Rocketman
5* San Francisco
Stephen Nover
Seattle vs. Minnesota
I'm sticking with Seattle southpaw Erik Bedard. He's been red-hot allowing two runs or less in each of his last five starts.
The Twins' key bats come from the left side. Minnesota is 7-17 on the road this season.
Seattle is playing better ball, winning six of its last nine.
This is a one-unit play for me.
Chicago vs. Cleveland
I see the White Sox hitting picking up now that Jermaine Dye has served his two-game suspension.
Chicago is facing lefty David Huff, making just his fifth big-league start. Huff has a 9.79 ERA. The White Sox are 17-8 in their last 25 home games against a southpaw.
I rate Bartolo Colon a solid favorite to out-pitched young Huff. The White Sox have defeated Cleveland in nine of their last 12 home contests.
This is a one-unit play for me.
Oakland vs. Baltimore
Rich Hill can be streaky, but when he's on he can be dominant. Lately the lefty Hill has been on.
Baltimore is 4-0 in Hill's starts this season. I favor Hill against Oakland rookie Vin Mazzaro, who I see struggling in this matchup after a brilliant major league debut performance.
The A's could be missing Jason Giambi (calf injury).
This is a one-unit play for me.
Ron Raymond
Giants/Marlins Over
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MTi Sports
Orlando at LA Lakers
Play: Orlando +6.5
The Magic were a bit over-whelmed and distracted in game one of the NBA Finals. They were out-shot 46.1% to 29.1%. Jameer Nelson was playing his first game in months and should be much better today.
Dwight Howard scored 12 points and had 15 boards and this is a very good sign for the Magic. Orlando is a perfect 20-0 ATS with rest on the road off a loss in which Dwight Howard had a double-dozen (12+ points and 12+ rebounds). The last four times the Magic were a dog in this spot, they won straight up. Also, the Magic are 7-0 ATS as a dog when seeking revenge for a loss in which Dwight Howard shot worse than 33% from the field and 7-0 ATS after a road loss in which Rashard Lewis shot worse than 33% from the field, covering by an average of 12.8 ppg.
As a team, the Magic are 7-0 ATS as a dog after a rod game in which they scored more than 30% of their points from the three-point line -- winning each of the last five straight up. Also, Orlando is 6-0 ATS (+11.2 ppg) when facing a team they lost to as a road dog in their previous same-season match-up and 5-0 ATS (+10.4 ppg) after a double-digit loss in which they were outshot by at least 10 percent.
The Lakers do not have the killer instinct in this situation. LA is a terrible 0-10 ATS (-12.6 ppg) since late November as a favorite after a home game in which they out-shot their opponent by at least 10 percent, including 0-3 in these playoffs. The Lakers only won two of the ten games straight up, despite being favored by an average of 7.3 ppg.
In the first game of the Finals, Lamar Odom had 14 rebounds, eleven points and no assists. Looking at the Lakers’ player-based trends, we find that LA is 0-8 ATS IN THE PLAYOFFS after a win in which Lamar Odom had more turnovers than assists. LA has failed to cover by an average of 14.6 ppg in this spot. The last three qualifying games are all from these playoffs. They include; LA’s 88-86 loss as a 1’ point road favorite in Utah, their 99-87 loss laying 6’ in Houston and their 99-85 loss laying 8’ in Houston.
LA made a statement in the opener vs a star-struck Magic team that is not used to the hoopla of the Finals. Here, they should be more focused on basketball. Grab the points and maybe consider a small investment on the money-line.
Jamie Tursini
Orlando at LA Lakers
Play: Over 202
I'm betting the over here where the value seems to really stand out.
Game 1 had the total at 206, and now we get a 4.5 point difference as it has been bet down from 203.
The one thing that I've noticed throughout these playoffs is that when a team was blown out the game before. They come back and put points on the board.
Orlando missed a lot of easy open shots in the first game. I think we can assume they'll hit their's now, and they should be able to get inside more. As D.Howard only made 6 attempts, which is totally unacceptable.
The Lakers will get their's as well, and I think we can expect this one to hit the 200's easily. Orlando will go all out knowing they can't go down 0-2 so I expect them to run when they're at their best.
Scott Pritchard
Magic / Lakers Under
Indian Cowboy
Sacramento Monarchs +7.5 over Seattle Storm
Craig Davis
25 Dime Magic - Lakers OVER
Forget what you saw in Game 1 (a 100-75 Lakers win), this game is going over the total as I expect the Orlando Magic to push the Lakers all the way through the fourth quarter. Two things happened in the last game that caused it to stay under the number. First, the Magic shot like they hadn't ever seen a basket before in their lives. 23 of 77 is less than 30% from the field. Yeah, did you realize that?? The Magic shot less than 30% from the field for the entire game and I guarantee you that won't happen again tonight. Second, the Lakers took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter or they could have easily posted between 110 and 115 points. They cruised into the final stanza with a comfortable lead and only scored 18 in the final 12 minutes. And like I said, with tonight's game expected to be a little more competitive, look for the Lakers to top the century mark again.
Back to Orlando. How quickly we forget what this team did to the Cleveland Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals. Do you not remember them scoring over 100 points in 4 of the 6 games vs. Cleveland (and one of those games was a 99-point output)? Don't you remember what got the Cavs the best record in the NBA? DEFENSE. This was supposed to be the best defensive team in the NBA, but Orlando showed us that Cleveland's defense could be exploited with the right combo on offense. Tonight, the Magic put together the right combo again vs. the Lakers and score in triple digits.
As for the Lakers, I have no doubts they get to the century mark again themselves, having done it 7 straight post-season games dating back to the Denver series. And if you look at Orlando's defense, they play much better at home than they do on the road, so I'm not really worried about them slowing this Lakers' machine down much. It's business as usual for both offenses and I see the final score somewhere in the neighborhood of 111-105. Play the OVER.
Drew Gordon
200* Orlando Magic
I have Low Blood Sugar
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Thanks for the help Bio
I will be gone most of the day tomorrow and the help would be appreciated.
STU FEINER
ORLANDO MAGIC +6 1/2 OVER LOS ANGELES LAKERS
THE LINE OPENED 7 WENT TO 6 1/2 AND THE WORLD IS ON THE LAKERS, Hmmmm. YES THE LAKERS LOOKED PERFECT IN GAME 1. YES THE MAGIC LOOKED LIKE A DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS. YES, VAN GUNDY BLINKED BY BENCHING ALSTON IN THE 2ND QUARTER FOR NELSON. YES THE MAGIC MISSED ALMOST EVERY SHOT THEY TOOK. BUT THAT ALL CHANGES TONIGHT. I KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN GAME 1 AND I KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT. A ONE POINT LAKER VICTORY. WOULD I BE SURPRISED IF ORLANDO WINS OUTRIGHT, NO. AND HERE IS WHY, THE REASON VAN GUNDY GAMBLED WITH NELSONS INSERTION WAS HE IS THEIR ONLY SHOT TO WIN THIS SERIES. WHEN HE PLAYS TONIGHT, HE WILL BE MORE EFFECTIVE. THE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN THE NBA HOWARD WILL HAVE AN UNSTOPPABLE GAME, 25 PTS, 20 BOARDS, 8 BLOCKS. HE WILL OPEN UP CLEAN LOOKS FOR HIS 3 POINT SHOOTERS: LEWIS, ALSTON , NELSON, PIETRUS, TURKOGLU & COMPANY TO DRAIN 3'S ALL NIGHT. TAKE THE POINTS & CASH YOUR GAME 2 TICKET AS THIS ONE IS A BASKET DIFFERENCE FROM THE WORD GO.
ORLANDO + 6 1/2 FOR A 10,000 DIME WINNER