This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z 1/10/2019

by Ricky Dimon - 1/10/2019

A. Australian Open . The season's first major begins on Monday in Melbourne, while the draw ceremony was held on Thursday. Serena Williams and Venus Williams are in the same quarter of the women's bracket along with world No. 1 Simona Halep. Serena is a +400 favorite at Bovada Sportsbook to capture the title.

B. Ben Simmons . The Sixers' second-year star attempted a ridiculous 23 free-throws against Phoenix last Wednesday. That's not necessarily a good thing when you're shooting 57.5 percent from the line this season (56.6 percent career). Simmons made only 15 of the 23 attempts, although those were enough for Philadelphia to beat the Suns 132-127.

C. Colts . Indianapolis improved to 10-1 in its last 11 games by going on the road and blasting Houston 21-7 during wild-card weekend. Good news regarding the Colts' win: more Captain Andrew Luck tweets! Luck will hope his sidearm is true as he leads his company to face a band of Chiefs on Saturday. Kansas City is +450 at BookMaker to win the Super Bowl.

D. Dak Prescott . In his third season, Prescott is starting to silence critics at just the right time. The Cowboys' signal-caller threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns in the regular-season finale against the Giants. In last week's 24-22 wild-card win over Seattle, Prescott produced 226 passing yards, 29 more on the ground, and accounted for two TDs. 5Dimes Sportsbook has Dallas as a +7 underdog at the Rams on Saturday.

E. Eight . Both Anaheim and Ottawa were saddled with eight-game losing streaks heading into Wednesday. One ended…but only because they were playing each other. The Senators picked up a 2-1 overtime road victory to win for the first time since Dec. 17.

F. Final . Clemson covered the +5.5 spread in the College Football Playoff final against Alabama on Monday night. The Tigers would have covered a -27.5 spread. Yes, Clemson destroyed Alabama 44-16 behind freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence-capturing its second title in the past three years. XBet.ag has Clemson as a +400 favorite to win the 2019 National Championship.

G. Gaudreau, Johnny . Calgary's star forward is in the midst of a six-game point streak (seven goals, eight assists) and he has 13 goals and 11 assists in the last 12 contests. Gaudreau is up to third in the NHL with 66 points.

H. Harden, James . Harden's last 14-point totals are 50, 32, 47, 35, 35, 39, 41, 45, 41, 43, 44, 38, 32, and 42. Is that good? Well, not good enough to pull away from Giannis Antetokounmpo in the MVP race-or to beat the Bucks on Wednesday.

I. Ingram, Melvin . Philip Rivers was good once again for the Chargers in their wild-card win over Baltimore last weekend, but Ingram stole the show. L.A.'s beast of a defensive end had six solo tackles, two sacks, and a game-ending forced fumble. Los Angeles is a +4 underdog at New England on Sunday, per BetOnline Sportsbook.

J. Justin Fields . Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm may have missed out on the National Championship and Heisman Trophy in the last two seasons, but he leads college football in causing other QBs to transfer. First it was Jacob Eason (Washington); now it's Fields (Ohio State).

K. Kansas . The Jayhawks will be without big man Udoka Azubuike for the rest of the 2018-19 campaign. Azubuike (13.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) is sidelined by torn ligaments in his hand.

L. Losing streak . The Cavaliers have done no better in their last 11 games that they would have done had they been playing the Bird Box challenge for all 48 minutes on each of those 11 nights. That's right; they have lost 11 in a row and dropped to 8-34 following Wednesday's setback at New Orleans.

M. Manchester City . Almost needing a win to stay within striking distance in the English Premier League, Manchester City beat Liverpool 2-1 last Thursday. The Sky Blues, who moved to within four points of the league-leading Reds on the table, followed that up by winning their next two matches by a combined 16-0 over two poor souls from the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Man City is +125 at MyBookie.ag to win the Premier League; Liverpool is a -120 favorite.

N. Nadal, Rafael . Nadal is heading into the Australian Open with plenty of question marks, dealing with recent knee, ankle, hip, and thigh injuries. He withdrew from a recent Abu Dhabi exhibition after one match and then opted out of last week's event in Brisbane. The second-ranked Spaniard hasn't completed a full hard-court tournament since the Wooly Mammoth Era. He could meet Roger Federer in the semifinals Down Under.

O. Out . "(Fear of getting killed)" is not frequently seen on an injury report, but that is the reason why Enes Kanter-in his words-will not play in the Knicks' game against Washington next Thursday. It's being played in London, and Kanter won't travel there-or seemingly anywhere outside of the United States-while feuding with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.

P. Phillies . Philadelphia has grander ideas that David bleepin' Robertson (see: Harper, Bryce and Machado, Manny), but Robertson will have to do for now. The 33-year-old, who struck out 91 batters in 69.2 innings last season while compiling a 3.23 ERA with the Yankees, inked a two-year, $23 million deal earlier this month.

Q. Quick, Jonathan . Quick's recent statistics have been more all over the place than the Academy's search for a new Oscar host. Last Thursday, the Kings' goalie gave up six goals in a loss to Tampa Bay. Two days later, he shut out Edmonton in a 4-0 romp by Los Angeles.

R. Russell Westbrook . How good are Harden and Antetokounmpo? Well, no one else is even sniffing the MVP discussion, and Westbrook is once again averaging a triple-double! Wetbrook (21.2 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 10.3 apg) has Oklahoma City at 25-15. The Thunder are -1.5 favorites at San Antonio on Thursday, as indicated by Bovada Sportsbook.

S. Schiano, Greg . You know Ohio State really didn't want you when they replace you as defensive coordinator with a Michigan guy. That's what happened with Schiano, who parted ways with the Buckeyes before they brought in former UM defensive line coach Greg Mattison.

T. Tom Thibodeau . The soap opera that is the Timberwolves' 2018-19 campaign continued with the recent firing of Thibodeau. Ryan Saunders-son of Flip Saunders-is now the team's interim coach. He is 1-0 so far and Minnesota has suddenly won three in a row.

U. Upright . Cody Parkey's kicks had magnetic attraction to field-goal posts during the regular season, so it was only fitting that the Bears' season ended with a double-doink off both an upright and a crossbar last weekend. The result was a 16-15 home loss to the Eagles. YouWager.eu has Philadelphia as a +8 underdog at New Orleans on Sunday.

V. Vegas Golden Knights . Las Vegas may be getting one of the worst teams it football, but at least it has one of the best teams in hockey. The Golden Knights, once again looking like Stanley Cup contenders, are riding a seven-game winning streak and they have taken points in nine straight. Vegas is up to third in the entire NHL with 58 points. The Golden Knights are -125 home favorites over San Jose on Thursday, according to MyBookie.ag.

W. Williamson, Zion . Williamson basically broke the internet with a 360 dunk against Clemson last weekend. He promptly rated it a seven out of 10. Just think what would happen if ever delivers a dunk that he rates at 10. Williamson is a +125 favorite at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the Naismith Award.

X. Xander Schauffele . Gary Woodland led by three strokes (and led Schauffele by five) heading into the final round of last week's Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. Woodland then fired a 5-under 68…and lost…to Schauffele! That's right; Schauffele carded an 11-under 62 to beat Woodland 23-under to 22-under.

Y. Yankees . Major League Baseball's hot stove has been lacking for temperature, but the Yankees at least signed reliever Zach Britton to a three-year, $39 million deal last week. Britton joined New York from Baltimore midway through the 2018 season and compiled a 3.10 ERA in 40.2 innings of work.

Z. Zavier Simpson . Zion and Duke may get all the headlines, but don't sleep on Zavier Simpson and Michigan. The Wolverines, who were NCAA runner-ups in 2017-18, are 15-0 and ranked second in the AP poll. Simpson is doing a little bit of everything, averaging 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. GT Bets has Michigan as a -9 favorite at Illinois on Thursday.

Start:	November 22, 2024 @ 8:00 PM
Expert:	Vernon Croy
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