Sports Betting
Thursday’s Best ESPN BET Bets: Hurricanes-Penguins, Boca Raton Bowl, Saints-Rams
Back-to-back 3-0 nights for the winning picks. Just incredible stuff. We were able to cover with the hook of +14.5 with Purdue-Fort Wayne thanks to two points and a made free throw by the Mastodons with under 30 seconds to go against Pitt. The Clippers rolled past the Mavericks to cover and the Kraken and Kings went way under the total of 6. We move to 56-45-2 on the year.
Before the winning picks today, I want to discuss the NBA MVP race that became really interesting after the performance of Joel Embiid last night vs the Minnesota Timberwolves. Embiid joined Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only players in NBA history to score over 50 points and have 10 rebounds against the #1 scoring defense in the league, dropping 51 and 12 last night in the 76ers win.
With that performance, Embiid moves just ahead of Nikola Jokic, who Embiid beat last year to win MVP and prevented the Joker from making it a three peat for MVP. Currently, Embiid sits at +225 while Jokic is at +240. Luka Doncic is third at +425. Barring injury to either superstar, it looks as if the MVP will come down to the big men again. Pick your poison of who you like, I would lean Embiid.
Now time for the winning picks!
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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Carolina Panthers (-135) at Pittsburgh Penguins O/U 6.5 7:00 PM on SportsNet Pittsburgh
It is rare for the Penguins to be an underdog at home, but that will be the case Thursday night as they play host to the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina currently sits in 4th place in the Metro division while the Pens sit second to last and the Hurricanes have had the Penguins number as of late.
The Penguins have dropped five straight against the Hurricanes and have not beaten them since March of 2022. They have been close a few times and have picked up a few loser points, no wins however.
Though I have not yet picked against the Penguins in the winning picks, I am tempted to do it here but I will take the Under instead and for good reason. The Under is 7-3 in the last 10 for Carolina while it is 8-2 for the Penguins. Under 6.5 goals is the play in this spot.
Under 6.5 Covers, Carolina Hurricanes 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 1
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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South Florida Bulls vs Syracuse Orange (-3.5) O/U 56 Boca Raton Bowl 8:00 PM on ESPN
Two former Big East teams are set to collide in Boca Raton for the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl and both teams had to win in the last week of the season to get here. South Florida is back in a bowl for the first time since 2018 when Charlie Strong was their head coach. Syracuse fired Dino Babers and interim coach Nunzio Campanile will coach in the bowl game. Italians have dominated the New York state football landscape in the past few weeks. Always entertaining.
Syracuse named Georgia defensive coach Fran Brown as their new head coach. He will not coach in this game, but Brown has brought energy into this program from his opening press conference. The question is will this translate over to this game? My opinion it won’t be thanks to the strength of South Florida.
The Bulls have been very good against the run while they have been very poor against the pass, rating as one of the worst in the AAC. This does not play well for The Orange, as Syracuse has been a great rushing team all year while struggling in the passing game. Just ask Pitt about that.
I believe South Florida will not only cover in this game, I believe they will beat the Orange in Boca.
South Florida Covers +3.5, South Florida Bulls 27 Syracuse Orange 24
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams (-4) O/U 46.5 8:15 PM on Amazon Prime
Two teams fighting for their playoff lives clash on Amazon Prime Thursday. Maybe Al Michaels will be attentive to this game, probably not unless he has some action on it. For the life of me, I cannot figure out this Saints team. Derek Carr has been hurt since October but he keeps playing through it despite struggling to throw deep balls. The fact that they are 7-7 is a miracle. I would say they are the NFC equivalent of the Steelers.
The Rams, now finally healthy, have played themselves into playoff position over the last several weeks. Matthew Stafford is back in his 2022 form, aided by Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. LA has won 4 of their last 5 games and honestly should’ve been the Ravens on the road earlier this month.
In tonight’s game, look for Tutu Atwell and Tyler Higbee to find the end zone with the attention going to Kupp and Nacua. The Saints have not won on the road since the end of October when they beat the Colts in a shootout. I believe that losing streak continues and the Rams win and cover tonight on Thursday Night Football.
Rams Cover -4, New Orleans Saints 17 Los Angeles Rams 27
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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