Well the Sixers finally got a cover barely. The Sixers are 5-17 their last 22. Every cover was by five or less, four by three or less. Yet seven times they failed by 12 or more, fives times by at least 21. Yes, they have as many against the spread setbacks by at least 21 as they have covers during that span, none by more than five.

If a road favorite of five or more is coming off a loss as an underdog and/or road loss, they continue to be a profitable bet since the 1980s. Recent years remain profitable, though admittedly not at the almost automatic rate of previous years.

The theory being that one quality team loses to another quality squad, then will take out their frustrations on an inferior team. Our scorephone clients have won with this for more than a quarter century and when we discovered it, the winnings went back as far as our database did: to 1980.

Much like when the Jazz blew out the Sixers recently this is a chance for a slumping team to take a lot of anger out on a horrible squad.