Friday’s Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather to watch
Seattle Mariners at Colorado Rockies – 12 mph winds are expected to blow out to right-centerfield.
Who’s hot
NBA: Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games.
NBA: Under is 13-6 in Thunder last 19 road games.
MLB: White Sox are 4-1 in their last five meetings with the Cubs.
MLB: The Rockies are 37-14 in their last 51 interleague home games.
Who’s not
NBA: 76ers are 2-7 ATS in their last nine home games.
NBA: Lakers are 5-13 ATS in their last 18 home games.
MLB: Athletics are 0-9 in the last nine meetings in San Francisco.
MLB: Astros are 7-20 in their last 27 interleague home games.
Key stat
44 percent – The Philadelphia 76ers have yet to shoot 44 percent from the field in a game yet this postseason. The Sixers shot just 40.7 percent from the floor in Game 3’s loss, while Boston drained 51.9 percent of its shots.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Brandon Inge, Oakland Athletics – The A’s placed veteran third baseman Brandon Inge on the 15-day DL with a groin strain. Inge was on a major tear before hitting the shelf, swatting four homers and collecting 16 RBIs over a six-game stretch.
Game of the day
Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers (-2, 173.5)
Notable quotable
“Oh my goodness, we’re better than Santa Claus. Gave them a gift. Man that was crazy. We’re better than Santa Claus, we like giving out gifts. We give out games, contracts and rings.” – Lakers center Andrew Bynum following Game 2’s 77-75 loss to Oklahoma City. The Lakers are pegged as 2.5-point favorites at home for Game 3.
Notes and tips
Los Angeles Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto relieved hitting coach Mickey Hatcher of his duties Tuesday, replacing him with Triple-A hitting coach Jim Eppard. Hatcher had been on Mike Scioscia's coaching staff since Scioscia became manager in 2000 and was the longest-tenured hitting coach in baseball. Dipoto said the club needed a “new voice” and it’s hard to argue with his assessment. The Angels were hitting .253 as a team with 34 home runs heading into Thursday’s action.
As London prepares for this summer’s Olympics, a number of online sportbooks already have odds posted for the total medal count. Sportsbook.ag opened with the United States set as a -140 favorite to win the medal count but that number has since dipped to -125. China sits second at +125 while Russia is third on the odds board at +800.
The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to be without Allen Craig for a few days after he left Wednesday’s game with a tight hamstring. The 27-year-old is hitting .373 with five homers and 19 RBI in only 13 games this year.
Even though Kevin Durant was the Oklahoma City Thunder player who finished second in the NBA MVP voting, it was Russell Westbrook who really crushed the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. So the Lakers came back in Game 2 Wednesday night with a new plan against Westbrook: No more Kobe Bryant trying to stay in front of Westbrook and fight solo through the picks set by the Thunder for Westbrook to come free. The more aggressive plan headed by Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake worked beautifully, as Westbrook was held to 5-of-17 shooting from the field and just four assists, but the Lakers still lost 77-75 with a late-game meltdown as Durant and James Harden stepping up for the Thunder.