Daily Sports Roundup
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The BoSox take on the Royals, the Sprint Cup Series races down in Phoenix, and The Masters offers up third-round action.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has eight games on its schedule for Saturday, with New Jersey at Indiana, Atlanta at Washington, Detroit at Charlotte, Philadelphia at Memphis, Dallas at Sacramento, Golden State at the Clippers, Boston at Milwaukee, and San Antonio at Denver. The Nuggets (52-27 SU, 33-40-6 ATS) are looking to lock down the second seed in the Western Conference, and could end up playing the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Denver is riding a four-game winning streak heading into Saturday, and they lead the season series with San Antonio 2-1. The Nuggets, though, fell to the Spurs 111-92 as a 6-point home favorite when the teams last met on February 11. Tim Duncan had 16 points in that win.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The Yankees continue their AL series in Tampa Bay on Saturday, while the rest of the Junior Circuit slate has Minnesota at the White Sox, Cleveland at Detroit, Seattle at Texas, Toronto at Baltimore, Oakland at the Angels, and Boston at Kansas City. The Red Sox will send Josh Beckett to the mound for their Saturday matchup; righthander Beckett took a no-decision against the Yankees in his first start of the season, surrendering five earned runs on eight hits over his 4 2-3 innings. The Royals will counter with ace Zack Greinke; righthander Greinke held the Tigers to just one earned run on six hits over six innings in his season debut.
On the NL schedule for Saturday it'll be the Cubs at Cincinnati, Washington at the Mets, St. Louis at Milwaukee, Philadelphia at Houston, San Diego at Colorado, Pittsburgh at Arizona, Atlanta at San Francisco, and the Dodgers at Florida. It'll be Vicente Padilla getting the ball for Los Angeles on Saturday; righthander Padilla was knocked around by the Pirates in his first start of the season, giving up seven earned runs on six hits over his 4 1-3 innings of work. The Marlins will go with Josh Johnson on Saturday; righthander Johnson gave up four earned runs on five hits over his five innings in a loss to the Mets on Monday.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The NHL offers up 11 games on Saturday on the second-last day of its regular season, with Carolina at Boston, Edmonton at Los Angeles, Toronto at Montreal, the Islanders at New Jersey, Buffalo at Ottawa, Pittsburgh at Atlanta, Florida at Tampa Bay, St. Louis at Nashville, Dallas at Minnesota, Calgary at Vancouver, and Phoenix at San Jose. The 50-25-6 Coyotes are just 2-3 against the 50-20-11 Sharks so far this season, but they enter Saturday's matchup riding a three-game winning streak; Phoenix beat Los Angeles 3-2 last time out. The Sharks have won two straight games, and they beat the Canucks by a score of 4-2 Thursday.
Roaring around the track . . .
The Sprint Cup Series will compete under the lights on Saturday night at the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway. Jimmie Johnson has won four of the last five races at Phoenix, and he's pegged as the 18/5 Vegas favorite to take the checkered flag on Saturday night. Denny Hamlin is next on that odds list at 17/2, with Mark Martin (who won this race last season) rounding out the Top 3 to visit victory lane at 8/1. Jeff Gordon (19/2), Kurt Busch (10/1), and Jeff Burton (10/1) are also near the top of the odds list for Saturday's event. Greg Biffle, who sits second in the points race behind Johnson, is listed at 15/1.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Finally, the third round of The Masters gets underway on Saturday, with Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood tied atop the leaderboard at 8-under. Tiger Woods shot a 2-under 70 on Friday, and he sits in a third-place tie at 6-under with K.J. Choi, Ricky Barnes, Anthony Kim, and Phil Mickelson. Fred Couples shot a 3-over 75 on Friday, and Tom Watson turned in a 2-over 74; those two Tour veterans are tied for ninth place at 3-under through the first 36 holes of the event.
Saturday's Wagering Tips
Lines off the board
Atlanta Hawks at Washington Wizards – Joe Johnson (thumb) was probable heading into Friday’s game and played.
Detroit Pistons at Charlotte Bobcats – Richard Hamilton (ankle) missed Friday’s game and is doubtful. Rodney Stuckey (ribs) missed Friday’s game and is questionable. Stephen Jackson (rest) did not play on Friday and is questionable.
San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets – George Hill (ankle) was questionable going into Friday’s matchup and did not play. Chauncey Billups (quad) and Carmelo Anthony (ankle) are both probable. Kenyon Martin could return to action (see note below).
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Clippers – Monta Ellis (flu) has missed the last four games and is doubtful. C.J. Watson (ribs) is questionable. Craig Smith (back) did not play Thursday and is doubtful.
Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins – Joni Pitkanen (lower body) missed Thursday’s game and is questionable.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens
Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild – Owen Nolan (leg) missed the last two games and is questionable. Marek Zidlicky (arm) was out for the team’s last three games and is questionable. Niklas Backstrom took a puck to the throat on Thursday but is probable.
Lines to keep an eye on
The total in the Sixers-Grizzlies game has dropped one point from its opener and now stands at 206. Philly has played to three straight overs and the last two in this series have gone over.
The Rockies opened as -172 favorites against San Diego for Friday’s game but that number can be found as low as -149 now. The total in that game has also moved from an opener of 10 to 9.5.
The opening moneyline for the Pirates-Diamondbacks game in Arizona had the home team favored at -230 but now that number has elevated to as high as -250 on some boards.
Who’s hot
Milwaukee is 7-0 ATS in its last seven games.
The Giants are 4-0 this season, earning 4.19 units on the moneyline.
Ottawa is 7-3 in its last 10 outings.
Who’s not
The 76ers are 2-8 SU and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games.
Houston is 0-3 this year heading into Friday.
The L.A. Kings are 4-6 in their last 10, dropping 4.41 units on the moneyline.
Key stat
1997 – The last year golfer Tom Watson had a Top 10 finish at the Masters. In that year, Watson was in 10th place after 36 holes of play and finished the tournament in fourth place. Watson is 3-under par at this year’s Masters and tied for ninth heading into Saturday. He may not win the major, but there might be some odds for a Top 5 finish that could be worthy of a look.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Kenyon Martin could return for the Nuggets on Saturday. While he may not have much of an impact in the game, Martin’s return would be huge for Denver heading toward the playoffs. K-Mart has missed the last 18 games and the Nuggets have gone 12-6 SU but only 6-10-2 ATS. Martin brings a down low defensive presence that has been lacking for Denver.
Games of the Day
Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks (-175, 5.5)
Notable quotable
"Look, if you're going to coach worried about injuries, don't play your guys at all ever. Sit ‘em for 82 games all year. Don't have them practice. Don't have them play. What's the difference? Do their injury chances go up tonight as opposed to playing last week? Every time you play, yeah you have a chance of getting hurt.”
-- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said about resting his players now that his team has clinched the No. 2 playoff seed in the East.
Tips and notes
- Englishmen Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are tied for the Masters lead heading into Saturday. The two are good friends and played a practice round together earlier in the week and apparently Poulter lost money to Westwood on seven of the nine holes. Pouler joked that he “would like to get some back [Saturday].” Poulter, who won the WGC match play event earlier this year, said that win gave him an “extra boost” heading into this week and said he feels “very comfortable” at Augusta and can be “aggressive” on the course.
- The Braves ran into a scheduling trap in their second series of the season. After playing a night game at home Thursday, Atlanta traveled out West to meet the Giants for a day game on Friday. Chipper Jones said “our biological clocks are going to be messed up for quite a while.” It didn’t help that the Bravos were taken to 13 innings in Friday’s game, a 5-4 loss. The team could be very tired heading into Saturday's and Sunday’s matchups.
- The Grizzlies have completely checked out of the season and their coach knows it. Lionel Hollins said after the Dallas game that his team wasn’t willing to “sacrifice and play hard”. Memphis has lost six of its last seven games (1-6 ATS) and dropped its last three by double digits.