Excerpts from Mad Max’s Notes
NBA
Kings at Raptors
The Kings are coming off of back to back wins but one is against the Knicks – who somehow fooled me into thinking they were going to be competitive this season. The Raptors are coming off a loss against the Bucks but overall have played solid basketball this year. Pascal Siakim has gotten into foul trouble a lot and needs to realize he doesn’t have superstar foul status yet.
Timberwolves at Grizzlies
Karl Anthony Towns will return from his two game suspension today and that’s not good news for Memphis. The T-Wolves needed KAT on Monday against the Bucks and he’ll help get them a win today.
Magic at Mavs
Orlando lost again last night and failed to score over 100 once again. Dallas can put up some serious points. The Magic haven’t won in Dallas since 2011. Even worse? They have lost those games by an average of 17 points per game.
Sixers at Jazz
The Sixers finally lost a game to the show’s favorite Western Conference team the other day and now they have a challenge ahead of them with the Utah Jazz tonight. The good news is that Joel Embiid will be back from his two game suspension. The Jazz have some issues early in the season. They are being out rebounded, Conley has not looked sharp and they aren’t going inside to Gobert like they did last year.
Bucks at Clippers
The NBA schedule has a sense of humor. They sent Giannis and the Bucks to play the Raptors on Sunday and now play Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers. Can they make it even more obvious to the Bucks that they lost in the playoffs last year? But they handled the Raptors and get to play the Clippers who still are without Paul George and will have Kawhi rest for load management.
Wizards at Pacers
Some books reporting this as Bullets +5.5. After the Pacers fooled me yesterday into thinking they were over their early season slump against bad teams, I won’t be fooled again.
Knicks at Pistons
Seeing some books have this as Knicks +2 or +2.5. Neither team has looked great to start the year but the Knicks looked lost on Sunday after battling the Celtics so hard the game before.
Warriors at Rockets
No line.
Seeing this as the Warriors +16.5 or +17. Have the Rockets shown they can beat anyone this season by that amount? The Warriors came out the other day and stunned the Blazers.
Bulls at Hawks
No line.
Seeing this as Chicago +2.5. Meth Curry did play last night but will the Hawks have him go in a back to back with his ankle still not 100%? The Bulls blew the game last night against the Lakers and the Hawks looked great against the Spurs. Both are in a back to back but at least Atlanta didn’t need to travel.
NHL
Red Wings at Rangers
Detroit has been beaten badly lately. They have lost by a total of 13 goals in their last 3 games. The Rangers are one of the more baffling teams this season. They can beat teams like the Lightning and Sabres and then lose badly to the Senators. Henrik Lundqvist will get the start tonight and he’s had a rough go to start the season.
Blues at Oilers
No line
There is one line that just came on from Bet365 and that had the Oilers has a -140 favorite and the Blues as a +120 dog. St. Louis is coming off a good win yesterday and is one of the NHL’s hottest teams. The concern about the Oilers this season was consistent offense and we’ve seen that be an issue from them lately.
