The Blues opened as a -130 favorite at the market-setting Cris sportsbook and, according to Sports Insights’ NHL Betting Trends, is currently receiving just 43% of moneyline wagers. With Boston receiving a slightly higher percentage of public bets, the line has moved to -120 on St. Louis.

Both teams come into this game with injuries to key players. The Bruins offense will be shorthanded as the team will be playing without forward’s Nathan Horton (17 goals, 15 assists) and Rich Peverly (9 goals, 29 assists).  For the Blues, G Jaroslav Halak (16-10-5, 1.97 GAA) and C Andy McDonald (50 points in 58 games last season) are both listed as probable with the flu.

Our Premium and All-Pro members have access to breaking injury alerts, but all members can check in with our NHL injury page to check a player’s status prior to puck drop.

While Cris has the Blues at -120, there is great variance within the market. Lines vary from -115 at Pinnacle to -135 at WagerWeb which once again illuminates the importance of shopping for the best line.

The following table shows the breakdown of moneyline betting percentages from our six contributing sportsbooks:

Surprisingly, neither team comes into the game with any injury concerns but our Premium and All-Pro members have access to breaking injury alerts.  All members can check in with our NBA injury page to check a player’s status prior to tip-off.

Miami opened as a 14.5 point favorite at CRIS and with good reason: Miami has defeated Sacramento 6 straight times and 14 of the last 15 meetings, with the average margin of victory in Miami nearing 18 points.  The Kings are also a poor road team, winning only 3 of 19 games played away from Sacramento while Miami has a stellar 13-2 record at home.  According to Sports Insights’ NBA Betting Trends, the Heat are receiving nearly 70% of all spread bets and moneyline bets.

Despite the majority of public bets coming in on Miami, the line has dropped to 13.5 at most sportsbooks, and even 13 at some books such as Carib Sports and BetMania.  Alternatively, books such as SIA and Caesars are still offering a line of 14, signifying the importance of shopping for the best line.

Though public bettors seem to be pounding the hometown Heat, sharp money is coming in on the Kings and pushing the line down.  Three separate Smart Money moves were triggered on Sacramento at +13.5 including one from Heritage, this year’s leading sportsbook when triggering Smart Money plays.  Sacramento also fits into a key filter of ours mentioned in this season’s Betting Against the Public article, getting 10+ points on the road while receiving less than 35% of bets.

The following table shows the breakdown of spread betting percentages from our six contributing sportsbooks:

The 6’3″ point guard came off the bench to score 25 points while hauling in 5 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists. On the strength of this performance, Lin earned a spot in the starting lineup while guiding NY to an 8-1 record. Since then, Linsanity has reached Tebow-like levels with the public jumping on the Knicks bandwagon.

Just two weeks have passed since that game yet seemingly everything has changed. The Knicks opened as a 9.5-point favorite at the market-setting Cris sportsbook and, according to Sports Insights’ NBA Betting Trends, are currently receiving 64% of spread wagers and 65% of moneyline bets. Despite this lop-sided betting, the line has not moved off 9.5.

An important factor to monitor is the health of several key players on each team. Last night Brook Lopez made his season debut for the Nets having missed the first 32 games with a broken foot. However, the team will proceed with caution with their star big man and he will likely not play on the second night of a back-to-back. For the Knicks, Tyson Chandler (back) is listed as probable, while Carmelo Anthony is expected to re-join the team after missing seven games with a groin injury.

Our Premium and All-Pro members have access to breaking injury alerts, but for everybody else make sure to check in with our NBA injury page for the latest updates.

While almost the entire marketplace is shopping this game at -9.5, a handful of books — including Heritage and SIA — are currently offering a line of -10. This once again demonstrates the importance of shopping for the best line.

The following table shows the breakdown of spread betting percentages from our six contributing sportsbooks:

The Heat opened as a 9.5-point favorite at the market-setting Cris sportsbook and, according to Sports Insights’ NBA Betting Trends, are currently receiving just 44% of spread wagers but a staggering 85% of moneyline bets. With the Magic receiving a slightly higher percentage of spread bets, the line has dropped a half-point to -9.

While almost the entire marketplace is shopping this game at -9, a handful of books — including Olympic and Legendz — are currently offering a line of -9.5. This once again demonstrates the importance of shopping for the best line.

The following table shows the breakdown of spread betting percentages from our six contributing sportsbooks:

In the NBA:

• Miami continues to be a public favorite and their games typically gather a lot of interest.  The public prefers Orlando over Miami, but only slightly.   The Orlando-Miami game is currently the heaviest-bet game of the day.
• Although the line has not been released yet, the Knicks game also promises to be a heavily-bet game, with many sports fans curious about Lin-sanity and the status of injured star Carmelo Anthony.
• The most lopsided-bet game of the day is the Phoenix Suns-LA Lakers game, with the Suns getting no respect — even as a (small) home underdog.

In NCAAB:

• Our team has circled the big game of the day (Michigan St.-Purdue) — that is also receiving the largest attention from bettors based on Sports Insights number of bets.  Michigan State opened as a slight favorite — and heavy betting on the 8th-ranked and 21-5 Spartans — has expanded the spread from Michigan State -3 to -5.  Our team of analysts is eyeing this game as a potential play, so please log-in to your account for the latest information.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!