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**Udog** · 05-06-2016, 08:20 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

Notes from VegasInsider.com on the Kentucky Derby.......

1) Trojan Nation (50-1)-- Its been 80+ years since a maiden won this race.

3) Creator (10-1)-- One of many closers; has navigated thru traffic before.

4) Mo Tom (20-1)-- Got a lousy ride in the Louisiana Derby.

8) Exaggerator (8-1)-- Ran well in Santa Anita Derby, but on a wet track.

13) Nyquist (3-1)-- Favorite is undefeated in his seven-race career.

17) Mor Spirit (12-1)-- His jockey (Gary Stevens) has won Derby three times.

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here.......

13) Playoff hockey is tremendously tremendous; Nashville scored a goal at 2:05am ET to beat San Jose 4-3 in triple OT and even their series 2-2. Great fun; the effort these players put out is just very impressive. Outstanding entertainment.

12) Houston Astros didn't win consecutive games in April; they're first team in 34 years to make the playoffs one year, then not win consecutive games the next April.

11) Indiana Pacers fired Frank Vogel Thursday; Vogel was 250-181 in the regular season, 31-30 in playoff games, and he gets fired? Not unlike Anaheim Ducks firing their coach last week, after an early playoff ouster. It seems terribly unfair.

10) So far in interleague baseball games this season, over is 25-12.

9) Scott Kerkin pointed this out on Twitter: over the last 22 years, the AL team that had the best April record made the playoffs 18 of those 22 years. That team this year is the Chicago White Sox.

8) The outfield at Marlins Park is a little messed up; they had a Beyonce concert there last weekend and re-sodded the outfield afterwards, but there were complaints about the soft dirt on the warning track. Last night was only fourth time the roof was open at Marlins Park-- it rains a lot in the early evening in south Florida.

7) One more Marlins note; Miami opponents are 0-9 this year when they challenge calls via replay; you wonder what umpires hear from the league office when their calls get overturned. Some umpires have to get overturned more than others.

6) Houston Astros starting pitchers have finished six innings in only six of their last 18 games; they need to improve that, or the bullpen will implode. Teams that win are teams whose bullpens need to get less than nine outs per game.

Wednesday night, Astros are up 9-4 in 5th inning with two outs. Seattle has a couple guys on base and AJ Hinch takes Mike Fiers out, not a great show of faith. Maybe it was the right move, but making the bullpen get 13 outs in that game was curious.

5) Bartolo Colon is older than 14 of the 30 major league managers.

4) Rockies 17, Giants 7-- SF gave up 12+ runs in an inning for second time in last six days. Tim Lincecum has a showcase today; will the Giants be interested?

3) Derek Law is a reliever for the Giants; his dad Joe Law pitched in minors for nine years he was in major leagues for four days, but never got into a game, which seems kind of sad. Even if he only got in once, like Moonlight Graham in the movies.

2) My best friend in first grade was a huge hockey fan; he had one of those rod hockey games in his house, the first one I ever saw. After that year, his parents put him in another school and we went our separate ways. Years later, I found out that he became a state trooper and his son was playing as a defenseman in the AHL.

Looked it up on the Internet; his son got to the NHL briefly and played one game for the Sharks. Must be pretty cool to see your name on hockey-reference.com.

1) Judging from what I heard on TV today, Donald Trump is basically a third-party candidate, and the Republicans are sitting the election out. Lot of these Republicans seem like spoiled rich kids who take their ball and go home if they don't get their way.

**Udog** · 05-06-2016, 08:25 AM

NBA

Friday, May 6

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Friday's NBA playoffs betting preview and odds
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LaMarcus Aldridge is 33-of-44 shooting in the two games while putting up 38 and 41 points as the Thunder were powerless to slow him down.

The Atlanta Hawks will be looking to rebound from the drubbing they took at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 in the early game and the Spurs travel to Oklahoma City to continue the best series of the playoffs thus far in the nightcap.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks (+3, 199)

Cavaliers lead series 2-0

The Cleveland Cavaliers are fresh off the greatest 3-point shooting performance in NBA history and look to once again dismantle the host Atlanta Hawks in Friday's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland knocked down a record 25 3-pointers - the most in the regular season or postseason - while rolling to a 123-98 win that represents its 10th consecutive playoff victory over the Hawks.

Shooting guard J.R. Smith made seven 3-pointers en route to 23 points while point guard Kyrie Irving and small forward LeBron James each made four as the Cavaliers turned the arena into their personal shooting gallery. "(It) was a special night for all of us who played," James told reporters afterward. "This league has seen so many great teams, so many great players and great shooters and for us to set an all-time record is truly special." Atlanta was demoralized while facing a 74-38 halftime deficit and shooting guard Kyle Korver was in disbelief over what he was viewing. "When they put those shots down, I don't know if anyone can beat them, to be honest," Korver told reporters. "We were hoping that they'd start missing at some point."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened up as 2.5-point favorite on the road for this Game 3 matchup, but the betting public jumped all over that line and the books were forced to move the Cavs to -3. The total opened at 200 and dropped slightly to 199 by Thursday evening. Check out the complete line history here.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (63-25, 41-44-3 ATS, 44-44 O/U): Cleveland made 40 3-pointers over the first two games of the series with a supremely confident Smith leading the way by going 11-of-20 from behind the arc. "Honestly, I feel like that every time I play, to be honest with you," Smith told reporters of his high confidence level. "Whenever I shoot the ball, I have confidence that it's going to go in." The Cavaliers made 18 3-pointers in the first half - eight in the opening quarter, 10 in the second - and 10 different players made at least one.

ABOUT THE HAWKS (52-38, 45-44-1 ATS, 40-50 O/U): Atlanta faces a do-or-die situation in Game 3 and would like to avoid being swept in a playoff series by the Cavaliers for the second straight season. Coach Mike Budenholzer put on the brave face even though his team is reeling and appears to ready to cave. "It's one game," Budenholzer told reporters after the Game 2 trouncing. "They won their two games on their home court. Now we're going home."

TRENDS:

* Cavaliers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Southeast.
* Hawks are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up loss.
* Over is 5-1 in Cavaliers last 6 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
* Under is 7-1 in Hawks last 8 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
* Cavaliers are 6-0 ATS in the last 6 meetings.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder (+2, 200)

Series tied 1-1

San Antonio power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been unstoppable in the Western Conference semifinals but all that production has only provided the Spurs with a split. Aldridge and San Antonio look to move ahead in the series with the host Oklahoma City Thunder when the teams resume play in Friday's Game 3.

Aldridge is 33-of-44 shooting in the two games while putting up 38 and 41 points as the Thunder were powerless to slow him down. "One man can't beat you, so we're fine with that," Oklahoma City backup guard Dion Waiters told reporters. "If they want to continue to get out of their offense and throw the ball down there to him, we're fine with that. One guy can't beat us, no matter how much he scores." The Thunder lost the first game of the series by 32 points before putting forth a much better effort in Monday's controversial 98-97 victory - a contest in which the NBA said there were five officiating calls missed in the final 13.5 seconds. "It's over now," Aldridge told reporters the following day. "You can't keep harping on it."

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

LINE HISTORY: This is one where the line history link at the end of this paragraph is well worth clicking. The Thunder opened as 1.5-point favorites at home after returning from San Antonio with a split of the first two games. The public bet the Spurs so hard that the books didn't just drop the line a point or two - they flipped the line and installed the Spurs as 1.5-point favorites on the road. Bettors continued to wager on the Spurs so the books moved their line another half point to -2. The total opened at 199 and gradually made its way up to 200 by Thursday evening. Check out the complete line history here.

ABOUT THE SPURS (72-16, 48-40 ATS, 37-49-2 O/U): Aldridge has scored nearly 36 percent of San Antonio's points in the series but he wasn't feeling all that great about his Game 2 performance due to the result. "It feels horrible, feels like it was wasted," Aldridge told reporters. "I've never been about trying to get points and not win - I always try to do things to win. If you win, it's totally a different feeling, but losing like that hurts." Small forward Kawhi Leonard is averaging 19.5 points in the series but had a disappointing showing on Monday with 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (60-29, 41-47-1 ATS, 43-46 O/U): After being dominated in the opening game of the series, Oklahoma City started strong and carried the pace for most of Game 2. "Not only the pace, but we were playing smarter and better," power forward Serge Ibaka told reporters. "We were attacking in the fast break when we had to and when we didn't have an opportunity we slowed it down and ran a play." Point guard Russell Westbrook had 29 points and 10 assists in Game 2 after having just 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting in the opener, and small forward Kevin Durant also had a much-improved showing with 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting after being held to 16 on 6-of-15 shooting in Game 1.

TRENDS:

* Spurs are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Thunder are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 Friday games.
* Under is 13-3 in Spurs last 16 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
* Under is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings in Oklahoma City.
* Spurs are 2-11 ATS in the last 13 meetings in Oklahoma City.

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**Udog** · 05-06-2016, 08:27 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Friday, May 6

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CLEVELAND (63 - 25) at ATLANTA (52 - 38) - 5/6/2016, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CLEVELAND is 35-43 ATS (-12.3 Units) as a favorite this season.
ATLANTA is 100-84 ATS (+7.6 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
ATLANTA is 24-13 ATS (+9.7 Units) on Friday nights over the last 2 seasons.
ATLANTA is 130-98 ATS (+22.2 Units) in home games after a loss by 10 points or more since 1996.
ATLANTA is 57-39 ATS (+14.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
ATLANTA is 35-23 ATS (+9.7 Units) in home games versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
ATLANTA is 7-23 ATS (-18.3 Units) in the second round of the playoffs since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
CLEVELAND is 10-6 against the spread versus ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
CLEVELAND is 10-6 straight up against ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
11 of 16 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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SAN ANTONIO (72 - 16) at OKLAHOMA CITY (60 - 29) - 5/6/2016, 9:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SAN ANTONIO is 48-40 ATS (+4.0 Units) in all games this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 47-35 ATS (+8.5 Units) as a favorite this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 29-12 ATS (+15.8 Units) when tied in a playoff series since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 195-136 ATS (+45.4 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 71-55 ATS (+10.5 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 99+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 39-47 ATS (-12.7 Units) in all games this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
OKLAHOMA CITY is 12-7 against the spread versus SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA CITY is 10-9 straight up against SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
11 of 19 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA
Short Sheet

Friday, May 6

Cleveland at Atlanta, 7:05 ET
Cleveland: 2-10 ATS after 2 straight wins by 10 points or more
Atlanta: 8-1 ATS in home games after having lost 4 or 5 of their last 6

San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 9:35 ET
San Antonio: 32-18 ATS after 1 or more consecutive unders
Oklahoma City: 10-25 ATS off a road win by 3 points or less

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, May 6

Atlanta-Cleveland (C 2-0)
Cavaliers won their last nine games (8-1 vs spread) vs Hawks, covered last three played here, winning by 2-12-8 points. Five of last seven tilts in series went over total. Cleveland made 25-45 on arc in Game 2, have made 40-76 on arc so far in series. Hawks might want to guard them, just an idea. Atlanta won last six home games since 110-108 OT loss April 1 to Cleveland. Hawks were down 74-38 at the half in Game 2; would be nice if they competed just a little bit harder in this game.

Oklahoma City-San Antonio (1-1)
San Antonio won seven of its last 11 games with Oklahoma City, but Spurs lost last two visits to Oklahoma by 19-6 points; Thunder won in Game 2, despite its bench being -55 in 66:00 played. Five of last seven series games stayed under total. Spurs won seven last eight games, taking last three on road- they covered five of their last seven. Aldridge scored 41 in Game 2, but only one other guy had mre than 11-- they need to be more balanced. Thunder was 11-42 on arc in two games at Alamo.

Playoff tally: Favorites vs spread: 26-18, Over: 13-31
Second round: Favorites: 5-3, over: 4-4

NBA

Friday, May 6

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
CLEVELAND vs. ATLANTA
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 7 games when playing Atlanta
Cleveland is 4-9 SU in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games at home
Atlanta is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Cleveland

9:30 PM
SAN ANTONIO vs. OKLAHOMA CITY
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of San Antonio's last 9 games
San Antonio is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oklahoma City's last 5 games when playing San Antonio
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oklahoma City's last 6 games at home

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**Udog** · 05-06-2016, 11:29 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Friday, May 6

Cleveland @ Atlanta

Game 517-518
May 6, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Cleveland
126.948
Atlanta
121.391
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Cleveland
by 5 1/2
202
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Cleveland
by 2 1/2
198 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Cleveland
(-2 1/2); Over

San Antonio @ Oklahoma City

Game 519-520
May 6, 2016 @ 9:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
San Antonio
127.412
Oklahoma City
130.959
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Oklahoma City
by 3 1/2
204
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Oklahoma City
by 1 1/2
200
Dunkel Pick:
Oklahoma City
(-1 1/2); Over

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Friday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/6

Friday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/6

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