The break is over and the best basketball that Europe has to offer is ready to return to the main stage and things will be heating up rather quickly. Round 23 has some good looking match ups and we are not going to waste any time at all finding some ways to win money. Thursday is as good a day as any and I see a few things I like. We must be a little careful though and take into consideration that just because the Euroleague took a break does not mean the players and teams did. Most teams participated in their domestic weekend championships that might have taking its toll on some.
The first game is a game that looks interesting to me because of the offensive potential of both teams. CSKA plays host to Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv and to be honest I expect to see a lot of points in this contest. CSKA at home is very powerful and love to dominate visiting teams while Maccabi has tremendous offensive ability but lack defensive discipline. This combination makes for an up and down, run and gun game that we have been used to seeing with this year’s new league format. The total in this game set by 888sport.com is at 167.5 and I honestly see this game going over that number. Looking at the numbers, Maccabi gives up almost 84 points a game while CSKA is first in the competition scoring close to 88 points a game. I would've totaled this game out around 172.5 easily, so my money will be on the over 167.5 that pays us 1.91.
Game two is the last game for Thursday between EA7 Armani Milan and FC Barcelona. Studying these two teams that have had awful seasons due to many injuries and internal issues we can find some unusual sunshine peeping through the clouds in Milan. EA7, who went on a devastating 9 game losing streak has actually looked good lately by winning 3 of their last 5, with the only two losses on the road to Real Madrid by five points and Anadolu Efes by four. Barca has been another story, losing their last 4 games and 6 of the last 7 have all but knocked Barcelona from any playoff hopes. Losing in the Semi Final of the Spanish Kings Cup on Saturday did not help the situation either and this will be a tough spot for Barcelona with a Milan team looking for payback after suffering a 14 point loss back in December in Spain. The line stands at Milan a 2.5 point favorite paying 1.90 but I see this as being an opportunity for the Italians to continue to build. Look deeper to find some better value, there is a good chance Milan wins this game between 6-10 points.
Sit back and enjoy, last week was tough with no Euroleague but don’t worry, it’s back and this final stretch will be better than ever.
Good Luck!!!
