Daily Sports Roundup
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Celtics take on the Cavaliers, the Sharks meet the Avalanche, and the Red Sox and Yankees do battle at Fenway.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA regains the hoops spotlight on Sunday with eight games on the schedule, including San Antonio at the Lakers, Houston at Indiana, Memphis at Orlando, New Jersey at Washington, Golden State at Toronto, Minnesota at Oklahoma City, and New York at the Clippers. As well, the Cavaliers will be in Boston to take on the Celtics in an early-afternoon matchup. Those two teams last met on March 14 in Cleveland, with the home side winning 104-93 as a 7-point favorite. LeBron James was good for 30 points in that win for the Cavs, while Antawn Jamison grabbed 12 boards. Ray Allen led Boston with 20 points.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The Major League Baseball season gets underway on Sunday night with a rivalry matchup between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The defending champions from the Bronx will send ace lefthander CC Sabathia to the mound for Sunday's opener; Sabathia went 19-8 for the Yankees last season, with a 3.37 ERA and 197 strikeouts over his 230 innings of work. The Red Sox will counter with righthander Josh Beckett on Sunday; Beckett was 17-6 in 2009, posting a 3.86 ERA to go along with 199 strikeouts in 212.1 innings. The Red Sox are pegged as -115 home favorites for Sunday, with the total at 9 runs.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The National Hockey League offers up just four games on Sunday, with Detroit at Philadelphia, Calgary at Chicago, Minnesota at Vancouver, and San Jose at Colorado. The Sharks are looking to hold onto top spot in the Western Conference standings over the final week of the regular season, while the Avalanche are just trying not to blow their playoff spot. The Sharks and Avs last met on March 28 in San Jose, with the home side pulling out a 4-3 victory in that contest. Devin Setoguchi scored twice for the Sharks in that win, while Thomas Greiss had 42 saves. Craig Anderson gave up four goals on 32 shots in the loss.
Roaring around the track . . .
Finally, the Formula 1 circuit stages the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, with Jenson Button looking to pick up his second straight victory after winning the Australian Grand Prix last time out. Fernando Alonso is the only other F1 driver with a win on his resume so far this season, as he took the checkered flag in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Button won the Malaysian Grand Prix last season, with Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli, and Rubens Barrichello rounding out the Top 5 on the leaderboard. Alonso finished in 11 place at the '09 Malaysian Grand Prix, which was shortened to just 31 laps due to the heavy rain.
Sunday's Wagering Tips
Lines off the board
Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics – Anderson Varejao (hamstring) has missed the last three games but is expected to play. Antawn Jamison (shoulder) suffered a stinger in Friday’s game and is probable.
Golden State Warriors at Toronto Raptors – The Raptors played on Saturday. Monta Ellis (illness) will miss the Warriors four-game road trip.
Houston Rockets at Indiana Pacers – Trevor Ariza (illness) missed Friday’s game and is questionable. Kevin Martin (shoulder) has missed the last four games and is questionable.
New York Knicks at Los Angeles Clippers – Baron Davis (back) has missed the last two games and was doubtful heading into Saturday’s game. Tracy McGrady (knee) left Friday’s game and is questionable.
Detroit Red Wings at Philadelphia Flyers – The Wings played on Saturday. Danny Cleary (groin) was questionable to return for that game but ended up being scratched.
San Jose Sharks at Colorado Avalanche – Joe Thornton (lower body) has not played since March 27 and is questionable for Sunday.
Line to keep an eye on
An opening total of 188.5 has been bet up to 190.5 in the Nets-Wizards game. Washington has played to four straight unders.
Weather report
The wind is expected to kick back up again at the Shell Houston Open on Sunday. Gusts are projected to blow in the afternoon anywhere from 12-16 mph. The wind blew hard during Thursday’s opening round and the high scores reflected that if affected play.
Who’s hot
Indiana is 7-2-1 ATS in its last 10 games.
Calgary has won three straight, earning 4.5 units on the moneyline.
Who’s not
The Timberwolves are 1-16 SU in their last 17 games.
Philadelphia is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games.
The Clippers are 2-8 SU and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 outings.
Key stats
8 – Number of NCAA basketball national champions that won their conference tournament over the last 12 years. Butler, Duke and West Virginia all won their conference tournament. Also, 16 of the last 19 tourney champs have come from the ACC, Big 12, Big East or SEC.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol will miss the rest of the season with a partially torn muscle in his neck. Gasol aggravated the injury during Wednesday's game against Dallas. It was Gasol's second game back after sitting out the previous five contests with the neck ailment. The Grizz went 4-2 SU and 3-3 ATS without Gasol in the lineup. The 25-year-old Spaniard averaged 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds this season and was replaced in the starting lineup by Hasheem Thabeet.
Games of the Day
San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers (-6, 194.5)
Detroit Red Wings at Philadelphia Flyers
Notable quotable
"There are no world champions in the NBA, so anybody that has the flag up that says world champions is not correct. It's not appropriate. The world champions, I believe, are the Spanish team right now. USA is the Olympic champion. The Lakers are the NBA champion. It doesn't make sense for an NBA team to call themselves world champions. I don't remember anybody playing anybody outside our borders to get that tag. There's a team in Canada. That's true. The world's bigger than North America. I know sometimes we as arrogant Americans don't respond to the rest of the world, but it's true. There's a big world out there."
Spurs coach Greg Popovich went off at the notion of the NBA champions labeling themselves as world champions.
Tips and notes
After losing two straight games and 3-of-4, Kobe Bryant had to refocus himself and his team. Going into Friday’s game versus Utah Bryant said, "It is my responsibility to make sure that we improve and continue to move in the right direction.” He also mentioned the playoffs and keeping his “foot on the gas.” The Lakers have a comfortable conference lead but it doesn’t sound like Kobe will let his team slip or let up down the stretch.
Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita said opposing teams do not “give 100 percent” when playing Real Madrid. Keita made this accusation after Real scored three goals in 13 minutes in a 3-2 win over Athletico Madrid and defeated Getafe 4-2 last Thursday. Apparently the day before the latter game, the Getafe head coach said he would like to see Real Madrid win the La Liga title. There has been much match-fixing scrutiny in soccer the past few months and this just adds to it. Real Madrid is a -330 favorite over Racing Santander on Sunday.
Nolan Ryan predicted the Rangers will win 92 games this season. Texas finished 10 games behind the Angels in the West last season but still won 87 games. The ballclub added Vladimir Guerrero and Rich Harden in the offseason but sportsbooks have the Rangers wins total at either 83.5 or 84.5. So Texas added quality players but got worse? Of course injuries are a big risk when betting futures but the over for the Rangers looks like a wise play.