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**Udog** · 04-28-2017, 09:35 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

— Spurs ousted Memphis, Raptors eliminate the Bucks, both in six games.

— Detroit scored 19 runs Tuesday; they scored 0-1 runs the next two days.

— Mets are 8-13; Cespedes/Syndergaard are both hurt now. No bueno.

— If I ever write a book, one of the chapters will be “Baseball players get hurt a lot.”

— Baltimore is 14-6, with a run differential of +9. Texas is +11; their record is 10-12.

— I’m still amazed that no one drafted Florida State RB Dalvin Cook; young man is a FOOTBALL PLAYER.

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Armadillo: Running Diary of the 2017 NFL Draft……..

7:41: Trying to decide which channel to watch the draft on; NFL Network or ESPN, assuming ESPN has enough employees left to do live programming.

Seeing how I boycotted Chris Berman for the last 20 years or so, since he and Steve Young took delight in mocking the Rams when they sucked in the 90’s, I’ll give post-Berman ESPN the first shot. Plus, Deion Sanders is on NFL Network; can’t stand him.

7:46: NFL is lucky as hell; when they foolishly put a Super Bowl in New Jersey a few years ag0, they missed a big snowstorm by a day. Tonight, on April 27, it is 74 degrees in Philly. Unusual; they just as easily could’ve gotten cruddy weather- Phillies got rained out at home two nites ago.

7:53: NFL started moving the draft a few years ago, when Radio City Music Hall was unavailable for draft weekend- they’ve struck gold. Now 14 cities want to host the draft- you know it’ll be in LA when the Rams’ new stadium is finished. I’m guessing Dallas will get it soon, too.

8:07: Roger Goodell makes $32M a year or so to be NFL’s Commish; he can take getting booed. Philly fans oblige by booing the hell out of him. Weird thing is, he isn’t a lawyer. Thought you had to be a lawyer to be a commish.

Goodell family trivia: When Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, the man who replaced him as a US Senator from New York was Charles Goodell, Roger’s father.

8:10: Mel Kiper Jr, draft expert, touts Myles Garrett as a smart #1 pick for Cleveland, who is on the clock. Jon Gruden touts LSU safety Jamal Adams as the #1 pick. Gruden insists that Garrett isn’t the best player in this draft and he shows video evidence why, citing inconsistent effort.

Earlier this week, former Cowboys’ exec Gil Brandt tweeted that only 14.5 of Garrett’s 31 sacks in college came against SEC competition.

8:14: Browns take Garrett, the 5th SEC player taken #1 in the last 11 drafts. Cleveland also has the #12 pick in this round, so we’ll hear from them again in a few hours.

8:17: 49ers/Bears flip-flop the #2/#3 picks; looks like John Lynch will be trying to stockpile some draft picks in his first draft running the 49ers.

8:22: Bears take QB Mitchell Trubisky, meaning he gets to freeze his butt off for the next 10 Decembers in Chicago. Mike Glennon (3 years, $45M in Chicago) must be happier than hell; he signed with the Bears as a free agent, now it looks like he’ll be moving along again in a year or two.

The film of Trubisky that Gruden shows isn’t flattering; Trey Wingo points out that the only North Carolina QB to ever start an NFL game is TJ Yates. Trubisky started only 13 games at UNC, but then again, he isn’t going to start for a while.

8:29: 49ers take DE Solomon Thomas from Stanford; Lynch was a great DB, so it makes sense that his first draft pick is a defensive end. The young man once lived in Australia for five years; his first favorite sport was swimming.

49ers gave up 2,600 yards rushing last year; unlike Trubisky, Moore will play right away.

8:35: Jacksonville picks in the top 5 for the 6th year n a row; they take Leonard Fournette from LSU, who missed five games last year, including one by choice. He didn’t seem to be great with catching balls out of the backfield.

College coaches use the draft to be seen on TV: Stanford’s David Shaw is working on NFL Network, Ed Orgeron, Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, Brian Kelly are all in Philly with their players. Recruiting season in college football is 365/12/7/24- tonite is no exception.

Fournette’s agent, by the way, is Jay Z.

8:43: Tennessee, with one of the picks acquired in the Jared Goff trade, selects WR Corey Davis of Western Michigan, the only D-I team to offer him a scholarship out of high school.

49ers, by the way, got two extra draft picks from the Bears for dropping from #2 to #3.

8:51: Jets draft LSU safety Jamal Adams; Todd Bowles was a DB when he played, so this makes perfect sense. Gruden loves Adams- this is a good pick. Jets allowed 30 TDs LY, had only eight INT’s. Louis Riddick praises Adams’ constant effort.

I would love to know how many kids get drafted by the Jets/Giants but aren’t aware that the teams play in New Jersey, not New York. There have to be at least one or two.

Adams’ father is George Adams, who played RB for the Giants 30 years ago, so we know he knows the Jets play in the Garden State.

Since 1987, Adams family is 8th father/son combo who were both drafted in the first round. Two of those eight are Mannings.

9:00: Chargers are on the clock; it still saddens me that they left San Diego, screwing their loyal fans for no decent reason, other than abject greed. They’re not the only ones who have done it, but they seem to be the team who left a pretty good situation to be a tenant in Los Angeles.

Chargers took WR Mike Williams instead of his college teammate, Deshaun Watson. Philip Rivers had to like this pick. Williams comes from a hometown of 170 people.

9:04: Carolina takes Christian McCaffrey from Stanford; his dad played for the Broncos, his granddad was once the fastest man in the world.

Fallout of this: Fournette/McCaffrey both skipped their bowl game to avoid injury, and they both benefitted with a solid draft position— will that makes this an increasing trend this fall?

Four of the first eight players taken went to LSU or Stanford.

9:12: Bengals take WR John Ross from Washington, whose pee-wee coach as a kid was Snoop Dawg (seriously). Ross is really, really fast, but he is going to play a decent amount of games in cold weather and he has had injury issues (shoulder. knee). Has he ever played in cold weather?

9:15: Chiefs trade up to the #10 spot in the draft; Buffalo trades down, but they get an extra #1 pick next year, to drop down 17 spots— KC has to be taking a QB, right?

9:18: ESPN fires Andy Katz, Ed Werder, Jayson Stark, but we’re supposed to watch the 6:00 SportsCenter because Ice Cube plays dominos with Jemele Hill? Oy.

9:20: Chiefs take Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes, whose dad pitched in the big leagues; he is the first QB taken in the first round by the Chiefs since Todd Blackledge, in 1983.

Gruden is tight with Andy Reid (Packer assistants together in early 90’s); he compares Mahomes to Brett Favre— seriously, he did.

As ESPN goes to commercial, Deshaun Watson doesn’t look very happy. Hey, Thurman Thomas once sat in a diner for half a day waiting to be drafted- his career turned out pretty well.

9:28: Saints take a DB from Ohio State that Jon Gruden doesn’t like that much. I like it when there is criticism; not every player is the greatest player ever.

Random rant: I bought a MacBook Pro last August; the keyboard sucks, with G and T keys often sticking. For $1,300, thought I’d get a decent keyboard. Otherwise, the laptop is fine.

9:35: Houston Texans traded up to draft Deshaun Watson, who won a lot of football games in college, but did throw 30 INT’s over the last two years, most in the whole country in I-A.

Texans have started 8 QB’s in three years under Bill O’Brien (QB guru). What makes this guy such a guru if he couldn’t make any of those eight QB’s serviceable players?

9:43: Arizona is on the clock; Carson Palmer turns 38 in December, so of course, they take a linebacker from Temple, where Bruce Arians was once the head coach. Local Philly fans eat up the local kid makes good angle.

Good news for Drew Stanton, Arizona’s current backup QB.

9:52: Hometown Eagles are on the clock: Gruden says they have to draft a CB. The crowd of roughly 70,000 is VERY EXCITED.

Eagles select Derek Barnett, a DE from Tennessee. He had more sacks in college than Reggie White— this is the pick Philly got from the Vikings for Sam Bradford. Eagle fans do not seem real happy, but unlike Myles Garrett, 29 of his 33 career sacks were in SEC games.

10:00: Colts take S Malik Hooker, who wanted to play basketball at Pitt, but Jamie Dixon never offered him, so he went to play football at Ohio State.

Louis Riddick says he needs to tackle better, Gruden says he has been hurt too much and hasn’t played enough football to be taken this high- he only played two years of HS football.

10:07: I don’t care if people boo Goodell, he seems like a good man. When the Ravens take a CB from Alabama, a 14-year old Make-a-Wish kid announces the pick, and Goodell introduces the young man. Then again, having the kid there means Goodell doesn’t get booed.

Mel Kiper’s five best available players are all SEC players, three from Alabama.

Random fact: Joe Flacco’s cap hit this year is $24.55M, highest in the NFL.

10:16: Redskins take Jonathan Allen, DE from Alabama, a pick applauded by the ESPN panel. Gruden is shocked he was available at #17, but apparently he has injury issues (shoulder).

10:20: “Who knows what they’re going to do?” Gruden on the Titans, who are up next.

Tennessee takes Adoree Jackson, a CB from USC who also played some WR for the Trojans and is a return threat. Jackson apparently also runs track; curious to see if that continues.

This will all be a lot more fun tomorrow, when the Rams have picks. Should’ve hung a #16 Rams jersey in the room tonight as a reminder of why we don’t have a pick in the first round.

10:27: Last year was Tampa Bay’s first winning season since 2010, but they didn’t make the playoffs. They took OJ Howard, a TE from Alabama, who should help open up their offense. He is Alabama’s 20th #1 draft pick since 2010, nine more than any other school.

Bucs are on Hard Knocks this summer; their CB Brett Grimes is married to a woman who is a real character— she is very outspoken on social media and doesn’t hold back. If HBO gets a mike on her, Hard Knocks will be highly entertaining TV.

10:31: First offensive lineman comes off the board at #20, Garrett Bolles to Denver; this kid was kicked out of five schools. Five. He brought his little baby up on stage with him.

Apparently the kid’s lacrosse coach wound up getting thru to him and straightening him out. Hopefully Mr Bolles will send that man a nice gift- he is also a 25-year old rookie, by the way. Denver really needed a good offensive lineman.

This is the latest the draft has ever gone before an offensive lineman was selected.

10:40: Detroit Lions take Jarrad Davis, a LB from Florida, who gets high marks for having good character. Was fun to hear that. Gruden thinks he will start as a rookie.

10:42: Dolphins take a kid from Missouri who has someone dressed as a Star Wars character sitting behind him in his house.

Wonder if Missouri alums are happy with their move to the SEC? I’m guessing the school’s accountants are happy; the SEC is a freakin’ gold mine, but on the field/court, Mizzou has mostly sucked in the SEC.

10:46: How in God’s name is Dalvin Cook still available? The Florida State RB is a FOOTBALL PLAYER.

Giants take a tight end from Ole Miss, further proof that Eli Manning runs the franchise.

10:54: Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders take a CB from Ohio State who, according to Raiders’ tradition, was accused of sexual assault recently. Wouldn’t be the Raiders if they took a solid citizen, though the young man hasn’t been charged with any crime and he strongly denies the accusation. Hopefully the kid was a victim of a potential scammer.

11:03: Cleveland is back on the clock: they take Jabril Peppers, a safety from Michigan who had a diluted drug sample at the Combine. This is the 5th time in 11 years, the Browns have had two first round picks.

One of the guys who runs the Cleveland Browns’ front office now was the Jonah Hill character in Moneyball, an Ivy League nitwit who played WR at Harvard in college, but made his reputation in baseball front offices.

Appears as if the Browns upgraded their defense tonight; Gregg Williams is the Browns’ new defensive coordinator- as a Rams’ fan, I think highly of Williams after he was our DC the last few years.

11:10: Atlanta Falcons trade with Seattle to move up to the #26 slot; Falcons have two new coordinators this year, unusual for a team that did so well last year- they take Takkarist McKinley, a LB from UCLA who was a sprinter in high school and who was raised by his grandmother after his mother deserted him at age 6.

11:18: Buffalo takes another LSU CB: Ed Orgeron might be there to support his guys, but in reality these are guys recruited and coached mostly by Les Miles, who put so many guys into the NFL it wound up costing him his job.

11:20: Dallas Cowboys get a worse greeting than Goodell when their turn is announced; no one is less popular in Philly than the Cowboys, who take Taco Charlton, a pass rusher that played at Michigan.

Long time ago, I knew a guy from Philly who wore a green windbreaker; on the back was a drawing of an animated Eagle urinating on the Cowboy logo. Oy.

11:32: Browns have traded up for a third pick in the first round; during the commercial break I put the A’s game on and saw something I never saw before— Kendall Graveman recorded an unassisted double play and he’s a pitcher— great play by him on a comebacker.

Cleveland drafts a TE from Miami; he will be a 20-year old rookie who looks more like a WR than a tight end. He has a lot of people celebrating with him when he gets drafted.

11:35: After a tribute to the late Dan Rooney, the Steelers pick JJ Watt’s brother, a LB from Wisconsin. Steelers play in Houston Christmas night.

11:40: 49ers/Saints have the last two picks tonite— San Francisco takes Reuben Foster, their third defensive player taken tonite.

New Orleans ends the first round by taking a tackle from Wisconsin, someone to protect Drew Brees as his career winds down. Ryan Ramczyk once quit football to become a welder; lucky for him he got talked out of that blunder.

There is a kid named Forrest Lamp in the draft, an offensive lineman from Western Kentucky. When he gets drafted, I will call him a bright kid, because his freakin’ name is Lamp!!!!

If Gruden or Mel Kiper criticize the team that selects Lamp, will they be throwing shade?

Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed it.

**Udog** · 04-28-2017, 11:18 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Friday, April 28

Washington @ Atlanta

Game 511-512
April 28, 2017 @ 7:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Washington
120.919
Atlanta
119.147
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 2
206
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Atlanta
by 3
210
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
(+3); Under

Boston @ Chicago

Game 509-510
April 28, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Boston
127.458
Chicago
118.388
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Boston
by 9
195
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Boston
by 2
204 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Boston
(-2); Under

LA Clippers @ Utah

Game 507-508
April 28, 2017 @ 10:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
LA Clippers
125.818
Utah
128.939
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Utah
by 3
201
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Utah
by 6
192 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
LA Clippers
(+6); Over

NBA
Long Sheet

Friday, April 28

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LA CLIPPERS (53 - 34) at UTAH (54 - 33) - 4/28/2017, 10:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LA CLIPPERS are 208-263 ATS (-81.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
LA CLIPPERS are 190-235 ATS (-68.5 Units) versus good defensive teams - allowing <=98 points/game - 2nd half of the season since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
UTAH is 9-7 against the spread versus LA CLIPPERS over the last 3 seasons
LA CLIPPERS is 11-5 straight up against UTAH over the last 3 seasons
8 of 16 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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BOSTON (56 - 31) at CHICAGO (43 - 44) - 4/28/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 2-15 ATS (-14.5 Units) after 3 or more consecutive wins this season.
CHICAGO is 22-10 ATS (+11.0 Units) in home games after a loss by 10 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 16-5 ATS (+10.5 Units) after 3 or more consecutive losses over the last 3 seasons.
BOSTON is 25-16 ATS (+7.4 Units) in road games this season.
CHICAGO is 8-20 ATS (-14.0 Units) on Friday nights over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 9-7 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 8-8 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
8 of 14 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WASHINGTON (52 - 35) at ATLANTA (45 - 42) - 4/28/2017, 7:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WASHINGTON is 146-189 ATS (-61.9 Units) on Friday nights since 1996.
WASHINGTON is 178-220 ATS (-64.0 Units) vs. division opponents since 1996.
ATLANTA is 14-6 ATS (+7.4 Units) after a division game this season.
ATLANTA is 81-58 ATS (+17.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.
ATLANTA is 22-32 ATS (-13.2 Units) as a favorite this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 13-9 against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 12-11 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
13 of 23 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA
Short Sheet

Friday, April 28

Western Conference – Round 1 – Best of 7 – Game 6 – UTH Leads 3-2

LA Clippers at Utah, 10:35 PM ET
Los Angeles: LA CLIPPERS are 11-3 UNDER when playing with 2 days rest
Utah: 2-12 ATS in home games after covering 4 of their last 5 against the spread

Eastern Conference – Round 1 – Best of 7 – Game 6 – BOS Leads 3-2

Boston at Chicago, 8:05 PM ET
Boston: 17-8 ATS when the line is +3 to -3
Chicago: 23-12 UNDER (+9.8 Units) as a favorite

Western Conference – Round 1 – Best of 7 – Game 6 – WAS Leads 3-2

Washington at Atlanta, 7:35 PM ET
Washington: 43-24 UNDER in road games off a win against a division rival
Atlanta: 9-0 ATS after 2 consecutive division games

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, April 28

Celtics won last three series games, by 17-9-11 points, with Rondo out with broken thumb- he is not expected back here; their series wins stayed under total, their losses went over. Under is 6-3 in last nine series games overall. Bulls shot 50% from floor in Game 3 loss but were -10 (16-6) in turnovers. Chicago is 20-71 on arc in its last three games. Boston won Games 3-4 here, by 17-9 points; Bulls’ last four home games stayed under the total. Celtics were 9-40 on arc in last game, but 23-23 on foul line, most FT’s they’ve taken in game in this series.

Home side won nine of last ten Wizard-Hawk games, including all five in this series (favorites 4-1 vs spread); Wizards lost Games 3-4 here by 2-10 points. Three of last four series games stayed under total- under is 5-2-1 in last eight series games overall. Hawks’ bench was 8-24 from floor in Game 5 loss; Atlanta won its last five home games, scoring 115.8 pts/game. In its three series losses, Hawks were -7/-7/-5 in turnovers; they were +4/+2 in two wins. Dwight Howard played 28:00 in Game 5, took three shots from floor (1-4 FT’s); how is that possible?

Gobert played 36:00 in Game 5, scoring 11 points, grabbing 11 boards; his +6 was second-best for Jazz in huge road win. Utah bench outscored Clippers’ subs 36-16 in Game 5 upset at Staples. Jazz bench has 102-53 scoring edge in last two tilts. Clippers scored 99-111 points in two series wins- they scored less than 99 in all three losses, Road team is 3-2 SU in this series; under is 3-2 in series. Clippers won three of last five games in SLC (over 4-1). LA bench was just 5-22 from floor in Game 5; they’ll need more from Crawford here.

First round playoff series:
Boston-Chicago
Chi 106-102, +7, O207
Chi 111-97, +7.5, O206.5
Bos 104-87, -2.5, U206
Bos 104-95, -1.5, U204
Bos 108-97, –7.5, U205.5

Cleveland-Indiana
Clev 109-108, -9, O208.5
Clev 117-111, -9, O210
Clev 119-114, –1.5, O210
Clev 106-102, -4, U214
Cavaliers win series, 4-0

Toronto-Milwaukee
Mil 97-83, +7.5, U197.5
Tor 106-100, -8, O195
Mil 104-77, –2, U197
Tor 87-76, +2.5, U194
Tor 118-93, -6, O193
Tor 92-89, +1.5, U196.5
Raptors win series, 4-2

Washington-Atlanta
Wash 114-107, -5.5, O209.5
Wash 109-101, -6.5, U211.5
All 110-108, -2.5, O211
Atl 111-101, -2.5 U212.5
Wash 103-99, -6.5, U212

Golden State-Portland
GState 121-109, -15.5, O220
GState 110-81, –12, U219
GState 119-113, -5, O217.5
GState 128-103, -9, O222.5
Warriors win series, 4-0

San Antonio-Memphis
SA 111-82, -9.5, O190.5
SA 96-82, -10.5, U189
Mem 105-94, +3.5, O188
Mem 110-108, +5.5, O187
SA 116-103, -10.5, O188.5
SA 103-96, -5.5, O190.5
Spurs win series, 4-2

Houston-Oklahoma City
Hst 118-87 -7.5, U227.5
Hst 115-111, -7.5, O225.5
OC 115-113, -2.5, O224
Hst 113-109, +1, U223.5
Hst 105-99, -7.5, U223.5
Rockets win series, 4-1

LA Clippers-Utah
Utah 97-95, +6, U198.5
LAC 99-91, -9, U200
LAC 111-106, -1.5, O197.5
Utah 105-98, -5, O196
Utah 96-92, +3, U195.5

Favorites: 18-21-1 vs spread
Over: 21-19

NBA

Friday, April 28

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Trend Report
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7:30 PM
WASHINGTON vs. ATLANTA
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Washington's last 15 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Washington is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games on the road
Atlanta is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing Washington
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Atlanta's last 15 games when playing at home against Washington

8:00 PM
BOSTON vs. CHICAGO
Boston is 4-12 SU in its last 16 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Boston's last 9 games when playing Chicago
Chicago is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Boston
Chicago is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home

10:30 PM
LA CLIPPERS vs. UTAH
LA Clippers are 10-2 SU in their last 12 games when playing on the road against Utah
LA Clippers are 6-15-2 ATS in their last 23 games when playing on the road against Utah
Utah is 15-6-2 ATS in their last 23 games when playing at home against LA Clippers
Utah is 5-20 SU in their last 25 games when playing LA Clippers

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**Udog** · 04-28-2017, 11:22 AM

NBA

Friday, April 28

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Friday’s NBA Playoffs Betting Preview and Odds
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The Boston Celtics have climbed out of an early hole and look to finally put away the Chicago Bulls in their first-round series when the teams meet in the Windy City for Game 6 on Friday.

Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks (-3, 210)

Wizards lead series 3-2

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (52-35 SU, 44-42-1 ATS, 53-33-1 O/U): Washington, which would host a potential Game 7, used solid defense and questionable decision-making by the other team to keep the Hawks from scoring over the final 68 seconds to earn a 103-99 win on Wednesday in Game 5. Washington guard Bradley Beal struggled with consistency in his shooting stroke over the first five games of the series but found ways to score despite a 1-of-9 effort from 3-point range in Game 5 and scored a team-high 27 points in the win. "It's playoff time," Beal told reporters. "It's winning time, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get a win. We know that we can’t do it unless we get a stop. Whatever it takes, whether it’s rebounding, getting steals, blocking shots. Everybody plays a role. Everybody plays a part." Beal dug in on the defensive end in Game 5 and recorded three steals and three blocks.

ABOUT THE HAWKS (45-42 SU, 42-45 ATS, 34-50-3 O/U): Atlanta had its sense of urgency questioned after not fouling and letting time run off the clock in the final minute on Wednesday, and the team intends to fix those issues at home. Atlanta had a chance to win Game 5 in the end because of the play of point guard Dennis Schroder, who scored a game-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go along with 11 assists. "I think we were right there," Schroder told reporters of the closing minute of Game 5. "We had a chance to win. We missed a couple of rebounds. We missed a couple layups, shots. It’s tough. In crunch time we have to make those plays." Schroder is averaging 24.4 points in the series - up from a season mark of 17.9 - and went 5-of-6 from 3-point range in Game 5.

LINE HISTORY: The Hawks opened as three-point home favorites at home with their backs against the wall. The total hit the board at 210.

INJURY REPORT:

Wizards - PF J. Smith (Questionable, calf), C I. Mahinmi (Out Indefinitely, calf).

Hawks - No injuries to report.

TRENDS:

* Wizards are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 Friday games.
* Hawks are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games.
* Under is 4-1-1 in Wizards last 6 games playing on 1 days rest.
* Under is 8-1-1 in Hawks last 10 games playing on 1 days rest.
* Home team is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls (+2, 203.5)

Celtics lead series 3-2

ABOUT THE CELTICS (56-31 SU, 43-42-2 ATS, 42-41-4 O/U): The Boston Celtics have climbed out of an early hole and look to finally put away the Chicago Bulls in their first-round series when the teams meet in the Windy City for Game 6 on Friday. Bradley matched fellow guard Isaiah Thomas with 24 points in Game 5 but he was much more efficient, shooting 11-of-19 from the floor, compared to 6-of-17 for Thomas. "Even the stat sheet doesn't explain how good of a player he is sometimes," Thomas told the media of Bradley. "When he's not scoring or rebounding, he's doing a lot of things to help out everybody else on this team, whether that be help-side defense, whether that be making the right play on offense. He’s a complete basketball player." Center Al Horford has been making a bigger impact as the series drags on, averaging 18 points, nine rebounds, 6.3 assists and two steals in Boston's three victories.

ABOUT THE BULLS (43-44 SU, 44-43 ATS, 35-51-1 O/U): The Bulls will enter a do-or-die contest looking for more from one of their remaining stars. Jimmy Butler was held to a series-low 14 points in Game 5 and is shooting 38.5 percent in Chicago's three straight losses.Butler took just two shots during Boston's decisive 20-4 run in the fourth quarter, prompting Hoiberg to insist that the team needs to get its All-Star the ball a bit more down the stretch. Some wondered if a nagging knee issue was the reason Butler lacked his usual aggressiveness but he downplayed questions about the knee and said he will be fine for Game 6. While Butler sagged in Game 5, Dwyane Wade had his best outing since returning from an elbow injury late in the regular season, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

LINE HISTORY: The Bulls opened as one-point home favorites but that line jumped the fence Thursday afternoon and the Celtics are now listed as two-point road favorites. The total hit the board at 203.5 and has yet to move.

INJURY REPORT:

Celtics - SF J. Brown (Questionable, illness).

Bulls - PG R. Rondo (Out, thumb).

TRENDS:

* Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games.
* Bulls are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games following a straight up loss.
* Under is 11-3-2 in Celtics last 16 road games.
* Under is 10-1 in Bulls last 11 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
* Under is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings in Chicago.

Los Angeles Clippers at Utah Jazz (-6, 192.5)

Jazz lead series 3-2

ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (53-34 SU, 41-45-1 ATS, 46-40-1 O/U): Los Angeles has its back against the wall and being sent home in the opening round would leave a bitter taste in the mouths of players who were predicting a spot in the conference finals. "This team is not going to quit, I can tell you that," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "You could see it in the locker room." Los Angeles was mighty dismayed with the Game 5 showing in which it scored only 58 points through three quarters before succumbing 96-92 on its home floor. "It's no secret our back's against the wall, down 3-2," point guard Chris Paul told reporters after scoring 28 points. "Fortunately we've got a lot of guys in the locker room who had to do this a couple of years ago. We've got to do what we've got to do." The loss of power forward Blake Griffin (toe) was magnified further when Marreese Speights tallied one point while starting in Griffin's place.

ABOUT THE JAZZ (54-33 SU, 40-43-4 ATS, 44-43 O/U): The Utah Jazz haven't won a playoff series in seven years and they look to end the drought when they host the Los Angeles Clippers in Friday's Game 6 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series. The Jazz hold a 3-2 series lead and are aiming to close out their first postseason series since downing the Denver Nuggets in a first-round clash in 2010. Veteran swingman Joe Johnson averaged 9.2 points in the regular season but has increased that to 18.2 while leading a young squad toward a second-round clash with the top-seeded Golden State Warriors. Johnson has been a force in a series in which the Jazz didn't have standout center Rudy Gobert (knee) for nearly all of three consecutive games and All-Star small forward Gordon Hayward (food poisoning) was a non-entity in Game 4 before being sent home at halftime. Hayward was back on his game in Tuesday's victory as he contributed 27 points and eight rebounds while Gobert recorded 11 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots. "We have to treat this one as a must-win," Hayward told reporters. "We want to close it out in Salt Lake City. We definitely don't want to come back (to Los Angeles) for Game 7."

LINE HISTORY: The Jazz opened as six-point home favorites as they look to finish off the Clippers at home and that point spread came down slightly to -5.5 on Thursday afternoon. The total hit the board at 192 and was bet up slightly to 192.5.

INJURY REPORT:

Clippers - PF B. Griffin (Out For Season, toe), C D. Stone (Out Indefinitely, knee).

Jazz - SG A. Burks (Doubful, knee).

TRENDS:

* Clippers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
* Jazz are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. NBA Pacific.
* Under is 13-3 in Clippers last 16 games playing on 2 days rest.
* Over is 4-0 in Jazz last 4 home games.
* Over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Utah.

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