Micheal Cannon
Pittsburgh +200 at NY METS
Let's take the Pirates as the huge road dog tonight over the Mets.
Ian Snell will start for the Buccos and he's the ace of the staff. He has good velocity and has shown the ability to keep the Pirates close while holding the opposition down, even when he doesn't have his good stuff.
Johan Santana will get the nod for the Mets, and he was booed off the field after making his home debut on April 12. The left-hander allowed five runs and six hits, including three homers, in the Mets 5-3 loss to Milwaukee.
Santana would like to turn those boos into cheers after recording back-to-back road victories, but if the Buccos get to him at all, he'll likely get a rude reception again.
Let's take a chance at a big payout with the Buccos as they pull off the upset win.
2* PITTSBURGH
BOBBY MAXWELL
Colorado +105 at SAN FRANCISCO
We're playing Colorado in this one, and while neither team has been tearing it up lately, the Giants really struggle with Matt Cain on the hill.
Cain (0-2, 5.27 ERA) hasn't had much luck the last few seasons as the Giants are just 10-30 when he takes the hill. He's got decent stuff but for some reason just implodes in an inning or two and the Giants end up losing the game.
Colorado has Franklin Morales (1-1, 6.00) on the mound and the Rockies are 8-3 in his last 11 outings.
The Rockies won six of the last nine meetings with San Francisco last season and that's when the Giants actually had some offense. They got drilled by the Reds on Sunday and have given up double-digits or near double digits their last two times out.
Last time Cain faced the Rockies was last September and he got smoked for six runs on five hits in 2.2 innings of a 7-4 loss. Expect more of the same tonight. Play Colorado.
3* COLORADO
Dave Cokin
CIN Reds and STL Cardinals.
Take STL Cardinals.
Bronson Arroyo is getting lit up and it gets no easier for the Reds righthander Monday as he challenges the Cardinals. Arroyo has had long ball issues with some of the guys he'll see here. Todd Wellemeyer has been a pleasant surprise for the Redbirds and I give him the edge in this contest, so I'll make my Monday play on the Cardinals.
Cappers Access
Magic
Hawks
W. Sox
Jim Feist.
BOS Celtics and ATL Hawks.
Take Under.
Game 3 was a bit of an aberration defensively, with the Hawks dominating and scoring in the low post. The Celtics have been a dominant defensive team all season, leading in shooting allowed and second in points allowed. They are 5-2 under the total the last 7 games and just had an off-night defensively. These teams have met 6 times this season and the "under" is 5-1. With so much at stake, look for a strong defensive game again, play the Celtics/Hawks under the total
Insider Sports Report
4* Boston/Atlanta (NBA) UNDER 190
Range 192 to 188
3* Toronto +7.5 over Orlando (NBA)
Range +9 to +5.5
3* San Francisco (Cain) -125 over Colorado (Morales)
Range -110 to -145
James Patrick Sports
Lakers vs. Nuggets
These Western Conference teams meet in the Mile High City with the Lakers in full control of this series with a 3-0 lead. After the third game the Nuggets players started finger pointing and questioning their coaches, a combination that usually results in an early exit from the post season. Defense will be a myth in this game as we look for LA-Denver to fly OVER the TOTAL in NBA Play-off action.
DCI
NBA
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
Game 5, best-of-7
ORLANDO 107, Toronto 97
Game 4, best-of-7
Boston 99, ATLANTA 92
Western Conference Quarterfinals
Game 4, best-of-7
L.A. Lakers 116, DENVER 114
JB's Computer Picks
New York Mets - 230 (Best Bet)
Oakland Athletics + 115
EZWINNERS MLB
One play for Monday
5 STAR PARLAY: (902) NY METS (-$210) and (906) ARIZONA (-$172)
(Listing Santana and Haren only)
(Risking $500 to win $665)
THE POWER INDEX
NBA
Orlando* 9 over Toronto
Boston 5.5 over Atlanta*
L.A. Lakers 1 over Denver*
Tom Freese
Houston at Arizona
Arizona starter Danny Haren has allowed 3 or less runs in 4 of his 5 starts. The Diamondbacks are 36-16 their last 52 home games and they are 7-2 in Game One of a series. They are also 8-3 vs. losing teams. Houston is just 4-10 as underdogs behind Chris Sampson and they are 0-7 the last 7 starts made by Sampson vs. winning teams. The Astros are 16-36 their last 52 games as dogs of -$151 to -$200 and they are 0-5 their last 5 games at Arizona.
PLAY ON ARIZONA (Haren vs. Sampson)
MadduxSports
Arizona -180
Jack Clayton
Indians
Insider sports report
Oakland +120
#1 sports
NEW YORK YANKEES
Totals 4 U
REDS/CARDINALS UNDER 9
Platinum Plays
Raptors/Magic over 203
RED ZONE
CLEV INDIANS
MIKE WYNN
Arizona -175
DR VEGAS
Cleveland
ARTHUR RALPH
Boston Celtics
NEVADA SHARPSHOOTER
COLORADO
DARK HORSE
Cleveland
MIGHTY QUINN
Magic
Vegas Insider Capping
New York Mets -1.5
BIG TIME SPORTS
A's / ANGELS OVER 9
Players of America
New York Yankees +105
Templer's Sports Picks
St. Louis
Joe Wiz
Orlando -7.5
Scott Spreitzer
A's
Glen Mcgrew
As/ Angels Under
Global Sports Picks
DENVER NUGGETS +4.5
Prime Sports Picks
Orlando -7.5
PowerPlayWins
Raptors/Magic under 203
Kosmo
St. Louis -130
Paul Leiner
Chicago/Baltimore Over 9
2-Minute Warning
Orlando Magic
floridabookybusters
Oakland/LA Angels Under 9
BaseballTotals
Colorado/San Francisco Over 7.5
HotLocksports
Oakland/LA Angels Under 9
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on Raptors/Magic OVER 202.5
We saw a pair of overs in games 1 and 2 in Orlando, followed by a pair of unders in games 3 and 4 in Toronto. The Magic are a much better offensive team at home, averaging 104.5 ppg, and the Raptors are a much poorer defensive team on the road. Now that the series shifts back to Orlando, the over is the play again. Toronto is 8-1 OVER in road games revenging a loss vs. an opponent of 10 points or more this season and 16-6 OVER when playing 6 or less games in 14 days this season. The Magic are 29-8 OVER when they score 105 or more points in a game this season and that's a safe bet tonight. Take the OVER.
MATT RIVERS
For Monday take the Lakers in Denver
Does this play seem a little easy? Yes.
Will everybody and their mother probably be backing LA? Yes.
With the above two questions probably making Denver the right side I still can't help but make a small play on Kobe and his mates in the Mile High City.
Even if Carmelo and the Nuggets have not completely quit they are still not good enough to truly hang tonight. That last game was disgusting and the post game comments by Anthony were even more disgusting. This Denver team can obviously go one of two ways here. They can either pack it in and get absolutely drilled leading to the firing of George Karl or they can show a little heart and stay in this thing for most of the way.
With their offensive talent alone George Karl's squad certainly has a ton of ability and the potential to keep up for most of the 48 minutes. After all the Nugs do own a huge home court advantage, with the advantage of altitude, and I even believed right here that they would win that last game. Wow, what a mistake that turned out to be huh!?!?!?
This is the NBA and nothing is ever too easy so you must respect everything here but in the end there is no reason to believe, even if AI, Melo and the home boys show show mettle, that Denver will play enough defense to win this game. They have been buried and fully outclassed in each of the first three games and tonight should just be the icing on the cake.
Phil Jackson's group has looked great for awhile and are flying very very high right now. They know how important it is to close an opponent out and therefore will not let down in this spot.
I do look for a somewhat competitive game but Los Angeles still has everything going their way and in the end will win something like 119-107