Doc’s Sports Free Picks & Handicapper Review

Miami is in a real bad spot here, missing players from injury and for personal matters. They face an angry Clippers team that played a very uncharacteristic bad game last time out in Memphis. This is a very professional team and we feel they will shake that performance off and come out here with a workmanlike effort and get a big win over a bad team. The Clippers are playing like every game counts this season, and we don’t think they will overlook this game, especially with their bad effort last time out.

The Wolves have covered six of their last seven games and this team is really under the radar right now but playing well. Portland looked good last time out against a hapless Phoenix squad but they had lost three straight before that and they have struggled with six losses in their last eight games. They got off to a hot start, but alas it seems like this team doesn’t live up to the hype. Minnesota has all the betting value here in a game that looks like a coin flip. In those cases, getting more than two points offers some great value as we think the Wolves could, and should, win outright.

New York has been dominating in this series, cashing six straight tickets. We think they get No. 7 tonight. New York hasn’t played well lately but they have had one of the most brutal recent schedules in the NBA. They have actually covered in six of their last nine, however, and this looks like a great spot for a win against a Brooklyn team that had possibly their game of the year last night in an OT win at Toronto. They had lost eight straight before that, and this seems like the perfect spot for them to come back down to earth tonight.

7-Unit Play. #019. Take Under 6 - Nashville vs Calgary (Saturday, December 8, 10:05 p.m.)

As per this selection on the ?Under?, now is a great time to ride the hot hand of Calgary goalie Mike Smith. Smith has won his last 5 starts after being just brutal in the opening month and a bit of the season, and he's going to need to be great again tonight to give Calgary a real chance at two points. However, Calgary is missing three key cogs of their lineup and after an emotional win last time out against Minny (2-0), it'll be tough for them to replicate that emotion and give it their all here in this spot. They will be without their Captain Giordano and one of their offensive stars in Backlund. But Nashville will not feel sorry for them. They too are without four stars in their lineup, with Forsberg, Turris, Subban, and Arvidsson all out for lengthy periods of time. Nashville gave up 5 goals last time out to Vancouver, and we expect a team as battle-tested as the Preds to bounce back in a big way and focus all their efforts on the defensive side of the puck. If we take away that 5 goal outburst by Vancouver, Pekka Rinne had given up just 3 goals in his previous two starts. We believe Rinne and Smith will steal the show tonight and this will be another low scoring, slug it out type matchup. The Under is 14-3-1 in the Preds last 18 after allowing 5 goals or more in their previous game, while the Under is also 12-5 in the Flames last 15 when their opponent allows 5 or more goals.

4 Unit Play. Take #784 Texas A&M -5 over Boston College (6p.m., Saturday, December 7 SECN) This is the first true road game of the season for the Eagles and they are playing a team that is desperate for a victory. The Aggies have played a brutal schedule thus far in the season and they have rebounded winning their last two games. Boston College is 6-14 ATS in their last 20 road games.

4 Unit Play. Take #804 Connecticut +9 over Florida State (6:30p.m., Saturday, December 7 ESPN 2) Just never like Florida State as a big favorite. This team has always been poorly coached and they are 0-3 ATS (1 push) in their last 4 games. UCONN is 4-1 ATS in their last 4 games. I expect this to be closer that what the experts think.

4 Unit Play. Take #810 Over 150.5 in UT Martin @ East Tennessee State (4p.m., Saturday, December 7) The total keeps going up and it is with good reason. UT Martin has gone over the posted total in 4 of their last 5 games. ETSU has gone over the posted total in 5 of their last 6 games.

10 Unit Play. Take #777 Wisconsin over Marquette (5p.m., Saturday, December 7 FOX) This battle of Wisconsin takes place at the new Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI. We used Marquette last week as our big play and won easily but I do not expect the kind of officiating in this game that we saw in that game. The road team has dominated this series having covered the spread in 4 of the last 5 meetings. Wisconsin is 9-0 ATS in their last 9 road games. Marquette is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against Big 10 teams. Wisconsin is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games against teams with a winning record. The Badgers have the best player in the floor in Ethan Happ and they will not let Markus Howard go off like he did last Saturday.