January 3rd, 2019 Betting Tips: NBA, College Basketball, NHL



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There are two absolutely huge NBA games on the slate tonight with tons of drama and intrigue.

The first is Kawhi Leonard returning to San Antonio for the first time since the trade this past offseason. That was not the best exit and this should be a really good game as the crowd is likely to be alive for it. The Raptors have been one of the best teams in the league this season (even without Kyle Lowry in the lineup) while the Spurs are a very good home team and have been playing much better of late. Of course, this is also DeMar DeRozan’s first time seeing his old team as well. Emotions will be running high.

The other big game is a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals as the Rockets head to Golden State to take on the Warriors. Chris Paul is out so this will be the James Harden show for Houston, but that has been working out very well for them of late. Over his last ten games, James Harden is averaging 40 points per game, 8.9 assists, and 6.8 rebounds. That’s amazing. The Warriors have been pretty lackadaisical all season, but you have to think they would get up for this one.

College Basketball Betting Tips:

One line that really stuck out to me today is Minnesota heading to Madison to take on the Badgers. The Gophers are 11-2 on the season and playing some good basketball of late. There are so many good teams in this division though that it is easy to overlook them. They face the Badgers on the road which will be a tough test, but Wisconsin has lost two of their past four. I think they are giving up way too many points here and I feel like Minnesota is worth a play here.

Bet Gophers +10.5

NHL Betting Tips:

The Capitals -120 are a great play tonight over the Blues. St. Louis has been one of the more disappointing teams on the season while the Washington offense is really dangerous as always. Braden Holtby is in the net and his 2.84 GAA/.912 save percentage should do him well here.

NBA Betting Tips:

Toronto Raptors vs. San Antonio Spurs: I am really a big fan of what the Spurs are doing right now. They’ve won six of their past eight games with the only two losses being to red hot Houston and a road loss against Denver (where they played each other in the previous game.) The Raps have been great, but they’ve lost three of their last five on the road and unless Kawhi goes off, I just don’t see them doing it here. He doesn’t seem like the type for revenge so I’m going with the home squad.

Bet Spurs -1.5

Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors: The chance that Steph Curry and Klay Thompson bomb a ton of threes and Kevin Durant does his thing is high for this one. If they win big, I won’t be shocked.

That said, I am not going against James Harden right now. The entire Rockets defense is designed to stop the Warriors and while they don’t quite have the personnel of last year, they have been playing better defense of late and the Warriors might just not show up. They’ve done it many times this year.

Bet Rockets +8.5