Handicapper Art Aronson of AAA Sports Plays Free Picks & Best Bets

This is a 9* on VEGAS -1.5

Vegas is in second place in the West Division, four points behind Colorado. They have won four in a row and perhaps even more impressive is that they’ve scored six or more goals in three of the last six games. We expect it to be another easy two points tonight for the Golden Knights as they visit last place Anaheim, a team they are already 4-1 against this season. The Ducks did just take two games in San Jose and scored four goals in both victories. But they have lost their last five games that weren’t against the Sharks. They’ve been outshot pretty badly the last five games. They are allowing 36.2 shots per game, so it’s lucky they’ve allowed only 1.6 goals. Vegas is just the reverse as they’ve allowed just 25.0 shots per game their last five and an average of 2.2 goals. We’re so confident in the Golden Knights here that we’ll lay the -1.5 on the puck line. Play on VEGAS -1.5.

AAA

This is a 10* on PORTLAND

With just one month left in the regular season, Portland and San Antonio are both struggling at an inopportune time. The Trail Blazers have lost four of five, the most recent loss coming by one point to Boston on Tuesday. The Spurs have lost six of eight and were beaten 117-112 by Toronto on Wednesday. In sixth place as opposed to 10th, the Blazers are in a much better spot than San Antonio right now and we like them to be the ones to bounce back tonight. Compared to a lot of the teams Portland has faced recently, the Spurs are a weak opponent. The Blazers’ SU record vs. sub .500 teams this year is 23-7 and that includes 5-0 in the second half. The Blazers also have a winning record on the road. San Antonio is 12-17 SU at home and is coming off a week-long road trip. They have to head back out on the road for two more (starting tomorrow) and thus will have “less in the tank” here compared to the Blazers, who have been off for two days. Play on PORTLAND

This is an 8* on OVER

The Jazz had only seven players score on Tuesday, but six of them finished in double figures as they defeated the Thunder 106-96. It was not a good shooting night overall for the Western Conference leaders as they finished the game with a 41.8 field goal percentage. But after falling behind by 17 early, they were able to hold Oklahoma City to a 38.7 FG%. We expect to see more scoring in today’s game vs. Indiana, who has scored at least 132 four times in their last seven games. The Pacers shot very well against Houston (53.2%) two nights ago. But an issue to keep an eye on is that they’ve also allowed 124 or more points in five of their last seven games. Utah puts up 118.6 points/game at home, so we are anticipating they’ll score a lot today, even if some of the injured players that sat out Tuesday do not return here. The Over is 6-1 in Indiana’s past seven games as a road underdog. Play on OVER

AAA

This is an 8* on OAKLAND

Oakland ended Detroit’s three-game win streak last night, taking the series opener by a score of 8-4. Tigers’ pitching made it pretty easy on the A’s as they issued 12 walks in the game, two coming when the bases were loaded in the sixth inning. Wouldn’t you know that control issues have been a problem for Friday’s starter Jose Urena as well? The Tigers’ righty has walked nine batters in two starts which have lasted only 7 ⅔ innings. The team lost both of those games, rather handily. First it was 15-6 to the Twins, then 5-2 to the Indians. Detroit isn’t going to be very good this year, so the fact they swept Houston was a surprise. But this series looks like it will go differently. Oakland is on a five-game win streak and sends Frankie Montas to the bump tonight. After being rocked by the Dodgers in his first start, Montas came back and delivered six solid innings in a win over Houston in his last start. The A’s won that game 7-3 and the only run allowed by Montas was a solo homer. Play on OAKLAND

AAA

This is a 10* on OVER

The Cubs hitting, or should we say “lack thereof,” has been dreadful so far. As a team, they are batting .163. No other team in the National League strikes out at a higher rate and no team in all of MLB scores fewer runs per game. They are averaging fewer than five hits per game and off a shutout loss (7-0) at the hands of Milwaukee. At home things are even more dire as they have hit just .124 in six games! But a visit from the Braves and the afternoon Wrigley wind should lead to a change in things on Friday. Atlanta’s last seven games have averaged just over 12 runs with them scoring and allowing 6.0 per. Six of those seven games went Over the total including each of the last three. Braves starter Drew Smyly has struggled with the home run ball thus far, allowing three in his two starts and if the wind is blowing out today that should continue to be a problem. The only other time Smyly faced the Cubs, he allowed a pair of home runs. Cubs starter Davies has allowed just one HR so far, but he gave up seven runs while getting only five outs in his last start. We don’t like his chances against Ronald Acuna Jr, who leads MLB with seven home runs. This one goes Over. Play on OVER

AAA