Craig Davis
Tuesday's Lineup
50 Dime ---- LAKERS
10 Dime ---- MARINERS
5 Dime ---- GIANTS
William E. Stockton
20* Orlando -4 (100 Dime BIG TICKET)
20* Milwaukee -130
10* Orlando under 198
10* Mets over 7.5
10* Reds over 8
10* Atlanta over 8.5
STU FEINER
LOS ANGELES LAKERS +4 OVER ORLANDO MAGIC
THE LINE OPENED 4, SHARP MONEY, PUSHED THE GAME DOWN TO 3 1 /2 AND THE PUBLIC STEAM ROLLED IT BACK TO 4, WHERE IT IS SITTING RIGHT NOW. THIS GAME IS OBVIOUSLY THE HARDEST GAME TO BET IN THE SERIES SO FAR. EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER WILL BE POUNDING THE ORLANDO MAGIC AND WITH GOOD REASON. THEY HAVE COVERED 4 STRAIGHT AT HOME IN THE PLAYOFFS. THEY ARE IN A MUST WIN SITUATION. THE CROWD WILL BE INSANE, BUT THAT WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO STOP A GUARANTED LAKER COVER OR AN OUTRIGHT LAKER VICTORY. KOBE AND COMPANY PLAYED LIKE SHIT IN GAME 2 AS I PREDICTED. ORLANDO AND COACH VAN GUNDY MADE THE PROPER ADJUSTMENTS. NOW IT WILL BE THE LAKERS TURN TO PUNCH BACK. KOBE COMING OFF A SUB PAR PERFORMANCE WILL MAKE ALL THE PROPER DECISIONS. WHETHER IT'S DRAINING THE 3, DRIVING TO THE BASKET AND GETTING FOULED OR DISHING OFF TO FISHER, ARIZA, GASOL, BYNOM, ODOM, AND COMPANY. THIS GAME WILL BE ABOUT NOT WHAT ORLANDO WILL DO, BUT WHAT THE LAKERS WILL DO. THE LAKERS WILL DEFINATELY COVER AND I WOULD NOT BE SURPRIZED IN THE LEAST FOR THEM TO TAKE A STRANGLE HOLD AND GO UP 3 - 0 ON THE MAGIC. THE UNDERDOG IS 7 - 1 ATS IN THE LAST 8 MEETINGS AND THE ROAD TEAM IS 6 - 2 ATS IN THE LAST 8 MEETINGS. GET THE PARADE READY LA, IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME NOW. LAKERS PLUS POINTS FOR A 5000 DIME WINNER
James Mcknight
TAMPA BAY RAYS -1.5 +160
BALTIMORE ORIOLES -1.5 +155
Teddy Covers
Angels for 3 units
A's / Twins u 8.5 for 4 units
KING CREOLE
Los Angeles Lakers @ Orlando Magic
3* Play: UNDER
So each of the first two games of this series have gone UNDER The Total. What's been the prevailing OU 'pattern' for NBA Playoff teams in similar situations? A query in our Playbook NBA database tells us that there's a very good chance we'll see another LOW-scoring outcome.
2-11 O/U since 1992: All NBA Playoff GAME THREE's with an OU Line of 193 > points IF the first two games of the series went UNDER the TOTAL. Since 1995, these games have gone 1-8 O/U. and in the last 5 years, these games have gone a PERFECT 0-6 O/U.
Let's also run a query for Game Three HOME teams who find themselves in a 0-2 "hole"...
2-8 O/U last 4 years: All GAME THREE home favorites of 3 > points (OU line of 190 >)... when playing off BB SU losses in Games One and Two (Magic).
8-21-3 O/U since 1996: All GAME THREE teams playing off BB SU losses.... BUT an ATS win in their last game (Magic). In the last 5 years, these teams have gone a PERFECT 0-7-1 O/U (Magic).
The OU line in this game is down to 198 points... after the first two games had an OU line of GREATER than 200 points.
2-13 O/U last 5 years: All GAME THREE's with an OU line of 191 to 200 points.
Let's take a look at both of tonight's SEEDS....
3-15 O/U last 4 years: All GAME THREE teams who are a #1 SEED (Lakers). If these BIG seeds are an UNDERDOGS, the results are 1-10 O/U (Lakers).
0-6 O/U since 2002: All GAME THREE teams who are a #3 SEED home team (Magic) when taking on a #1 SEED (Lakers).... when the OU line is 179 or more points.
Both teams come in on only one day rest after playing Sunday night. One would figure that the cross-country SITE CHANGE would mean at least two days rest.... but no one ever said that NBA scheduling was logical!
0-5 O/U last 3 years: All GAME THREE home favorites playing in a '1/1' REST situation in Rounds Three or Four (Magic).
Jason Johnson
LA Lakers at Orlando Magic
Play: Lakers +4.5
This series may be returning to Orlando but there is a reason the Magic are down 2-0 in this series and his name is Kobe Bryant. Until I see a Magic guard shut down Bryant, I'm going with the Lakers and considering the 4 1/2 points a bonus. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynom have kept Dwight Howard in check through the first two games and while I do expect an inspired performance from the Magic star tonight, it won't be enough. Lakers get the road win.
Stephen Nover
LA Lakers at Orlando
Play: Over 198
The first two games of this championship series were dead nuts under.But this Game 3 is going to be much different than the first two defensive struggles.The pace is going to be much more up-tempo and faster now with the series shifting to Orlando.The Magic play faster and looser at Amway Arena. Expect them to shoot much better than the 35 percent they've shot so far this series.Dwight Howard has had two games now to get used to the Lakers' mix-and-match swarming defense. He did a good job in Game 2 of kicking the ball back out to perimeter gunners Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who made half of their field goals.It was poor guard play that did in the Magic. Don't look for Rafer Alston, JJ Redick and the other guards to miss 18 of 23 shots from the field like they did in Game 2.Kobe Bryant has been unstoppable for the Lakers. He's averaging nearly 35 points a game in the series.
WeCoverSpreads
Giants-110
Matt Cain has been on fire for the Giants this season with a 7-1 record and a 2.23 ERA. The Giants have won his last six starts in row as dominates batters. He has been an effective hurler on the highway with a 3-0 record, 1.33 ERA allowing just five earned runs in 33 innings on the hill. He has done well against the Diamondbacks in the past holding them to just 8 earned runs and a .202 batting average in five starts in the past three seasons. Earlier this season he dominated the young D'Backs line up allowing just one run and four hits in seven quality innings.
Billy Buckner(2-1 5.24 ERA) gets the go for Arizona tonight. He has allowed 12 earned runs in 9 innings pitching at home this season which is a good sign for the somewhat anemic bats of San Francisco. The Giants have showed life in their last 10 games batting .296 vs. right handers. The Giants have the superior bullpen between the two teams. They sport a 3.17 ERA on the season vs. the pen of Arizona who owns a 4.44 ERA on the year. There is great value in this line especially considering Arizona has dropped 19 of 31 games at home this season.
Oakland Under 8.5
The Twins are averaging just 3.2 runs per game in their last 10 games. Their offense has seemed to fall apart at the wrong time as they have fallen below .500. They are batting just .243 in this slump vs. left handed hurlers and that will benefit rookie Brett Anderson for Oakland tonight. Anderson is coming off a shut out game in Chicago vs. the Sox in a ballpark that is a pitchers nightmare.
The Twins give the ball on the hill to Scott Baker tonight. Baker missed the beginning of the season with a shoulder injury and got rocked his first four games on the mound back from the injury. Sometimes injuries like that affect a player mentally more than physically but he has since rebounded. His confidence should be high since he has a solid 1.00 WHIP in his last three starts and a 3.86 ERA with an amazing 20/1 strike out to walk ratio, Those starts were against the Brewers, Devil Rays, and Indians, all of whom aren't exactly offensive slouches and more productive than Oakland. In two starts vs. Oakland since '07 he has allowed just three earned runs vs. the A's. The under is 11-5 in the last 16 meetings in Oakland.
Indians Under 8.5
Cliff Lee has been a coaches dream this season with a 2.96 ERA 59/17 strike out to walk ratio on the season. He just hasn't gotten the run support and that's the reason for his 3-6 record. He isone of the best pitchers in the league and he must be salivating knowing he is facing the Royals tonight. They have dropped 9 of 10 games and are batting .227 vs. southpaws during that stretch. They have been limited to three runs or less in eight of their last 10 games. Lee should have no problems mowing through their lineup tonight.
Brian Bannister has given up just 13 earned runs vs. the Royals the past three season in seven starts vs. them. So he is limiting to less than 2 runs per start. Bannister shut out Cleveland earlier this season at Progressive Field in a Royals win. These two pitchers have faced each other twice this season and the games combined for just 13 total runs(6.5 per game). Look for this one to stay below
PowerPlayWins
Texas Rangers -110
Rocketman
Chicago Cubs
Marc Lawrence
Orlando Magic
JB Sports
Orlando Magic
Lenny Del Genio
Lakers/Magic Over
Nick Parsons
Red Wings/Penguins Over