.

The Dodgers built the early 3-0 lead and then watched it fully disappear as closer Jonathan Broxton allowed a pair of runs in the 9th inning thanks to four hits.

But the blue loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame and Mr. Clutch Andre Ethier unloaded them with the walkoff grand slam for the 7-3 victory covering any 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 run-lines and ridiculously pushing the game over the total of 9.

This game was 3-1 with two outs in the top of the 9th inning!?!?!?



Your winners for Friday are on:

5* Celtics (minus 1) vs. Cleveland.

2* Orioles (plus 210) at Minnesota.

One play on Thursday and it was a 3* winner on the Magic in that sweet sweet second half!



I absolutely love the Celtics at home today! Boston was by far the superior team in the first two games at Cleveland and I expect the same today. LeBron is either injured or a total wuss. The guy has not been close to 100% and you can tell from his points as well as his body language. A few days off may have helped but it also may not have and the off time certainly helped the aging veteran legs of the Celtics' Pierce, Allen and Garnett and Rajon Rondo is by far the best and most dominant player in this series.

It's almost as if people don't want to believe that Boston is the better team because of the regular season but that is meaningless right now. The same situation arose last year when the Magic were the better team yet got great value in the series as Cleveland was alwyas the 8 or so home chalk and a pick on the road because the oddsmakers were being stubbon. Same type of a situation here as the green are putting things together and playing their best ball of the year.

Boston disposed of Dwyane Wade and the Heat with ease and should be up 2-0 already here. Game one was squandered but then the C's showed a ton of focus and Heart and came back with a vengeance. Today's home boys are confident and rearing to go unlike the visitors who are lacking a ton of everything today.



Francisco Liriano has regained his old form and seems to be as dominant as ever. The lefty could keep that up here I guess as the Orioles aren't too good but I feel that the Twins are overvalued due to the red hot 19-10 start and the O's are well undervalued due to their ice cold 8-21 start.

Minnesota is still far from an offensive juggernaut without Mauer and we saw just that yesterday as they were completely shut down by Brad Bergesen. I'm not saying Kevin Millwood will repeat that feat but the veteran can hold his own and with Liriano being very, once again, "due", to get hit a little and his Twins still "due" to lose a few more games I will take this price and run with Wieters, Jones, Tejada and the capable enough boys from Baltimore.

Your "Bad Beat" for Saturday is on:

Mississippi State (minus $3, moneyline) vs. North Carolina.

Jarvis Varnado and the Bulldogs jumped on the Tar Heels early taking the 16-4 lead. Just like yesterday's "Bad Beat" early leads sometimes are dangerous but with that said North Carolina has become a disaster and as the touchdown dog coming back and actually winning the game on the road in Starkville was a bit much.

Or was it?

Roy Williams' Heels came all the way back to take the lead at the half and then erased a decent second half deficit as well. They then scored the game winning hoop with a second and a half to go in the semi shocking outright.



Your winners for Sunday are on:

5* Maryland (pk) vs. Michigan State.

3* Cornell (plus 4 1/2) vs. Wisconsin.

One Saturday play and it was 5* St. Mary's who won outright. Bang, that's how it's done!



I love the Turtle today! Greivis Vasquez and the Terrapins are going to win this game and do so in a major way.

The Spartand are experienced and very talented but they are a shell of themselves right now. Michigan State is not close to being what they were last season and Tom Izzo knows it. His boys are inconsistent and just not very good right now. Teams want to peak at this point in the season but Sparty is doing anything but as we saw once again last time out in the poor outing and semi lucky win over New Mexico State.

Izzo's team went to the National Championship game last season and they still do have players. Morgan and Lucas can be great. Throw in Green and Roe and Lucious and Allen and this team is experienced and pretty darn solid but they are just not playing very well right now. In fact they remind me of Villanova, limping into the second round not playing well and then bang, they just get smacked and put out of their misery.

Look for Vasquez and others like Williams and Hayes and Mosley to show how they were the ACC Co-Champs and roll over a team that is ready to be rolled over on!



Cornell is not a fluke and I really think they may win today. Bo Ryan's Badgers play stifling defense and are very good but they don't score that much and are up against the greatest team the Ivy League has ever seen.

Ryan Wittman is unreal and he has teammates that are no joke as well. Cornell can shoot the rock really well and just dominated a hot and very good Temple squad. Look back a few months when these guys went into Kansas and had the lead in the final minute. The Big Red are not your typical team from the Ivy League. These guys were screwed big-time with the seeding and are a top 25 team in the country.

Wiscy is probably the better defensive team and all in all may have more athletes but not by much and to be able to get a handful in this definite potential outright is enough for me to back Steve Donahue's boys in.

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Mississippi State (moneyline, plus 280) vs. Kentucky.

A total consolation prize to any Temple backers as the Owls missed a free throw with .5 remaining to win by four and the number was anywhere from 4 to 4 1/2.

Now to the real "Bad Beat" of the day. If you saw how this SEC championship game finished you realized how incredible of an ending it was.

The Bulldogs lost earlier in the season in overtime to John Calipari's Wildcats. Today Miss. State needed some revenge and a victory to assure themselves of a trip to the NCAA Tournament. A good showing may have put them in as well but nothing was at all set in stone, nothing.

Miss State was the 7 point underdog yet led most of the game. With 1:04 to go it was 62-59 Bulldogs and Jarvis Varnado on the foul line. The big fella is a quality free throw shooter but missed both to keep it a one possession game. Fast forward to 4.5 seconds remaining and Eric Bledsoe on the line with his 'Cats trailing 64-61. The Kentucky freshman made the first to get within two and intentionally missed the second.

Kentucky got the rebound as John Wall fired into the lane, probably illegally according to the rule, but it wasn't called. Wall then missed a long jumper, possibly a potential game winning three but Demarcus Cousins gathered in the rebound and put in the layup with literally .1 on the clock. The refs checked the replays and by a inch or two the ball was out of the hand and we were heading to overtime.

In the extra session Kentucky looked like the better team and pulled this thing out 75-74. A few hours later Miss. State was NOT selected by the NCAA Tournament Committe and their Big Dance ticket was not punched due to a possible rule violation not called on Wall and .1 seconds overall.

Oh and one more Bad Beat nugget. Riley Benock nailed a three for State as time expired in overtime to lose by one. That "meaningless" three covered the 6 1/2 point second half line and the two point overtime line for the Bulldogs.



Your winner for Monday is on:

3* Pistons (plus 9 1/2) at Boston.

A solid winning 1-1 Sunday as the huge 5* on Georgia Tech came through in the plus 3* day!



What a great weekend of college hoops. Nothing from there today as the slate is small in this calm before the storm beginning on Thursday so I'll just make one play and one play only.

The Pistons plus the points is the way to go today. Detroit is terrible for sure but Boston is not exactly playing great ball themselves. Doc Rivers' squad has struggled this season and especially of late. They no longer look like a great team as they are starting to really look more like an aging team.

Boston just lost yesterday in Cleveland and playing on a back-to-back is never easy. Sure Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and Allen have a high ceiling and could outclass a bad Detroit team in the end but I still think that these Pistons have something in the tank and will be primed and ready to go in the Boston Garden.

Rip Hamilton can score and a few others including Tayshaun Prince are alright and have been there and done that. These guys are going to miss the playoffs and the franchise is certainly declinging quickly but in this one game spot after being off yesterday the visitors are a semi must play.

It's just too many points as I expect this game to be fairly tight in the end. Boston to me has become the professional version of Duke as they're just not that good yet because of their name are a bit overvalued.

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Princeton (minus 13) vs. Penn.

There were a number of Bad Beats on Tuesday. The Colorado Avalanche blowing the 4-1 lead and losing 6-4 at home to Vancouver certainly was one of them.

Also Seton Hall not covering the 5 1/2 after leading 55-39 at the half and then 70-45 in the second half was borderline criminal. The Pirates allowed 67 second half points in the crazy 109-106 victory at the Garden.

But the "Bad Beat" of the day comes from the Ivy League where the Penn Quakers were getting absolutely embarassed against rival Princeton. The Tigers literally led 35-8 with 4 minutes to go in the first half. The game then went to the break at 40-14.

But Jerome Allen's halftime speech worked as the Quakers nailed over 53% of their shots in the second half compared to only 25% from the field (5-20) by the Tigers.

Penn actually got the game to within seven with a few minujtes to play and lost 68-56 narrowly covering that baker's dozen.

Unreal, 35 to freakin' 8 and cannot cover!?!?!?!?



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

4* Iowa State (plus 9) vs. Texas.

2* South Florida (plus 7) vsa. Georgetown.

Another 2-0 on Tuesday as my 3* on George Washington cashed the ticket and the 2* on Penn did so as well in miraculous fashion.



I am very anti Texas right now and for good reason. Nothing at all has gone right for about six weeks now for Rick Barnes' Longhorns. Remember back how Texas was number one in the country but ever since they have been awful. Both Ward and Balbay are lost for the season with injuries and the 'Horns have been absolutely terrible for awhile now.

UT has won some games in Austin but they have also been mediocre at best overall at home and beyond brutal on the road. Pittman and James are tough to defend down low and they will get some offensive boards but all in all Texas is just not a very good ballclub right now.

Iowa State is the weaker team for sure but they did just have that amazing overtime outright win in Kansas State over Clemente and Pullen and are a team with a stud in Craig Brackins. This guy is the real deal and can do it all. To get almost double digits with him alone is worth it and then when you throw in Marquis Gilstrap I can see the Cyclones not only cover but possibly win the game.

It is asking a lot for Iowa State here as they are far from being much of anything but Texas is a whole lot of nothing right now themselves and in this game in Missouri there is no reason to believe that the 'Horns can just regain that power.



I don't feel as great about the Bulls from South Florida because Georgetown is the better team and should be fresher after South Florida had to tangle with DePaul yesterday. But with that said the Hoyas are very very inconsistent and to get Dominique Jones and a Bulls team that a few months ago shockingly won at Georgetown is enough for me at this number. The underdogs' confidence level should be pretty high here knowing they already beat G-Town and have now won four in a row overall.

Greg Monroe is an instant mismatch and a guy that should dominate down low but in the end I do not trust John Thompson III's Hoyas in any regard and in any spot laying a half dozen plus.

Georgetown should advance but I don't think it'll be very easy as these Bulls are a scrappy club and should compete until the very end.

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Old Dominion (minus 8 1/2) vs. William & Mary.

There were no real terrible beats for Monday that I know of but I can tell you that I got very lucky with the Tribe.

Old Dominion was the right side and should have won this game going away. The Monarchs were up early and often building the 27-14 lead 13 minutes into the contest and owning the 41-26 lead with about 14 to play.

Bill and Mary did tighten things up and were within 56-51 in the final minute. The free throw game would then evolve and ODU missed three of their final six and this thing ended in a Tribe cover at 60-53.



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

3* George Washington (plus 11 1/2) at Dayton.

2* Penn (plus 13) at Princeton.

A 2-0 sweep for 5* of profit on Monday as both William & Mary and the Nets snuck in their respective numbers in the end.



Who is Dayton right now? I'm not even sure the Flyer players know the answer. Things have not gone well at all for Brian Gregory's team. The season started out great and Dayton appeared to be headed straight for an at-large berth in the tournament but that appears to no longer be the case.

The Flyers are a talented squad that at home can be very good with Johnson and Wright but this team has done little of late if anything at all. They just lost outright at home to St. Louis as a very similar favorite to today and have dropped four of their last five overall.

Dayton is 19-11 overall and 8-8 in the A-10 which is clearly better than GW's 16-13 mark and 6-10 in-conference but Karl Hobbs has done a solid job this season and his Colonials are not terrible. Joseph Katuka has been on-fire of late and the team is 5-1-1 ATS in its last seven. That's good enough for me to back this semi live dog.



The Penn Quakers have had an awful season compared to the last 15 or so years where they were either the class of the Ivy League or second best behind Princeton but in this rivalry spot against a low scoring Tiger offense I'll grab a Baker's dozen or so.

Jerome Allen's team has improved of late and just played Harvard down to the wire in an easy cover but one point loss last Friday. Then next day they beat up a terrible Dartmouth squad and with Zach Rosen filling it up as usual should be able to stay in range today. The Quakers have covered three of their last five and I really do believe we will see four of six soon.

Princeton is an upper eschelon squad in the conference as they are clearly behind Cornell but right there with Harvard for second best. Sydney Johnson's squad is 19-8 overall and 9-3 in-conference. They should win here for sure but rivalry type games are usually tighter than expected as Penn-Princeton really is a rivalry type game. Plus the Tigers are far from being an offensive juggernaut and really should not go too far north of 60, if they get that high.

The Tigers will win the game but with the Quaks semi improvements and this game being for very little I'll grab the number.

Your "Bad Beat" for Thursday is on:

LSU (plus 12 1/2) at Ole Miss.

A hearty consolation prize to whomever played the under between East Tennessee State and Campbell as those teams combined for only 46 first half points. With a total of 126 that should have been a winner for the under players but the second half had a combined 90 points as head scratchingly that thing surged over the total.

To the beat of the day and I'm not even sure if Shaq and Chris Jackson could help out the LSU Tigers this season but they are playing a little better and did just compete hard in Mississippi.

LSU was within three at the half and actually had a brief lead in the second half. With a little under seven minutes to go Tasmin Mitchell and the Tigers were only trailing 58-55. But they went ice cold and did not score for four plus minutes as the deficit swelled to 12 at 67-55.

Ole Miss' Terric White scored to make it 72-57 before LSU had a garbage hoop at the end in the 72-59 final. That was a decisive 14-2 run and in the end LSU scored a whole 4 points in the final 6:37 of the game to fall by the slimmest of margins, half a freakin point!



Your winners for Friday are on:

3* Harvard (minus 8) at Penn.

2* James Madison (plus 6) vs. Drexel.

2* The Citadel (minus 3) vs. Samford.

One Thursday play, on Richmond and that game had the Spiders laying anywhere from 3 1/2 to 4 and they won by four. I'll call it a push as that's fair at the very worst. Some of you listening certainly did get the win though.



Three plays today and the big one coming out of the Ivy League. Penn is finishing up a horrific campaign and is about to get whacked. They may be at home but what does that mean in this conference? There are no Cameron Indoors and being in Pennsylvania means very little when you are about against the far superior boys from Cambridge.

Jeremy Lin is a star and Tommy Amaker has done a great job with these kids making them into a competitive team against solid non-conference opponents. Earlier in the season the Crimson beat Boston College and covered easily against UCONN. They also tusseled with Georgetown in a loss and eventual non-cove and are all set to prove they are clearly the second best team, behind Cornell, the Ivy's have to offer.

Jerome Allen's team has been a complete dog with fleas and nothing changes here.



James Madison and Drexel just closed out the season and it was the Dragons who pulled out the three point victory. With a little revenge here and a new life being in the postseason I think the Dukes will keep this within range once again.

Neither team is very good and even if Drexel is better we have seen year in and year out in these tournament settings a lot of upset and this certainly could be one of them.

I never trust Madison away from home but this is not a true road game and when all is said and done I'll grab the number.



The Citadel has very good guard play and that is going to be the difference in what could be a game that is slow and slower. Just look at the total of about 108, yuck!

Samford has been horrible over the past month and I mean horrible. It appeared for some of the season that these Bulldogs were ok but in the end we saw how they just were not.

Look for Wells and Urbanus to live up to their billing and dominate the backcourt as they usually do and for The Citadel to win this thing by about 8-10 points.

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Celtics (plus one) vs. Los Angeles.

There were some choices when it comes to the "Bad Beat" on Sunday but the Celtics imploding late took the cake.

The other candidates include Wiscy Milwaukee on the college hardwoods and the Devils on the ice.

Kobe and the Lakers were in a ton of trouble yesterday in Beantown. Boston controlled the game from the second quarter on and led by 11 with 9 minutes to play. That certainly should have been enough for the victory, I mean up 11 at home with 9 to play, 81-70, come on!?!?!?

But Phil Jackson's boys are the champs for a reason and are now 37-11 for a reason as well.

The Lakers went on an immediate 8-0 run to get within three and then down 89-88 in the waning seconds had their man, Kobe Bryant, nail a jumper with seven seconds remaining over unreal defense by Ray Allen, but it just didn't matter. Allen then missed a long three at the buzzer and the Lakers won by a single point in this great comeback and basically pushed the number.



Your winners for Monday are on:

4* Wizards (plus 5) vs. Boston.

2* Texas (minus 2) at Oklahoma State.

A poor poor 0-2 Sunday as my big play on 4* North Carolina was quite possibly the worst call I have ever had in my entire life!



The Wizards are fairly terrible and a team going absolutely nowhere with or without Gilbert Arenas but the way the Celtics have been playing and the fact they have played a ton of basketball of late (fourth game here in the past five days including this back-to-back) I'm not so sure that Washington won't win this game.

Of course Allen, Pierce, Rondo, Garnett and Wallace form the much better team but Boston is also a cold and gassed team that will be dragging in a major way today. They lost in a tough tough finish at Orlando blowing a huge lead, then the next night were swept 4-0 in the season series by the Hawks and yesterday (look above) crapped in their pants late against the Lakers in a narrow and depressing loss.

Things have not been going well for Doc's team of late and say what you want, Kevin Garnett, healthy or not, is not the same dominant force he used to be.

The Wizards are not good but Jamison and Butler are always at least dangerous and the C's have now lost three in a row and six of eight and are playing a fourth game in five days. Put all of that together and this is far from being an ideal spot for the visitors.



I just believe that Texas is too good tonight even if they are on the road in Stillwater. Oklahoma State has been good this season and Travis Ford is a quality coach who will have his boys get after it. James Anderson should fill it up and the Cowboys probably do believe they can beat the struggling Longhorns but when all is said and done I don't see that happening.

UT has not been nearly as good over the past few weeks as they were in the undefeated start where they were ranked number one but I do believe that Rick Barnes' squad is better than they have shown of late and will get the win here as they are just too big up front and too good and deep overall.

Look for James and Pittman to get after it in the paint and for the 'Horns depth to take advantage in the end as they get a big-time Big 12 road victory.

Your "Bad Beat" for Thursday is on:

Capitals (minus 1 1/2 goals plus 170) at Atlanta.

It really can't get much worse than this. The Capitals were about a 165 road favorite but if you layed that extra goal and a half you could get about 170 back.

Washington owned the 3-0 lead into the third period. The Thrashers though, even without Ilya Kovalchuk fought back to within 3-2 on Todd White's goal with under 2 1/2 minutes to play. That is where the emotions really started.

The Thrash had the empty net to try and tie this thing up but Mike Knuble scored without the goalie at 19:07 giving the Caps the 4-2 lead and one would have to think the cover for that 1 1/2.

But...

With literally one second to go Atlanta's Zach Bogosian's slap shot beat the clock and this thing ended at 4-3!?!?!? Wow!!!



Your winners for Friday are on:

3* South Florida (plus 3) vs. West Virginia.

2* Celtics (minus 12) vs. Bulls.

A winning 1-1 Thursday as the 3* Tar Heels outright was unreal. A 2* underdog loser on the Phillies but still a positive day for sure!



I am not at all sold on this West Virginia team as I just think they are living on reputation. Noel Devine is lightning fast but the Mounties are a poor 2-5 ATS and are ready to get smacked around a bit.

Certainly one must be cautious with the Bulls as they have been fairly pathetic of late and do have a backup quarterback in there but at home I'll take my chances on a quality coach in Jim Leavitt and his still pretty good team.

George Selvie is insane on defense and will make it tough for Devine and Jarrett Brown. This WVU offense will always make some plays but on the road here I just do not see them doing enough to pull out a win and to be laying points makes this thing an absolute no-brainer for me!



Man, laying a dozen points can be dicey but to be honest with you the Celtics are the best team in the entire NBA and I mean that with total conviction. Rasheed Wallace is now in the mix and with a healthy and focused Kevin Garnett this team is ready to pound opponents and win another ring.

Da Bulls are a pretty good team and it was a solid win last night over Timmay and the Spurs but this is really difficult spot, playing for a second straight night and here up against a fresher and much better Boston team.

The C's just have too many weapons with Wallace, KG, Allen and Pierce. Derrick Rose is a budding star for sure but let's remember how these Bulls lost Ben Gordon and it is going to hurt in terms of scoring. Up against a grueling Boston defense and playing on this back-to-back Chicago may not eclipse 75 points!