The Washington Wizards have continued to play hard and be competitive despite being without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, while the Bulls have struggled at home this season.

Granted, the Wizards laid an egg at Houston vs. the Yao-less Rockets on Tuesday. They came the night after the upset to meet the red-hot New Orleans Hornets on the road.. The Wizards are still 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games overall, and they are now an excellent 17-12, 58.6 percent ATS on the road for the season.

Now the Bulls were playing better soon after their coaching change, but they are now just 4-6 straight up in their last 10 games, and they are returning from a 1-2 road trip where their only win was at Indiana, which was the easiest on the three opponents. Chicago is still a very disappointing 12-14 SU at home this year, and they are a money-burning 10-16 ATS in those games.

This is a revenge game for the Wizards, who lost outright at home to the Bulls as six-point favorites back in December.

This Friday night the bet is on the Washington Wizards +5!!

Click Here for the latest NBA and NCAAB betting tips and information!

Saturday March 1st sets the scene for UFC 82: PRIDE OF A CHAMPION.

I personally think this will be a close match. Its virtually impossible to tell who will win. I don’t see either KO ing or TKO ing the other or even a full on submission from either. In any case I think Dan Henderson is more likely to win by TKO than Anderson Silva. I also feel Dan Henderson will prevail if it goes to decision.

I give the overall opponent quality edge to Dan Henderson over Silva. That being said, I don’t believe that should be a factor for either fighter losing or winning, as MMAth is something that doesn’t regularly pan out.

One could argue that Dan Henderson has the edge over Silva because he disposed of Chonan quickly whereas Anderson’s fight well on it’s way to going the distance until he was submitted in the end, and beautifully so. Contrary to that, you could say that that Anderson Silva beat Carlos Newton in a more sound fashion than Henderson did since it didn’t go the distance, but then you have to consider the considerable gap of time between Henderson’s bout with Carlos Newton and Anderson’s bout with Carlos Newton.
Here are some stats to maybe help you out with your decision;

Dan Henderson
22 - 6 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw)

Wins 10 (T)KOs (45.45%)
1 Submissions (4.55%)
11 Decisions (50.00%)

Losses 2 Submissions (33.33%)
4 Decisions (66.67%)

Anderson Silva
20 - 4 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw)

Wins 12 (T)KOs (60.00%)
3 Submissions (15.00%)
5 Decisions (25.00%)

Losses 2 Submissions (50.00%)
1 Decisions (25.00%)
1 Other (25.00%)

Click Here for the latest UFC 82 fight odds and updates…

I really do not see the Hornets finishing first in the West. James would have to show his ability from the times in Toronto and previous spell in Houston in order to do so.  I think they will finish 4th – 6th place with around 30 losses. That means, they should do the second half of the season around 50% wins only. Hornets are a deceiving team. You look at player by player and you see a title contender, but if you look at the whole team, you don’t see nothing more than a first round team.

Spurs on the other hand should have a solid second half of the NBA season with anywhere between 55 - 57 wins. That should be enough for the home court advantage in the first round. They added Damon Stoudamire and later Kurt Thomas that should play today.

In the game today we should see Duncan dominating the boards and leading his team to victory. It is as simple as that. West or Chandler don’t stand a chance guarding him and even though with Parker out, I doubt that will stop the Spurs. In order for Hornets to win, they need a strong day from their Peja. I think that Popovich knows it as well and will put Bowen on him and tell him not to leave him alone for a second.

The handicap can always be an issue and 6 points handicap means that Spurs needs a solid win for us to cash in.
This Saturday the NBA bet is on the San Antonio Spurs -6 !! Click Here for the latest lines and betting information…

Thursday Feb 14, 2008
10:00 PM EST
 

The Idaho Vandals may be just 5-17 straight up, but all five of those wins have come at home and they may have a surprise in store for the Fresno State Bulldogs tonight.

Fresno State had a losing 11-13 record as well, and they are just 2-9 SU on the road, making them a poor investment as road favorites. Fresno’s only two road wins have come against Division II Winston-Salem and against a Louisiana Tech team that is one of the very worst clubs in Division IA. Yes, the Billdogs squeaked out a 72-70 win here in Idaho last season, but they failed to cover that contest as road favorites, the exact same role they are in here.

Now the Vandals have lost four straight games, but three of those were on the road where they are 0-12 SU this year. They have been far more competitive at home, where they are actually outscoring their Division IA opponents by a scant +0.3 points per game. By comparison, Fresno State is being outscored by an average of -5.7 points per game on the road.

Idaho is now 3-1 against the spread in the last four head-to-head meetings including 2-0 at home, I expect the Vandals to build on that this evening.

Bet on Idaho +4…