Raging Bull
Soccer:
Paris Saint-Germain +105 (UEFA Cup)
Maddux Sports
Baseball
2 units on Milwaukee +105
2 units on Boston -150
2 units on Cleveland & Texas Under 11
Basketball
3 units on Philadelphia +6
DESTROYTHEBOOK SPORTS
Afternoon BeatDown
Chicago White Sox -150
5* BONUS PLAY- Yankees -170
Jorge Gonzalez
25* NBA Slam Dunk Winner!( 10-4 71% Run)
Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers
Play: Under 212.5 for 5 units
The Lakers and the Nuggets for the fourth time this season. Throw out the 122-104 thrashing of the hapless Sacramento King and the Lakers are playing their best defense of the season. Prior to to that game the Lakers had held their last eight opponents to a 100 points or less. The Nuggets have been known as a high-scoring team over the last few years but have started to play defense after acquiring Chauncey Billups halfway through the season. The Lakers have seen the O/U go 0-7 as a home favorite and 0-5 against teams with a winning record. The Nuggets have seen the O/U go 0-4 as a road underdog and are 0-5 against teams with a winning road record. The last six meetings between these two teams have gone under. Take the game to go under the total.
Bob Balfe
Giants -125 over Brewers
Cain/Parra
BIG AL
At 12:35pm our Getaway Day Total of the Month is on the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds 'over' the total. New York lefthander Oliver Perez seems to be up to his old tricks again. At his best, Perez can be one of the most dominating southpaws in the National League and a virtual strikeout machine. Too often, however, the 27-year-old Mexico-born veteran starter seems unable to find the plate no matter what the situation. It seemed that the only thing consistent about Perez in 2008 was that he was as likely to issue opposing batters a free pass at Shea Stadium (52 walks in 96 innings at home) as he was anywhere else (53 walks in 98 innings on the road). Unfortunately for Perez and the Mets, it would appear that the new Mets ballpark, Citi Field, is not going to change anything as in Perez's first appearance there last Saturday, he walked four batters in the first inning alone. Perez also surrendered a grand slam in that inning, so it was an utter disaster. Granted, that game was a preseason game vs. the Boston Red Sox, and this game is a regular season game being played in Cincy, but the re-tooled Reds lineup will likely also present plenty of problems for Perez. And the likelihood of some cold and windy weather may also wreak havoc on Perez's control. Last year in two starts against the Reds, Perez issued seven walks in just twelve innings. His mound opponent will be Bronson Arroyo, who also had a tough time in his final preseason outing in Zebulon, NC. Arroyo gave up six runs and seven hits in the 12-4 loss to Cincy's Double-A affiliate. Yesterday, these two clubs combined for 16 runs, and I foresee another high-scoring game this afternoon. Take the 'over'.
Erin Rynning
20* Mets / Reds Over
KARL GARRETT
30 DIMER - DENVER NUGGETS
10 DIMER - TEXAS RANGERS (McCarthy over Pavano)
30 DIMER - DENVER NUGGETS
This is a chance for the Nuggets to make a statement as we get set for the postseason. Denver came back to beat Oklahoma City last night by double-digits, running their winning streak to 8 straight. George Karl's team has also been a winner in 13 of their last 14!
The Lakers are the West's #1 seed, but are still seeking the overall #1 seed, so they do have some motivation tonight, but LA is just 2-4 against the spread their last 6 games, so a cover tonight is no sure thing.
In the past, Los Angeles has been able to control Denver, as the Lakers have won 9 of the previous 10 regular season showdowns. That one Denver win does come the last time these teams played, as the Nuggets took a 90-79 win at home back at the end of February to end the long series skid.
Can Denver win outright again?
Probably not, but with the points I think the streaking Nuggets can be close.
Take the points.
10 DIMER - TEXAS RANGERS (McCarthy over Pavano)
Break up the Rangers!
Texas has taken the first pair of this three game set against Cleveland, and I see no reason the Rangers can't break out the broom today, and send the Tribe out of town 0-3.
The Rangers can definitely hit, and last night it was Cruz and Andrus taking the lead in the 8-5 win.
Brandon McCarthy certainly has potential do be a star at this level, and his last 2 starts against Cleveland show 2 earned runs in 11 innings of work.
His counterpart Carl Pavano is trying to reestablish himself after an injury-riddled stint in New York with the Yankees. With Pavano having been out of the loop so long, I expect the Texas bats to continue to stay hot, and send the Tribe righty to the showers a tad early.
Take Texas to complete the sweep.
Blade, do you have the picks from nycwiseguys.net? they seem to be doing preety good over the las month according to their site. Thanks.
Scott Rickenbach
2* (Top Play) New Jersey Devils Money Line (-) @ Ottawa
Since Cory Clouston took over for Craig Hartsburg as head coach of the Senators, they certainly have been a much stronger hockey club. Not only are the Sens 19-10-3 with Clouston in charge, they also have now won nine straight home games in Ottawa! Clouston was rewarded with a two year contract and is no longer the interim head man. While we respect Ottawa, and have actually ridden them quite frequently during their hot streak, tonight’s game is not a good situation for them and the Devils are in a strong spot. While Ottawa is off of back to back divisional wins over Montreal and Boston, they now take on an Atlantic Division opponent that is coming off of a home loss to Toronto. While a home loss to the Maple Leafs sounds unacceptable, and it very nearly is, note that the Devils outshot Toronto by a 48 to 18 margin. That is not a typing error! 48 shots for New Jersey versus just 18 shots for the Maple Leafs. You can plainly see who really dominated that game and the culprit in the defeat, goalie Martin Brodeur, is sure to bounce back here. The Devils have won five straight games against the Senators and New Jersey still hasn’t clinched the Atlantic Division. Although the Devils are close to clinching the division title, until they actually do so there will surely be no let up from New Jersey! In fact, with a 2-6-1 run in their last nine games, New Jersey is putting an emphasis on finishing the season with strong play! Though the 4 to 1 loss to the Maple Leafs would lead you to believe otherwise, a strong effort was evident from the Devils in that game as they outshot Toronto by a 30-shot margin. The effort is there, the focus is there, and we wouldn’t bet against Brodeur in this spot. The amazing netminder is very likely to bounce back with a strong effort here as the Devils look to lock down the Atlantic Division title. We actually are very fortunate here because we are getting tremendous line value due to the Senators recent success. While Ottawa deserves the respect they’re getting from the odds makers here, we feel the Devils are even more deserving of support here as they know what’s at stake here and they know they should have already “closed the deal” by beating the Leafs on Tuesday. The Devils match up well with the Senators, as evidenced by their five game winning streak in the series, and they get the job done again here in a spot where we should see one of their strongest efforts of the season! Play New Jersey on the money line as a Top Play selection.
Insider Sports Report
4* N.Y. Mets (Perez) -115 over Cincinnati (Arroyo)
Range: +100 to -135
4* L.A. Angels (Weaver) -125 over Oakland (Anderson)
Range: -105 to -145
3* Milwaukee (Parra)/San Francisco (Cain) UNDER 8
Range: 8.5 to 7.5
Dave Malinsky
3* Dodgers
Raging Bull
NBA:
Houston Rockets vs. Sacramento Kings over 205
MLB:
Cincinnati Reds +107
Cleveland Indians vs. Texas Rangers over 10.5
Dr. Canada
Panthers/Thrashers over 6
Bruins -150
Islanders/Penguins over 6
Donnie Black
Black Magic: Chicago WS Over 8.5 -120