Wednesday’s Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather to watch
Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers – 21 mph winds are expected to blow in from right field.
Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates – 11 mph winds are expected to blow out to right-centerfield.
Who’s hot
NBA: The under is 25-8 in the Heat’s last 33 home games.
NHL: The Kings are 8-0 in their last eight road games.
MLB: The over is 37-13-1 in Dana DeMuth's last 51 games behind home plate. He's scheduled to work Wednesday's O's-Jays matchup.
WNBA: The Minnesota Lynx are 6-1 ATS in their last seven road games.
Who’s not
NBA: The Celtics are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 playoff games as an underdog.
NHL: The over is 7-20-1 in the Devils’ last 28 vs. Western Conference.
MLB: The Cubs are 3-14 in Ryan Dempster's last 17 starts.
WNBA: The Washington Mystics are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 games overall.
Key stat
8.1 – The Los Angeles Kings have converted only 8.1 percent of their powerplay opportunities in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Devils struggled early in the postseason with their penalty kill, but rebounded to shut down the Rangers on all of their six PP chances over the last three games of the Eastern Conference final.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox – Pedroia sat out Tuesday’s game after jamming his thumb Monday night. He’s considered day-to-day for now. The second baseman is hitting .292 with five homers and 21 RBIs this season.
Game of the day
Los Angeles Kings at New Jersey Devils (100, 4.5)
Notable quotable
"It's the conference finals, we can’t just keep giving games away. We feel this is a must-win game for us. Eventually if we’re going to beat these guys, we're going to have to beat them at some point in time at home." – Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo about Game 2 against the Miami Heat.
Notes and tips
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers told ESPN.com Tuesday he was considering sitting Ray Allen for a game during the Eastern Conference finals, but that he would play in Game 2. Rivers spoke of the dilemma in sitting Allen, who has played with bone spurs in his ankles and struggled as a result. Allen went 1-for-7 on shooting and scored just six points in 39 minutes against in Game 1. He's averaging 9.6 points per game in the postseason, well below his career averages. The Celtics are set as 8-point underdogs in Game 2.
The defending-champion Minnesota Lynx have picked up right where they left off last season, going 4-0 straight up and 3-1 against the spread to begin the WNBA season. The Lynx pace the league averaging better than 90 points per game and take on Washington, which owns the league’s worst offense at 60.5 points per contest, on Wednesday. The Lynx opened as 11-point road favorites.
The NBA Draft Lottery - also known as the Anthony Davis Sweepstakes - is set to go Wednesday. The Charlotte Bobcats are pegged as a +180 favorite to win the lottery followed by Washington (+200), Cleveland (+500), and New Orleans (+650)