Announcement

**Udog** · 04-25-2016, 07:27 AM

Armadillo: Monday's six-pack

--Cal Bears got good news; big man Ivan Rabb will be back for his sophomore year in Berkeley; he is the highest-rated returning player in the country.

-- Astros have allowed 27 first inning runs in 19 games, most in MLB.

-- Lakers fired coach Byron Scott; he is 102-292 in his last five years as a coach, but he did have success with the Nets/New Orleans. You need good players to win.

-- Celtics 104, Hawks 95-- Atlanta has now lost 10 overtime games in a row.

-- Islanders 2, Panthers 1 OT-- Florida hasn't won a playoff series since 1996.

-- Prop bet at South Point: Will the Cuibs win 100+ games? Yes +$150, No -$170

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Armadillo: Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports weekend......

13) Tremendous day of games today, lot of good stuff. Washington beat the Twins in 16 innings, in a game with 516 pitches thrown, 27 players used, 14 pitchers. Game took 5:56, with 27 hits and 32 strikeouts. Great fun.

12) Cubs are already 6-1 against Cincinnati this year; they've outscored the Reds 60-20 in those seven games. Reds are not a good baseball team.

11) Yesterday's quiz answer was Hideo Nomo as author of the only no-hitter at Coors Field; Nomo pitched in Denver 10 times. In his other nine starts, aside from the no-hitter, Nomo was 2-1, 9.67, allowing 11 HRs in 44.2 IP.

10) Pitcher Shelby Miller wound up playing left field for Arizona in the 13th inning yesterday, as SS Nick Ahmed got thrown out for arguing balls/strikes and the Snakes were out of position players. Pitchers Zack Greinke and Jon Niese both had pinch-hits in the game.

9) Braves' catcher AJ Pierzynski has 1,999 hits; he will become the 10th catcher ever to get 2,000 hits. Pretty impressive; was surprised when I heard it.

8) Mat Latos is early leader for Comeback Player of the Year; he is 4-0, 0.74 in four starts for the White Sox. In 2014-15, he was a combined 9-15, 4.16 in 37 starts for four different teams.

7) Saturday night in Las Vegas, four guys bet a cab driver $100 he wouldn't drive thru the In 'n Out Burger drive-thru lane in reverse; they lost.

6) Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale's widow, Anne Meyers, who was a great hoop player at UCLA, sold lot of her late husband's memorabilia; his 1963 and 1965 World Series rungs netted just under $200,000 combined.

5) Tanner Roark was awesome Saturday, whiffing 15 Twins in a 2-0 Washington win; he threw 121 pitches, most by any major leaguer this season.

There was a Twitter debate this weekend, where guys were talking about high school coaches having kids throw 160+ pitches in a game. No bueno.

4) Of the 183 NHL teams who trailed playoff series 3-0, only nine forced a Game 7; those nine teams went 4-5 in the Game 7.

3) Do big league teams shift too much? Some ex-players in TV booths this weekend were discussing this- their consensus seemed to be that a star pitcher like Kershaw should have veto rights over any shifts, but you have to earn the right to have veto rights over the manager. It is an interesting debate.

2) Los Angeles Clippers have never led a playoff series, 3-0. Ever.

1) Phil Simms came out and said Jared Goff is the 3rd-best QB in this week's draft; he may be right or may be wrong, but I don't give rat's ass what Simms says about QBs, despite his having been a very good player himself.

Long time ago, Simms shredded Ben Roethlisberger on Mike Francesa's Sunday radio show when Ben was a senior at Miami; he denies it now, but I remember listening to it and then laughing when Big Ben became such a good player.

**Udog** · 04-25-2016, 07:31 AM

NBA

Monday, April 25

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Monday's NBA playoffs betting preview and odds
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Is it the dancing, or is it just the fact that the Thunder are a better team? OKC has Dallas with their backs against the wall for Monday night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be looking to finish of their series with the Dallas Mavericks Monday night. In the other two games, the Miami Heat will attempt to go up 3-1 on the Hornets and the Clippers will work on doing the same against the Blazers.

Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets (-3, 195.5)

Heat lead series 2-1

The Miami Heat set a historic offensive pace in the first two games of their first round series before crashing back to earth in Game 3. The Charlotte Hornets will try to put together back-to-back solid defensive efforts and even the series at two wins apiece when they host the Heat in Game 4 on Tuesday.

Miami scored a franchise playoff-record 123 points in a Game 1 win and followed it up with a 115-103 triumph in Game 2, but the Hornets turned up the defense and held the Heat to 34.2 percent from the field in a 96-80 triumph on Saturday. The victory snapped a 14-year drought between playoff wins for Charlotte franchises, though the team was focusing on the future instead of the past. "This isn't about winning one playoff game, it's about winning a playoff series," Hornets coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "This gives us a chance." Miami will need to make an adjustment after Charlotte went to a bigger lineup and pushed its way to the win up front.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Sun (Miami)

LINE HISTORY: The Hornets opened as 2.5-point favorites and the line was bumped up to -3 by Sunday afternoon. The total opened at 195 and was also bumped up a half point to 195.5. Check out the complete line history here.

ABOUT THE HEAT (50-35, 45-39-1 ATS, 36-48-1 O/U): Miami burned the Hornets in the first two games by putting Luol Deng at power forward but were on the receiving end of some physical play in Game 3. “They went really big and caught us off guard,” Heat center Hassan Whiteside told reporters. “We were prepared for Al Jefferson to post up, but they posted up on our guards. They got us into foul trouble, and that was tough. But we know what they do now. We know what they’re looking for and we can hone on that. Now we know what their different lineups are going to look like.” Whiteside left Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter with a quad bruise before sitting out practice on Sunday and is considered questionable for Game 4.

ABOUT THE HORNETS (49-36, 43-41-1 ATS, 42-41-2 O/U): Charlotte lost starting guard Nicolas Batum to an ankle injury in Game 2 but instead of inserting another guard into the lineup for Game 3 went big with 7-0 center Frank Kaminsky. The rookie only attempted one field goal in a combined 37 minutes in the first two games but finished with 15 points in 35 minutes in Game 3. “He just kept playing,” Clifford told reporters of Kaminsky. “He had the right attitude. Playing basketball is no different than anything else. You have the right attitude, you give yourself a chance to get going when things don’t go your way.”

TRENDS:

* Heat are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 road games.
* Hornets are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 Conference Quarterfinals games.
* Under is 8-1 in Heat last 9 games following a straight up loss of more than 10 points.
* Over is 7-1 in Hornets last 8 vs. Eastern Conference.

Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City (-13.5, 205)

Thunder lead series 3-1

The third-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will attempt to close out their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday and may have to do so without All-Star small forward Kevin Durant. A flagrant 2 foul got Durant ejected late in Saturday's 119-108 road win over the sixth-seeded Mavericks and he now faces the possibility of being suspended for Game 5.

Durant was called for the flagrant 2 after trying to contest a shot by Dallas guard Justin Anderson and smacking him the rookie in the face with his forearm. "I wasn't trying to hurt him," Durant told reporters afterward. "Plenty of plays this season where I blocked shots like that from behind. Just unfortunate I fouled him over the head. It was a flagrant, even though I wasn't trying to intentionally foul him. The refs had to make a decision and they made the right one. It was just bad timing." Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki is playing with a bruised knee and will be trying to keep his team alive after excelling with 27 points and eight rebounds in Game 4. "Hey, we've all got to enjoy it while we can," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said after Game 4. "We're seeing one of the most special athletes in sports history and doing it at an amazingly high level at really an advanced stage in his career."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, KTXA (Dallas), FSN Oklahoma

LINE HISTORY: The Thunder opened as massive 13-point favorites for this home court elimination game, but it appears that 13 points wasn't enough for the betting public as the books bumped the line to -13.5 early Sunday morning. The total opened at 205 and hasn't moved at this point. Check out the complete line history here.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (43-43, 46-39-1 ATS, 41-44-1 O/U): Point guard Deron Williams (sports hernia) departed just 89 seconds into Game 4 after aggravating the injury and will miss the rest of the series. "I think he's done for the year," Carlisle told reporters. "That's what I think. I don't expect him to play in Game 5." Point guard J.J. Berea (groin) missed all seven of his shots while struggling through a scoreless Game 4 and Dallas will again rely heavily on Raymond Felton, who had 19 points and 11 assists on Saturday and is averaging 19.3 points over the past three games.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (58-28, 40-45-1 ATS, 41-45 O/U): Point guard Russell Westbrook had 25 points and 15 assists and has recorded double-doubles in all four games of the series. Westbrook scored 22 of Oklahoma City's 32 third-quarter points as he helped the Thunder maintain the quicker pace and not let the game settle into the low-scoring affair (85-84 in Game 2) that resulted in Dallas' lone victory. "The name of the game is come out and play basketball and that's what we've done the last two games, especially here," Westbrook told reporters. "We know a lot of their game is to kind of muck up the game and I think we're doing a great job of staying above it."

TRENDS:

* Mavericks are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 Conference Quarterfinals games.
* Thunder are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Western Conference.
* Under is 6-1 in Mavericks last 7 road games.
* Mavericks are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

Los Angeles Clippers at Portland Trail Blazers (+2.5, 206.5)

Clippers lead series 2-1

The Portland Trail Blazers turned the series around at home in Game 3 and will try to even things up at two wins apiece when they host the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4 on Monday. The Trail Blazers finally got strong performances in the same game from Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum on Saturday, which boosted their confidence moving forward.

“I knew that this game, if we would have lost this game, we would have been in some real trouble,” Lillard told reporters after the 96-88 win in Game 3. “So I just wanted to come out and leave it out there, be aggressive on the offensive end and help on the defensive end. … Just be in attack mode for 48 minutes and our entire team did that.” Lillard was a combined 13-of-39 from the floor in the first two games but knocked down 10-of-20 en route to 32 points in the return home on Saturday. The Clippers held a four-point lead with under four minutes to play in Game 3 before being outscored 15-1 the rest of the way and were disappointed in their inability to put the game away. “We really don’t want to go into these long playoff series,” Los Angeles guard J.J. Redick told reporters. “Anything can happen, as it showed last year against Houston (when the Clippers squandered a 3-1 lead). When you have a team down, and we had a four-point lead against a team we had 2-0 - we had a great opportunity to go up 3-0, and on Monday, we’ll have an opportunity to go up 3-1.”

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), KGW (Portland)

LINE HISTORY: The Blazers opened as 2.5-point dogs at home for Game 4 and that line hasn't moved since hitting the board early Sunday morning. The total opened at 206 and was bumped up to 206.5 almost immediately after release. Check out the complete line history here.

ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (55-30, 42-40-3 ATS, 34-51 O/U): Los Angeles forward Blake Griffin was one of the players talking about the team’s need to stay aggressive after going up 2-0 in the series, and he was disappointed in the team’s Game 3 effort. “They beat us in almost every facet of the game,” Griffin told reporters. “They outhustled us, they were better on the glass, they got the 50-50 balls. They had more energy. They flew around. They executed their game plan. You could tell they wanted to go early. They were tougher than us. They were more aggressive. They were tougher.” The Clippers went 3-of-18 from 3-point range in the loss and Redick was held to five points after totaling 34 in the first two contests.

ABOUT THE BLAZERS (45-40, 45-40 ATS, 44-41 O/U): Lillard and McCollum (27 points on 11-of-22 shooting) handled the bulk of the scoring in Game 3 but the best performance may have come from center Mason Plumlee, who collected six points, 21 rebounds and nine assists. “Obviously, the rebounds speak for themselves,” Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters of Plumlee. “His playmaking, his running into screens – he had an exceptional game. The rebounding was the biggest thing because that’s been kind of a weak point for us in the series, but his passing, he’s been doing that all year for us.” The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Clippers 63-56 behind Plumlee’s big game.

TRENDS:

* Hawks are 0-5 ATS in their last five road games.
* Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last five games following a ATS win.
* Under is 4-1 in Hawks last five games overall.
* Under is 12-3 in Celtics last 15 games following a straight up win.

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**Udog** · 04-25-2016, 07:38 AM

NBA
Short Sheet

Monday, April 25

Miami at Charlotte, 7:05 ET
Miami: 19-9 ATS after playing a game as an underdog
Charlotte: 45-69 ATS at home after 3 games forcing opp to commit 14 or less turnovers

Dallas at Oklahoma City, 8:05 ET
Dallas: 48-27 ATS in road games after a combined score of 225 points or more
Oklahoma City: 31-41 ATS after playing a game as favorite

LA Clippers at Portland, 10:35 ET
Los Angeles: 35-55 ATS after 3 straight games committing 14 or less turnovers
Portland: 17-7 ATS off an upset win as an underdog

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Monday, April 25

Dallas-Oklahoma City (OC 3-1)
Five Thunder subs were combined +43 in 11-point win in Game 4; Oklahoma City won seven of last eight games with Dallas-- Mavs are 7-7 vs spread in last 14 series games. Nine of last twelve series games went over. 10 of last 13 Dallas games stayed under total. Kanter had 28 points off bench in Game 4, making 12-13 from field for Thunder. Dallas is 3-2 vs spread in its last five visits here.

Charlotte-Miami (M 2-1)
Hornets lost five of last eight games with Miami (over 6-1); in series where home side won nine of last 1 games (3-0 in this series). Heat lost four of last five visits here. Hornets are 5-8 in their last 13 games overall against Miami. Charlotte won five of its last eight games (over 7-1); they won their last four home games. Miami won six of its last nine games- they shot over 51% in both Games 1-2, but then just 34.2% in Game 3.- their bench was 4-17

Portland-LA Clippers (LA 2-1)
Home side won all three series games; Lillard/MCollum combined for 59 points in Game 3 win, after losing by 20-21 points in first two series games. Clippers are 8-3 in last 11 series games, 3-2 in last five played in Portland. Blazers are just 21-81 on arc in series; Plumlee had 21 boards last game. Trailblazers won eight of their last 12 games overall; seven of their last nine games stayed under the total.

Playoff tally: Favorites vs spread: 19-11, Over: 9-21

NBA

Monday, April 25

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
MIAMI vs. CHARLOTTE
Miami is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
Miami is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Charlotte is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games when playing at home against Miami
Charlotte is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Miami

8:00 PM
DALLAS vs. OKLAHOMA CITY
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Dallas's last 7 games on the road
Dallas is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oklahoma City's last 5 games at home
Oklahoma City is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home

10:30 PM
LA CLIPPERS vs. PORTLAND
LA Clippers are 3-6 SU in their last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of the LA Clippers last 7 games when playing Portland
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Portland's last 7 games when playing LA Clippers
Portland is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games at home

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**Udog** · 04-25-2016, 09:14 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Monday, April 25

Dallas @ Oklahoma City

Game 563-564
April 25, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Dallas
116.950
Oklahoma City
128.436
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Oklahoma City
by 11 1/2
198
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Oklahoma City
by 14 1/2
205 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Dallas
(+14 1/2); Under

LA Clippers @ Portland

Game 565-566
April 25, 2016 @ 10:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
LA Clippers
125.567
Portland
119.926
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
LA Clippers
by 5 1/2
209
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
LA Clippers
by 2 1/2
206
Dunkel Pick:
LA Clippers
(-2 1/2); Over

Miami @ Charlotte

Game 561-562
April 25, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Miami
122.924
Charlotte
121.415
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Miami
by 1 1/2
189
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Charlotte
by 3
195 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Miami
(+3); Under

**Udog** · 04-25-2016, 11:48 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Monday, April 25

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MIAMI (50 - 35) at CHARLOTTE (49 - 36) - 4/25/2016, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHARLOTTE is 22-7 ATS (+14.3 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
MIAMI is 153-118 ATS (+23.2 Units) in road games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game since 1996.
MIAMI is 24-14 ATS (+8.6 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season this season.
MIAMI is 36-27 ATS (+6.3 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
MIAMI is 12-7 against the spread versus CHARLOTTE over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI is 14-5 straight up against CHARLOTTE over the last 3 seasons
12 of 19 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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DALLAS (43 - 43) at OKLAHOMA CITY (58 - 28) - 4/25/2016, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 29-43 ATS (-18.3 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 38-53 ATS (-20.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 19-36 ATS (-20.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 27-40 ATS (-17.0 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 347-281 ATS (+37.9 Units) as an underdog since 1996.
DALLAS is 463-384 ATS (+40.6 Units) in road games since 1996.
DALLAS is 71-47 ATS (+19.3 Units) in road games against Northwest division opponents since 1996.
DALLAS is 183-144 ATS (+24.6 Units) in road games revenging a loss vs opponent since 1996.
DALLAS is 137-103 ATS (+23.7 Units) in road games after allowing 105 points or more since 1996.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 26-37 ATS (-14.7 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
OKLAHOMA CITY is 8-7 against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA CITY is 9-6 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
9 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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LA CLIPPERS (55 - 30) at PORTLAND (45 - 40) - 4/25/2016, 10:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LA CLIPPERS are 84-116 ATS (-43.6 Units) after 3 or more consecutive unders since 1996.
LA CLIPPERS are 192-251 ATS (-84.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
PORTLAND is 54-34 ATS (+16.6 Units) as a home underdog of 3 points or less since 1996.
PORTLAND is 17-7 ATS (+9.3 Units) off an upset win as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
LA CLIPPERS are 20-9 ATS (+10.1 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
PORTLAND is 7-7 against the spread versus LA CLIPPERS over the last 3 seasons
LA CLIPPERS is 9-5 straight up against PORTLAND over the last 3 seasons
8 of 14 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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Announcement

Monday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 4/25

Monday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 4/25

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