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<h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS at BROOKLYN NETS, 7:05 PM ET (Tuesday, TNT)</strong></span></h3>
<h4><strong><a href="http://bangthebook.com/sportsbooks/betanysports">BetAnySports</a> NBA Odds: Nets -7.5, Total 232</strong></h4>
With Kevin Durant returning and being alongside Kyrie Irving, excitement is understandably running high in Brooklyn. And there are a lot of expectations. We'd expect that they will do their fair share of fast-breaking, given the fact that Steve Nash is the head coach and two of his assistants are Mike D'Antoni and Amar'e Stoudamire, and they had that whole "Seven Seconds or Less" thing going in Phoenix.

Some of the second unit guys grew a lot in the bubble, as they had their roles enhanced. And that will help as the season wears on. Chemistry has to be developed, but there is no question that this team comes to the table with depth at every spot.

Regarding the Warriors, well, we think there's a certain degree of mystery about this situation. Steph Curry, off his hand injury, might not be super-sharp early on, but there are questions that have to be asked about everything else. We like Kelly Oubre, but he's basically filling the shoes of Klay Thompson, a rare bird in the NBA because he is a true two-way star.

Andrew Wiggins is talented, without a doubt, but will he fit in with the team concept? Karl-Anthony Towns didn't seem to be overjoyed playing with him in Minnesota. And let's face it - in the NBA you can find guys to score 18-20 points a game if you run enough plays for them. Wiggins may not experience that.

James Wiseman is eventually going to be an interesting proposition, as his Warrior teammates and coach Steve Kerr praise his athleticism and unique skill set for a seven-footer. But with only a few college games under his belt, he figures to be a "project" for a while, and even more so at the moment since he's struggled with COVID-19 issues and didn't play in the pre-season games. It's Christmas week, but that doesn't mean it'll be good for the wiseman..... get it?

As for Draymond Green, who was somewhat less than enthusiastic in those instances when he was healthy last season, he is currently unavailable with a sprained foot. I'm still not sure how well he'll really blend with a club that is rebuilding to a certain degree.

These Warriors can be competitive, because they have Curry and they can get scoring punch from Oubre and Wiggins, but these guys are so unfamiliar with each other. This was not a team that went into the bubble, and of course training camp was an abbreviated exercise. It's going to take a while before they learn how to complement Curry, who may wind up shooting the ball more than ever before.

And realistically, when it comes to the second unit (which may carry more of the load early in the campaign), they're going to have a hard time competing. The Nets will bring Caris LeVert off the bench - at least that's what Nash was thinking - and that makes him an instant Sixth Man of the Year candidate, although the Usage rate he requires makes it impractical to be out there with Durant and Irving for too many minutes.

I would expect the Nets to have too much firepower at this juncture. So we'll lay the points.

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NBA Predictions -- Are Warriors Ready to Go Toe-to-Toe With Durant & Nets?

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National League pitchers will now have to face the DH for all games as opposed to just road interleague games. That will have an impact on everybody, but the best of the best are likely to be the best equipped to overcome that new hurdle.

It may not sound like much, but it could be. League-wide, the DH batted .252/.339/.467 with a .338 wOBA and a 110 wRC+. Collectively, players labeled as the DH by FanGraphs were 10% better than the league average.

Pitchers were not. Pitchers across the league slashed .128/.160/.162 with a .144 wOBA and a -18 wRC+. Collectively, pitchers were 118% worse than league average offensively. They also struck out 43.5% of the time and only walked 3.1% of the time. Designated hitters struck out 25% of the time and walked 10.7% of the time.

There are two sides to this story, though. Pitchers will have a harder time navigating the lineup because they will have to face the DH, but those NL starting pitchers and AL starters throwing in road NL parks no longer have to worry about getting taken out of a game for a pinch hitter.

Whether or not that will help or hurt pitchers remains to be seen. I threw some thoughts up in a <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/SkatingTripods/status/1285640578999504897">Twitter thread</a></strong> to examine this topic and (hopefully) crowdsource some opinions.

Pitchers at the bat only accounted for 5.15% of the plate appearances against for NL pitchers last season, but accounted for 9.74% of the strikeouts by NL pitchers. That should lower strikeout rates for the non-elite SP, at least a little bit.

Here are the odds from <a href="http://bangthebook.com/sportsbooks/5dimes"><strong>5Dimes Sportsbook</strong></a> for the NL Cy Young Award:
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="295">Jacob deGrom</td>
<td width="295">+330</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Max Scherzer</td>
<td width="295">+450</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Jack Flaherty</td>
<td width="295">+900</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Walker Buehler</td>
<td width="295">+900</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Stephen Strasburg</td>
<td width="295">+1200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Yu Darvish</td>
<td width="295">+1500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Clayton Kershaw</td>
<td width="295">+1800</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Luis Castillo</td>
<td width="295">+2000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Patrick Corbin</td>
<td width="295">+2300</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Trevor Bauer</td>
<td width="295">+2500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Aaron Nola</td>
<td width="295">+2500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Max Fried</td>
<td width="295">+3300</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Chris Paddack</td>
<td width="295">+3500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Sonny Gray</td>
<td width="295">+4000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Zack Wheeler</td>
<td width="295">+4500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Brandon Woodruff</td>
<td width="295">+5000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Josh Hader</td>
<td width="295">+5000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">German Marquez</td>
<td width="295">+5500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Robbie Ray</td>
<td width="295">+6600</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Marcus Stroman</td>
<td width="295">+7500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Madison Bumgarner</td>
<td width="295">+8000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Mike Foltynewicz</td>
<td width="295">+8500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Cole Hamels</td>
<td width="295">+8500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Miles Mikolas</td>
<td width="295">+9000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Kyle Hendricks</td>
<td width="295">+12500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Jon Lester</td>
<td width="295">+12500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="295">Jose Quintana</td>
<td width="295">+12500</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Strikeouts will be important. Generally speaking, being on a good team is also important because PITCHER WINS, which is a terrible metric to determine a pitcher’s value, but some of the voters have not joined us in the 2000s yet. That means that bullpen strength will be important so pitchers don’t lose their limited chances to get wins. After all, we’re talking 10-12 starts now instead of 30-32.

Some of these guys are just a victim of circumstance. Max Fried’s Atlanta Braves have suggested that they will utilize their pitching depth early, limiting starters to 2-3 innings. That hurts his ability to rack up numbers. Same with Mike Foltynewicz, but he isn’t a legitimate option anyway.

Walker Buehler is typically brought along slowly by the Dodgers, so his early starts could be limited by pitch count or innings. That would also hurt him.

I’m not terribly interested in any of the short prices. Jacob deGrom is a deserving favorite and the Nationals triumvirate of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin got fortunate that the start to the season was delayed after a long run to a title last season. Jack Flaherty’s second half was the stuff of legend and he’d be a unanimous Cy Young winner if he has 12 starts like that this season, but he and Buehler are not on my list.

Here are a couple guys I do like:

<strong>Sonny Gray (+4000) – </strong>Sonny Gray got out of the Bronx and found a home in Cincinnati. Under the watchful eyes of pitching coach Derek Johnson, Gray blossomed with far and away the best K% of his career. He also had a .193 BA against, which is probably open to some regression this season, but he really maximized his arsenal in a way that he never had previously.

Gray got back to throwing more fastballs, but he located them in a much better way. He also increased the usage of his curveball and slider while limiting the usage of his sinker, as sinkers are among the most hittable pitches in baseball.

The Reds profile to be pretty good, have a good bullpen, and Gray could even take another step forward with the best pitching coach in the game.

His rotation mates, Luis Castillo and Trevor Bauer, are not bad options either, but Gray has the balloon price and probably the highest floor of the three.
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bangthebook.com/s/5dimes"><span class="td_btn td_btn_lg td_3D_btn" style="color: #ffffff; background-color: #ff0000;">BET ON SONNY GRAY TO WIN THE NL CY YOUNG AWARD</span></a></p>
<strong>Robbie Ray (+6600) – </strong>There are a lot of people excited about what Robbie Ray has <strong><a href="https://twitter.com/LanceBroz/status/1284885601486082049">done mechanically</a> </strong>in the lead-up to this season. Ray’s two biggest issues have been the walk and the long ball. In 11 innings at Diamondbacks summer camp, Ray allowed one hit and struck out 17 batters.

Ray has always had the strikeouts. He has lacked efficiency. The walks and the long balls have made it a challenge for him to work deep into games because of escalating pitch counts in the middle innings. Ray is backed by one of the best defensive teams in baseball, which should limit potential damage, and he’s always had the swing-and-miss arsenal.

In terms of a long shot price, you could do a lot worse than Ray for this 60-game sprint.

2020 NL Cy Young Betting Odds, Picks, and Predictions

<p>The Aggies and Cowboys are set to face off at 10:00 ET on FS1. The Cowboys will host the game at Arena Auditorium in Laramie, WY. Utah State is favored by -7 in this Mountain West conference showdown. The game's over/under is currently at 152.5 points.</p><h3>UTAH STATE AGGIES VS WYOMING COWBOYS BETTING PICK</h3><p>The Pick: Wyoming Cowboys +7</p><p>This game will be played at Arena Auditorium at 10:00 ET on Wednesday, February 14th.</p><h3>WHY BET THE WYOMING COWBOYS:</h3><ul><li>We have this one finishing with a projected score of 75-69 in favor of the Cowboys.</li><li>Not only will Wyoming pick up the win, but look for them to cover at +7.</li><li>The over/under is currently sitting at 152.5 points, and we like the under with a projected 144 points.</li></ul><h3>Will the Aggies Make it Happen in Laramie?</h3><p>Utah State enters this game as the favorite, as they have been in 18 of their 24 games this season. Their record as the favorite is 17-1.</p>

<p>So far this season, the Aggies have gone 7-2 on the road, and their average scoring margin in these games is +6.1. Over their last 10 road games, they are 7-3.</p><p>Utah State's ATS mark on the year is 13-8, and they are 12-6 vs. the spread when favored. Over their last 10 games as the favorite, the Aggies are 6-4 ATS. Their road ATS record this season is 5-4, and they have gone 1-1 vs. the spread in their last two road games.</p><p>Utah State's over/under record this season is 12-9 and their games have averaged 149 points. Today's over/under line of 152.5 is higher than the average OU line in their games this year (144.6). So far, 15 of their games have finished with fewer points than today's OU line. Over their last three games, their over/under record is 1-2 and the average scoring total in those games is 143 points.</p><p>Utah State's offense is coming off a strong performance, scoring 80 points against Boise State. They had an overall field goal percentage of 51.8% and made 13/20 free throws. The top scorer for the Aggies was Mason Falslev with 25 points, while Darius Brown II also chipped in with 18 points.</p><p>Currently, the Aggies' defense holds the 94th rank in the nation, allowing 69.0 points per game. Utah State's three-point defense is currently 39th in the country at 5.6 made threes per game. In terms of overall field goal percentage, opponets have hit 40.0% of their shots vs. Utah State.</p><h3>Will the Cowboys Find a Way to Win at Home?</h3><p>Wyoming has been a much better team at home this season, going 8-3 compared to 2-8 on the road. Their average scoring margin at home is +1.1 compared to -12.4 on the road.</p>

<p>Over their last 10 home games, the Cowboys have gone 8-2. They are coming off a 91-73 loss to New Mexico.</p><p>As the underdog, Wyoming has an ATS record of 8-9 this season and they are 5-6 vs. the spread at home. Over their last 10 games as the underdog, the Cowboys have gone 4-6 vs. the spread.</p><p>Wyoming has an over/under record of 12-9 this season and today's line of 152.5 is higher than the average over/under line in their games (146.1). So far, 15 of their games have finished with fewer points than today's OU line. Over their last three games, the average scoring total is 143 points and their OU record in their last 10 games is 6-4.</p><p>In their latest game, Wyoming offense put up 73 points against New Mexico. They recorded an overall field goal percentage of 40.3% and made 6 threes. The team's top scorer is Sam Griffin, who comes into today's matchup with an average of 17.7, while Akuel Kot also maintains a PPG average of 14.9 leading up to the game.</p><p>At this time, the Cowboys' defense is positioned 235th in the country, permitting 75.0 points per game. In terms of field goal percentage allowed, Wyoming's defense has allowed opponents to shoot 44.2% from the field, including a three-point shooting percentage allowed of 33.1% this season.</p>

Utah State Aggies vs Wyoming Cowboys Betting Pick & Prediction 2/14/24

<p>Betting on today's Owls and Hoosiers game? Catch the action at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN, as the Hoosiers hosts this showdown at 6:00 ET on B1G+. The over/under for this non-conference contest is set at 160 points, with the Hoosiers being the favored team playing at home against the Owls.</p><h3>KENNESAW STATE OWLS VS INDIANA HOOSIERS BETTING PICK</h3><p>The Pick: Kennesaw State Owls +12</p><p>This game will be played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at 6:00 ET on Friday, December 29th.</p><h3>WHY BET THE KENNESAW STATE OWLS:</h3><ul><li>We have this one finishing with a projected score of 74-69 in favor of the Hoosiers.</li><li>Even though we have Indiana winning straight-up, we like Kennesaw State at +12.</li><li>The over/under is currently sitting at 160 points, and we like the under with a projected 143 points.</li></ul><h3>Can the Owls Pull Off a Road Win?</h3><p>Kennesaw State, who has a 9-4 record, will be taking on Indiana today. Looking at their last ten road games, Kennesaw State has gone 5-5, which includes games from last year. Kennesaw State has a positive ATS record, sitting above .500 at 6-3-1. When playing away from home, the Owls are 4-3 vs. the spread, while they are 2-0-1 ATS in games played at home.</p><p>Kennesaw State comes in with an over/under record of 8-2-0 through 13 games, with their games averaging a combined 164.1 points per game so far. The Owls' last five games have finished with a combined 158 points per game and an over/under record of 2-2.</p><p>In their latest game, Kennesaw State offense put up 70 points against UNC Asheville. They recorded an overall field goal percentage of 36.5% and made 6 threes. Leading the team in scoring was Terrell Burden with 22 points. Simeon Cottle also added 12 points for the Owls.</p><p>Currently, the Owls' defense holds the 221st rank in the nation, allowing 75.2 points per game. So far, the Kennesaw State defense is giving up an average of 11.0 offensive rebounds per game and are turning teams over 12 times per game (529th).</p><h3>Is a Home Win Possible for Indiana?</h3><p>Indiana comes into this game with a 9-3 record after defeating Michigan 78-75 in their previous contest. The Hoosiers have been solid on the road, going 2-1, while they remain unbeaten at home with a 5-0 record. Indiana's ATS record is currently below .500, sitting at 3-4-1. On the road, the Hoosiers are 1-1-1 vs. the spread, while at home they are 2-3 vs. the spread.</p><p>Up to this point, games involving Indiana have had an average of 143.4 points per game, with the average over/under line set at 141.2 points. Their over/under record is 4-4-0. When assessing the Hoosiers' performance in their last three games, their over/under record stands at 1-2, with their games averaging 143 points per game.</p><p>The Hoosiers' offense finished with 78 points in their previous game, mirroring their current average of 74.3 points per contest. On the offensive front, the Hoosiers have a season-long field goal percentage of 48%, ranking 31st nationally. When it comes to three-point shooting, they are ranked 391st in terms of percentage and 380th in three-pointers made.</p><p>At this time, the Hoosiers' defense is positioned 172nd in the country, permitting 72.0 points per game. In today's game vs. Kennesaw State, the Indiana defense will be looking to do a better job avoiding putting opponents on the line. In their last game, Indiana made 19 free-throws vs. the Hoosiers.</p>

Kennesaw State Owls vs Indiana Hoosiers Betting Pick & Prediction 12/29/23

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