Last night I posted this in the Wed discussion thread and followed it up with how its comparable to the bulls / Cavs game today-
Quote:
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SportsNut 
They crushed in them Denver last meeting and also looked at hwat PHO did when playing B2B games with both on the road...in the2nd game ...
11/7 lost @ Atlanta by 9 laying 5.5
11/10 won @ORL by 9 laying 1.5 (both teams played 4th in 5)
12/5 won @ Tor by 13 laying 7.5
12/8 lost @ Minny by 7 laying 10 (4th in 5 all away)
1 /23 lost @ Minny by10 laying 8
2/27 lost by 17 @NO catching 3.5
BOL
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This situation played out well today in Denver. I think it basically pops up again on Thursday with Cle @ Chicago.
Add in that Chi just lost a "coin flip" late in Cle on Sunday , the fact LeBron playedd 44 minutes and took the Cavs on his back and the home team dominance. Still no Z and Tyrus Thomas is suspended. With :
Clev being 1-4 in the backend when playing B2Bs both on the road.
11/7 @Utah lost by 2 +9
11/12 @ Den lost by 22 +8
1/31 @ Seattle lost w/o LeBron +2.5
2/8 won by 5 @ ATL +3.5
2/27 @ Bos lost by 5 +9 (backdoor)
Not quite as clear but I think everything points to Chi winning here and that should help them cover 3 or 4 points...somewhat different situation cause they played some good teams catching big numbers...:shake:
The rest of the card-
I actually like Dallas better here w/o Diggler. He is playing well but anytime a player dominants the ball like he has had the rest of the team's effeciency tends to dropoof. Past 10 games he had 20 + shots FOUR times, 15 + shots FIVE times , 30+ shots ONCE and less then 10 shots ONCE.
While this may sound comical looking at how these teams are shaping up Houston has won 16 straight while Dallas just lost 3 tough road games in 4 and is off consecutive losses. They really NEED this. Dont confuse this with me saying they are due. Not what I am implying at all.
The recent trades have allowed Dallas some depth and they will look more blue collar at the 4 spot then usual. Figure Bradon Bass who I think has ben excellent in his limited time will get the start. While Jamal Magliore and Malik Allen should get increased minutes off the bench. They still have Kidd , Terry and Josh Howard along with Jerry Stackhouse and Eddie Jones( availabilty today??) off the bench.
You have a Houston who has won 20 of 21 vs a Dallas team who is 25-3 at HOME. Key here is Dallas is 10-1 SU Last 11 meetings!!
Up and down simply not overly impressed with Houston schedule and there good road wins are NO , Cle and Orl by 2 sinc elosing @ Boston on 1 / 02/ 08.
Getting Inside
The Rockets bring all kinds of winning streaks with them to Dallas, but it is the streaks awaiting them that might get their attention.
They have won a franchise-record 16 games. They have won 11-consecutive home games, a franchise record 10-consecutive road games, seven-consecutive games by at least 10 points. Playing the second game in many nights, the Rockets have swept both halves of five-consecutive back-to-backs.
But the Mavericks have a six-game winning streak against the Rockets and a five-game run against them in Dallas. They have won 10 of their past 11 games against the Rockets.
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With that, for all the Rockets have done, winning 25 of 28 games, and 20 of 21, they have not played the Mavericks since before the season turned around, leaving that an obvious measuring stick that even the winning streaks could not hide.
“We have a pretty even-keel group,”
Shane Battier said. “Most of us are already focused on Dallas. We know that this game, while significant doesn’t really guarantee anything. We know we have to go to Dallas and play and try to win another one.”
Bootomline is Houston has NOT had success against Dallas who is "desperate" for a quality win and will have extra incentive with Diggler OUT. Houston has not played on the road since losing Ming and there 4 home games have sen injury riddled memphis , Wash and Indy along with terrible traveling Denver.
They have played three times already this season early on:
Diggler 7/20 19pts , 8 /16 18pts 7 /16 20pts
TMac 12/31 35 pts , 6 /19 15 pts , 5/18 12 pts
Yao 9/12 21 pts , 11/18 30 pts , 10 /18 28 pts
So Dallas is 3-0 and the most Dirk has done is drop 20 pts . Houston is 0-3 with Ming who has excellent numbers in the meetings 30-48(63%) 79pts. So now Ming is gone putting more emphasis on TMac and he is 23-68 (34%) 62pts.
Wont be suprised to see Houston flip to the fav once everyone realizes Diggler is OUT here. Also wont be suprised to see those Houston +6 tickets lose as well and be irrevelant(sp?).
In SA the Spurs are hot and while Indy battled them for a half at Conceco they were SHUTDOWN in the 2nd H. Looking at SA defense at home since the break I would really expect another 85 pt performance by the Pacers which means you need 110+ to go over the total which has risen. Just look at wwhat SA is allowing at home and see how SA shut Indy down in the 2nd H...Indy will go small but I think unless they rae hitting jumper sthere offense will be alot on of ONE and DONE's....
So looking at the UNDER here...
1- Bulls
2-Mavs
3-Under 197 Pacers (maybe)
BOL:cheers::shake:
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