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Welcome to December where the football gets serious. The NFL playoff picture is starting to take shape and the contenders are letting themselves be known. The Panthers, somehow, are still undefeated and are making a serious run at 16-0. That is the top story to watch going forward. The Patriots got their loss out of the way so they can get rid of that story and focus on winning another Super Bowl. The next few weeks should be very exciting.
December means cold for a lot of us though and cold means two things: basketball and hockey. The NBA season is hitting it’s stride and this is looking like it could be a really great NBA season. There are just so many funs teams and stories. The top story dominating the headlines right now is the retirement of Kobe Bryant. He probably should’ve done this last year, but there is something nice about seeing a player go out on his own terms. He’ll return home to Philiadelphia tonight to play the Sixers as Philly looks for their first win of the season.
NBA Betting Tips:
Could tonight be the night? The Sixers at 0-18 have their best chance to break the winning streak tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers. While the Lakers have more talent on paper, they are a mess when it comes to moving the ball and general game planning. A lot of this is on coach Byron Scott and a lot of it is on Kobe Bryant refusing to stop shooting all the time. These are two teams that give up a lot of points and aren’t great at scoring. I think the defensive limitations win out in that battle and this one hits over 197. The Sixers like to play at a fast pace and that could lead them to their first win of the season tonight. I’m just not betting on it.
The Portland Trailblazers have Damian Lillard listed as questionable for tonight’s game against the Mavericks. He is a big part of everything that they do and being without him puts a huge dent in their offense. They go against the upstart Dallas Mavericks tonight and they were already at a disadvantage in this one with him on the floor. This was a coinflip game before, but with Lillard ailing I have to go with the Mavericks -1.5.
The Phoenix Suns have been a pleasant surprise thus far this season and they should finally get their chance to breakthrough into the playoffs this season. Their backcourt of Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe is a force when they’re on and tonight against the lowly Brooklyn Nets they should definitely be on. Brooklyn has one of the slowest backcourts in basketball and that match-up alone should be enough for the Suns -3 to pull this one out.
NHL Betting Tips:
The story of this young NHL season thus far has been the Dallas Stars. They have been great thus far and currently are leading the West. A big part of that is their 10-2 record away from home and tonight they could continue that trend as they face the Flames in Calgary. The Flames are in the midst of a three-game losing streak and have a 5-5 record at home. Look for Seguin and Benn to go off as the Dallas Stars -155 pull this one off.
The Montreal Canadiens face the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game that is sure to feature some fireworks. The Canadiens are capable of scoring goals in bunches at any point and against any team. While the Blue Jackets will be happy to get back Dubinsky in this one. I could see this being a game where the Canadiens hit the over themselves. Over 5 goals should be easy money.
