Monday’s Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather to watch
Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics – 10 mph winds are expected to blow out to right-centerfield.
Who’s hot
NBA: 76ers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 road games.
NBA: The over is 7-1 in Thunder last eight games as a favorite.
NHL: Devils are 8-2 in their last 10 home games.
MLB: Nationals are 7-1 in their last eight meetings with Philadelphia.
Who’s not
NBA: Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
NBA: Lakers are 7-17-1 ATS in their last 25 games playing on one day of rest.
NHL: Rangers are 1-4 in their last five games following a win.
MLB: Mariners are 1-4 in Felix Hernandez’s last five home starts.
Key stat
85.1 – The Oklahoma City Thunder lead the NBA postseason in hitting 85.1 percent of their free throws after also pacing the Association in the regular season, hitting 80.6 percent of its attempts. The Thunder hit 84 percent of their shots from the line in Game 4’s win over the Lakers, while Los Angeles hit only 72.4 percent of its attempts.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals – Berkman appears to be heading back to the disabled list. He just returned from a calf injury on May 13 after missing 21 games and is now ailing with a knee injury that he suffered Saturday. Berkman is hitting .333 but has played only 13 games this year.
Game of the day
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics (-5.5, 174)
Notable quotable
"I really don't blame it on the offense. If you look at it, defensively, we gave up 28 and 33 points in the third and fourth quarters. Regardless if we score [17] and 20 points, our defense should be able to win the game. Our defense didn't come through. We weren't rebounding the ball, we didn't play at a high level in the second half. We allowed them to get into rhythm, gave them free throws, gave up the 3, and then turned the ball over." – Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce about Game 4’s 92-83 loss to Philadelphia. The Celtics are 1-3 against the spread in the series heading into Monday’s Game 5.
Notes and tips
Aroldis Chapman got his first opportunity as the Cincinnati Reds' new closer and earned his first save of the season Sunday as the Reds finished off a comeback win over the New York Yankees. Before the game, Reds manager Dusty Baker said Chapman was his "No. 1 candidate" to become the closer, replacing Sean Marshall, who allowed two runs on four hits in the ninth inning of Saturday's win. But Baker said he wouldn't use Chapman on Sunday because the pitcher had thrown Saturday and three out of the past four days.That changed shortly before the game, when Baker said he checked in with Chapman, who told him he would be fine to pitch. Chapman has a whopping 39 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.
The New York Rangers will be without forward Brandon Prust for Monday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils after he was suspended for one game for elbowing Anton Volchenkov Saturday. Prust has one assist and 27 penalty minutes in 17 playoff games. The Rangers, set as +110 underdogs Monday, have yet to announce who will fill his spot in the lineup.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie is eligible to return from his four-game suspension Monday against Tampa Bay. Lawrie was suspended following an altercation with umpire Bill Miller last week. The 22-year-old is hitting .281 with three home runs, 17 RBI and six stolen bases.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant seemed to be calling out teammate Pau Gasol when Bryant suggested after the Lakers' Game 3 loss to the Thunder on Saturday that Gasol needs to be more assertive and made a poor decision at critical part of the game. "Pau's got to be more assertive," Bryant said, according to ESPN.com. "He's the guy out there that we need. When he's getting the ball he's looking to pass. He's got to be aggressive. He's got to shoot the ball. He's got to drive the ball to the basket and he will in the next game." Gasol didn't take a single shot from the field in the fourth quarter, and he passed up a shot with 33.9 seconds left and the game tied. Instead he threw a pass that was intercepted by Kevin Durant that helped the Thunder take a 3-1 series lead.