BRANDON LANG
40 Dime - Lakers
15 Dime - Lakers First Half
Wayne Root
Series Play
Magic +240
David Banks
LA Lakers - pts.
LA/ORL Under the total
Chi. Whitesox
TB Rays
SF Giants
Atl. Braves
Phil Phillies
PRIMETIME SPORTS ADVISORS
9-3 last 5 days
MLB
Mets -113
Giants game #2 -104
Lakers--NBA To Win Series Play
KBHoops
5* Tampa Bay -162 **POD**
5* Toronto -108
5* NY Yankees -155
BEN BURNS
Main Event
I'm laying the points with the LA LAKERS. The Magic deserve plenty of credit for their great run through the Eastern Conference. I expect them to find things significantly more difficult in this round though. They had real trouble with a mediocre (at best) Philadelphia team in the first round and then were fortunate to catch the Celtics without their best player. They were admittedly impressive against Cleveland but I feel the Lakers will be a much tougher matchup. The Cavs had Lebron. The Lakers have Kobe. Call that a wash. (Personally, at this stage of their careers, I'd choose to have Kobe leading my team.) In my opinion, Kobe has a much better supporting cast than Lebron did though - not to mention a much better coach. Additionally, the fact that the Lakers have been here while the Magic have not should not be overlooked. The Lakers know how critical Both teams have been tested. The Magic have had three straight hard-fought matchups while the Lakers are off back to back very difficult ones of their own. After fighting so hard, both teams should enjoy having a few days off. That said, I feel that the rest should be more beneficial to the Lakers. For starters, Kobe had logged a ton of minutes and had been played very physically. Although he still played at a very high level, he had acknowledged being exhausted. He's the most important player for the Lakers (obviously) and having him fresh is important. Additionally, the Lakers have a coaching edge. While many don't like him, I feel that Van Gundy has done a fine job and is a decent coach. That said, Phil Jackson is one of the best of all-time and he should be able to make more effective use of the time off. Note that the Lakers were 5-2 ATS (6-1 SU) when playing with three or more day's rest in between games. Conversely, the Magic were just 1-3 ATS (2-2 SU) when playing with three or more day's rest in between games. The fact that the Magic won here during the regular season and the fact that they stole Game 1 at both Boston and Cleveland will surely be noticed by Jackson's Lakers. They're 23-13-1 ATS the last few seasons when attempting to avenge an earlier home loss and I expect them to take care of business here. *Main Event
TOW
I'm playing on LA and Orlando to finish UNDER the number. The Magic saw their final three games (and five of six) against the Cleveland all finish on or above the total. While that's helped to provide us with a generous total for tonight's game, it shouldn't be reason for concern. For starters, the Magic have had plenty of time to 'cool off.' This is also an entirely different opponent. Additionally, they've seen the UNDER go 8-1 the last nine times that they were coming off three or more consecutive games which landed on or above the total. Also, note that the majority of games from Orlando's previous two matchups (Boston and Philly) finished below the total. As for the Lakers, while they did see their final game vs. Denver eclipse the total, they've still seen the UNDER go a profitable 8-2 their last 10 games and 12-4 their last 16. LA home games have been particularly profitable for 'under' bettors. In fact, the UNDER is a perfect 5-0 the last five games here and 7-1 the last eight. Looking back a bit further and we find that 15 of the last 20 Laker home games have stayed below the total. It's also worth noting that the Lakers, who are currently favored by six points at most shops, have seen the UNDER go a perfect 5-0 the last five times that they were listed as home favorites in the -3.5 to -6 range. The Lakers are still bitter about losing in last year's Finals and the theme this year was getting "tougher" and better defensively. Looking at last year's Finals and we find that Game 1 (played at Boston) finished with only 186 points. The three games played at LA averaged just 185.67 points, none of them finishing with more than 201. I look for this one to also prove lower-scoring than most are expecting. *TOW
Teddy Covers
ORL +6
Maddux Sports
3 units on LA Lakers -6
Free Pick Orlando & LA Under 206
3 units on San Francisco -106 (GAME 2)
3 units on Chicago Cubs +120
3 units on LA Dodgers -102
3 units on Detroit +116
3 units on San Francisco +123 (GAME 1)
DailyPowerRatings
4* Chicago White Sox (-170) 2 Unit Play
SportsOddsAndPicks
NBA Playoffs
ORLANDO (+6) over LA Lakers
Major League Baseball
LA DODGERS +110 (with Kershaw) over Philadelphia
OVER 10 RUNS Boston at Detroit 1:05 p.m. ET
OVER 11.5 RUNS Texas at Yankees 1:05 p.m. ET
Anthony Redd
5 Dime Magic
Dr. Canada
Penguins
Red Wings/Penguins Over 5.5
Erin Rynning
Playmaker: Atlanta Braves
Playmaker: Magic/Lakers Under
Morrison's pick(s)
for June 4th, 2009.
(MLB baseball) -> New York Mets -120 {Money Line]
(MLB baseball) -> Texas +140 {Money Line)
(MLB baseball) -> Florida -150 {Money Line}
(MLB baseball) -> San Francisco -105 {Money Line}
Teddy Covers
Toronto Blue Jays