Dave Carney 12/27/2021
What’s on the table today?: Monday Night (NFL & NBA) betting preview
Tonight in the NFL Week 16 wraps up with the Dolphins (-3) taking on the Saints (+3) in New Orleans. Last Wednesday in this space I told you to take the Dolphins (+3) while there was still time, and now you see why…the spread has shifted SIX points since then. That said, I’ll lay the points with Miami here, as the Dolphins have played excellent football as of late, scoring 24 PPG on offense and surrendering 13.2 PPG across the last six games – which is bad news for a Saints’ squad that has scored 17 PTS or less in three of the last four games (15.5 PPG).
In the NBA tonight I’m looking at Spurs (+6.5) hosting the Jazz and the Suns hosting the Grizzlies (+8) as two contests to keep your eyes on, and to possibly make plays on. The Jazz, while one of the best teams in the NBA record wise, have NOT been covering the spread at all lately which doesn’t bode well if you want to make a play on the Jazz point spread when you consider the following:
- Utah has covered 16 times in 32 games with a spread this season.
- The Jazz have an ATS record of 9-13 when playing as at least 7.5-point favorites this season.
The last time these two teams played the Spurs took down the Jazz on December 17, 2021. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to pace the Jazz, and Keldon Johnson scored 24 points for the Spurs. The Spurs covered the spread as 11.5-point underdogs, and the teams combined to score 254 total points to finish over on the 226.5-point over/under.
I like the Spurs (+6.5) in this spot.
The second NBA game I’m watching for this evening is the Suns playing at home against the Grizzlies (+8). Memphis has covered 20 out of 34 times this season and have also covered in their only game as an underdog to the tune of 8 or more. The Suns on the other hand have gone just 16-15-1 ATS this year while stacking up an impressive record of 26-6 good for second best in the NBA and West behind the Warriors at 27-6.
While the Suns could very easily ROLL the Grizzlies tonight considering their talent and playing at home, I like the Grizzlies to hang tough in this one and cover the (+8) spread.
I’ll take the Grizzlies (+8) here.
**For more info on TOTAL plays, OVER/UNDER, and PLUS/MINUS plays, TEASER cards and more, check back through some previous columns for detailed information**
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