The Daily Three 1/6

  Hello,

   Yesterday was an incredibly frustrating day for us. What at one point looked like a 3-0 night, suddenly turned into a 1-1-1 disappointment. While the Capitals absolutely blew out the Blue Jackets, like they normally do in overhyped January hockey games, the Pistons blew an 18 point fourth quarter league, only to be bailed out by the refs on a questionable Kemba Walker foul and win by a single point. Nebraska, also blew many opportunities to put their game out of reach with poor free throw shooting (19-35), and could only get us the push. Some books had this game at -2.5, so hopefully most people got it at that number. Overall, an even night is not terrible, especially after two previous winning nights. We are back at it with a pick in each the NHL, NBA, and NCAAB.

NHL
Arizona Coyotes at Anaheim Ducks (-1.5, +135)

With this pick, we are just going back to well. The Ducks did very well for us on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over the Red Wings. The Ducks now get an even easier task against a Coyotes team that has lost eight in a row and has only averaged about a goal a game during that span. The Yotes have some of the worst Corsi numbers in the league, have trouble possessing the puck, and are currently dealing with some injury troubles, more specifically young star, Max Domi. Basically, the Coyotes are a dumpster fire at the moment and will need to put up some goals in order to change that image. With our boy John Gibson back in net tonight for the Ducks, Arizona should continue their scoring woes, and the Ducks should take care of business once again tonight. Worth noting, Ryan Getzlaf will miss tonight's game, but it did not stop the Ducks on Wednesday.

NBA
Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers -2.5

Well, it certainly seems like there is a theme tonight in these first two picks. In our NBA pick, we are going after our favorite team to attack, the Miami Heat. I do have to give the Heat some credit, they did pull off a nice win the other night in Sacramento as big underdogs. However, performances like those tend to be outliers rather than signs of things to come. The Heat are still without Hassan Whiteside and Justice Winslow recently had season-ending surgery on his shoulder. So, the onus once again falls on Goran Dragic's shoulders to carry the load for this very thin Heat roster. For a guy who constantly gets injured himself, I think it may be too tall of task for him and his team. They will be playing their third game in four nights on this road trip that is a very far distance from their home in Miami. There is some concern with the Lakers, as they will be playing in the second of back-to-back games. However, the Lakers seem to have gotten through their rough patch of injuries and should be getting Luol Deng back tonight after missing last night's game with a biceps injury. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the Heat are playing their third game in four nights. Keep going with the flow, and take the Lakers over the Heat.

NCAAB
Rhode Island Rams at Dayton Flyers -2

This is going to be a fun game in a great environment between two evenly matched teams. The Rhode  Island Rams were preseason darlings in the media (https://theringer.com/rhode-island-rams-cinderella-b86c653f086c) as they eagerly awaited the return of E.C. Matthews. In 2014-2015, Matthews was one of the breakthrough players for the Rams and was looking to build onto this success in the 2015-2016 season. However, Matthews blew out his knee in the first half of their first game and the Rams could never recover. With Matthews back in the fold and Hassan Martin, Jarvis Garrett, and Kuran Iverson returning, this team seems destined to make it back to the Big Dance for the first time in this century. Under Archie Miller, Dayton has just been consistently good. The Flyers have been in the tourney the past three seasons, including a sweet sixteen appearance in 2014, and look like they are on pace to make it again this year. Led by Charles Cooke and Scoochie Smith (seriously how does he still have eligibility), the Flyers have gotten off to a good start to the year and will look to build onto it tonight. These teams could not be much more even. The Flyers are ranked 32 in the Ken Pom rankings while the Rams are right behind them at 33. They are only separated in adjusted efficiency by .02 points! Their non-conference strength of schedules are also basically the same as Rhode Island beats out by Dayton by a couple of spots. Rhode Island is pretty balanced and rates high on both sides of the ball, while Dayton relies more on their stingy defense, although they are competent on the offensive side of the floor. These teams are fairly even, so there are two things that lead me towards the Flyers. One, they have an incredible home court advantage. This home court experience is rewarded every year as the University hosts the First Four of the tournament every season. Second, the Flyers are very good at home against the spread, while the Rams have struggled on the road against the spread. The Flyers are 4-2 at home against the spread and 4-1 as a home favorite, while the Rams are 1-3 on the road and have lost their only game of the year as road dogs. Yes, this isn't the largest sample size, but the numbers do not lie, the Flyers play well at home. These teams will meet twice this year, and I think they will split their meetings with the home team winning each game. Tonight, they are playing Dayton and the rowdy crowd will push them to victory.

Last night: 1-1-1
Overall: 6-3-1