Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#65) Vegas Golden Knights | ML | . 

Vegas comes into this game as an underdog. I'm a bit surprised, even on the road. The Golden Knights are off four consecutive defeats which makes me like them even more. They are too good of a team to be losing this many games and have revenge on their minds off B2B OT losses against the Ducks earlier this year. 

Anaheim has also lost consecutive games including a very bad performance against the Canucks last time out. I believe that the Ducks are going to continue to struggle as long as Leo Carlsson remains out of the lineup as he's done so much for them this year. I'll take my chances with VGK as a road dog. 

Burns' Prediction: 4-1 Vegas.

(#545) Los Angeles Clippers | ATS | . 

Los Angeles has sure woken up over the past month and I'm very happy about it. The Clippers began the year quite horribly and are very much back in the race to get to the playoffs. With these teams having played three times already this season, the Clippers will want to go out with a bang against the Suns who have won consecutive. 

As I very much respect the Suns for what they are doing and have done this season, enough is enough. It's time for one of these "better" teams to beat Phoenix and take advantage of playing it without the likes of Devin Booker. I believe that the Suns will struggle to guard both Harden and Kawhi on Sunday evening. 

Burns' Prediction: 111-103 Clippers.

(#544) New York Knicks | ATS | . 

While the Lakers have been excellent over this road trip so far, this will now be the 7th straight away game. That's a lot for any team. Last year, the Lakers were able to win all three meetings against the Knicks. Quite shocking. I don't believe that the Lakers are going to have much success this evening against NYK.

Why? Well, the Knicks are coming off a fifth straight win and are getting fantastic play from all of their players. Teams that have covered ATS by more than 18 points in consecutive games (non-conference games,) own a 26-5 (83.9%) record since 2022. That system applies to the Knicks,. Lay the points on Sunday. 

Burns' Prediction: 121-104 Knicks.

(#210369) Juventus FC | GOAL SPREAD | . 

Despite being on the road this afternoon, Juventus is simply the much stronger team. It's been excellent defensively lately, not allowing a single goal over the past three games. Those games were against quality opponents as well in Benfica, Napoli & Monaco. Back in fifth in the Serie A at the moment, winning is a must for Juventus to get back in the conversation as one of the league / world's best clubs. 

Looking at Parma, it's scored 14 goals in 22 games this season. It's quite shocking actually that it's been able to get some of the results that it's gotten this season. I believe that Parma will struggle to score and without a goal here today, Juventus should cover the spread easily. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-0 Juve.

(#853) Cleveland State Vikings @ (#854) Wisconsin Milwaukee Panthers | OVER | . 

Even though this probably isn't the most exciting game on the board for most, it definitely should be one on people's lists. Cleveland State has won three consecutive contests, putting up 80+ in all of those games comfortably. Note that two of those three were on the road and so is this one tonight. On the defensive side of things, the Vikings own KenPom's 359th ranked D-efficiency out of 365 teams. 

That's going to be something that Milwaukee should be able to capitalize on this afternoon. Coming into the season, I expected great results from the Panthers. While they haven't necessarily came yet, there's still time, most definitely. They also have a very weak defense ranked 270th in KenPom's efficiency rankings. Both teams have an average offensive possession length of 17.0 seconds or under (D1 average is 17.4.) There should be plenty of possessions in this one. Give me the "over." 

Burns' Prediction: 88-86 Milwaukee.

(#867) East Tennessee State Buccaneers @ (#868) Wofford Terriers | ATS | . 

The Buccaneers might be on the road on Sunday. But, they are 3-1 over their most recent four away games and that includes wins over teams like Samford & Chattanooga. ETSU is 15-7 and shoots the ball at 49.1% which ranks inside the top 30 of the entire country. That's going to be something to watch out for here. 

While I did play against Wofford on Thursday and wasn't successful, I'm going against it again on Sunday. I'm simply not a believer in the Terriers this season despite their success (15-7 record.) Wofford owns KenPom's 266th ranked D-efficiency and that's going to get eaten alive against a very respectable offense and one of the better teams in the SOCON. Give me ETSU on Sunday. 

Burns' Prediction: 83-72 ETSU.

(#847) Marist Red Foxes @ (#848) Niagara Purple Eagles | UNDER | . 

I'm very surprised that the total has gone up in this contest from the opening line of 127.5. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the total goes back own before tip off. Although it's just below league average in terms of pace of play, Marist somewhat surprisingly brings in one of the best defenses in the country into this encounter. The Red Foxes rank 50th in KenPom's D-efficiency rankings while only ranking 310th in O-efficiency. That's all while playing with the 221st ranked adjusted tempo. Niagara, at 5-16 ranks among the worst in the whole country in most things. The Purple Eagles ranked worse than 330th in both D & O-efficiency and have the 362nd slowest pace in the country out of 365 teams. With this game being held at Niagara, that should help it a bit in this game. I do believe that Marist should win fairly comfortably. But, the stronger play is the "under." 

Burns' Prediction: 70-52 Marist.