Tuesday Sports Betting Picks

Good work, sportsbook, as I got taken for a ride yesterday with a few tough and close losses. Thanks to the Thunder and Heat for not showing up. Onwards and upwards to NHL betting and NBA betting today:

NBA betting: Indiana Pacers @ Sacramento Kings

Sportsbook odds: Pacers -2.5

My god. Pick your poison here. Fine, I will! I’ll take the Kings at home mostly because they are at home. The Indiana Pacers are a bad team themselves and I’m not laying points on the road with them anywhere, especially if Danny Granger is out. I’ll give the Kings a shot at home.

Online betting pick: Kings +2.5

NBA betting: Memphis Grizzlies @ Los Angeles Lakers

Sportsbook odds: Lakers -15.5

The Lakers are laying a huge number tonight and that number is so big because they are coming off a loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers were upended on Sunday on National television, which is why a lot of people feel they’ll bounce-back easily. I’ll take a shot with the Grizzlies to keep it somewhat respectable.

Online betting pick: Grizzlies +15.5

NHL betting: Los Angeles Kings @ Columbus Blue Jackets

Sportsbook odds: Blue Jackets -165

The Los Angeles Kings have been terrible all season long and they are in a pretty serious funk right now. They have won just twice in their last 10 games. The Columbus Blue Jackets are now a decent team and although in the past I wouldn’t be comfortable laying this huge number,  this is now a playoff team who should be able to take care of business at home.

Online betting pick: Blue Jackets -165

Tuesday Sports Betting Picks

There’s some the Baseball Classic odds, NHL betting and college basketball betting on my mind but I’m gonna stick with NBA betting for Tuesday night:

Los Angeles Lakers @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Hard not to like the Thunder plus the points considering they lost by just seven at Staples Center last week. They should be able to play better at home.

NBA betting pick: Thunder +8

Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs

Even though Ginobili is out, the two teams are on more equal footing than you think. Jason Terry is out for the Mavs. The Mavs suck against teams with a winning record while the Spurs are one of the best teams around.

NBA betting pick: Spurs -4.5

Memphis Grizzlies @ Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavaliers are stellar home team; Grizzlies are absolute garbage on the road. I’ll stick with the Cavs even with a big number in front of them.

NBA betting pick: Cavaliers -15.5

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Toronto Raptors

The Raptors are completely trash but in this matchup, they are at home and the Minnesota Timberwovles – without Al Jefferson – are lower on the NBA totem poll than Toronto.

NBA betting pick: Raptors -6.5

Weekend Picks

March Madness betting is still a ways away but for now, let’s focus on what is in front of us. It’s time for the weekend, which means it’s time for some NBA betting, UFC 95 picks, NHL betting and various other sports betting.

There’s two NHL games on the slate for tonight and you have to lay over -200 on both of the favorites.  Not sure that I want to lay those huge numbers, although the Red Wings are generally a secure bet at home. I’ll go with the Red Wings and the over.

Tampa Bay Lighting @ Carolina Hurricanes over/under odds: 5.5

NHL betting pick: over 5.5

Anaheim Ducks @ Detroit Red Wings odds: Red Wings -290

NHL betting picks: Red Wings -290

For NBA betting, it’s a fairly ugly card on Friday night but I do like one game:

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Milwaukee Bucks odds: Cavaliers -7.5

The Bucks are simply spent. They are without Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, and they just don’t have the talent or depth to match up with the elite teams in the league. Even at home, I don’t think that’s a deciding factor. Cavs roll.

NBA betting: Cavaliers -7.5

Below is a recap of my UFC 95 picks:

Dan Hardy vs Rory Markham odds: -115 both ways

UFC 95 picks: Hardy

Chael Sonnen vs Demian Maia odds: Maia -300

UFC 95 picks: Maia

Nathan Marquardt   vs   Wilson Gouveia odds: Marquardt -275

UFC 95 picks: Marquardt

Josh Koscheck   vs   Paulo Thiago odds: Koscheck -550

UFC 95 picks: Koscheck -550

Joe Stevenson vs Diego Sanchez  odds:  Sanchez -300

UFC 95 picks: Stevenson +225

New Mexico Bowl Finally Doesn’t Feature New Mexico

For the first time in New Mexico Bowl odds history, the New Mexico Lobos are not playing in the New Mexico bowl. It is a historic moment on some levels, but the New Mexico Bowl has only been around for a couple of years, so settle down. This isn’t like Chris Paul breaking Alvin Robertson’s steal records or anything.

This year, we’ll see a Colorado State vs Fresno State matchup, which pits the Mountain West conference against the WAC. These two conferences will got at it a few times this postseason in what is quickly becoming a little bit of a rivalry between two of the Cinderella-producing conferences.

Sportsbook odds have Pat Hill’s Bulldogs favored but I’m not so sure that that’s the right call. Think about the motivation for a second in this New Mexico Bowl spread. The Bulldogs were planning to crash the BCS party at the beginning of the year while Colorado State was just hoping they’d make a bowl game in Steve Fairchild’s first year as head coach. Colorado State will be up for this game while Fresno State might not be so jacked.

New Mexico Bowl pick: Colorado State

DeMarco Murray Out For the National Championship Game

BCS Championship odds have been up for a while but now we might see some more line movement as we have some injury news to pass along. Oklahoma Sooners star running back and key special teams returner, DeMarco Murray, is out for the game against the Florida Gators. BCS Championship odds will be affected as Murray is the Sooners best weapon in the backfield and obviously will have to be replaced on special teams.

The Gators have fantasic special teams but Murray was expected to help even the playing field in that aspect. The good news for the Sooners is they have a couple of capable runners in the backfield including Chris Brown.

Is this just another sign that Bob Stoops will once again lead his team to a National Championship game but fail to pay off on BCS National Championship Game odds? Florida will definitely be tough to beat.

Is Mary Kate Olsen Pregnant?

We mostly keep it to sports here but it’s hard to stay away from some exotics betting on a quiet Monday. BetOnline.com has Mary Kate Olsen pregnancy odds, which gave me a pretty good laugh.

I have no clue, to be honest. No insight and no inside information. But I will say that I think there’s no way she announces to the public that she’s pregnant before December 31st. Sportsbook odds want to know whether she’ll announce it to the world before the end of this year and I have a hard time believing that will happen. Why now? Why before the end of the year? And why to the public?

Not happening – I’ll take no for -300, Alex.