BIG AL
WESTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND GAME OF THE YEAR!
Phoenix Suns
PISTONS/76ERS GAME 3 WINNER
Philadelphia 76ers
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUND TRIPPER.
Chicago Cubs
Las Vegas Sports Advisors
NBA) Phoenix -6.5 Play of the Day 5*
MLB) Arizona/Randy Johnson -105 5*
NHL ) NY Rangers +165 5*
Bob Balfe
NBA Basketball
Philadelphia +5.5 over Pistons
Philadelphia stole game one in the series making Game 2 a must win for the Pistons in which they delivered. Philadelphia is a team that can beat the best team one night and lose to the worst team the next. The Philly crowd will be electric tonight in their playoff home opener. Look for this game to go down to the wire. This game should be similar to Game one. Take the Sixers.
Spurs/Suns Under 195
The Spurs play great defense and in last games third quarter only allowed 11 pts to the Suns. This is not the same Phoenix team from a few years back. The Hack-a-Shaq puts a ton of points on the board with the clock stopped. I don't think the Spurs will go back to that tonight. The total has gone Over in both playoffs games. One in OT and one with a ton of last minute points in Game two. I do not see that happening tonight. Phoenix will play better defense and value each shot. Take the Under.
Major League Baseball
Pirates -105 over Phillies
Duke/Eaton
Savannah Sports
2 Units on San Diego -109
Fairway Jay
MLB
Oakland Athletics (Eveland) -105 / 3 units
Los Angeles Dodgers (Kuroda) -1.5 / 3 units
Big AL
MLB
3* Cubs (listed)
NBA
3* Mavs
3* 76ers
3* Suns
Wolkosky Milan
10* DETROIT -4½
10* DALLAS -5
10* SAN ANTONIO +7
5* BOSTON -130
5* MILWAUKEE -145
Spritzer
west conf gom...............suns
ko..................................mavs
3*.................................sixers
Feist
total.................................suns under
platiunum...........................mavs
5*.......................................sixers
Cokin
under the hat....................hornets
3*.........................................suns
Erin Rynning
MLB
Pittsburgh +100
Playmaker: Kansas City -105
Teddy Covers
NBA
San Antonio Spurs/Phoenix Suns Over 193.5 / 4 units
MLB
Los Angeles Angels/Detroit Tigers Over 10.0 / 3 units
Atlanta Braves +120 / 3 units
Scott Rickenbach
Dallas Stars @ San Jose Sharks
PICK: Dallas Stars
REASON FOR PICK: 1* (regular play) Dallas Stars Money Line +130 @ San Jose @ 10 ET – We see great line value with the Stars in this spot. Dallas is coming off of a very impressive series victory over the Ducks. Anaheim was better than their full season record indicates as they had improved during the season with the additions of Niedermayer and Selanne after each had missed time. The fact that the Stars still rolled through the Ducks was very impressive and even though they just knocked off the defending Stanley Cup Champions they will not be short on emotion here. There is absolutely no love lost here between San Jose and Dallas. These two Pacific Division rivals really can’t stand each other and that was evident in their penalty filled season finale. The feeling here is that the Stars got into the heads of the Sharks in that final game as they really seemed to get under their skin and this gives them a lot to think about heading into this series.
While the Sharks could be focused on the physical nature of defending their home ice tonight, the Stars are more focused on simply playing their game and notching yet another road win. Dallas has been very impressive on the road as they won two of the three road games in their series with Anaheim and they also were one of the top road teams during the regular season. Dallas also could get a boost with the return of defenseman Sergie Zubov to the ice for this one. The Stars power play could be a key catalyst tonight as the aggressive nature of the Sharks in this match-up should certainly result in some power play opportunities. On that note, the Stars could rate a big edge there with how well they played with the man advantage against Anaheim in the first round. On the power play, Dallas had great puck movement in the first round against the Ducks and they also did a good job in terms of creating the open spaces necessary for success in setting up quick power play scoring chances.
In terms of the penalty kill, the Stars could get a big boost in that department with the return of Zubov. In his absence, Dallas has received solid contributions from veteran defensemen Stephane Robidas and Mattias Nortstrom and these guys will also play key roles in this series with the Sharks. The Stars 4-2 win over the Sharks in the season finale indeed meant something to this Dallas team and they used that as momentum to carry right into the series with the Ducks. After how they played against Anaheim, it’s evident that the momentum is still there and it will stay there tonight with a solid underdog win. The Sharks snuck by the Flames but did not impress us in doing so. They are now in for a much tougher battle than what they faced with Calgary as the Stars are playing at a higher level than the Flames were. Play Dallas on the money line as a regular selection.
DAVE MALINSKY 4*
Detroit Pistons @ Philadelphia 76ers
PICK: Philadelphia 76ers
Ah yes, the wonderful world of Zig Zag in the NBA playoffs - the Pistons are -10 at home vs. Philadelphia on Wednesday night and win with ease. That means time for the markets to shift to the 76ers in the next matchup, which should mean an adjustment in that direction, right? And we should expect to see a Detroit -3 or so at tipoff, right? But no, there are still some settings that the public can not get to, and as such for once we see the line heading in the opposite direction of the usual patterns. That has taken an opener of the Pistons -3.5 to its current -5, and that is our “buy” point.
This movement has been partially about the one-sided nature of Wednesday’s rout (not a surprise to us, we cashed an easy Detroit ticket), and also about reputations - those vaunted playoff-savvy Piston veterans against a group of upstarts. But there is a catch. Those Detroit starters are a bit long in the tooth, and it has particularly shown in the playoffs the last two seasons, where they are an ugly 4-12 ATS on the road. And their particular weakness in those games - matching a younger team playing with a lot of energy - is exactly what they run into tonight.
The 76ers are nothing special in terms of individual talent, and their half-court offense is either the weakest in this year’s playoff field, or just slightly better than that of Atlanta. But they are deep, athletic, and play with a lot of passion - the exact ingredients that can cause the Pistons problems. It was their energy level that keyed the second half dominance at Detroit in Sunday’s series opener, and we can expect an even higher level of tenacity in front of the home fans, while also the proper confidence level. Yes, they were drubbed on Wednesday, but they had beaten the Pistons three straight times prior to that, and are not going to be intimidated at all.
The 76ers are tied in this series despite a 5-24 from Andre Iguodala (his take after practice yesterday - "You get that bitter taste in your mouth and you want to come back and get at it."). We will call for him to be attacking the basket aggressively to set an early tone tonight, and for this to be anyone’s game to the final possession, making the available +5 a major value.
Mike Rose
Baltimore Orioles +150
Orioles’ lefty Brian Burres will make his fourth start of the season tonight, and third on the road. He’s 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA and has allowed 18 hits and seven earned runs with a K/BB ratio of 9/10 in a shade over 17 innings of work. He pitched brilliantly in his only home start of the season against the Yankees his last time out throwing 5 2/3rds innings of five hit ball and allowing no runs. Chicago roughed him up in his lone career start against them last season at US Cellular Field. He didn’t last two innings getting tagged for six hits and seven earned runs allowing Chicago’s potent line-up to go yard off him twice.
Opposing him will be the White Sox Mark Buehrle who got pounded by the Tampa Bay Rays his last time out. He took the loss for his second start in a row, but he’s had success against Baltimore in his career going 4-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 1.086 WHIP in nine overall starts. Mark’s been hit often so far allowing 35 hits and 15 earned runs in just a shade under 23 innings of work.
Baltimore is 3-14 the L/17 times they’ve tried to hit a left-handed starter, and 2-7 in Brian Burres L/9 starts as a road underdog. However, they’re 5-2 their L/7 overall and 6-4 the L/10 times they’ve faced the White Sox.
Ted Sevransky
New Orleans Hornets +5.5
The biggest issue so far in this series has been the difficulty that Dallas has had containing Chris Paul, both in the halfcourt offense and in transition. So far, Jason Kidd hasn’t been able stay in front of Paul in halfcourt sets, giving the Hornets plenty of easy buckets from Paul's 'drive and dish' chances in the paint. And the Mavs transition defense was nothing short of horrible in both of their losses at New Orleans to open the playoffs.
The numbers don’t lie. With Devin Harris at the point, for the first two meetings this year along with four meetings last year, we saw the Hornets produce 73, 79, 80, 89, 112 (in an OT game) and 80 points against Dallas. They’ve scored 104 and 127 in this series. It doesn’t get any clearer than this – the trade for Jason Kidd has absolutely killed the Mavericks ability to defend New Orleans, in sharp contrast to what Mavs owner Mark Cuban had hoped for when agreeing to pay the steep price for the declining former All Star.
Dallas might win this game, but I don’t expect it to come easily. The Mavs are old and slow; New Orleans is young and hungry. With Kidd, Jerry Stackhouse, Eric Dampier, Jason Terry, Devean George, Eddie Jones, Dallas simply has too many veterans on the wrong side of 30, without the requisite balance of youth. Let’s not forget that the Hornets have been pointspread machines on the road all year long, with a very strong track record as underdogs. This can’t be and isn’t a strong play – the Mavs certainly have more playoff seasoning than the Hornets, and we know that the 0-2 teams tend to play their best game in Game 3, as last night’s three contests surely showed – but it is a solid opinion for a small wager. Take New Orleans.
Root
Chairman- Red Sox
Millionaire- Mavs
No Limit- 76ers
Perfect Play- Texas Rangers
Bob Akmens
NBA
Dallas Mavericks -5.5 / 3 units
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins -145 / 3 units
Rangers/Penguins Under 5.0 / 3 units
MLB
MLB: 4* MILWAUKEE / FLORIDA OVER 9.0
(GALLARDO / OLSEN