ASA

ASA NHL TOP PLAY ON 10* Colorado Avalanche Puck Line (-1.5 goals) over Los Angeles Kings, Friday at 9:05 PM ET - The Avalanche are beginning a two game set with the Kings so they will not overlook them.  That being said, a focused Colorado team will be trouble for a struggling Los Angeles team.  The Avalanche have won 18 of 21 games.  13 of the Avs last 16 wins have been by 2+ goals so laying the -1.5 goals to avoid the big juice money line is absolutely worth it here.  Los Angeles has lost 9 of 12 games and the Kings last 8 losses have included 7 by 2 or more goals.  This is the best team in the NHL hosting a team that has one of the weakest records in the league.  That being said, with these teams meeting again Sunday, the Avalanche are not yet looking past the Kings and will come ready for a blowout win here.  Our computer math modeling reflects this one getting very ugly for the road team and we completely agree!  Laying the 1.5 goals (at a pick'em price currently in the -110 range) with Colorado is the value play here.

#536 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* Philadelphia -2.5 over LA Clippers, Friday at 7:10 PM ET - The Sixers should definitely be the fresher team in this one as they had a day off on April 13th after completing a successful road trip, then played on April 14th at home before another day off yesterday. The Clips, on the other hand, will be playing their 3rd road game in 4 nights here. Philly is also the healthier team in this match up. LA is banged up with Kawhi Leonard possibly missing his 4th straight game here and Beverly & Ibaka still out. The Clippers are 3-0 with Kawhi out however those wins have coming vs Detroit (twice) and Indiana, both below .500 with the Pistons sitting with the worst record in the East. LA barely got by Detroit on Wednesday 100-98 with ex-Piston Reggie Jackson hitting a shot at the buzzer for the win. Philly has been fantastic at home with a 21-5 record, the 2nd best in the NBA behind Utah. They have a +7 PPG point differential at home and they are getting healthy. Both Embiid and Simmons are good to go tonight and Harris looks like he’ll be a go as well (sore knee). We feel this team is undervalued despite their impressive 38-17 record. That’s because the 3 players listed above have combined to miss 30 games this season and the Sixers have been forced to use 20 different starting line ups in the process. They are still 21 games above .500 despite that. When healthy, like tonight, they are outstanding. They have the #2 defense in the NBA allowing 107 points per 100 possessions and they are off a big home win over the Nets on Wednesday when Embiid, Simmons, and Harris combined for 82 points and 18 rebounds. Now they’ve had a day off to get ready for tonight’s big match up with the Clippers. Los Angeles topped Philly in late March but the 76ers weren’t at full strength with Embiid out. Now catching LA in a tough spot, we like Philadelphia tonight.

ASA top play on 10* OVER 8.5 Detroit Tigers @ Oakland A's, 9:40 PM ET - The Tigers are scoring better than most expected early this season.  Yesterday's game was an 8-4 loss for Detroit at Oakland but it was the 3rd straight over in Tigers games.  Detroit has scored an average of 6 runs a game in its last 4 games.  The Tigers have a .416 slugging percentage on the season which ranks 6th in the majors.  Though the A's have poor overall numbers offensively this season, they are absolutely trending the right direction.  The over is 4-0 in Oakland's last 4 games and the Athletics are truly in the zone right now as they have won 5 straight games thanks in large part to a scoring average of 7.4 runs during the streak.  Each of these teams have bullpens that rank near the bottom of the majors for relievers ERA early this season and that is an issue here too because each of the starters have an ERA above 8.00 early this season.  Frankie Montas struggled badly in his only home start this season and Jose Urena has had issues in both his starts this season.  Each of the last two years Urena has finished the season with an ERA above 5.00 so this might be his last start in the rotation for now if things don't turn around.  Spencer Turnbull is likely back soon and Urena would be the odd man out.  While he is still out there we are going to take advantage of his turn in the rotation and look for plenty of runs from both sides in this one!  Bet Over