This is an 8* play on the UNDER

This may look like a low total, but the teams combined for only 197 points when they met last month. That 100-97 win by Denver didn't even feature that bad of shooting. When it came to three-point shooting, the teams combined to go 22 of 48, which is quite good! The Nuggets have been a strictly Under team thus far with a 16-5 mark that includes 10-1 vs. winning teams. They give up just 101.9 points/game, which is #1 in the league. Another key to their "Under success" is that they play at one of the league's slowest paces. Only three teams see a lower average of total possessions per game. Something else that has us on the Under here is Philadelphia being the home team. The Sixers 12-0 home record has been built on them allowing only 98.7 points/game here. That's the fewest number of points allowed by any team at home. These teams have combined to go 11-3-1 Under their last 15 games. Play UNDER Denver-Philadelphia

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This is an 8* on KANSAS

Kansas' season started with a 68-66 loss to Duke. Since then, the Jayhawks have looked as good as any team in the country. They've won seven in a row, six of those wins coming by at least 12 points. We used them as our Game of the Week on Saturday as they ended Colorado's unbeaten run with a resounding 72-58 victory. Tonight promises to be among the Jayhawks easiest games to date as they'll be hosting Wisconsin-Milwaukee. While all four of their losses have been by six points or less, the Panthers haven't played anybody close to the caliber of Kansas. Their most recent game was a 56-53 loss at Drake, which took place exactly one week ago. Despite having a week off, the spot is still not great for the underdog here. Before Drake, which was their first real road game, they'd played three games in three days in the Bahamas. The offensive numbers in those last four games aren't very good, which is a concern facing a Kansas team that has held its opponents to 37.7% shooting. The Jayhawks are already winning by an average of 17.7 points/game and this should be their easiest game since facing Chaminade. Play on KANSAS

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This is a 10* on OKC

Oklahoma City is in a back to back but this is too many points for Utah to be laying. They lost two All-Stars in the offseason, but the Thunder are hanging tough and a pretty average team. That may not sound like any kind of ringing endorsement, but most were thinking this team was going to finish well below .500. Truthfully, Utah hasn't been a whole lot better than OKC this season. They have. Both teams have outscored the opposition by < than 1 pt per game. The Thunder have won 4 of 5 did go into Portland last night and come away with a 108-96 win as 3.5-point dogs. The Jazz beat Memphis Saturday night, but have lost five of seven overall and both wins were against Memphis. It's been awhile since Utah beat a decent team. Just because the Thunder played last night doesn't mean they should be the big of an underdog. Play on OKLAHOMA CITY

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This is a 10* on UNDER

Eli Manning will be starting for the Giants this evening. Not by choice, but rather due to the fact his replacement (Daniel Jones) is injured. You may recall things were not looking so good for Eli at the start of the season. In two games, both losses, he posted a QBR of 38.4. The Giants offense scored just 31 points. Things haven't been looking good for the Giants for some time now. They did win Jones' first two starts, but have dropped eight in a row since. During that losing streak, they've been held to 18 points or less five times. To think Manning will come in and right the ship seems outlandish. The Eagles also have issues. Last week saw them suffer an embarrassing 37-31 loss to Miami. Not sure where that (lack of) defensive effort came from. The previous four games all saw the Eagles defense give up no more than 17 points. At the same time, we don't trust what the Eagles did on offense in that game either. The previous three weeks saw them score a total of 41 points. Three times in the last six games, they scored 10 points or less. Philadelphia obviously needs this game more as somehow they've remained in playoff contention. But don't look for them to put up many points either. Same with the Giants. Play UNDER Giants-Eagles

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This is a 10* on UNDER

This has all the makings of a pretty ugly matchup. New Orleans has lost eight straight and their last game was the most shameful of the bunch as they were beaten by 46 points. Detroit is 2-9 on the road. The Pelicans have given up 130 or more points three times during the eight-game losing skid, including back to back games. They are without question one of the worst defensive teams in the league. But facing the Pistons is a bit of a break. Detroit only averages 105.8 points/game on the road. The Pistons last two games were each at home and they managed only 103 and 108 points in those. New Orleans has shot just 43.2% its last five games. In both losses to Dallas last week, they were held below 100 points. Under is 25-12 for Detroit last 37 times the total has been 220 or higher. When on the road, the Under is 15-3 in those games. New Orleans has gone Under in five of its last six games. Play UNDER Detroit-New Orleans

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This is a 6* on TAMPA BAY

After a record-setting regular season and a shocking first round playoff exit last season, the Lightning made for an interesting team to evaluate coming into 2019-20. Right now, they actually sit in sixth place in the Atlantic, a division they won by 21 points a season ago. However, they actually scored 15 more goals than they've allowed, which tells us that better results could be on the horizon. The Lightning are certainly being price like a real "heavyweight" for tonight's game against the Islanders. Maybe that's because of they beat San Jose 7-1 on Saturday. Or maybe it's just because the linesmakers know that this is still one of the better home teams in the league. Despite being in sixth place, the Lightning lead the league with an average of 4.3 goals/game scored at home. The Islanders aren't a great road team, primarily because they only average 2.3 goals/game there. Too much scoring will be the difference for the hosts in this one. Play on TAMPA BAY

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This is a 10* on OVER

Buffalo has been involved in some real high-scoring affairs lately. Last night's 6-5 loss in Vancouver was the highest scoring of the bunch. We have (many) reasons to believe tonight's game in Edmonton will follow the recent pattern. The two meetings last year resulted in 9 and 7 goals being scored. The Oilers have averaged just 2.0 goals the last five games, but are at 3.4 for the year here at home. They also allow 3.3 goals/game at home. So Oilers home games are typically high scoring to begin with, then you throw in the fact Buffalo is giving up 3.5 goals/game on the road. Key forwards are back for both sides. Edmonton has given up four goals three times in the last five games. Play OVER Buffalo-Edmonton

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This is a 10* on DALLAS

The oddmakers have essentially been "asleep at the wheel" when it comes to the Mavericks team, which just surpassed the Lakers for the best point differential in the Western Conference. Following Saturday's 130-84 beatdown of New Orleans, the Mavs are outscoring teams by 10.3 points per game this season. Thus the oddsmakers probably couldn't make this number high enough for a home date with Sacramento. Dallas is 10-1 straight up and against the spread its last 11 games. Three wins, including yesterday's, have come by more than 40 points! Barring some kind of mental letdown, they should win tonight's home game with ease. The Kings have lost three games in a row, all of them to teams with losing records. This will be a third straight road game for them as well. They are just 3-9 on the road so far. Sacramento actually has the same ATS record as Dallas for the season. Both are 13-8. But the difference is that the Mavericks have seven more straight up wins. The Kings actually swept last year's season series, winning all three matchups. This is a different year. The Kings may be without both De'Aron Fox and Marvin Bagley III. They are in trouble here. Play on DALLAS.

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This is an 8* on TENNESSEE

There may not be a team with more misleading record than Oakland at 6-6. You'd expect the number of points scored by a .500 team to pretty similar to the number of points it has allowed. Yet here we are and the Raiders have allowed 87 more points than they have scored! Only five teams have a worse differential - the Cardinals, Giants, Redskins, Bengals and Dolphins. The combined straight up record of that quintet is 12-47-1! After being blown out on the road two straight weeks, some will want to say a return to the Black Hole might do the Raiders some good. After all, they've won three straight home games. But those were against Detroit, the Chargers and Cinncinnati. Plus, one of those blowout losses on the road was to the Jets. Not good. Tennessee has been good and surprisingly that can be tied to Ryan Tannehill taking over at quarterback. The Titans are 5-1 with Tannehill is the start, also going 4-1-1 ATS. They have averaged over 29 points in those six games. Only Baltimore has averaged more! These are teams going in very different directions. Play on TENNESSEE

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This is an 8* play on OVER

We also like this game to go Over the total. That may sound surprising given all that is true about this Steelers defense. But remember what we said about Arizona's defense. The Cardinals are last in the league at 426.3 yards/game allowed. Miami is the only team that has allowed more points. The 2-10 Giants are the only opponent that failed to reach 23 points on them. Five of the last six games have seen the Cards give up at least 30. If Pittsburgh is able to get to 30, then we're looking at a pretty easy Over here. Arizona's offense was pathetic in a 34-7 loss to the Rams last week, but had averaged 26 points over its three previous games. They can score between 14 and 20 here, right? The Under has hit in every Steelers road game so far (five of them). But three of those came against teams that have top four defenses (in yards allowed). Another was against the 31st ranked scoring offense (Cincinnati). Finally, the last one that needs accounted for was on a short week (Thursday night loss to the Browns). Weather won't be a factor this week either. Play OVER Pittsburgh-Arizona

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