ATS LOCK CLUB
4 Units Celtics +7
4 Units Rockies
4 Units Braves
4 Units Mets
Sports Investment Group
Boston -1.5 -125
Ben Burns
Boston/LA Lakers Over 187
Chicago Cubs -113
Matt Fargo
10* Celtics +7
Tony George
LA Lakers -7
With Perkins out and Boston on the road, I have no other way to look in this one. The games Boston won, they dominated the paint and the boards. They lost a KEY element and player in Perkins, and it is a BIG loss for them. Gasol for the Lakers played great defense in the last game, Wallace was 0-7 from the floor and he made critical boards and points when needed. Can Boston overcome a 20 point loss in 48 hours and take this game? LA is the BEST TEAM in the NBA, and have been all season. When they bring their A game, they can beat anyone by double digits at home, I do not see them losing this game at home and the probability of them covering a rather large number is higher than therm not, I will take the home team to pull away late on their homecourt win a title by 10 tonight. Play 1 Unit on LA Lakers.
Bill Marzano
Celtics at Lakers
Pick: Lakers -7
I like the LA Lakers in this game vs the Boston Celtics...we all know what is at stake in this game and this game will not disappoint...Boston suffered a huge blow with the injury to Perkins but do have quality backups...home court is going to play a huge role in this game as it always does in game 7's...I like the Lakers to pull away late and Kobe cementing his legacy...Lakers are the play
RAS
Indiana Fever -3
Teddy Covers
Celtics +7
Mets
Braves
Dave Cokin
***SAME TEAMS AS WEDNESDAY ON THURSDAY
Matchup: Chi. White Sox at Pittsburgh
Time: 7:05 PM EDT (Thu)
Listed pitchers must go: (L) BUEHRLE, M vs. (R) OHLENDORF, R
Play: Chi. White Sox (ML -130)
It's always nice to fire with house money, and that's the case here as I played the White Sox on Wednesday night and will come right back with them again. Mark Buehrle has been lousy on the road, but that's about the only negative here. He's 3-0 against Pittsburgh, an amazing 22-6 in interleague decisions, and Buehrle was sharp in his last start. The Pirates counter with winless Ross Ohlendorf, and the Bucs bottomed out with an amazing six errors in losing their 10th straight game on Tuesday. With all the recent callups, the Pirates are fieldingwhat amounts to a Quad-A lineup consisting mostly of good prospects and a few less than awesome veterans. The Chisox are rolling right now, and I like their position tonight.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matchup: Tampa Bay at Atlanta
Time: 7:10 PM EDT (Thu)
Listed pitchers must go: (R) SHIELDS, J vs. (R) HUDSON, T
Play: Atlanta (ML -117)
James Shields was looking like a legit All-Star candidate for the Rays, but he's fallen apart in his last three starts. In only 15.2 IP of work in that span, Sheilds has gotten bombed for 30 hits and 23 runs, all but three of which were earned. He is capable of turning it around, but I feel Tim Hudson is the far more reliable hurler right now. Tampa has been outstanding on the road, but the Braves are great at home. I had the Braves on Wednesday evening, and that means I'm on house money coming back with them tonight, so Atlanta is the choice in this contest.
Bill Marzano
Celtics at Lakers
Pick: Lakers -7I like the LA Lakers in this game vs the Boston Celtics...we all know what is at stake in this game and this game will not disappoint...Boston suffered a huge blow with the injury to Perkins but do have quality backups...home court is going to play a huge role in this game as it always does in game 7's...I like the Lakers to pull away late and Kobe cementing his legacy...Lakers are the play
Bill Marzano
Matchup: N.Y. Mets at Cleveland
Time: 7:05 PM EDT (Thu)
Listed pitchers must go: (R) DICKEY, R.A. vs. (R) WESTBROOK, J
Play: N.Y. Mets (ML +105)
I really like the NY Mets in this game vs the Cleveland Indians...the Mets are hot and so is RA Dickey...the Mets have won nine of their last 10 games and 18 of their last 22 overall...the Mets are 7-0 in their last 7 interleague games...11-1 in their last 12 after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game...10-1 in their last 11 when their opponent allows 5 runs or more in their previous game...the Indians are 1-9 in their last 10 interleague games vs. a team with a winning record...3-13 in Westbrooks last 16 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance...2-10 in Westbrooks last 12 starts as a home favorite of -110 to -150...NY Mets are the play
DAVID MALINSKY
4* ARIZONA/BOSTON UNDER
Fenway Park is an entirely different place when the wind is blowing in, which is the case tonight, and with our timing for backing Danny Haren and John Lackey having us ahead of the curve we can take advantage of the excellent value that this one brings.
We cashed an easy ticket behind Haren in his last outing, a sharp eight IP against St. Louis in which he had nine K’s with a W, and the truth is that his 4.61 allowance, off of seasons of 3.07, 3.33 and 3.14, does not reflect his stuff at all. It has all been about the HR ball, with 17 allowed already, but even that category deserves an *. He allowed eight over a two-game stretch against Toronto and Colorado, but six of those eight came in the late innings of games that were one-sided. Since those two ugly showings it has been a 2-0/2.08 run over three starts, with 21 K’s vs. two W’s allowed, and the only HR came when he was working with a comfortable 6-0 lead against St. Louis. His momentum can carry forward here, and there is not a single fatigue rating from the bullpen behind him.
We have been watching John Lackey closely in recent weeks, seeing some signs that he was going to return to form after being out of rhythm in his first two months in a Red Sox uniform, and we saw the “buy signal” against Philadelphia in his lat outing. He flew through seven innings in an economical 86 pitches, not walking a batter, and posting an excellent ratio of 12 ground ball outs vs. only five in the air. Even with that outing his ERA is a full run higher than his average of the past five seasons, and the markets are attaching the kind of weight to that bottom line that brings us our value. There are also no fatigue issues to worry about from the Boston bullpen – while Jonathan Papelbon has worked back-to-back games, he only threw 17 pitches and will be available.
Bryan Leonard
Boston at Los Angeles
Kendrick Perkins is out tonight for the Celtics and that's a huge blow to Boston defensively. He's an enforcer who's sole job is to keep opponents out of the paint and gather rebounds. Without him in the game Boston must turn to two players who are better scorers than defenders. Wallace especially can be an offensive force from the perimeter which opens up the lanes for Rondo to drive.
Laker center Andrew Bynum is also laboring. He played only 15 minutes last time out and it's clear he's not nearly up to his defensive standards. That means both teams will likely run more tonight to take advantage of openings in the paint.
The last few games of this series have been low scoring and the total has consistently dropped because of it. But here we find both teams with offensive advantages not seen on a consistent basis in this series. It's also win or go home for both squads which means plenty of late game fouls if a team is trailing in the fourth quarter.
With Boston off a record setting offensive implosion in the previous game we look for the Celtics to come out and make a statement with the ball tonight. We go against the line move and look for a higher scoring season ender tonight.
PLAY OVER
CRAIG DAVIS
40 DIME Boston Celtics +7
20 DIME Twins/Rockies Under
NSA
20* LAKERS -7
20* METS +100
20* RED SOX -150
Power Play Wins
Braves