Daily Sports Roundup
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Angels play host to the Twins, while the Cavaliers take on the Bulls, and the PGA Tour begins its first major of the season.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has three games on tap for Thursday, with the Clippers at Sacramento, the Lakers at Denver, and Cleveland at Chicago. LeBron James and the Cavaliers rolled to a 113-101 home win over the Raptors on Tuesday night, with James picking up 19 points and 13 assists in the contest. James could decide to sit out Thursday's game to rest, which would be good news for the Bulls as they try to run down the Raptors for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth. Chicago lost 79-74 at home to the Bucks in their last game on Tuesday night. Luol Deng scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bulls in that contest.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The American League's schedule for Thursday has Toronto at Texas, Detroit at Kansas City, Seattle at Oakland, Baltimore at Tampa Bay, Cleveland at the White Sox, and Minnesota at the Angels. The Twins will go with Kevin Slowey in their road game on Thursday night; righthander Slowey went 10-3 for Minnesota last season, posting a 4.86 ERA and fanning 75 batters over 90.2 innings. The Angels will counter Slowey with Joel Pineiro; righthander Pineiro was 15-12 for St. Louis in '09 with a 3.49 ERA and 105 strikeouts over his 214 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, there are five games on the National League slate for Thursday, with the Dodgers at Pittsburgh, St. Louis at Cincinnati, Philadelphia at Washington, the Cubs at Atlanta, and Florida at the Mets. Nate Robertson is slated to get the ball for the Marlins on Thursday night; lefthander Robertson was 2-3 for Detroit last season with a 5.44 ERA and 35 strikeouts in his 49.2 innings pitched. The Mets will go with Jon Niese on Thursday; lefthander Niese went 1-1 in five starts for New York in 2009, boasting a 4.21 ERA and fanning 18 over his 25.2 innings.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The National Hockey League offers up nine games on Thursday, with Montreal at Carolina, the Islanders at Pittsburgh, Ottawa at Tampa Bay, New Jersey at Florida, Anaheim at Dallas, Minnesota at Calgary, Phoenix at Los Angeles, Vancouver at San Jose, and Buffalo at Boston. The Sabres clinched the Northeast Division title with a 5-2 home win over the Rangers on Tuesday night; Ryan Miller made 30 saves in the victory. The Bruins are still trying to lock down a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals on Monday night, but they're 3-2 against the Sabres this year.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Finally, the PGA Tour grabs the sporting spotlight on Thursday as Tiger Woods returns to the fold at The Masters at Augusta National. Woods is pegged as the 9/2 Vegas favorite to grab the Green Jacket this week in his first tournament of the season. Phil Mickelson sits behind Woods on the odds list at 5/1, with Padraig Harrington next at 12/1, and both Steve Stricker and Lee Westwood pegged at 14/1. Sergio Garcia is back at 28/1 to win the tournament, with Ernie Els at 30/1, and defending champion Angel Cabrera farther behind at 50/1 odds.
Thursday's Wagering Tips
Lines off the board
Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls – Delonte West (back) missed the team’s last game and is questionable. There has been speculation that LeBron James, Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison could be rested at some point during the Cavs last handful of games.
Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins – Zdeno Chara (face) broke his nose during Monday’s game but is probable.
New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins – Evgeni Malkin (illness) is questionable. Blake Comeau (foot) left Tuesday’s game and is questionable.
Minnesota Wild at Calgary Flames – Owen Nolan (leg) missed Monday’s game and is questionable. Marek Zidlicky (arm) was out for the team’s last game and is questionable.
Phoenix Coyotes at Los Angeles Kings – Robert Lang (lower body) has missed the last three weeks and is questionable for Thursday.
Lines to keep an eye on
Most sportsbooks are offering the total for the Cardinals-Reds game at 8.5 after opening at 8. The last two games in this series have gone over.
The Rays opened as -210 favorites versus Baltimore but that number can be found as low as -173 in some markets.
The opening moneyline for the Angels-Twins game in Anaheim had the home team favored at -155 but now that number is available as low as -127 on some boards.
Weather report
There is a 30 percent chance of rain during the Indians-White Sox game in Chicago on Thursday but the wind is projected to be blowing out to right field at 17 mph. The wind chill is expected to be a brisk 33 degrees.
Wind is going to be blowing in from left field at 14 mph during the Tigers-Royals afternoon game.
The Rangers and Blue Jays might be hitting some long balls on Thursday with a 10 mph wind blowing straight out to center field.
Who’s hot
Ottawa is 7-1 in its last seven games.
The Royals have won five of the last seven games versus Detroit.
Philadelphia has won four straight versus the Nationals.
Who’s not
The Nuggets are 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10 games.
Florida is 3-7 SU in its last 10 outings.
Cleveland is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games.
Key stat
3 – Number of golfers to win back-to-back Masters titles. Tiger Woods was the last to do it in 2002 while Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo both did it in their careers. Angel Cabrera will look to become the fourth player to achieve the feat. Cabrera is +6050 to win the Masters.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Raptors center Chris Bosh suffered a fracture to the right side of his face during Tuesday’s game against Cleveland. Bosh was bleeding from the mouth and nose before being taken to an area hospital for further evaluation. The timetable for his return is unknown. Bosh is averaging 24.3 points and 11.0 rebounds and the Raptors went 3-4 SU and 1-6 ATS earlier this season with their big man sidelined. This is the worst time for Toronto’s best player to go down, leading the Bulls by a half game for the East’s last playoff spot.
Games of the Day
Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets (-2, 203.5)
Notable quotable
"Half the teams are sucking wind, and half the teams are playing well. The Lakers are getting torched at home worse than we've been the last few games. Oklahoma City has been playing well, but they haven't had an injury yet. Utah is playing well, but not as well with [Andrei] Kirilenko out. Denver is struggling. San Antonio is playing well most of the time, when Manu [Ginobili] scores 40.
"You look down the list, and nobody's afraid of anybody. Nobody looks at us and says, 'We're afraid of them.' Look, if we dial in, we know we can kill anybody. It's just a question of focus."
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said while previewing the playoff picture for the wild Western Conference.
Tips and notes
The Masters Par 3 Contest carries a jinx somewhat akin to the Madden cover in the NFL. No golfer has ever won the Par 3 Contest and the Masters in the same year. Raymond Floyd and Chip Beck were the closest after finishing second in the Masters but nobody has won both. Louis Oosthuizen took home 2010 Par 3 championship and said, “There’s always a first time to break the curse.”
Chauncey Billups recently said “It’s tough playing without your head coach.” The Nuggets have been without George Karl for 14 games this season as he battles neck and throat cancer and he is expected to miss the first round of the playoffs as well. Denver has been struggling recently (5-5 SU and 1-8-1 ATS L10) but a trip to see its head coach could have been what the team needed to refocus. Billups said it was “uplifting to see and talk to him” while Nene said “he made me feel better.”
Lee Westwood is a trendy pick to win this week’s Masters at +2050. Westwood has been solid in majors during over the last two years, finishing third in three of the last eight. But before you throw down on the Englishman, consider his front nine Round 3 performance last weekend at the Houston Open. In the span of four holes he shot 6-over par. Westwood rebounded to shoot 1-under on Sunday but looked like a lost golfer during his third round debacle and sometimes that’s tough for a golfer to shake mentally.