Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews Chicago Bulls (50-19) at Atlanta Hawks (40-30) from the standpoint of the spread bettor.

The Chicago Bulls (50-19) are charging hard toward the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race down the final stretch of the regular season and will be making a quick one-game stop in Atlanta on Tuesday to visit the Hawks (40-30).  The Bulls (-4) are coming off a 132-92 rout of Sacramento at home on Monday but lost in their last trip here, one of just two setbacks in their last 14 games overall.

Chicago blew a 19-point lead in that last game at Atlanta en route to an 83-80 loss but reeled off eight straight wins following that defeat, including a 94-76 home victory against the Hawks on March 11.  The winning streak ended with a 115-108 overtime loss at Indiana last Friday despite Derrick Rose’s 42 points.  The team has gone 6-1 against the spread in its last seven games.

Rose was finally able to get some rest in the blowout against the Kings, totaling 18 points and eight assists in a season-low 28 minutes.  He reportedly said he was feeling “beat up” after the loss to the Pacers but figures to continue to see heavy minutes.  A season-high eight Bulls scored in double figures against Sacramento, including Carlos Boozer, who scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in his first game back after missing the previous five with a sprained ankle.

Atlanta had dropped two straight and six of eight overall before beating Detroit 104-96 on Sunday.  Al Horford led six Hawks who scored in double figures with 18 points and also had a team-high 10 boards.  Horford scored a season-high 31 points and 16 rebounds in the last home meeting with Chicago but had just six and seven nine days later in the rematch.

With a 4-5 playoff matchup with Orlando pretty much set, Atlanta could possibly face the Bulls in the second round.  The Hawks are 4.5 games behind the Magic for the fourth spot in the East but also four games ahead of sixth-place Philadelphia.  They have failed to cover six of their last eight games and are just 13-21 ATS at home this season.

The Bulls have lost eight of the last 10 meetings with Atlanta, failing to cover seven of the past nine.  The UNDER has cashed in three of the last four meetings overall, but the OVER is 6-2 in the last eight games played between the teams in Atlanta.  The OVER has also cashed in two straight for Chicago overall and three of four for the Hawks.

Top expert pick on today’s card: The Stevie Vincent is the King of Offshore because of winning at a sustained rate never before seen in sports betting. As he just released Level 5 winners on both pro basketball and collegiate hardwood, an international sports betting bulletin has been issued. All gamblers are instructed to make their maximum wagers on each Level 5.

It’s a pro basketball side and a collegiate over/under. Get Rivers card for Tuesday.

If you saw this Sweet 16 coming in March Madness betting, go buy a lottery ticket. And start your own psychic hotline. With a tournament-record four double-digit seeds making the cut, it’s the strangest Sweet 16 we’ve ever seen. Let’s have a look at the first two betting matchups for Thursday.

(3) Connecticut Huskies vs (2) San Diego State Aztecs

Thursday, March 24, 7:15 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Connecticut -1

While UConn is obviously the bigger “name” in this matchup, coming out of the Big East, some sports betting sharps are surprised to see the Huskies in the Sweet 16. I for one thought they’d be too tired after winning five games in five days during the Big East tourney. But, low and behold, UConn continued to look like a team on a mission over the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. It hammered popular sleeper pick Bucknell 81-52 and got by Cincinnati 69-58. Make that seven straight wins – and seven straight spreads beaten – for the nation’s hottest team.

Kemba Walker hasn’t slowed down yet. He dropped 33 on Cincinnati. But it will be interesting to see how the Huskies respond if the defensively sound San Diego State manages to bottle him up. The second-seeded Aztecs are riding their first two NCAA tourney wins in school history and, for the most part, their “D” was the key in stopping Northern Colorado and Temple.

For San Diego State to keep pace with Connecticut, however, it will need more than just defensive prowess. Guys like D.J. Gay have to break out of their slumps and start contributing.

(3) Brigham Young Cougars vs. (2) Florida Gators

Thursday, March 24, 7:27 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Florida -2.5

Jimmer Mania continues! BYU is picking up steam in the NCAA tourney. It had more trouble with Wofford in its opener(74-66) than it did with Gonzaga (89-67) in the round of 32. The one constant has, of course, been national leading scorer Jimmer Fredette. The guy can’t be stopped, it seems. Fredette opened his tourney with 32 and 34-point efforts and now has 30 or more in six of his last seven outings.

Florid has been somewhat under the radar as far as No. 2 seeds go. It got past UCSC and UCLA without much trouble and has won six of seven overall, going 6-1 ATS over that span. Erving Walker laid an egg in the SEC tournament against Kentucky but has bounced back strong in March Madness, dropping 18 points on UCSB and leading the charge with 21 against UCLA.

Interestingly enough, these two teams met a year ago in March Madness. The game was a 99-92 overtime barn burner, with Fredette’s 37 points being the difference maker for BYU.

OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has a free pick Monday is on the Toronto Raptors (+12.5) at Denver.

Backing a team on a back-to-back in the altitude of Denver is asking a ton and especially with one of the weaker teams in all of the NBA in the Raptors but to get around a dozen or so here is enough to give it a shot.

George Karl’s Nuggets have truly been playing great ball ever since the Carmelo Anthony trade. They have won a ton of games and continue to cover pretty much every game in the post ‘Melo era. It really is crazy how successful they have been. But with that said they are now back home from the four game east coast swing and that first game is never ever easy and a spot that one must fade them on. Plus Ray Felton is doubtful and no matter how successful these Nuggets have been they are still not a team that is really all that great, they’re just not. I do like all of the pieces they received from the Knicks but there is no way they are truly this good this fast.

Yes Denver is still a superior squad than the 20 win boys from north of the border but Toronto last night did hold their own in the outright at Oklahoma City and I feel are more than capable to at least stay within range tonight. Andrea Bargnani has become a star and is good enough to put the team on his shoulders and be competitive enough, even playing on little rest and tired legs.

It is asking a lot playing for a second straight day and dealing with a superior team in altitude but the Nuggets are in that difficult situation of being back home and are probably a little overdue to lay a bit of an egg.

Top expert pick on this game: Toronto from Matt Rivers

For more information: Like I said yesterday, it’s almost getting too easy! My 400,000* was on VCU Outright by a billion and the 300,000* on Marquette was an outright as well! That’s another 700,000* of profit in the kitty. I am now up literally 3.4 million* of profit over the past two weeks. If that isn’t good enough than I’m not really all that sure what else to say.

Another major 400,000* release is here in this NIT game between New Mexico and Alabama along with a 200,000* on Duquesne and Oregon. Just another ho-hum 2-0 sweep, that you can take to the bank! Rivers picks are up

Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews Indiana Pacers (30-40) at New Jersey Nets (22-46).

The Indiana Pacers (30-40) hope to finish the regular season strong and hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but they will need to win games like this against the lowly New Jersey Nets (22-46) if they are going to accomplish that goal.  The Pacers (-1.5) sit 1.5 games ahead of Charlotte and Milwaukee and have won the last six meetings with the Nets both straight-up and against the spread.

Indiana is coming off a 99-78 road loss a t Memphis on Saturday after handing Chicago its first divisional loss of the season in overtime on Friday, 115-108.  The Pacers scored just 37 points in the second half against the Grizzlies and shot 36 percent from the field, showing some fatigue from arguably their biggest win of the season the night before against the Bulls.

Leading scorer Danny Granger committed seven turnovers and made only 5 of 15 shots from the field en route to 17 points for Indiana in the loss to Memphis while point guard Darren Collison also scored 17 but did not register an assist.  Granger had 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting in the last meeting with New Jersey, which still resulted in a 105-86 road victory.

The Nets have dropped three in a row both SU and ATS following a season-high five-game winning streak and will again be without star point guard Deron Williams due to a wrist injury.  They suffered a 98-92 loss at Washington on Sunday without Williams and were led by center Brook Lopez, who scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.  Jordan Farmar filled in for Williams and tallied a career-high 17 assists to go along with 10 points while Kris Humphries added 18 points and 17 rebounds.

New Jersey got off to a strong start against the Wizards, jumping out to a 35-23 lead at the end of the first quarter and holding a 56-43 advantage at halftime.  But Washington outscored the Nets 28-12 in the third and took control behind rookie point guard John Wall, who finished with a game-high 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

The UNDER has cashed in three of New Jersey’s last four games overall and five of the past seven games for the Pacers.  However, the OVER is 3-1 in the last four meetings between the teams.  Indiana has averaged 110.5 points per game against the Nets in winning the last six in the series.

Top expert pick on today’s card is from Matt Rivers: Like I said yesterday, it’s almost getting too easy! My 400,000* was on VCU Outright by a billion and the 300,000* on Marquette was an outright as well! That’s another 700,000* of profit in the kitty. I am now up literally 3.4 million* of profit over the past two weeks. If that isn’t good enough than I’m not really all that sure what else to say.

Another major 400,000* release is here in this NIT game between New Mexico and Alabama along with a 200,000* on Duquesne and Oregon. Just another ho-hum 2-0 sweep, that you can take to the bank! River Monday card is up

Here is the Cricket World Cup odds 2011 from BetUs

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OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has a free pick Sunday is on Florida State (+5) to Notre Dame.

Mike Bray is a great coach and the Fighting Irish have had a phenomenal season which not many people, including myself, saw coming. Ben Hansbrough has been incredible leading the way as the boys from Notre Dame are very good and after a full season of a sample size are not a fluke. But with that said I am still not all in on the boys from South Bend and today is a difficult matchup and one that can completely take the Irish out of their comfort zone and overall game.

Florida State certainly is offensively challenged at times and have played a lot of games in the 50’s. They are not nearly as explosive as ND but the one thing that the Seminoles have always been able to do is clamp down and absolutely frustrate their opponents taking them out of their rhythm and there is no better rhythm team in college hoops today than today’s opponent. If Hansbrough and Abromaitas get those open looks from three then this game and potential cover may not come through. The key is for the ‘Noles to man up as they usually do and just did holding Texas A&M to 50 total points. I still do not really see Notre Dame as a great overall team and they without a doubt could fall victim to the swarming defense today or at least not bomb away as they are sometimes able to.

I’m not expecting miracles from Chris Singleton who didn’t play major minutes against the Aggies but he is healthy enough to get on the court and Florida State with their defense is good enough to get the job done.

Top expert pick on this game: Matt Rivers Florida State.

For more information: It’s almost getting too easy! Things have really been clicking of late and I see no reason at all why anything is going to stop. 400,000* Florida came through and 200,000* Temple plus 5 ½ fell in double overtime. Horrific horse dung luck on the Owls but even with that it’s still another winning day and right at 2.7 million* of profit over the past two weeks. Two more plays and two more winners today; 400,000* Purdue-VCU and a 300,000* Marquette-Syracuse. If you’re not going to follow the hottest capper there is than what else can I say? Get Rivers picks for March Madness 2011.

OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has a March Madness spread pick winner Saturday is on Butler (+7.5) to Pittsburgh.

How can I fully pass up this number with the national runner-ups? Butler did lose Gordon Hayward and has not been nearly as consistent this season but the Bulldogs are a well-coached team that is playing their best ball of the entire season right now. Brad Stevens has proven a lot to a lot of people and has a defensive system that is as good as any. Matt Howard is a beast down low and Shelvin Mack, Ronald Nored and Shawn Vanzant learned a lot from last season’s run and are quality players themselves who can “D” it up.

There were times this season when it looked as if Butler had lost it and had no chance to do much of anything. But when crunch time came this team stepped things up and are playing their best ball right now. They have won 9 in a row after that dismal three game losing streak capped by the rock bottom loss at Youngstown State and in that last game just downed a pretty good Old Dominion team holding the Monarchs to 58 points.

There is no doubt that Stevens’ squad is up against it today and it may not be very possible for the winning streak to get to 10 but the Bulldogs should clamp down and keep this thing within reason as they always seem to do.

I have all the respect in the world for Jamie Dixon as the guy really is a great coach. He has a team that certainly has the potential to win it all as all one seeds do. Guys like Gibbs and Wannamaker and McGhee are no joke at all. But the Panthers are not exactly an offensive juggernaut and I can see this thing turn into somewhat of a slugfest as all Butler games seem to.

The Bulldogs always seems to find a way to keep the game at their pace and I’m not so sure that Pittsburgh is going to really be able to change that all that much. The Panthers should move on to the Sweet 16 but I can see a tight grind it out 4-5 point final in the end.

Top expert pick on this game: Matt Rivers goes with Butler

For more information: It wasn’t easy and it took a late surge but the 500,000* bomb on Georgia cashed the ticket to go along with Marquette in yet another winning day. Things have been phenomenal of late as the profit is now 2.5 million* in the last 13 days. More of the same today with a pair of plays led by a 400,000* bad boy involving UCLA and Florida. Bonus 200,000* San Diego State and Temple. Feeling great and ready to smack around that Crookie one more time. Click now to purchase

March Madness picks are still foremost on the mind of sports handicappers but sharps are dominating the NBA.

Here is the sports bet preview of the Cleveland Cavaliers at Los Angeles Clippers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (13-54) have won the past nine meetings with the Los Angeles Clippers (26-43), but none of them were bigger than the last one on February 11.  In that game, the Cavaliers snapped their NBA-record 26-game losing streak at home with a 126-119 victory in overtime.  The Clippers will now try to end the series skid when the teams meet again on Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Since the last meeting, a few key players between the teams have switched sides, as LA dealt point guard Baron Davis to Cleveland for point guard Mo Williams and forward Jamario Moon just prior to the trade deadline.  Neither team has really benefited from the trade, as the Clippers are 5-6 since then and the Cavs are just 3-7.

Los Angeles is coming off a 104-94 home loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday in the first game back from a five-game road trip.  The Clips went 3-2 on the trip both straight-up against the spread and remain 11-3 ATS in their past 14 home games despite falling to the 76ers.

Randy Foye led LA against Philly with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field while star Blake Griffin struggled with his shot.  Griffin made just 3 of 12 from the field and 8 of 15 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points.  He scored a team-high 32 points in the last meeting with Cleveland but might be hitting the rookie wall, averaging 16.9 points on 40.2 percent shooting in the last seven games

The Cavaliers wrap up a three-game road trip in Los Angeles and have split the first two so far.  They beat Sacramento 97-93 on Wednesday as 9.5-point underdogs but proceeded to get blown out the following night at Portland, 111-70.  Ramon Sessions totaled a team-high 14 points against the Trail Blazers while Davis played less than 15 minutes and scored three off the bench.

This will be the first game back to LA for Davis, who underachieved in three seasons there.  He will not have leading scorer Antawn Jamison on his side due to a broken pinky and could be facing former teammate Eric Gordon, who has missed 24 of the last 26 games with a wrist injury.  Jamison scored a game-high 35 points in the last meeting.  The teams have split the last four meetings against the spread after Cleveland covered each of the previous five.

Top expert pick on today’s card: The winningest sports service off all-time, GodsTips has two more Wise Guy sides for the NCAA Tournament among four Big Dance winners. Get Duffy’s picks now

OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has a winning pick on Villanova (-1.5) to George Mason.

There is nobody on this planet who faded Jay Wright’s Wildcats more down the stretch than I did. I have no idea what happened to Villanova but they were absolutely putrid over the last month plus. This team couldn’t even compete no less win a game or cover one. It’s as if the ship completely sunk and the regression was something of the likes that I haven’t seen from a top 10 team in awhile.

With all of the above said and even with George Mason having the longest winning streak in the entire nation at one point this number is still a value on the squad from the Big East and in what really is a new season I’ll take my chances with ‘Nova.

I do like Jim Larranaga as a coach ever since the Final Four run a few seasons back and the 26-6 Patriots are a solid squad that should compete. I just feel though that after some time off the ‘Cats are will take a deep breath and play better ball. The talent is there as they are still a quality Big East team that should regroup and be able to beat what is a little brother type opponent from a smaller school in a smaller conference.

Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes are high quality ballers who should be able to do their thing and Yarou and Pena are also guys who will more than hold their own today. The confidence could be a little lacking from years’ past entering the Big Dance but Wright is a coach who should be able to get this train back on track and with the definite superior talent I will back the Wildcats and expect a win which should then entail a cover at this near pick price.

The best non-conference team that Cam Long and Mason have beaten this season may truly be in the opening game of the season against Harvard. The likes of George Washington, Liberty, Northern Iowa and Duquesne are alright but as long as Villanova is at little bit better than they have been, and I think they will be, I will gladly back the ‘Cats and deem this number a value.

Top expert pick on this game: Villanova from Matt Rivers

For more information: I took care of business on the first real day of March Madness yesterday as the 400,000* on Princeton along with the 200,000* on Morehead State (in the first half) both cashed with absolute ease in yet another winning day.

The profit is now 2.3 million* over the past 12 days and more of the same today led by the big cahuna, my highest rated 500,000* bomb on a dog that I fully expect to win outright. How can I prove that I expect an outright? I’m also adding a 200,000* on said pup on the moneyline! Bonus 300,000* in the NBA between the Spurs and Mavericks along with a 200,000* involving Marquette and Xavier.  Get Rivers winners

OffshoreInsiders.com Senior Sports Handicapper Matt Rivers has an NCAA Tournament spread pick Thursday is on West Virginia (-2.5) over Clemson.

Reasoning: This number is just wrong, very wrong. I will admit that Clemson has been playing some strong ball of late but Brad Brownell’s squad is still far from being an offensive force and just should not win this game. Demontez Stitt can score but truly the Tigers are somewhat offensively challenged and a few recent games won’t change my mind.

UAB turned out to be pretty much a dud in the game on Tuesday getting somewhat embarrassed but Clemson really is in a tough spot here having to travel and then play 36 or so hours later in an entirely different venue.

West Virginia isn’t great but they are pretty good and Bob Huggins is no doubt a high level coach that knows a thing or two about tournament basketball. The Mountaineers went 11-7 in the rugged Big East and finished the season with a 20-11 record. They are an experienced team that plays very well together and guys like Flowers, Mitchell, Mazzulla and Jones may not wow many people but as the more rested team and still the better overall squad I can’t help but view this number as way too cheap.

For some reason the oddsmaker has all of a sudden put a ton of stock into these Tigers. Clemson is still a school that is perennially weak away from Littlejohn Coliseum and after just playing I don’t see anything but at least a 6-8 point Mounty victory.

Top expert pick on this game: West Virginia

For more information: Not only am I releasing three extremely high quality plays today and right around another million* of profit but I am also giving away my early Friday release that is a highest rated 500,000* dog along with a play on the moneyline as well! I cannot believe what I am seeing with tomorrow’s barking pup and you will pay no more at all for it pretty much giving you two NCAA Tournament days for the ridiculously low price of one.

Five plays in all including three on Thursday. 400,000* Kentucky-Princeton, 300,000* UCLA-Michigan State and a 200,000* first half of the game play between Louisville and Morehead State. If you don’t think that I am once again going to really flex my muscles than you are dead wrong. It’s Christmas in March! Click now to purchase