Jeff Sunday's Best Bets - Friday, February 27th

Cleveland finds themselves in unfamiliar territory as the underdog tonight. The Cavs are one of the best teams in the East, but they have recently dropped 2 of 3. Cleveland is also dealing with some injuries as Harden just fractured his thumb and they might be without Donovan Mitchell. I’m not fading the Cavs as much as I’m betting on the Pistons. Detroit is playing the last game of a three game home stretch before hitting the road. They lost to the Spurs and then won but failed to cover against the Thunder. 

I think this is the game Detroit wins convincingly. Give me the Pistons -5.5.

I take no credit for this play if it hits, nor did I have a strong lean, but I do want to mention that Steak is squaring up with Michigan. If that’s square? Who knows, maybe Illinois at home is the square side. Either way, I’m with him. Michigan's last road game was technically on a neutral but they got handled by Duke. Then they failed to cover at home against Minnesota. 

Steak says Illinois are frauds. While I won’t go that far, I do like his Michigan read here and will be on the Wolverines.

You should know by now that The Fake Sharp's bread and butter in College Basketball has been to fade bounce back spots. We have the ultimate one here, as it also falls on Senior Night at Texas State. The Bobcats (that’s Texas States mascot) are 15-1 at home. They're coming off a 67-54 loss at ULL where they were 3.5 point favorites. Before that, Texas State had won seven (7) games in a row. 

These teams have similar records, but the home/road splits stand out. App State is 7-6 on the road and Texas State is 15-1 at home. I think it’s a little crazy to see such a good home team be an underdog in this spot. 

I’ve got to get involved. Give me App State to play double spoiler.

I’m such a sucker for the Florida Panthers. They have certainly struggled this year and are on the outside looking in regarding the playoff race. Perhaps I could have been a prisoner of the moment last night, but watching them beat the shit out of the Leafs made me feel some type of way.

I’ve been on the Panthers to win the Cup the last two years. They’ve treated me well, but they would treat anyone well who’s got half a brain and knows puck. Florida is fucking loaded. This year the struggles have mostly been due to injuries, but they do have a lot of mileage given their deep playoff runs. But I love Paul Maurice (coach) and this roster. I think they get hot after the break and treat every game like it’s their last.

With all that said, I’m not betting them tonight because I don’t want to fade Buffalo - and I'm now already invested. Two good teams with the Panthers being on a back-to-back. After the Cats scored 5 goals last night, I think we see defense tonight. Also the scoring won’t come as easy, as the Sabers are nowhere near as pathetic as the Leafs.

This is a tight game with a playoff atmosphere. Goals will be at a premium. Give me the under 6.5