Larry Ness
10* Lakers
9* Mavs Over
8* Mavs
10* Astros
8* Marlins
Mike Lineback
Oklahoma City +6.5 -120
Not sure who the best team is, and that's enough for me to take Oklahoma City and the points. And, if Los Angeles didn't have Bynum in the middle, not sure if LA could win this series. You have to take Thunder momentum into consideration after winning last two games, G#4 by 21 points. And, don't think Lakers capable of revenging G#4 loss with a convincing win. Oklahoma City have covered this number 5 of L6 meetings, all played this season, with only non-cover, an 8 point loss in G#1 of the series. G#1 jitters and 13-27 first-quarter start are to be expected from such a young team, but Oklahoma City not nervous anymore. They plan on winning this series. Take the Thunder.
Bob Balfe
Minnesota Twins +107
The Twins are playing great baseball and Liriano is one of the best pitchers in baseball other than Roy Halladay. Verlander has not pitched well this season, so at this price, Liriano's value is a steal. Take the Twins.
Chicago +12
Chicago has hung tough against the best team in the NBA and probably will lose tonight, but the Cavs are not a good enough team from the foul line to be laying this number. The Bulls have a lot of talented players (Rose, Noah, Aldridge in particular) that will not go down without a fight tonight. Look for Chicago to get the cover.
FANTASY SPORTS GAMETIME
1000* Miami Heat
50* OK City Thunder
100* Milwaukee Brewers
50* Colorado Rockies
50* Phoenix Coyotes
ATS FINANCIAL
4 Units Cleveland Cavs -12.5
3 Units Boston Celtics -6
Eric Degarde
1* Atlanta +165
1* Washington +142
1* LA Lakers -6.5
Dr. Bob
Opinions
Chicago (+12 1/2) over CLEVELAND
Cleveland applies to a very negative 4-33 ATS playoff letdown situation tonight and 12 points appears to be a fair line. However, the Cavaliers are 6-1 ATS as a playoff favorite of 11 points or more in the LeBron James era, so letting down is not something Cleveland has done in the past. I'll still lean with Chicago given how strong the general situation is.
San Antonio (+5) over DALLAS
Dallas may be in a must win situation, but that doesn't make them a better team tonight than they've been the last few games. My ratings favor the Mavs by just 3 points and there are no favorable situations favoring them in this game. I'll lean with the Spurs based on the line value.
Oklahoma City (+6 1/2) over L.A. LAKERS
The Thunder continue to impress in this series and they've outscored the Lakers by an average of 4 points per game. While thinking the Lakers are likely to bounce back after 2 consecutive road losses seems to make sense, that is not actually the case. Teams that win the first two games of a series at home and then lose the next two on the road are just 10-18 ATS at home in game 5, including 3-14 ATS if favored by 7 points or less (i.e. facing a competitive team). The Lakers are also just 4-6-1 ATS after consecutive playoff losses under coach Phil Jackson, so there is no basis to expect the Lakers to bounce back with a good effort tonight. My ratings favor the Lakers by 5 1/2 points and I'll lean slightly with the Thunder at +6 points or more.
Royal Sports
9* Cavs/Bulls Under
8* Mavs/Spurs Over
BOSTON BLACKIE
Miami +6.5
The Boston Celtics take their second stab at sending the Miami Heat packing. We feel not tonight. With Miami facing elimination on Sunday, Dwyane Wade went off for a franchise playoff record 46 points to lead the Heat to a 101-92 victory over the Celtics. You guard Dwyane Wade too closely and he drives to the basket. Give him some room and he sinks a 3-pointer. A win by Miami would send the series back there for a sixth game on Thursday night. Anti Public Side
Cincinnati +120
Atlanta +164
Champion Sports
Celtics -6
Boston returns home with a commanding 3-1 lead on Miami. Scoring on the road has been a problem for Miami against good teams. The Celtics are a top five defensive team. They are going to lock up on D. Wade, and the Heat don't have enough other scoring options to counter
Power Play Wins
Los Angeles Lakers -6
Dwayne Bryant
Philadelphia Phillies -112
Jeff Benton
15 DIME: CAVALIERS in the FIRST-HALF ONLY vs. Bulls
5 DIME: BREWERS (-1 1/2 runs vs. Pirates)
Cavaliers (First-Half ONLY!)
Once again, the play here is on the Cavaliers to cover the spread (about 7 points) in the first half ONLY.
If you put a gun to my head, I’d say Cleveland is going to win this game in a rout and cover the hefty double-digit number. But I’m not 100 percent (or even 60 percent) confident that’s going to happen because there’s just no way of knowing when Cavs coach Mike Brown will lift his starters with a big lead. Also, the Bulls for the most part have shown a lot of heart in this series (especially in the first two games in Cleveland), and I don’t think they’ll mail it in down 15-plus in the final quarter.
Besides that, to lay 12 points or so for the game and even feel remotely comfortable that you’ve got a winning ticket in your hand, the Cavs will have to be up by about 20 at the two-minute mark. Can that happen? Sure it can. Will it happen? I have no idea and I’m not willing to gamble on it.
That said, what I am certain of is this: The Cavs will come out of the gate like a team possessed, and LeBron James (of course) will be the one leading that charge. This one reminds me of Mike Tyson in his prime, when Iron Mike would bull-rush his opponent at the opening bell and start throwing haymakers and more times than not, the opponent wouldn’t be able to survive the onslaught and the fight would be over in a round or two. Think of Cleveland in the role of Tyson and Chicago in the role of overmatched opponent.
After all, the last thing the Cavs want is the Bulls to think they have a shot to win this game, and the only way to crush their spirit is with a big first half – as was the case in Game 1, when Cleveland raced out to a 32-18 first-quarter lead and led by 15 at the break. All Brown has to do to motivate his team is show them tape of that Game 1 first half, and then immediately replace that tape with one from Game 2, when the Cavs had a six-point first-quarter lead, relaxed in the second quarter, allowed the Bulls to pull within two by halftime and then needed a furious fourth quarter to put Chicago away. That’s really all it will take to get the Cavs’ attention and get them in the proper mindset to flex their muscles and bully the Bulls like they know they can.
Look for Cleveland to not only cover this first-half number, but to have the overall spread covered by the time the horn sounds to end the second quarter. Whether they keep up that same killer instinct for a full 48 minutes and win this one by 13 or more, I have no idea – and frankly, I don’t care. Just as long as they’re up big at halftime (and they will be), that’s all that matters.
Brewers (-1½ runs)
Tough to argue with 22-0. That’s the Brewers record against the Pirates in the last 22 meetings in Milwaukee.
Also tough to argue with 53-4. That’s the combined score by which the Brewers have defeated the Pirates in the last four meetings, all since last Tuesday. That includes a 20-0 loss in the series-finale in Pittsburgh on Thursday, followed by last night’s 17-3 disaster.
Finally, tough to argue with 0-7 and 0-11. The former is the Pirates record in their last seven games overall (and they’ve been outscored 72-12 – a 60-run differential – during the losing streak). The latter is Pittsburgh’s record the last 11 times they’ve been matched up against Randy Wolf, tonight’s starter for the Brewers. Those 11 games in which Wolf has dominated Pittsburgh span nine years and four different teams!
Wolf’s was on the mound Thursday in Pittsburgh when Milwaukee hammered out that 20-0 win, and the veteran lefty gave up just six hits in six innings. Then again, a left-handed pitcher carving up the Pirates isn’t exactly unique. Pittsburgh is batting a pathetic .210 overall against left-handers, including .182 in 10 road games.
You want some more scary numbers? The Pirates’ team ERA now stands at a ridiculous 7.74, including 8.72 by the team’s starters. On the road, those numbers jumped to 9.00 overall and 11.01 from the starters – mindboggling!
It’s not known for sure whom Pittsburgh will hand the ball to tonight – could be Brian Burres, who was just called up from Triple-A last week, or it could be Jeff Karstens, who has a 7.31 ERA in Triple-A, but the Bucs are so desperate for an arm they may call him up. Doesn’t really matter, though, because after seven straight losses overall, 22 straight losses in Milwaukee and four straight losses to the Brewers in the last week by 49 runs, the Pirates will be defeated before they even take the field.
Street Rosenthal
*300 Texas Rangers -145
*200 Detroit Tigers -102
KING CREOLE
2* LA Lakers Over 193